GREEN TURTLE CAY - Week 1

After spending several long days motor/sailing in our boat, it’s always a real treat to finally tie up at a slip and unwind on terra firma.  And so our first week at Green Turtle Cay was a welcome relief.  We did very little during this time except kick back and simply enjoy the sunshine, scenery and sheer pleasure of actually being here at last, in the Bahamas.  It is always such an effort just to get here, that when we finally do, it brings a smile to our faces every time we realize that “we’re here!”  One of the very first things we did this year was to get out our bicycles and make our way over to Abaco Yacht Services, where boats can be hauled out and left “on the hard” until their owners fly in from the US and Canada to put them in the water again and sail away. And after having had to “wait for weather” for weeks at a time and make the stressful voyage across the gulf stream for the past 6 years, we are now beginning to realize that perhaps just leaving the boat here--where we want to be--and simply flying in for the winter, is a much better alternative.  With this in mind we arrived at Abaco Yacht Services and put our names on the waiting list for a place there to leave our boat next spring. Hopefully we’ll be in luck.  

Over the next few days we explored our favourite beaches on this island. We met up with “Gray North” a boat from Ottawa as we looked for shells on Killiam Beach, and Mark and Kim on “Spirit” after a trip over to Manjack.  We checked out possible villa rentals around Coco Bay and relaxed with novels in hand on loungers at the Bluff House Beach. Most afternoons we take siesta--a short nap together after a leisurely lunch with a refreshing breeze blowing through the companionway and the boat rocking gently in the waves.  Nothing too exciting.  Just sheer bliss!  During the week-end, boats from the Caribbean 1500 Rally from Hampton Virginia to the Bahamas/Virgin Islands  started arriving and each had tales to tell of harrowing adventures on the high seas.  And on Saturday there was a big Bahamian wedding held here at the Bluff House with over 300 guests, “fairy lights” twinkling in the palms and a lovely bride in a frothy jewel encrusted gown. She was gorgeous--a beautiful ebony-skinned princess!  We are never bored.  Something always seems to be happening.  And when it’s not, we just have to gaze around us, drink in the beautiful scenery, feel sun and breeze on our skin, and feel completely at peace.  This feeling in itself is such a huge contrast to the frustration, fear, worry, and disappointment that always precludes “getting here” that the hassle is almost worth it--just to experience the utter contentment that comes over us once it’s all over and we can really and truly relax.  That’s about the only thing we’ve actually done these past few days--exactly as we’ve wanted it.  

Bluff House Beach

Killiam Beach on Green Turtle Cay.Last year this beach was about 10’ wide. Hurricane Sandy left this. That’s Linda looking for treasures.