Treasure Cay to Green Turtle Cay

Wind at the marina

We enjoyed a very long walk on the beach today with a little bit of sandblasting below the knees due to the continued strong winds.  Today we turned right instead of left and were able to walk a good distance although there were many sand retainer walls to climb over.  Each of the large houses seems to have built these to maintain their perfect waterfront beach.  We walked as far as we could go - to the point - and had a good view of the Sea of Abaco that had lots of big waves but no boats.

Everyone decided to stay put and wait for the wind to die down.  We did find a pretty conch shell to collect but discovered it was still alive so returned it to the water.

Captain and Crew

Conch

It's alive!

A great ride!

The kite surfer was out again today and having a ball - many instances where he caught air on his ride!  We were surprised at his stamina.  He was there when we started our walk and only finished when we finished, around 1 ½ hours later.

After a quiet dinner aboard with 3 of us, we departed around 8:15 the following morning.  We had to time our arrival at Green Turtle Cay at half tide or more to allow entry into the harbour.  

C'est La Vie

Our route took us through Whale Channel.  The winds were blowing 20 gusting to 25 and the waves 5 to 6 feet.  We were able to tuck in behind C’est La Vie and let him break the waves although I still managed to soak Crew with a wave as she took pictures from the sundeck.  As we were going with the waves there was a lot of rocking and rolling for 10 to 15 min, it then quieted down as we got to the leeward side of the cay.

We arrived at Green Turtle Club before our slips were available so C’est La Vie tied up to the fuel dock while we anchored in the harbour.  We switched places when he was done so that we are both fuelled up and ready for the crossing in a few days.  By early afternoon, we were both secure in our slips and had some time to relax before a delicious dinner at the marina restaurant.

 

Treasure Cay to Green Turtle Cay

Piggyville

Sunday we took a long dingy ride around the neighbouring harbour and to nearby No Name Cay, which is home to Piggyville – Abaco’s very own swimming pigs!  The island is uninhabited and the guide books say they’re not sure where the pigs came from, however our waitress at the restaurant said they brought the pigs there so that they could visit on the weekends and have a pig roast.  Now that they are a tourist attraction – so no more roasts!  

Crew feeding the pigs

Everyone brings food for the pigs and they have become quite particular about what they’ll eat.  We discovered they were big fans of the apple and banana but turned their snouts up at the green beans.  Size definitely rules in the pig herd - the little ones squealed and ran away if a bigger pig was after the same piece of food.  Fortunately there are lots of visitors bringing food so everyone eventually gets a share.

Beans - no thank you; Banana - yum!

Starfish

Our ride took us past New Plymouth and into Black Sound.  The entrance is very well marked.  Even without knowledge of the navigation system, it would be difficult to go the wrong way! 

Navigation Marks

The houses along the shore are painted in pastels and blend beautifully with the turquoise water.

New Plymouth

Black Sound

Dolphin escort

Pearson at Green Turtle Cay

Back in Green Turtle Cay, we also passed a home with an interesting boat tied out front and discovered it was a Pearson - another sailboat manufacturer that has gone into making power boats.

Pete's Pub to Treasure Cay

After we left Little Harbor we moved around ½ mile to the north to anchor off of Lynard Cay.  Entrance to Little Harbor can be navigated only at high tide so we had a fixed time to leave.

Lynard Cay to Treasure Cay

Anchorage was very simple, 15’ deep with sandy bottom off of a sand beach.  After a brief visit to the beach where we found a nice Conch shell, dinner was onboard.  A 9:00 departure the next day saw us arrive in Treasure Cay at 12:30. 

Entrance to Treasure Cay

After lunch, Jeffie and I did a walk along the beach.  It is amazing to see the beautiful clear aquamarine water.  The sand is very fine, white and not hot but it is soft and not easy to walk on.

Coral on Beach

Beach at Treasure Cay

Can you believe the colour of the water?

Dinner was at the Treasure Sand resort.  It is at the end of the beach so about 3 miles away, therefore a taxi ride was necessary. Our taxi was an old GM van working on it's third transmission, driven by Uncca Lou!! A very picturesque setting, looking out over the beach in a covered, but outside venue.

Dinner at Treasure Sands Resort

View from Restaurant

Today the wind is howling.  25 kn gusting to 30.  Lots of boats came into the harbour today to escape the breeze.  We have delayed our departure one more day as the wind is supposed to continue to blow tomorrow and the trip through Whale Cay would be bumpy to say the least.

We took the opportunity to measure the depth  below Chuck’s props as he was not confident that the offset was correct.  I cheated and put on my light weight wet suit and took a tip from the divers and poured hot water into the suit, that worked much better. Used Chuck’s pony tank hung around my neck, only problem was getting down as I was buoyant and had no weight belt!!

Out for Pizza tonight.  Talk later

Sea Spray to Marsh Harbour to Little Harbour

Admiral on the beach at Sea Spray / Elbow Cay

I know that it has been a few days since we posted, but we have been busy.  On Friday we moved from Sea Spray to Marsh Harbour, docking at Harbour View Marina.  

A visitor at lunch - typical curly tail lizard

Sea Spray to Marsh Harbour

Marsh Harbour is one of the main towns of the area.  It has good air connections to any of the Bahamian Islands.  We were here as Jennifer was flying in on Saturday from Toronto via Nassau.  The marina is a real beehive of activity as it is near Baker’s Bay Marina and Golf Club.  Many people fly in and take the private ferry to this exclusive resort to play golf and relax.  The private ferries include a 97’ Hinkley type yacht, a 40’ Hinkley jet boat and a 35’ intrepid with three 350 HP outboards.

Beautiful water

Extra crew onboard so Admiral can rest underway

Little Harbour

Marsh Harbour to Little Harbour

After Jennifer arrived we spent Sunday doing a bit of provisioning from a well stocked grocery store with anything you could want.  Monday morning we moved to Little Harbour which is the home of Pete’s pub.  Given our draft, we must go in on high tide as the entrance has 3 ½’ at MLW.  Here we took a mooring as there are no docks or marina.  

C'est La Vie and Seas the Day

Exploring Little Harbour

Cave at Little Harbour

We went in for dinner then back for lunch the next day after a walk on the beach.  The Johnson family moved here in the 1930’s from Massachusets and wanted to find a location for the patriarch to sculpt and be quiet.  They sailed their schooner to Little Harbour and spent the first winter in a cave that you can see in the Limestone cliffs.  Today, his son operates a gallery and continues to sculpt and cast bronze statues.  They are really beautiful but the $30,000 for a coffee table held by two bronze dolphins is a little out of my price range.

Sculpture of Manta Ray

Dolphin sculpture outside gallery

Sea turtle in Little Harbour

Today we spent some time diving on the boat to ensure we did no damage passing over the reef after checking in at West End on our initial entrance.  Water is 79 F but it still feels cold.  Guess I am just a woose!  No damage was found and Jennifer and I cleaned some of the barnacles off of the swim platform metal parts that they seem to love.  The bottom of the boat looks in good shape so the divers did an excellent job.  You could not have asked for better weather today, around 80 F and not a lot of wind.

Surf at Little Harbour

Captain and a sculpture

We are now off to Treasure Cay for our second time to give Jennifer an opportunity to see a magnificent beach. 

Treasure Cay to Seaspray, Elbow Cay

March 15,

I have just realized that I have not been posting our tracks since we left Stuart, Fl.

Here are the 4 jumps that we have done so far

The winds blew yesterday as expected so we spent a lazy day.  The afternoon was taken  up by another long walk on the beach with Allan & Bev.  There was a kite surfer out on the ocean and he was having a great time.

 We saw him airborne a few times.  This was  followed by a gourmet lasagne dinner aboard C’est la Vie.

This morning we waved bye to “Dagny” as we left the harbour at ¾ tide.  We planned on arriving at Seaspray Marina which is just down from Hopetown on Elbow Cay.  The entrance here only has 3 ½ ft at low tide so we had to come in near high tide.  The wind was blowing 15 – 20 as we were docking and these slips are very narrow.!! A bit of a challenge but the dockhands here know what they are doing.

After our arrival, we rented a golf cart and took a tour of the area ending up in Hopetown.  A quaint little village with many colourful rental accomodations.

 The town surrounds a large anchorage which was completely full.  On the headlands is he Elbow Reef Lighthouse which was built in 1864. Today, it is the only active hand-wound, kerosene burning lighthouse in the world and among the few manned light stations in continuous operation since it's original construction. 

Just off the coast is a reef.  You can just see the breakers on it.

There was even a CiBC branch.  Doug Morrison, maybe you can get a transfer.  The hours should suit you.

Well,  off to get ready for cocktails and a meal out tonight.  We will see what tomorrow brings.  The weather report indicates that we may have to leave the Bahamas earlier than planned but that is boating!

Treasure Cay

Monday March 13, 2017

Our entertainment this morning was watching the catamaran across from us winching a person up to the top of the 100’ mast.  At least they had an electric winch.  Do not think that I would want to be the person going to the top.

We were pleasantly surprised when Allan Grey and Bev Bethune showed up to say hello.  They have been cruising the Exumas for the winter.  The last time we saw them was in Cape May on the way down.

Carter would like this as a dinghy

Dinner on Seas the Day with Chuck, Sylvie, Alan and  Bev.  We elected to extend our stay here one day as the winds are expected to blow 20 – 25 .

Beach on Treasure Cay

I guess we will go for another walk on the magnificent beach here which has been rated in the top 10.