Bahamas – March 5 - 23

On March 5, we left West End and headed to Spanish Cay, a small, undeveloped island with beautiful beaches. We stayed at Spanish Cay Marina and rented golf carts to explore the island looking for treasures. We hung out, and played ping pong and shuffleboard.

Sunset at Spanish Cay

Carolyn Searching for Goodies at Spanish Cay

Pam and Bob Explore Spanish Cay

Joey and Rhonda at Spanish Cay

Jill and Richard at Spanish Cay

Natural Beauty at Spanish Cay

Bruce Blows his Conch at Sundown (Every Night)

March 6 – 8

Green Turtle Cay is larger and more developed than Spanish Cay. We stayed at the Green Turtle Club and again rented golf carts to see the 3-mile island. Instructions to get into town were to follow the roads with the electric lines. The downtown area, New Plymouth, had a few grocery stores, restaurants, bars, and some beaches to explore. We stopped at the famous Miss Emily's Blue Bee Bar, Home of the Famous Goombay Smash (a mixed drink with various types of rums and juices). Check out island banking hours!

Downtown Green Turtle Cay

Banking Hours  – Green Turtle Cay

Bob, Pam, Rob, Carolyn and Jerry at Blue Bee Bar at Green Turtle Cay

Deb and Rob at Blue Bee Bar at Green Turtle Cay

Green Turtle Cay

Green Turtle Cay

Shoe Tree at Green Turtle Cay 

March 9 – 18

We made it to Abaco, and stayed at Mangoes at Marsh Harbour. Ray and Lisa, the dockmaster and office manager, were the nicest, most accommodating people to work with. Ray walked the docks and was really conscientious about all of our boats being tied properly to accommodate the varying tides. Lisa opened her office doors to let me work in there whenever I wanted to, since the Internet signal was substantially better there than on the boat. After a few days, they even asked me to lock up when I left! It sure made it easier and less stressful to get my work done! The city itself had seen better times when walking in one direction, and was more touristy with cute shops when walking the other way. When preparing for this trip, we thought we would have a hard time finding groceries, restaurants, Internet connection and phone service. All are false. Although there is just one large grocery store on Abaco, there are plenty of smaller stores to buy provisions. Internet is available at every marina. Phone service is expensive, but easily accessible by either bringing an “unlocked” phone, purchasing a SIM card, and loading it with money that is purchased in $10, $20 or $50 increments; or buying an unlocked phone once you get here, and loading it with money. It's an expensive way to communicate – about 80¢ a minute. Another way to communicate is through the Internet, by using MagicJack or Skype.

There were brush fires in the distance, which we found out are common. The dryness and heat start the fires, and the island is not equipped to put the fires out. Although it looks like the fire is very close to us, it was actually in the distance – although ashes traveled and covered our boats.

From Marsh Harbour, we took a ferry to Guana Key to spend a Sunday afternoon at Nippers, a well-known restaurant with tiki huts and a pool. This colorful destination attracts families, friends and spring-breakers. From the upper balcony, there was a beautiful view of the beach.

We took another day trip to Hopetown, a quaint village on Elbow Cay with good restaurants, resorts, beautiful beaches, and its famous lighthouse. The weather wasn't good the day we were there, but we didn't want to miss it. We took the ferry in, rented a golf cart, had lunch at Abaco Inn and walked through its historic town.

And a trip to Abaco would not be comlete without going to Pete's Pub in Little Harbour. Most of our friends took their boats there to anchor out, but because of work schedules and the need for Internet, we rented a car with Kathy and Richard (Rambler), leaving our boats docked at Mangoes. Pete's Pub has sand floors, tiki huts, a beautful walkway leading to the ocean, and a gallery with many of Pete's original sculptures. It was the first time I had hogfish, which was really good. It is customary for visitors to sign their t-shirts and staple them to the beams throughout the pub. In following tradition, Rob bought a new shirt, and the “A Team,” our Bahamas group, signed their boat names on Sophie's Bat Mitzvah shirt which Rob had been wearing. When you visit Pete's, be sure to find the shirt! After Pete's, we went to Sandy Point to look for shells, and then headed back to Mangoes. We then enjoyed a rib dinner (the best ribs ever) at the Jib Room, located across the harbor. Every Wednesday the Jib Room has its rib dinner, and every Saturday its steak dinner (which we also went to) followed by dancing to the music of a “saw band” and the limbo.

Mangoes Marina at Marsh Harbour

Jill Getting Braids at Marsh Harbour

Fire at Marsh Harbour

 Sunset at Marsh Harbour

George and his Conch Salad

Jerry with Tractor by Nippers – Guana Cay

Nippers – Guana Cay

Bruce, Richard, Jerry, Bob, Tom, Richard, Joey and Rob at Nippers

Beach at Nippers

Rob at Nippers on Guana Cay

Hope Town

The Calm Before the Storm – Hopetown

Hopetown

Hopetown

Light House at Hope Town

Saw Band at the Jib Room

Rob Playing with the Saw Band at the Jib Room

Limbo at the Jib Room

Little Harbour

Pete's Pub Gallery

Walkway to the Beach from Pete's Pub

Goodies on the Beach at Little Harbour

Walkway at Pete's Pub

(Sitting) Linda, Tom, Bob and Pam
(Standing) Chris, Richard, Kathy, Rob, Deb, Jill and Bruce
The "A Team" Signed Sophie's Bat Mitzvah T-Shirt
to leave at Pete's Pub

Rob Staples Sophie's Shirt to the Beam at Pete's Pub

Sign at Little Harbour

March 18 – 23

While many beaches are beautiful, Treasure Cay's 3-mile beach is awesome. The beach is located directly across the street from the marina, and we spent a lot of time walking, and searching for shells, sand dollars and star fish. We had a few pot-luck dinners, and enjoyed our famous “$10 dinner” with Pam and Bob (Mint Julep) at Burners. On our last day at Treasure Cay, I went with Jill, Carolyn and Rhonda to Abaco Ceramics, which is a 2-person operation. Karen owns the shop and does all of the painting and marketing, and her assistant cleans all of the greenware. I enjoyed the tour of her studio, which was the cleanest pottery studio I had ever seen (mom and dad, I know I have some cleaning to do when I get back home!) We got back to the marina just in time for a day trip on “Toy Box” with Frank, Sheri, Joey and Rhonda. First we went diving for conch (well Frank and Joey dove and got a dozen), and then we went snorkling around Fish Cays. It was great fun except for when I started feeling queasy from the rockin' and rollin'. We got back, I made some conch salad, we had another pot-luck dinner, and went to a bonfire on the beach, which was a perfect ending to a perfect visit.

Treasure Cay

Deb at Treasure Cay

Treasure Cay Beach

Greg, Jerry, Carolyn, Don, Sheri, Rhonda, Rob, Fraya and Barbara at a Pot-Luck Dinner

Two Curly-Tails

Pay Phones – and People Use Them!

Christmas Palm

Treasure Cay Beach

Linda, Carolyn and Pam Searching for Goodies at Treasure Cay

Pam, Bob and Rob at Treasure Cay

Treasure Cay

Thanks Greg! Photo of Super Moon

Frank Takes Us on an Outing

Sheri and Joey on Toy Box

Sheri, Frank, Rhonda and Joey

Sheri, Debby and Rhonda on Toy Box (Nice job on the angle, Joey!)

Cleaning and Cutting a Conch Shell to Make a Horn

Rob Relaxing on Lady Royal

Fish Cays (Snorkling)

Showering on the Deck of Toy Box After Snorkling

Bonfire at Treasure Cay

March 23

We left Treasure Cay this morning with Mint Julep to go back to Fish Cays for some more snorkling. The waters were rougher, and not as many fish came out to play. We then anchored by Baker's Bay and took the dingy around to a coral reef on the opposite side of the island. As soon as we jumped off the dinghy, an underwater paradise was staring us in the face. Beautiful coral reefs, as well as schools of fish in many varieties, sizes and colors, surrounded us. The water was cold, but we got past that as we took in our underwater environment. We're now on our way to Black Sound, back on Green Turtle Cay, where more adventures are sure to abound!