2007 - 8/16 - 8/24 - Lubbers Quarter - Tahiti Beach on Elbow Cay

According to Steve Dodge’s book, Cruising Guide to Abaco,  “Lubbers Quarters Cay is a developing residential community of over 50 homes.  It has grown substantially since being serviced by electricity and Internet about 5 years ago.” Lubbers is in its’ baby stages and that’s what especially drew us to it. We tied up to the dock and headed for the cottage. There’s a wooden path between the Dolphin & big house but the beautiful foliage obscures the houses. We crossed a narrow dirt road, big enough for a small car or the golf carts most islanders’ use. Here’s a few pictures of the path from the dock to the cottage. We knew there was a 2nd building on the property the Bahamians call a snooze house. It's like a bunk house with a porch, bathroom, shower and bunk beds. Right now, it's Sea Level’s laundry/storage area.  

It is so much larger than we expected - we plan to take out a few walls, open up the porch, put in a small galley kitchen, washer/dryer and make it our private quarters. In the 23’space between the 2 structures, we plan to construct an arbor, outdoor kitchen, swing etc. and plant a vegetable garden. Quite a project for two old geezers like us! See why we are so enchanted?
We had many questions, so on Friday, the 17th we headed for Marsh Harbour, the closest island with multiple services & shopping - we anchored in the harbor. Wayne got on the  cruiser’s net on VHF channel 68 & announced us as a “new arrival” and told them about BLUE MAX etc. We got a call back from Patrick & Darnell aboard “Island Dream”, Ed & Cindy aboard Cyrano, John & Yolanda aboard JoHo (pronounced “Yo Ho”). They were so welcoming and answered many of our questions. They invited us to happy hour at Snappas on the Harbour. Who can resist $3 drinks from 5 – 7:30?  The day started with rain on the 18th but soon cleared. We gathered the girls and went to “town”. We walked as far as we could to try to get a feel for the place we would go for most of our supplies. We wandered over to Boat Harbor, which is the closest place to dock from Lubbers. It costs $15 to dock the boat for the day, and the perk is, if you eat or drink $15 worth, dockage is free…well, sort of.  We visited a few grocery stores, hardware store & a huge liquor barn. We learned on the cruiser’s net that Cracker P’s, located on Lubbers, was having a closing party including a 'Bar Wars' on Sunday afternoon. We thought it would be fun & pulled anchor on Sunday morning, the 19th and left for Lubbers, so did Island Dream and Cyrano, and anchored just off shore from the bar. We waited…no other boats arrived. We expected a big crowd – so did the owner. Unfortunately there was another, bigger event on Great Guana and seems all the other boats went there. We went to the bar anyway.   

Welcome sign @ Cracker P's

There’s only one 'commercial' entity on Lubbers and that’s Cracker P’s Bar & Grill. It’s a good 10-minute hike from the cottage or a short boat ride north. At least if there’s only one commercial place, I’m glad it’s a bar & grill with live music on Saturdays and Full Moon parties. They have weird hours but, when open, serves lunch and dinner – reservations are even required for dinner during season! Just as we got settled at the bar with a drink, the owner decided to close early since no one showed up for the “party”.  Here we are, the 6 of us who cruised all the way over from Marsh and no party & worst, the bar's closing. Bummer!!  Austin invited Wayne and me to his new compound; Lubbers Landing, next door to Cracker P's. There were just a few of us at the beginning, but after an hour or so, tons of people showed up from the other event. He said he wanted to have a party for the new place, but he sure wasn’t prepared for this amount of people…but everyone brought beer and drinks and turned into a really nice gathering. Again, we met a lot of locals who now know we’ll probably be neighbors. He’s done a beautiful job with this new project. Everything is totally natural and the buildings have not disturbed the natural forest-like environment. What a great day! We spent most of the 20th at the cottage, we measured, took pictures, talked about…we could do this, we could do that. Tired and hot, I had to experience the beach. The girls loved it too.  Sherry and Paris, her little Yorkie, the neighbor from next door, came to say Hi and invited us to her house for a rum and coke. Her husband’s name is Rocky-yes, that’s his real name. Seems all the houses have a name and most locals know you by the name of your house – their house is called “Hard Aground”, name of their boat too. We toured the “cottage” and it’s nothing like a cottage! Pleasant sitting on their porch right on the beach.  Also visiting was Rigatoni, a large puppy of unknown origin and I don’t think anyone really knows where he lives but he’s always around.  You can see him in the water with me.
We spent the next few days anchored on the Elbow side of Lubbers channel so we could get Internet access from Out Island Internet (OII). One of their antennas is located on a hill at someone’s house.  It was pretty weird having to anchor in a specific spot just to get the Internet.  We were still negotiating, and making sketches of the property. We went swimming and exploring on Tahiti beach, which is on Elbow Cay. Here I am holding up a fallen tree on Tahiti beach. WOW!
We spent the next few days just hanging out in Lubber’s Channel doing odd jobs but didn’t feel like doing the most important job – refinishing the teak. We took a few more trips to Tahiti beach and on the 24th we took the dinghy through Tilloo Cut.  The weather was perfect, seas flat.  I trolled a bit but didn’t get anything for dinner. Tilloo Cut is a great passage but only if the weather is good, otherwise, it’s very dangerous. This is the cut with 25-knot winds.

Tiloo Cut with 25 knot winds

  This is the cut the day we explored it. The compound on the left is a private island with several homes & structures- gorgeous! The houses in the distance are on the south end of Elbow Cay.