Green Turtle Cay

December 24, 2012

We decided we needed a break from all the boating we have been doing and take a week and relax in Green Turtle Cay.

We arrived on Christmas Eve day and dropped our anchor in White Sound just off  the cay. We were in the company of many other anchored and moored boats. About 5 mins after we had the anchor set a small boat arrived and a very friendly guy invited us to the Christmas pot luck at Brendan's Dive shop. We were to bring a dish and join all the other boaters. We were taken aback by the friendly invitation and counted ourselves blessed to be here at such a special time of the year. The weather was gorgeous and the day ended with us having a lovely dinner on SVLast Waltz. All we could give them was a shell I had painted with the name of their boat on it and an empty pickle jar for Monique to keep her shell collection. Yet , the simple gifts had her in tears and I was also wiping away a few.

December 25 2012

We joined the rest of the boaters from the anchorage at a lovely pot luck Christmas dinner. People were singing carols about snow and sleigh bells and it all seemed so unreal to me. 

After dinner we went back to the boat and sure enough, the wind picked up. Now, White Sound is notorious for boats dragging so when we dropped the anchor we made doubly sure it was set good....well, not good enough. The anchor started dragging and soon we noticed we were a lot closer to some boats than we were suppose to be....it is the most disturbing feeling , I wish I could explain it to you. It upsets me when we drag because it makes you feel unsure and insecure, wondering what it is we are doing wrong. We never had this problem but since we got to the Bahamas is has been a pain in my rear.

Well, what can you do but lift the anchor and just re-set it again. Sure enough, when we had the anchor half way up I heard Gary curse....I asked what was wrong and he said we had a big aluminium plate on top of our anchor....Never a dull moment!!! After all that hoopla we reset the anchor and I kept watch for a little while and then figured things would be ok,and it was, BUT early the next morning we moved to the Mangroves, just off White Sound where the holding was way better and the anchorage less crowded ( it has a very shallow entrance so it is avoided by a lot of big draft sailboats)

December 27, 2012

We took the dingy and visited New Plymouth, the small community on Green Turtle Cay. As many other of the little towns, people are very friendly and greet you with big smiles. We were followed around by a little girl on her new bike that Santa had brought her for Christmas. The children are so beautiful here , every little face shining with friendliness.

December 28 2012

Gary's birthday started off very badly. We had been running the genny as we were making water when it just died!! Gary climbed into the bottom of the boat and sure enough , it was the darn old Solenoid switch that we had replaced in June!!!! Fortunately we had kept the old one which still worked ok, kinda, sorta and put it back in again.

Then we went to the beach , but it was cold and windy and Gary had no luck fishing. When we got back to the boat I decided to give him some space and got in the dingy with my rod and a hook and some bait, not thinking I would catch anything. Sure enough, I hooked a nice Mutton Snapper which I had to keep on the line as I rowed back to the boat where Gary could take it off the hook. We would never kill something just for the fun of it and I felt so bad when we killed that beautiful fish but it turned into a lovely  meal for us and we were very grateful.

Soon the crew from SV Last Waltz showed up with a card and birthday cake for Gary which helped improve his day tremendously. He and Bob beat me and Monique at eucher so that made him even happier...nothing like a few laughs and jokes to make one feel better. We all have bad days and I felt so bad that Gary had his bad day on this Birthday.

December 29 2012

Donna and Matt on SV Corsair invited the whole anchorage for a fish bake and we were introduced to some more boaters. Donna convinced everyone to go to the Bluff House yacht club for dock and dine on New Years Eve. It is a complicated thing but essentially you eat in their restaurant and stay for free. Gary and I decided it was time we treated ourselves and signed up for the dinner.

That night the winds picked up. the forecast was 15-20kns but it was way stronger than that, our poor girl bounced around in the wind and waves and because we were swinging so hard the anchor alarm kept going off even though we were NOT dragging. The winds were cold from the north and the next day was miserable. At one time Gary even offered to turn the heat on in the boat but I refused...It just didn't seem right to have a heater on in the Islands. Poor Time and Tide swung around and bounced on the waves even though we were very protected and secure it is not a nice feeling.

At this time I have a story to share. Even though we were getting tossed around and the cold wind was howling around us ,we were in much better shape than another boat we heard of later. They were anchored on the wrong side of the island and were getting pounded by waves 6 feet high. Because the conditions were so bad they were unable to move . The snubber that hold the anchor and prevent jerking when high waves or high winds move the boat, snapped. The heavy jerks on the chain pulling on the windlass broke their windless right out of the deck!! The poor boater had 150 feet of chain out and was unable to pull the chain and anchor up without the windlass (a windlass is a gear driven device that pulls in your anchor chain) He had to saw through the chain, attach a marker buoy to it and leave the whole she-bang right there to retrieve later. Everything ended well, he was able to fix his windlass and go back to find his anchor and chain but I can only imagine what they went through trying to deal with the waves and winds and a broken windlass.

December 31, 2012

We don't go into marinas very often but when we do I get to catch up on laundry ,Internet and long hot showers!!! We got all dressed up for dinner and it was a feast!! Afterwards we joined the rest of the guests at the marina for a bonfire and dance on the beach.I am proud to say that the crews off MV Time and Tide and SV Last Waltz closed the place down. We were the last to leave!!! Us Canadians know how to party!! The highlight of the evening was when Bob asked the very serious Bahamian DJ if he had any Irish dancing music...the guy almost collapsed with laughter.

January 1, 2013

Wow what a year it has been. We can't believe where we are and we can't believe our luck to be at Green Turtle Cay for their annual Junkanoo!!> It is a party with no end and the music, colours of the costumes and the food and drink was like nothing I had ever experienced. (Think Mardi Grass but on a smaller scale)  We kept congratulating ourselves on being at the right spot at the right time!

All our new friends were enjoying the day with us, the warm sun was shining on us and we realised how blessed we are.

Sure, we do have some trying times, when the anchor drags or the genny stops working, but then there are days like these and I know these are the days we will remember, the friends we will never forget and the laughs that will always linger.

........................to be contiued

Coco Beach

Dames???

Full moon over Green Turtle Cay

Gary (unsuccessfully) fishing

Good friends

Mutton Snapper

Feeling much better

Jessie hiding

Climbing palm trees

A johnny-on-the-spot washed up on the beach, the boys had to
embaress Monique by going through the motions of trying it out

Gary pushing Monique on a swing

Postcard scene

Happy Hour

They even had a South African flag in the bar

GreenTurtle Cay -White sound

Gary

New Years eve

New Plymouth

The signs are there to "prevent problems "

Walkway on the Cay

Conch

Keisha on her new bike from Santa

Palm trees

Welcome to New Plymouth

...as seen from the water

Signs

Welcome

The old pink jail



Taking over

Christmas decorations everywhere

Too bad they can't enjoy the view



Memorial Sculpture Garden

Looking smart

The boys

Bye bye Green Turtle Cay

We have done some exploring and relaxing. Here are some more pics.\