Chapter 7

We spent 2 days in Green Turtle Cay at the Green Turtle Club in a slip in White Sound Harbor.  The wind was blowing so hard that this was our best protection.  So far, we have found most accommodations less expensive than we initially thought.  At West End, we paid $.50 per foot per night.  They did not have any amenities to offer, electricity or water because of hurricane Matthew last year.  In Green Turtle Cay, we paid $1.85 per foot per night.  We didn’t need electricity because we make our own with Wind Generators and solar panels.  We did fill up on water and this was $.25 per gallon.  Diesel Fuel was about $4.50 per gallon.  We have been filling our Geri Cans and then filtering it before we put it in the boat.  Just in case there is water or other contaminates in it.  On anchor, we usually bathe in the salt water off the back of the boat with a special soap that cuts the salt water.   We try to preserve as much fresh water as possible.  This special soap actually works well to cut the Salt water!  It was nice to take long, hot showers in the Marina though.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While at Green Turtle Cay we walked a lot.  There were a lot of people living at the Marina for long periods of time.  Many power boaters or large fishing yachts.  We ran into several of the sailors that we met at West End, after clearing Customs initially.  The entire Island is 3 miles long and I think we walked 90% of it each day.  We found the most amazing Rum on this Island.  It is made in the Bahamas and is Ricardo brand.  There was a brand of Rum called “Ole Nassau” that was awesome as well.   We particularly liked the Coconut flavor, very good sipping Rum!  The Rum is about $12 per 1 liter bottle.  We also have found Rum Punch or flavored seltzer water to be good mixers with Rum.  Pina Coladas go down pretty well also!  Whatever it takes to get the Rum down!

 

 

 

 

 

 

So far, our provisioning has been pretty good.  We have eaten all our breakfasts on the boat.  We usually have some sort of skillet with whatever fresh veggies we have and bacon or sausage.  We might have a snack also.  We still have plenty of frozen meats and we can add some of the Fish caught locally.  We haven’t given up on catching our own though!

While in Green Turtle Cay we took the Dinghy over to the Settlement in New Plymouth in the Black Sound Harbor.  This was a very cute settlement with Liquor store, 2 grocery stores, a couple of hardware stores, and church.  Most of the buildings were painted in bright cheerful colors and very well-tended.  There were stray chickens, Rosters and Cats all over as in most Islands we have visited.  The groceries were priced at about what we predicted.  Staple items like potatoes, Rice, some other veggies were maybe 5-10%higher than in the states.  Some items were a lot higher but readily available.  We did buy 2 Lobster tails at $11.00 as we had not been able to get one on our own yet.  These were pretty large and very delicious.

On March 16^th, the wind had calmed down and we left for No Name Cay.  We needed to have fair winds to make the passage through the whale cut which takes you out into the Atlantic for a short sail before tucking back into the Sea of Abaco.  Beginning March 18^th this looked like the best possible time.  Now, there was a lot of chatter from other boaters regarding the condition of the Whale Cut.  It felt like a very difficult journey to take on.

While at No Name Cay, we visited Piggy Ville.  This is a protected beach with swimming pigs that you can go to shore a feed your left overs to.  They were very sweet and that was fun.  We also found some amazing shores to beach comb.  We are looking for that perfect shell.  We did some snorkeling and more fishing.  The temperatures here are in the 70’s so it is a little cool to be hanging out in the ocean.  We also played smash ball on the beach.  This has proven to be a very fun game.

 

                                                                 Feeding the Pigs!

 

 

 

 

                                               Beach Combing off No Name Cay

 

 

On March 18^th, we decided to make our next move.  The Abacos are very shallow in places.  A Garmin chart plotter is what Steve uses to navigate through the Islands.  It gives a continuous picture with moving maps.  We have other Maps and charts as well.   It is pretty accurate where depths are concerned but you have to use some visual navigation as well due to shifting sand shoals. This was probably the scariest part for me.  Being in Deep water feels so safe.  When you can see the bottom with such clear water, it makes me very nervous.  We made the Whale Cut with no problems.  It was fun to be out in the deep water again.

We moved on to Great Guana Cay.  This is an Island about 5 miles long and the next one after re-entering the Sea of Abacos.  It is a very narrow Island.  We anchored out in Fishers harbor.  We took the Dinghy into the marine harbor and explored the Island.  There is a Bar/Restaurant on the Ocean side that is called Nipper’s.  We were told that one of our favorite Musicians, The Barefoot Man had been there the previous night.  We had not known this and would have loved to see him. However, navigating the Harbor at night in a Dinghy seemed a little too adventurous for us.  We had fresh grilled Grouper and enjoyed a couple of the local brews, Kalik.   This was a very busy fun place to visit.  The reefs on the ocean side at this point were beautiful.  There is another Bar/Resort on the Harbor we were anchored in that is called Grabbers.  Interesting names?

 

                                                         Great Guana Cay Harbor

 

 

 

 

 

The next day we decided to purchase some of the local beer.  The rumors were true, we paid $78 for a case of a local brew called Sands.  It is pretty good and we are enjoying every drop!

Living on a boat is enjoyable.  We needed to have a day on the boat to clean, straighten etc., pretty much like at home.  In addition to sweeping and cleaning we took some time to polish the stainless hardware on deck and Steve is painting the head in the rear, main birth.  We are continually watching and waiting on Weather.  This is a comfortable, peaceful place to relax, wait, watch and enjoy!

We then traveled to Man o war last night.  We are going into Marsh Harbor tomorrow to spend a few days.  We had another beautiful sunset on the water and a wonderful night on the anchor.

 

                                                           Sunset off Man o war Cay

 

 

 

We are now in Marsh Harbor which is the 3rd most populated city in the Bahamas.  We came here this morning because of pending weather for the next few days.  We will adventure around the Island. We finally have internet access so I can send out another chapter.