4/20/15
Green Turtle Cay, Abacos, Bahamas
Posted by Bill

We left Green Turtle on the 18th, planning to work our way west, enjoy some of the remote cays along the way, and work our way back to the States. We stopped at Manjack Cay, hoping for some good snorkeling, but the winds and waves were out of the SW and made the anchorage very uncomfortable, so we motored across the Sea of Abaco to the eastern shore of Great Abaco, protected from the winds. We anchored for the night and all 3 boats had dinner together. It was really good and lots of fun. The next day the winds were supposed to lie down and shift, so we motored about 9 miles up to Powell Cay, another great snorkeling and fishing spot. Once again, winds higher than forecast and out of the SW, so we motor across the Sea of Abaco to Coopers Town, in the protection of the eastern shore, and anchor for the night. The big plan is to get to West End on the far western side of the Bahamas to cross over to the States, with Thursday looking like a great weather window. It will take a couple of days, and we have scoped out where we can anchor based on the wind forecast, but we can do it…not! The weather window slams shut, and the winds are nothing like the forecast is stating. After much analysis and deliberation, we throw up the white weather flag and motor a couple of hours back to Green Turtle. The weather is going to be snotty at least until Sunday, and we can ride it out comfortably there. Winds are predominately from the E or SE this time of year, and it has been, or will be blowing S, SW or W for most of the week…go figure.

One good thing is that we have shore power and decent internet access here, and I am getting the blog up to date. I might even be able to get the Map of Where We Have Been updated! The other good thing is that they have a pool and cheap rum drinks! Hopefully we will find a weather window to come back in the next week or so.

4/18/15
Posted by Tricia and Bill

Happy birthday Dad! We tried to call you but our Bahamas phone was not able to keep the call alive…sorry. Hope you have a good one!

4/17/15
Green Turtle Cay, Abacos, Bahamas
Position: 26 45.697N, 076 19.441W
Posted by Bill

Green Turtle Cay is another one of the places that everyone recommends as a “must stop” in the Abacos, and we were looking forward to checking it out. There are 2 primary harbors, White Sound and Black Sound. We chose to take a slip for a few days in Black Sound at the Leeward Yacht Club and Marina. Both harbors have very shallow entrances and we needed to come in and leave with at least 2/3rds tide. We had to leave Treasure Cay in the morning so we could have at least a foot of tide to help us, but high tide at Green Turtle wasn’t until after 6:00 that evening, so we stopped at the cay next to Green Turtle called No Name Cay to kill some time. We learned that there are wild pigs on the beach and anyone that knows Tricia knows that she loves pigs. She was bummed out that we weren’t going to make it to the Exuma chain of islands and visit pig beach, where the pigs will swim out to your dinghy as you approach, but this was going to be a good second choice to feed and play with the pigs. After the pigs, we figured we could go swimming and snorkeling, as we heard there was good snorkeling there too. We got to the beach, and sure enough there were about a dozen pigs roaming the beach. Kurt and Sharon from Byrd Ketcher came in their dinghy too, and we both brought food. As we approached the beach, we saw that the large pigs were mean to the little ones. One of the larger ones was wading in the water and crapping huge log-like turds as he walked…it was disgusting. We tried to feed the little ones but the big pooping pig stole the food and bit the little ones if they tried to get the food. After we ran out of food, the big pooping pig came after us, so we pushed the dinghy off of the shore and made our escape….but not so fast…the damn dinghy engine wouldn’t start! So here I am, trying to pull start this engine as we drift back to shore, and the pooping pig starts to come after us again. The engine is now flooded, so we grab the oars and start rowing away. The boat was several hundred yards off shore, so we slowly rowed back, until Kurt and Sharon, who had left the beach before us, came back to see where we were and towed us back to the boat. I felt bad for Tricia because the pig adventure was not quite what we thought it was going to be…lol!

We got into Black Sound without running aground and hit the pool and adjacent bar at the marina. They had a happy hour special every day that included 2 for 1 rum punches, and you could pick from 5 different flavors. They also had a small restaurant that had excellent food. The marina was really nice and we would definitely stay there again. They were the first place in the Bahamas that didn’t have a surcharge to use a credit card. The people were very nice and the place was clean.

The next day we took our dinghies over to the little town of New Plymouth. It was pretty typical of a town in these parts. We have noticed that the towns in the Abacos do not have trash laying around all over the place like the Biminis did, and the people are generally very friendly. We stopped at the Blue Bee Bar where the Goombay Smash rum drink was created, and ordered some. They were good. Then we stopped at the Down Through Liquor Store and had a Turtle Smash, also very good, and cheaper than the last place. After a walk through town we stopped at The Wrecking Tree restaurant and had fish, conch and fries…really good! Then back for happy hour at the pool, of course.
New Plymouth:



Blue Bee:

The Wrecking Tree:

Today, we took the dinghies over to White Sound and checked out The Bluff House beach bar and then crossed the sound to the Green Turtle Club. The beach bar had a great view, and we sampled the specialty drinks at each place.
It was back to the pool bar for happy hour, and then we had pizza night on Island Bound, everyone bringing toppings and Tricia providing homemade dough. We cooked them on the grill again and had a great time.
Bluff House side of White Sound:


Beach Bar:





Tricia and Bart, the furry crew member from Byrd Ketcher:

The Green Turtle Club on the other side of White Sound:

And a really nice Kady Krogen boat that docked next to us….it is a beaut:

4/15/15
Posted by Bill

Happy birthday to our grandson Maddox! This is a few days late…sorry dude…we have not had very good internet access for awhile and I couldn’t post on your birthday. Wish we could have been there to celebrate with you.