After the Briscoe's left on Sunday 6-1-08 Jan and I did not feel like hanging around Marsh Harbor. We provisioned Monday morning and left for Baker's Bay in the late afternoon. Baker's Bay is the NW corner of Great Guana Cay. It is also the jumping off area for the notorious Whale Cay Passage. We arrived about 6pm. We were disconcerted by the contrast between such lovely clear water and the loud, illuminated construction ashore. Jan swam for about an hour in the cleanest water I have ever seen. But ashore a golf course is being built. The water and the reef will not do well once those tons of fertilizer start leeching into the sea. The locals have mounted an all out effort to get the golf course stopped, and case is currently being heard in the High Court in London.
The Whale Cay passage is 1.2 n. mi. route that takes you from the central Sea of Abaco, out into the N. Atlantic, and back into the northern portion of the Sea of Abaco. For our voyage it was a pussycat. Indeed we motored in flat seas. But often when there is any swell from the Atlantic the breaking seas form a dangerous state known as the 'Abaco Rage.' There is no other way around and traffic can stack up for weeks.
The principal reason to hazard the 'Whale' is to get to Green Turtle Cay. Settled by Loyalists in the 1780's and accessible only by boat GTC has done development the right way. It has many homes tucked into the natural surroundings and small tasteful marinas and clubs. We picked up a mooring in the White Sound. Black Sound is too shallow even for White Pepper. There was so much to do in White Sound that we did not even bother to go into the main settlement of New Plymouth. We hiked and dingied about. We had the run of the elegant Green Turtle Club. Jan made a picnic lunch for our outing on the Atlantic side beach. We snorkeled for at least an hour on the near by reef. On Wed. evening we treated ourselves to an excellent meal at the Green Turtle Club and danced the night away listening to the "Roosters." The Rooster are an excellent local band. They were pumped up because their latest song was #1 in Nassau. We partied hard because this was our going away celebration.
The weather picture had become quite settled for the first week in June and strong easterlies were predicted. They were to blow us all the back to the USA.
The Whale Cay passage is 1.2 n. mi. route that takes you from the central Sea of Abaco, out into the N. Atlantic, and back into the northern portion of the Sea of Abaco. For our voyage it was a pussycat. Indeed we motored in flat seas. But often when there is any swell from the Atlantic the breaking seas form a dangerous state known as the 'Abaco Rage.' There is no other way around and traffic can stack up for weeks.
The principal reason to hazard the 'Whale' is to get to Green Turtle Cay. Settled by Loyalists in the 1780's and accessible only by boat GTC has done development the right way. It has many homes tucked into the natural surroundings and small tasteful marinas and clubs. We picked up a mooring in the White Sound. Black Sound is too shallow even for White Pepper. There was so much to do in White Sound that we did not even bother to go into the main settlement of New Plymouth. We hiked and dingied about. We had the run of the elegant Green Turtle Club. Jan made a picnic lunch for our outing on the Atlantic side beach. We snorkeled for at least an hour on the near by reef. On Wed. evening we treated ourselves to an excellent meal at the Green Turtle Club and danced the night away listening to the "Roosters." The Rooster are an excellent local band. They were pumped up because their latest song was #1 in Nassau. We partied hard because this was our going away celebration.
The weather picture had become quite settled for the first week in June and strong easterlies were predicted. They were to blow us all the back to the USA.
Note: the picture is of Jan dancing to "Shake, shake, shake," something that I can not do. The church is actually the Methodist Chuch on Elbow Cay. We learned at the museum that a freed slave arrived in the Abaco's in the 19th century and was responsible for spreading Methodism across the northern Bahamas. The southern Bahamas are mostly Anglican or Baptist. The beach picture shows Whale Cay in the distance.
No comments:
Post a Comment