Private Paradise!
Green Turtle Cay has many beautiful private little places to enjoy. The winds had been blowing too strong to allow enjoyable reef snorkeling or fishing, so we delighted in the calm back waters and beaches of the protected bays. We had just sat down in the chairs on the beach of this resort that had not yet reopened for the season. At first glance, it looked as if we had the entire beach to ourselves. Tom had set his hat on the beach and a small gust of wind blew it across the sand. A young man, who had previously gone unnoticed by us, got up from his hammock to retrieve the hat and bring it back to us. He was very friendly, and we soon learned he had recently returned from Afganistan. As a small thank you to our serviceman, we offered him a beer and started to chat about how he came to be on this lovely beach, at this moment, with us. Much to our amazement and as testimony to what incredibly small world we live in, it so happens that he had applied to a”find a crew” site and had taken the position on a boat called Namaste, whose home port is Folly Beach. We later met up with the owner of Namaste and had a good laugh at our lucky coincidence.
Our new friend Riley
Namaste who hails from Folly Beach as well.
Once Southern Trawl’s battery issues were fixed, we decided to pull anchor and venture out to explore a few more of the outlying islands. We enjoy long hikes on the beautiful deserted beaches and discover a few fun treasures that had washed up on shore.
If you remember the Tom Hanks movie “Castaway “, you’ll be pleased to see we’ve found Wilson safely washed up here in the Abacos !
We spent a fantastic hour digging out and unwrapping this coil of rope from a tangled mass of tree roots. Don’t let it be said that children should have all the fun!
Wilson posing with a labyrinth of roots
Is that a tree elbow impersonating Tom?
Often we would have to leave the shore and take a path through the woods where there is an abundance of incredibly unique and beautiful plants.
Palm tree getting a bear hug from his neighbor
Magnificent Frigate Birds can have wings span up to 7 ‘ and snatches food off the surface of the ocean or from other birds
Tiny island doves only about 4″ tall
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Ready for business!
We retraced our path a bit to revisit our friends and enjoy the fruits of their labors. It is such fun (and delicious ) to learn from those with more experience.
Beautiful Bug!
There is so much more to explore and as the winds have quieted down, we will be heading out to visit few more of the outer islands. Everyday brings new incredible finds if we don’t try to over plan and count on predetermined outcomes.
Sweet Reflections
The sky went from clear to rain and back again in a matter of minutes
And for those of you who are wondering, yes Lizardo is still with us and appears to be calling on the VHF.
Who are you trying to call Lizardo? What more could you possibly want?
Peaceful sunset just before full moon rise
southerntrawl 
Wow!! Amazing! Keep the updates coming.
Don
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Thanks Don! Hellos to all. Uncle AJ (the plant previously introduced) took a nasty spill today as we were making an a rough island passage. Tom put him all back in the pot and hopefully he’ll recover. Got to be tough to take on this cruising life !
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Keeps getting better! So happy for you both!
Hane
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Thanks. Happy weekend. Can’t wait to catch up in person over the holidays!
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Beautiful pics. Looking forward to seeing you in a few weeks.
From my Android phone on T-Mobile. The first nationwide 4G network.
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Rub It In, Rub It In!…Perfecting my couch pounding skills here! 🙂
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Wow how beautiful and peaceful!!!
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WOW, We’ve loved the pics and the writing has been pretty good too!
I should have been a stow away….
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Hi John
Glad to hear from you! Hugs and hellos to Renee and to MC from us. Sorry Lizardo got the position of stowaway first. He doesn’t take up much room, so maybe he’ll share! Hope to see yall around over the holidays!
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