Hub of the Abacos

Before leaving picturesque Green Turtle Cay, we had to sample the fare at the Green Turtle Club—especially the signature drink, the Tipsy Turtle. It’s one of those fun, coconut, fruit punch things. Very good! Far too easy to drink! Captain Ron fans will be thrilled to learn that the sister ship to the one in the movie is located at the Green Turtle Club Marina. If you are not a "Captain Ron" fan, you are a true misonaut! It doesn't look a lot like Wanderer since it is tricked out with cockpit curtains and awnings.

On to Guana Cay. Our trip through the Whale Passage was uneventful. The Whale Passage is where the deep water of the Atlantic Ocean meets the shallow waters of the Sea of Abaco. Depths in the sea of Abaco are as little as 6 or 7 feet and rarely as much as 15 or 20. When the winds and the currents are right, the water in the Whale can be like a washing machine with breaking waves that can trash your boat. When we crossed, there were gentle swells, light winds and not a breaker in sight.


We arrived at Great Guana Cay in time for the weekly pot luck dinner at Grabbers. Folks from the many boats in the anchorage gather for food and fun. One of the main attractions on Guana is the great snorkeling on the ocean side. The 3rd largest barrier reef in the world is located at the foot of the bluff below Nipper’s famous and very colorful bar and grill.



Then, on to Marsh Harbor, the hub of activities in the Sea of Abaco. Some cruisers make this town their pied à terre for the winter. It is a quick sail from Marsh Harbor to Man o’ War, Treasure Cay, Hope Town and other places of interest. The cruising community is active and friendly. Sunday sees the weekly bocce ball tournament at Strawberry Field. It’s an event sponsored by the Strawberry Monkey Yacht Club.





Interestingly, we have something in common with the SMYC—Kentucky. In 1854, Elias P. Fontroy IV, on a sabbatical voyage up the Amazon, discovered a new species of monkey. He named the species fragaria ateles geoffroyi (strawberry monkey) for its unique antics when presented with any red fruit, particularly strawberries. Upon capture of an excellent example of the species, he returned to his home in Monkey's Eyebrow, Kentucky on the banks of the Ohio River, and to his job as a riverboat captain and bartender.

Elias' monkey became a fixture in his bar, and in the pilot house of his riverboat. His pet became so popular that people came from as far away as Zinc, Arkansas to see the monkey's antics when presented with strawberries. Eventually a collection of local river sailors and strawberry monkey aficionados became regulars at Elias' bar. The Strawberry Monkey Yacht Club (SMYC) was born. http://www.strawberrymonkeyyc.com/

The bocce ball was fun. Even though Peter got into the semi-finals, his performance did not merit an inscription on the Golden Coconut.




Great fisherman! Trophy fish!










The Marsh Harbor anchorage is well protected from storms and offers temporary shelter to many cruising boats.

Foxtown to Green Turtle

Feb 7























Center of the World Rock

We left Foxtown for Crab Cay. Our course took us past Center of the World Rock, a tiny lump of rock that rises a few feet above the surface of the sea. Naturally, we had to circumnavigate it. Our trip was an easy run and we arrived early in the day and anchored close to our friends on s/v Kalunamoo. We had a bowl of soup and took the dinghy to shore. The beach was not much to look at, but we did find a few items to add to our collection of beachcombing souvenirs. It was fun to row along the shoreline to look at the sea life in the crystal clear water. We saw a couple of huge starfish and some urchin like creatures.

Feb 8 Peter’s Birthday

An early start and decent winds brought us into the entrance channel to Black Sound at Green Turtle Cay at midday. We were looking forward to getting tied up to a dock and enjoying our arrival rum. Suddenly, we were aground! The tide was falling and we still had two hours to go before low tide when the water would start getting deeper again. Nothing to do but sit and wait for the tide. We had a bowl of soup and were able to get on line for the first time in several days so we caught up on e-mail and the like. Five hours later, we were floating free and headed for the dock.






































































The dock master took us into town on his golf cart and we were able to replenish our supply of ice. Our first look at New Plymouth was wonderful. It’s a small, neat collection of colorful houses inhabited by very friendly and helpful people. Even the abandoned houses have character. It will be easy to spend a few days here.




Ye Old Gaol












Finally, after weeks in the Bahamas—conch salad. Uncle Lionel who runs a tiny conch shack on the government dock makes a good one. He takes a living conch, punches a hole in the shell and inserts a knife to sever the critter from its shell. He pulls the conch from the shell and cleans it, removing all the parts you don’t want. Then, he finely dices tomato, onion and green pepper, minces the conch flesh, adds a bit of hot sauce, salt and fresh lime juice. Beautiful! Delicious!

Eastbound from West End

Feb 2 Great Sale Cay
It’s been blowing now for 30 hours—20-25 knots with gusts over 30. Quite a difference from the afternoon and night just a few short hours ago. We made our way from West End, Grand Bahama to an anchorage at Mangrove Cay (pronounced key) and then to Great Sale Cay. We were actually able to use a sail between Mangrove and Great Sale! Woohoo! We anchored at Great Sale a few hundred feet from the shore, rigged the riding sail and a kellet on the anchor line in preparation for the blow we knew was coming. We joined Mike and Janice (m/v Dual Dreamers) on Bill and Maureen’s boat, s/v Kalunamoo (it means sun, moon, sea) for sundowners. We had met all of them at West End.
Around midnight, we awoke to a dead calm and a sea of glass. Anchoring should always be like that. The boat was drifting aimlessly over the anchor chain and our track on chart plotter showed a confused tangle instead of the steady arc you see when you are swinging at anchor. By 4 AM, the dead calm was replaced by howling winds, the blow had arrived.

2/6 Foxtown
The weather finally settled and we made the 30 mile trek to Foxtown where we planned to stay the night and move on. Plans written in butter! Since squally weather was forecast for the area, we decided to stay over another day. S/v Kalunamoo, s/v Valda III (Ian and Larissa) and s/v Brittany de la Mer (Bob and Suzanne) came to Now or Never! for sundowners. Foxtown is a tiny, backwater community on Little Abaco Island. Most people there make their living by lobstering, fishing, conching and government welfare. Like many communities throughout the Bahamas, it is poor. Ironic since the Bahamas ranks 17th in the world for per capita income!

We went into town with Bill and Maureen. We were walking down the street and , “Hey mon, comon over.” It was late morning and many of the stoops and porches were populated by young men with nothing to do. I went over knowing that their interest in us was driven by an interest in our wallets. There was an old junk car on cinder blocks, no hood, no wheels, no motor. “So,” I asked, “can I rent this car?”
“Yeah, mon.”
“How much?”
“You gotta driver’s license?”
“What, I need a driver’s license?”
Knuckle bump.
So, we chatted a while with Mike McIntosh and his friends. Mike lived in the house, his sister next door and his mother next to that and so on. “Can’t misbehave with family living so close.” “No mon. No drugs, no bad language, nothin’ like Nassau or Freeport here. We good people, church goin’” There was a mostly empty bottle of vodka and some tonic on the stoop. Mike said he could get a good conch salad for me—no charge, out of the goodness of his heart and his love for his fellow man. Later, I told him that I’d pass on the conch salad. He reminded me that he wouldn’t charge me for it. I said that I knew it because I recognized his genuine generosity. “Thanks, but no thanks.”
“Okay, man. Tell you what. Can you give me $5?”