April 2013

We are enjoying our time here in Green Turtle Cay.  Since coming here a few days ago we have spent a good deal of time exploring the island, including visits to several beaches and most recently a visit to the largest settlement, actually the only settlement on the island, New Plymouth.   This “town” like so many in the Bahamas was settled shortly after the American Revolution by families loyal to the British Crown.

New Plymouth is very compact and well kept village, surrounding a tiny harbor.   As is the case in the Bahamas, there are many churches serving the locals and they are very active.  On the day we toured the area there were both a funeral and wedding going on.   What’s a local to do, so many choices?  No wait, for those who wished, they could go to both after a quick stop at home for a change of clothes.  It was clear that these two events were timed so that they would not conflict with one another, or at least not bump into each other on the narrow streets.  And, to make things easier, they were taking place at two different churches.

The funeral was a pretty big deal with a large procession of mourners processing on foot from the church to the cemetery.  The wedding reception, scheduled for later, was being set up under a large tent that had been erected over the local basketball court just adjacent to the cemetary .  The streets are very narrow, just about wide enough for a golf cart, the preferred mode of transport around town.  I understand that the bride was to be delivered to the wedding via golf cart.   We did see one tooling around with purple and white balloons all over it.  We also noticed that there were plenty of drivers of carts going down the streets with a beer in hand.  Hmm…  Hope that doesn’t lead to more funerals. 

The streets are very well kept with tidy buildings.  The plantings are great.  This was a particularly robust bougainvillea.  Pretty impressive. Hey you, drinking a beer and driving the golf cart, how about a visit to the old jail?   The creature comforts at the jail are pretty stark.   However, it is pink…The homes are very well kept.  There are several museums of life on the island.  Unfortunately, due to the funeral and wedding, they were both closed.   Great garden in back of one though.  Notice the detached kitchen.  That was to keep the heat out of the main house and to reduce the chance of burning your whole home to the ground in the event of a mishap.   Makes sense. The government offices were quite simple but nice.  There is even a immigration office, something that is available on quite a few islands in the Bahamas.  However, some if not all have restricted office hours limited to just a few days a week and never during lunch hours.   I expect that the new jail is nearby.   Wonder if it’s pink too?  Probably or a nice light blue.  What self respecting male criminal would want to spend a night in a pink jail?Brenda posed in front of the Methodist church.  She plans to write an article for the newsletter from our last church in New Jersey about some of the Methodist churches in the Bahamas.  Alas, we haven’t been good enough Christians to have actually attended one of the weekly services.  We did hear that the locals are very welcoming and encourage cruisers to attend.
The gardens were great around town.  This cactus was really nice and about to go into bloom. Another of the local orchids.  This one also growing on a tree and was in someone’s yard.I don’t know what this flowering tree is.  Pretty amazing display.
A sort of datura.  However, unlike the other ones we have seen, this one flowers in an upright manner.  Notice that the 6″ flower is a double, with a second trumpet growing out of the first.   Quite dramatic.
Sort of looks like a gardenia.  The flowers look almost like velvet and are quite large.
There is a ferry service that runs on a very regular schedule, more than once an hour, from the mainland (if you can call Great Abaco Island the mainland).  The gang waiting on the dock were some of the may funeral attendees.  There was quite a crowd.  I guess that these folks weren’t on the invite list for the wedding.
Now that I have successfully segued from gardens to water, how about a shot of a wonderful red legged heron near if not in the water?  Not the actual name but he did have red legs.  We saw him when we were out on a harbor cocktail tour in our dink last evening.  We also stopped at a little beach out near the harbor entrance and enjoyed checking the area for shells.  As it was low tide we saw lots of fun critters.  Brenda was very brave and walked among the skittering crabs, one of which actually had the audacity to bump into her foot.  The nerve…

We were thrilled to spy this beautiful sea slug in about a foot of water.  They swim gracefully through the water by undulating the “wings” that run down their sides.   This little guy was about 6″ long.  What a unique creature.  It seems that each time we visit a beach we see something quite amazing.  We also found a few great shells including these.   Hard to believe that we could just stroll along and find shells this nice just sitting there waiting to be picked up.  I wonder how they sat there after being washed up on shore. What a treat.  The long one was the first of that type we have found and was certainly the find of the day.Today we will take another walk, have lunch ashore and hang out at the marina pool for a while.  I expect that it will be an all together trying day in the Bahamas.

It’s Saturday morning and the sun is out here in Green Turtle Cay.  The sun is out…how unique.  Not really as it’s nearly always sunny here.  Now that it’s spring at home this warm weather doesn’t seem quite that unique any more.  Having said that, it’s been really wonderful to be in a place where the temperature doesn’t vary by much more than ten degrees, day after day, month after month.  Some say that they’d hate to loose the change of the seasons.  I believe that those folks are just rationalizing that they live in an area where the climate is nice for about half of the year.  For the other half they are either freezing or roasting while they are chanting “I love the changing seasons, I love the changing seasons”.. Go ahead, keep trying to convince yourself.     How did the slogan go?  “It’s better in the Bahamas.”   Yes, I am convinced.

Perhaps my love of the “no season, seasons” is clouded by the fact that this is my first opportunity EVER, in my whole life, to avoid the cold.  Yes, it’s still novel but I expect that the “novelness” won’t wear off any time soon.

Ok, enough about the weather.  Let’s talk about how great this place is.

We are anchored in Green Turtle, White Sound, a lovely little harbor that is protected from all directions.  After months of running for cover every time the wind direction changes, it’s great to be somewhere secure for a while.

Yesterday we went for a walk on one of the sheltered sound side beaches.  The one that was recommended was Co-Co Bay, a mile plus long beach on the sheltered side.  We have found that the shelling is better on sheltered beaches than on the ocean side where shells tend to be ground into powder before they even reach the surf line.

The best time to look for shells, or walk on the beach, is at low tide.  It’s easier to find shells when the water is low even though the range here is about three feet. Having said that, with the full moon, the tide range yesterday was more like four feet which exposed more of the beach than normal.  That made for particularly interesting shelling.  Areas that are normally covered, even at dead low, were shallow enough to walk through.

The beach was very peaceful and serene.  Brenda and I were alone with the exception of one other person we ran into along the way.  It turns out that she was from New Jersey and visiting friends.  It’s indeed a small world.

These flats are very pretty.We don’t know what makes these little humps but some sort of critter spits out sand in great volume, creating these mounds.  Normally, they are under water but with this very low tide the view was very interesting with small bumps all over the place.  Brenda was pretty creeped out imagining what was lurking just under the surface that might grab her toes.    Alas, her desire for shells won the day and she braved the wild mounds.This beautiful star fish was over a foot across.  Believe it or not, this photo was taken through a foot of water.  That’s gin clear water.  This urchin looked like a lot of the guys that we have met who cruise, present company excluded, sort of.  A bit sparse on the top.   I expect that being “bald” will make this one an easy target for a ray or nurse shark.    Hmm… Urchin roe anyone?This little guy was very hard to spot but what an amazing creature.  He didn’t seem too terribly distressed.    I guess that he could tell that my hand was a lot softer than his shell.After a few moments he opened up to check us out.  Notice that I changed my grip when the pincers came out.The homes in this area are pretty large.  This flying boat was parked in front of a particularly nice spot.   Interestingly, just a few houses down was another identical plane.  I found myself wondering if this was a classic case of “keeping up with the Joneses”.   The first home we passed was clearly the winner as parked in front, along with the plane, was a 60′ motor yacht.  “OK, just try keeping up with that neighbor!!!”    What fun it would be to taxi down the beach, into the water and off for lunch in Miami.  I would do that.
Speaking of eating out.  (Nice segue Bob) We had a wonderful dinner last night with our friends Larry and Susan who live aboard their Valiant 42, Moira.   We have enjoyed their company a number of times over the last few months and it’s nice to be in a harbor with them again.    The dining room is just off this wonderful patio at the Green Turtle Club.  As it’s spring here (Yes, the seasons do change, a little.  It rains a bit more, but not that much.) and this native orchid was in full bloom.  I think it is an encyclia species.  Brenda and I had a greenhouse with hundreds of orchids for over 30 years.   The orchids had to go as we spent more and more time aboard.  Oh well, time marches on.   Seeing this plant brought back memories. There were hundreds, many hundreds, of little 1″ flowers.  Quite charming. Perhaps a bit random, but this guy, who went back and forth near us a number of times yesterday, reminded me of one of those duck shooting games at an arcade.   His boat seemed impossibly small and the little motor buzzing away was quite comical.
I guess that I should get the lead out and move in with my day.    Almost forgot.  When we were anchored outside of this harbor we did see a few green turtles.  It’s always funny to watch them pop up their heads to take a look.   I swear that they were looking at me, looking at them.

Enough musings for now.

On Tuesday we dropped the mooring in Man-O-War and headed a short 5 miles to  Great Guana Cay.  Yes, the cays (pronounced keys) as islands are known here, are very close to each other here in the Abacos.  As an aside, in Florida the keys are pronounced keys.   More logical, to my way of thinking.

The weather was uncharacteristically calm and the seas so flat that you could count the starfish as the bottom passed 20′ under Pandora.  We also saw a few “items” that must have fallen overboard from passing vessels.  How about a lawn mower, or two?  So much for pristine waterways here in paradise.  I can only imagine what the sea would cough up if we could see the bottom in most harbors up north.

There was a front approaching and within a few hours the calm conditions were no more and the wind had piped up to 20kts.  These thunderheads marked the approaching front.  The view ahead of Pandora was amazing.  I stood on the bow watching the bottom flow under us for an hour.  You could easily spot sea biscuits and sand dollars too along with star fish.  The star fish were easy to spot as some were about 18″ across. If two photos of clouds is good than a third is better.  We were happy to be on the hook when the front came though later that day.

Great Guana Cay is known for Nippers, a beach bar that is supposed to be one of the best in the Bahamas.  For us, we weren’t that impressed as it seemed a bit ratty.  Having said that, perhaps it was the fact that it was blowing a gale, sort of, and there were a few guys at the bar that were acting more like high school football players on a bender than the adults that they probably played in “real life”.   There’s something pathetic about a 50 something guy with a doo rag on his head and a beer in his hand.  Oh well…  I am happy to say that I don’t have a doo rag.   For that matter, I am not even sure how to spell it.  In spite of all that, the view was spectacular as the bar overlooks the ocean and the third barrier reef in the world.  Alas, we toughed it out and enjoyed the view. 

Yesterday afternoon the wind had cut down enough for a walk on the beach.  It’s an impressive one and in spite of the reefs that break the surf, the waves were still rolling in and crashing like they meant it.   This spot was pretty amazing as the waves crashed over and into the air with ferocity.  In spite of all the wave action the water was very clear.  The sand, because of the constant pounding is very soft and fine. After our walk on the beach we decided to try the “other” bar, Grabbers.  It was perched on the leeward side of the island, with a lot less wind.   That’s good.  We liked it very much.  They even have a pool.  Pretty nice spot.  Great view.  They call this sunset beach.  That’s because you can see the sunset from the bar, but you probably already figured that one out.  The view over the pool was very nice.  We recommend this spot.

How about a commercial for the place?  Yes, that’s me trying to look cool.  Alas, no hope.  I am just not cool material.  No comments about the hat…  I am at peace with my “un-cooleness”, mostly and totally after a few beers.   At least I don’t have a doo rag.We headed back to Pandora to enjoy the sunset.And moon rise.  What a beautiful sight.  Today?  Who knows.  Perhaps another short hop and another sandy beach.   Only two weeks till Brenda heads north so we had better cram in as much sightseeing as we can.  Time’s short.

Yesterday, Sunday, we arrived here in Man-O-War Cay after a short five mile motor from Hope Town.   The flavor of this island is so different than Hope Town with it’s thriving boat building waterfront.  Hope Town is much more of an island resort and this island seems to be all business.  In some ways, nix the palms and you’d almost think that you were in Maine.  The harbor is very small and well protected and with loads of moorings, some of which are alarmingly close to one another.

Last night we went on a “cocktail cruise” in our dink and enjoyed the sights of the waterfront and harbor.   This little wooden boat caught our eye.  It seemed right at home near the rustic cabin.  Not the sort of sight that we have seen much of here in the Bahamas.  It looks like someone named Billy-Bob should live in that house.    Nearby there were several egrets that eyed us suspiciously   Fly away, not fly away, fly away…

What a beautiful sight. These lovely Abaco sloops were moored out in front of Albury’s boat shop.  They used to make a lot of these in the past but much of their work these days is in fiberglass fishing boats.   We have seen their fishing boats all over the Bahamas.  This morning we headed ashore with the hope of having breakfast but no luck.  The only spot to eat is open for lunch and dinner.  However, that did not deter as we just toughed it out until lunch.

As we were walking around we spied this lovely sloop fresh from the paint shop. 

All of the boats here on the island aren’t traditional.  I am not sure exactly what this is but expect that Jacques Cousteau would have a pretty good idea, I’ll bet.Brenda was particularly excited about coming here because the island is home to a store selling batik fabric from a company called Androsia and we were told that this store is the largest distributor for Androsia.  These fabrics are died and patterned by hand in a shop on the island of Andros,  an island that is not on our itinerary for this year.  (Andosia from Andros?  Get it?)

Brenda was in heaven and had a tough time deciding which fabric to buy.  The colors are great.  While Brenda was shopping, I was enjoying the view of the harbor from out in front of the shop.  Nice boat, that Pandora.  Wonder who’s she is?  Our next stop was the canvas shop.  This used to be THE place to have sails made for the wooden ships and sloops coming out of this harbor’s yards.  Now, descendants of the same sail makers turn out wonderful canvas bags, and lots and lots of them. Now Brenda heart was really racing.And, they were even making MORE bags.  What’s a girl with a bag fetish to do?  You guessed it.  Buy a bag!!!  In case you are wondering, Brenda showed admirable strength and resolve and only got one.  But, it was a BIG one and the PERFECT bag.   I am sure that the flight attendants will be green with envy as two or three of them help her hoist it into the overhead compartment.   “Would you like us to check that for you Miss?”.   “No, thank you, I am sure that with just a few more helpers we will able to lift it.  No really, I am sure that it will fit just fine, if we push just a bit… harder.”

The main transportation on the island is golf cart and there are well maintained concrete paths going everywhere.  The homes and yards are very well manicured.  We particularly liked this lovely garden path.There are flowers in profusion.  With more rain here than in the southern Bahamas, things are a lot more lush.   Brenda and I enjoyed the flowers.  I guess that April is a good time for flowering trees.  Do you recognize this one?  If you guessed poinsettia, you’d be right.  I expect this is what they look like if you put them out after New Years and they don’t end up under a snow drift like up north.

No idea what this vine is but they are very pretty.  The flowers are about 3″ across.The fruit of a palm but clearly not a date palm. Some sort of lily although the plant is not so lily like. These trees put out a riot of yellow flowers.    Quite a sight.These red flowers are on a bush that is trimmed into a sort of feathery hedge.  This spiny plant had an alarmingly sharp spine on the end of each leaf.Of course, the ever popular hibiscus.These 5″ flowers looked like they were made of velvet.   An amazing color.
After lunch we headed back to Pandora just ahead of a deluge of rain.  After months of sunny and dry weather it seems that we are in the rainy season.  I was told that it rains a lot in April.  It’s nice to keep the salt off of the decks.   Yes, it does look a lot like Maine.  Speaking of Maine, we’ll be there in a few months.  I had better swim while we are here because I’ll not be in the water much in Maine.

Man-O-War.  Now this is a lovely spot, rain or shine.

It’s Sunday afternoon and we are waiting for the tide to rise enough to get out of the harbor for a run the few miles to Man-O-War Cay.  I have to say that it would be easy to spend a few more days, no make that another week, or more, here but it seems that we should be moving on.  Moving on is more about seeing something new than a particular need to be on the move.  This is a very pretty spot and a welcome, and more cosmopolitan change from the very rural and simple settlements that we visited earlier in our trip in the Exumas.

From our limited visit to date it seems to me that the Abacos are the “white Bahamas” as opposed to the “black Bahamas” that we have seen for much of our travels further south.  I’d also say that it seems to me that southern areas are more like what I would describe as “real” and I like that. Yes, there are blacks here too but it seems that they are the employees of the white Bahamians.

It’s hard to say which I like better but this area is much more like the US than the Bahamas, as nice as it is.  It’s certainly easier with more, if fewer, protected harbors.

A traditional boat type that was developed in the Abacos is called the Abaco sloop.  I understand that these “type” boats are still made in Man-O-War Cay and I am looking forward to seeing a shop, or two, while we are there.   This one has been sailing all over the harbor since we arrived.  She is a very nice boat with beautiful lines.We saw another one that was stored, as they all seem to be, under a shed roof.  In this sun the seams would dry out pretty fast and the boat wouldn’t hold up for long.  A pretty view from the “boat house”.   Getting things around town, with the very narrow streets, is a challenge.  Sometimes, it seems, you have to improvise.  Perhaps enclosing this photo is a bit random but I though it was fun.  With water being in such short supply here these tanks are used to catch rain water, as infrequent as it is.  Speaking of rain, we had a deluge last night and the dink was filled about half way to the gunnels this morning.  I guess that this tank would have filled up PDQ had it been in place. So, now for the “fishy” part.  I have taken quite a few videos but it seems that they just don’t look as good as it seemed when I took them.  Perhaps underwater photography is one of those “you had to be there to appreciate it” sort of things.

Having said that, here’s two that are pretty good.  This one is of a very nice queen trigger that I saw back in Warderick Wells, in the park area.
This one includes a shot of a really pretty nurse shark with his or her own personal remora in tow.
Well,  perhaps this post has a bit of seemingly unrelated items.  However, it’s my blog so there…