On Sunday, Feb 23 we left Great Harbour Cay in the Berry Island and ran a 110 mile day to the Abaco Islands.
Our first night we anchored off Little Abaco in a large anchorage. Good holding and we enjoyed happy hour with our friends on the other PDQ’s. We were the only three boats for miles.
Monday morning, we lifted anchors and headed to Green Turtle Cay. The forecast was for a blow (read my other blog for what this actually means) for the next few days, so we tucked into Black Sounds and tied up with Donny’s Marina https://www.donnysboatrentalsgtc.com/
Cute little marina, one shower, two heads, washer, dryer and a sandy picnic area with a grill. Everything costs to use and it’s on the honor system. $3 for a shower, $5 to wash a load of laundry, $7 to dry and water is $0.50 per gallon! He takes Venmo!
The town of New Plymouth is a short walk over the hill and has two little grocery stores and a few other variety stores, (cloths, produce and gifts all in the same store). After weeks in Great Harbor it was like being in a city again! There are also a few restaurants and bars. We were all very happy to be able to get supplies and eat out!
This cute little town was decimated by hurricane Dorian in 2019 with sustained winds of 185 mph and a maximum wind of 220 mph. 220 mph!!! To make matters worse, its stalled and sat on the island are for a whole day before moving on. Although there are still homes and buildings in rubble, the indomitable sprit and genuine friendliness of the locals make this place special for all who visit.
The pink building is the old jail and the blue building is Miss Emily’s Blue Bee Bar, the home of the original Goombay Smash! Yes, we tried one, and it tasted pretty good.
One day, we rented a 6 seater golf cart to tour the island and go out to dinner! We stopped at Coco Bay to see Sting Rays and Sea Turtles! Very cool needle fish.
“Pineapples” is a restaurant/bar with a pool! The view is beautiful and just a fun place to hang around.
One morning, we all had breakfast at Plymouth Rock Souse - “I had breakfast at the Liquor Store”. The food was great and it was funny to be sitting in a liquor store having breakfast!
Sightseeing around the Island!
After three days, we seemed to have a weather window which would allow us to keep exploring the Abacos. We left Green Turtle Cay and headed through Don’t Rock passage to Treasure Cay. As many of the islands in the Abacos, Treasure Cay experienced devastating destruction during Hurricane Dorian in 2019, then with the pandemic, this area has not been fully redeveloped. We did read that a company from the US bought a huge part of the islands and will be developing it over the next few years as mixed use development.
The hurricane destroyed the large marina. Fortunately, they have cleared most of the dock debris in the water so we were able to anchor is a super protected area for 2 nights. When we pulled up anchor, we all had remnants of black screens wrapped around our anchors.
The beach is a short walk away and the Pavillion restaurant is at the rebuilt Bahama Beach Club Resort. We spend a few hours sitting at the beach, then lunch at the restaurant. With the winds low and temperatures warm, we hung out in the pool for a few more hours before heading back to the boat for dinner.
One thing about eating outside in the Bahamas… the FLIES! When food comes out, especially seafood, the flies take over, and it can be pretty gross. The restaurants us sterno with lime to try and keep them away. Since I ordered lobster, I quickly took the meat out of the shells and we placed them away, which attracted the flies and kept them away from our meals!
On Treasure Cay, they have one strip type mall area with a liquor store, small variety store and a bakery. The bakery is famous for their cinnamon buns. Lori and Bryan (PDQ 34 “Island Time”) got up early and headed to shore to pick them up and share with us. OMG so good but I felt the ball of cinnamon and dough is my belly all day! Thank you guys!!
BTW they have a YouTube Channel called “Cruising on Island Time (https://youtu.be/tpimywH3qjg?si=EytkzZkxWufCS40Y). You MAY seen some familiar faces from time to time in their videos. They’re great, along with the rest of our new PDQ friend and all have made this trip fun and memorable.
On our last afternoon, a group of locals asked us to join them in their first community kickball game! We did not join but could hear the laughter and cheers for the next several hours.
On Sat, March 1, we headed to Guyana Island and Orchid Bay Marina. We were a bit disappointed because their website shows they have a restaurant and pool but it was not rebuilt after the hurricane.
Fortunately, there are two very popular restaurants/bars on the Island! Nippers and Grabbers! Super fun day with lots of laughs! All walkable!
We ended the night at a fundraiser for spayed and neutered cats on the island…. Kitty Kat Cay!
Crazy signs along the path between Nippers and Grabbers!
Lunch at Grabbers and another sign.
Funny but sort of scary story…. Gerry and I walked ahead of the group over to Nippers and went straight for the beach and a swim. Gerry got talking with another gentleman so I decided to take a walk down the beach. After a few minutes, I hear someone yell to me, I turned around and thought it was the rest of our group at the top of the stairs. After a few seconds, I realize it is not, so I keep walking. A few minutes later, they were yelling at me again, I turn around. This happened three or four times and eventually these two guys caught up to me walking.
The louder of the two, explained, they saw me walking down the beach and I looked so amazing, they took pictures of me and wanted to share them with me. I was a bit freaked out and eventually was able to say I needed to turn around and meet my friends.
A while later when we were all hanging out by the pool, the two guys show up and come right over and ask for my number to share the pictures. I smartly explained, I did not have service so he should share them with Bryan and he could share with me. Fewwww it worked! Well sort of ….
We continued to see these two guys everywhere for the rest of the day. Was it just coincidence because we were at the only three places on the island or not? Who knows, but Gerry and the others all stayed very close to me and the guys never bothered me again!
The Green Turtle Club has a Marina, resort and really nice restaurant. We made reservations and at here twice. The bar is called “The Dollar Bar”, you can see why! Very cool place and the food was delicious.
Few more pictures from around the island!
Ram Island YC connections!
Cindy and Dave Nickerson arrived at Great Harbor Cay a few days after we left but they were able to catch up with John and Sally (PDQ 34 “Traveller”) on the beach!
Sloan Keck, saw our RIYC burgee texted and stopped to say hi! She and her husband have a place here on Green Turtle Cay! Thanks Sloan for finding us and stopping by to say hi!
All for now, maybe heading back to Florida in the next few days!
Great fun!! We hope soon to be joining in on PDQ fun. Survey on Monday in Osprey, Fl. Who in CT is your insurance agent? Geico I think is your carrier.
Great pictures. The pigs on the beach gross me out because that means there is 💩on the beach! 😂
Scary story about the guys- no stranger should be taking photos of strangers, creepy!
Awesome, from the McCrea's