Guess my last post was just a mite short on words and details. These beautiful islands deserve a bit better coverage than that, so I’ll back track a little before we get to much farther down the line.

 

 

We left Green Turtle with mixed emotions. We had gotten so spoiled by the openness and hospitality of not only Green Turtle Club Marina, but also of the whole island in general. It has such an authentic feel to it. Yes it is welcoming to, and of course depends greatly on, the tourists or transients who come through, but the island folks are real. Many are descendents of the Bristish loyalists who needed a place to go during and after the US revolutionary war.

We made so many new friends, many of whom we hope we will run into again during our travels.

Since her twin 1400 horsepower engines needed a bit of airing out , we were afforded a wonderful afternoon cruising up to Spanish Cay with our friends Al and Lisa on board their 80′ Marlow.One of the most amazing things to me about this incredible vessel, is a gadget called a yacht controller.  It is about the size of a TV remote control device, and is completely cordless.  Al was able to walk freely around the deck and singlehandedly dock and undock this small ship with ease, by merely pushing a button or two up or down. I told my son Elliott, much to his dismay, that this device is putting a lot of aspiring deck hands and line handlers out of work.

From Green Turtle we headed to Treasure Cay which lies south of the Whale Cay Passage. We had read and heard many stories about the Whale Cay Passage. It is considered a gateway between the northern and the southern Abacos.  The contour of the ocean floor goes from very deep to very shallow very quickly, so if there is are significant winds blowing the ocean can rage there.  We were advised that there is no question that you must wait until a calm day to attempt that move.

A few years ago Disney had bought a portion of Guana Cay to develope into a private retreat for  cruise ships to bring their passengers. Many millions of dollars were spent , channels dredged, and infrastructure built without consideration of the Whale Cay Passage. It wasn’t long before Disney abandoned their efforts, since having to wait days for the weather to be calm enough for a passage, was just not economically feasible. Wouldn’t you love to know where the executive is today,who made the decision to move forward with the plans without proper thought? We obviously waited for a calm day, and Southern Trawl managed 6′ swells of the passage just fine.

Treasure Cay is actually a development that is located on Great Abaco Island, which locals call the mainland. One of her most beautiful features is an incredible 3 mile long, powder soft, white sand beach. We arrived the day before a front moved in, which afforded us the opportunity for a long walk the length of the beach, around the north tip, enjoying the quiet before the storm and dramatic color changes as the winds increased and the storm clouds gathered.We picked up a mooring on the leeward side of the island, so the strong winds were not a problem for us.

We certainly are not experts or economists, but it seems like things are very quiet here and business is pretty slow. I’m not just talking and about peacful island quiet. The marinas have plenty of room, the restaurants are not crowded, and many homes are securely closed up. There are plenty for sale or appear to have been boarded up for quite a while. With gasoline prices below $2.00/gallon at home, and under $5.00 here in the islands, it really is surprising  and just doesn’t seem to make sense. One thing we have noticed, as we make our travel plans, is that airfare is pretty high and there are very few airlines and flights from which to choose.

When the winds laid down enough to head out again, we ventured over to Guana Cay, one of Tom’s favorites. He has always said that Guana has the most beautiful beach he has ever seen. The shoreline is a rolling high ridge and the beach has great coral sections, giving the glorious blue green water a chance to break bright white along the edges. Place that under an expansive royal blue sky with billowing cotton ball clouds and it’s hard to argue his point.

 

 

The fact that Guana is also home to the legendary Nippers Bar doesn’t hurt its appeal. Nippers is a lively place with many levels of colorful decks, pool and restuarant. We enjoyed the ever popular Wild Hog Sunday buffet.

 

After I had enjoyed a calming hour of sunrise yoga on the sundeck, we took the dinghy ashore for Tom to get in a run.

 

 

Some of the best things about the island life are the people and animals we see along the way who remind us of home, bring back precious memories of our happy child rearing days and how lucky we are to be able to enjoy these times.