April 14 - Green Turtle Cay (with pictures)

April 6 – Black Point to Treasure Cay It was flat calm when we woke up in the morning – the calm before the storm! We left around 9:00 and headed up to Treasure Cay, on the other side of Marsh Harbour. There was a strong cold front forecast and we decided to tuck into the marina there. By 11:00 the wind was really piping up, and sailing was great. It was really shallow going into Treasure Cay, but we made it down the channel all right. Then, just as Dave was making the wide turn to get into the marina slip, we ran aground! It was kind of funny really, the gang from Gotta Life and Sandpiper, and the guy from the marina were all there waiting to take our lines, and we were stopped, dead in the water, about 50 feet from the dock. Some one came out and offered to try to get us off, but we knew we were on a rising tide and it wouldn’t be long before we were off on our own. We were just settling in for a half hour (or so) wait when there was a big gust of wind and Kristen said "We’re moving!" Sure enough, the wind blew us off the shallow spot and we were floating again. We got tied up after that with no more problems! Treasure Cay is a lovely spot. There is a nice marina with a pool, a great grocery store and a beautiful sandy beach. After we all walked around the little shopping center we went to the beach for a swim. The girls and Mark stayed in the water until suppertime! After supper the wind really blew up (over 40 knots) and we were all glad we were safely tied up.
April 7 – Treasure Cay It was school in the morning, with a trip to the bakery for cinnamon rolls at recess – they certainly know how to make cinnamon rolls here! When school was over, Annie Kristen and I went for a walk back to the shopping center and met a family from Miami that were over in the Abacos for a week on a charter boat. They are planning to go cruising next year so they were very interested in what we were doing. We went back and took a look at the tug-style boat they were chartering and are thinking of buying – there was lots of room! In the evening they came over for a visit and to take a look at the materials we were using for home schooling.
April 8 – Treasure Cay to Great Guana Cay
We left a little after 9:00 in the morning, not wanting to hurry away from Treasure Cay, but a little worried about the falling tide. We had a short hop over to Great Guana and dropped the anchor a little before 12:00. When we came into the anchorage there were only 3 boats, and within 15minutes of us dropping out anchor there were a total of 14! It’s a pretty busy spot. In the afternoon we went exploring on this pretty island. There is a small town that is very pretty, and then you can walk across the island to the popular "Nipper’s Bar and Grill". It is a fun and colorful spot that overlooks a great beach and the ocean. We had a good walk on the beach. On our way back to the boat we swung by a boat registered in Halifax. As we pulled up they asked if we were off "Bird on a Wire". They were glad to meet us as they had actually thought about buying "Bird", but in the end decided it was too much work! In the evening we went over to Gotta Life to play dominos.


April 9 – Great Guana Cay to Man-O-War Cay
We had another short day today to go to Man-O-War Cay. Again, we needed to time the tide so we had enough water to get into the protected mooring field. Gotta Life and Sandpiper decided to anchor off rather than go into the harbour and get a mooring. We finished up school and then went off exploring. Gotta Life had the same idea and we met up in the North harbor. We had a great walk through the town. There are some great shops here. In one canvas shop, there were three women sewing the canvas bags on old sewing machines. The bags were great, but we didn’t buy anything. We walked out towards the north end of the island and the girls looked for shells on the beach. Sheryl and I left the rest of them there around 4:00 to go back into town to pick up a few things at the store. By the time we got back, we discovered that all the gift shops closed at 4:00. Oh well. As we walked back to the dinghy we were looking in a shop window and the lady was just running back into pick something up and she said we could go in if we wanted. I ended up getting t-shirts for the girls (50% off J ). The ice cream shop was going to open up again at 6:00, so we agreed to meet Gotta Life and Sandpiper back at shore after supper for some ice cream. Ice cream was great but Dave ended up talking to some guys on the dock and missed out altogether! April 10 – Man-O-War We did school in the morning and then called Gotta Life in the afternoon to see if they still wanted to go snorkeling. They ended up moving to Hopetown in the morning as the wind had shifted around and they were getting bounced around in the anchorage. It was overcast and pretty chilly for snorkeling (yes, we are getting spoiled) so we went for a walk in town again. All the stores were closed for Good Friday. After we stretched our legs we dinghied back down to the sand bar and collected lots of sea biscuit shells (like sanddollars except fatter). April 11 – Man-O-War to Hopetown We left Man-O-War at 8:00 while we still had tide to get out, and headed the 8 miles to Hopetown. We got to Hopetown around 10:00 and there was still enough tide to get in. We eventually found a mooring and called Gotta Life, who was anchored outside. Hopetown is another really pretty Bahamian town. The beautiful red and white striped lighthouse overlooks the town and is one of the most photographed lighthouses in the world. Like Man-o-War, it is pretty touristy with lots of really high-end rentals and vacation properties. We went to the museum that was really interesting and well done. It was interesting to read that the Hopetown lighthouse was pretty controversial when it was built as it put an end to the wrecking industry in Hopetown. Up until that point, the locals supplemented their farming and fishing existence by salvaging thing off ships that ran aground on the reef – fortunately it wasn’t all greed and they saved a lot of lives too! After the museum we went back to the boat, and then went to visit the lighthouse. This lighthouse is pretty special as it is one of the few manned light houses left, and it is still lit by a kerosene lantern, and uses a fresno lens to magnify the light so it can be seen for 10 miles. The lens is turned by weights that must be wound every two hours throughout the night. The workings of the lighthouse have remained the same since it first started operating! We had heard that you could arrange with the lighthouse keepers to go up with them to light the light, so we knocked on the lighthouse keepers door, and sure enough, he said it was okay to come back at 7:30 to help light the light. We made a quick trip back to town for some groceries, and then went back to the boat for supper. We got back to the light at 7:30 and met Gotta Life, Sandpiper and Fred from Casa Mara there. We spent about an hour at the top of the light, watching the keeper prepare to light the light, and then light it. It works pretty much the same as the stove on our boat, where the pressurized kerosene needs to be preheated with alcohol, then the burner is lit. It does have a mantle (which our stove does not) and that generates the light. We wound up the weights with a crank, and then the lens started to turn around. It was a great experience!

April 12 – Hopetown.
The Easter Bunny found Bird on a Wire and left a trail of bunny chocolate! Gotta Life and Sandpiper left in the morning to go up to Green Turtle Cay, and we decided to stay another day in Hopetown. We had a great walk on the beach and found lots of sea glass. We spent a quiet afternoon on the boat and then got dressed to go out for an ‘Early Bird" Easter supper. Supper was great. It was a real treat to go out for supper! After supper the girls went back to the boat and Dave and I went for a dingy around the harbour and watched as the lighthouse got lit.
April 13 – Hopetown to Green Turtle Cay.
Kristen’s entry: Today we debated about going through the Whale cut or not. We were scared it was going to be rough, but if it was okay it would be stupid not to go. Eventually we went and it wasn’t that bad because we went at slack tide. We got to Green Turtle and we saw where Gotta Life was. They were anchored outside of White Sound. We went in White Sound and picked up a mooring. Then, a little bit later, we called Gotta Life and asked if they wanted to go town. They said yes, so about and hour later we went over to Gotta Life for a while. Then we took the two dinghies and went to town. Annie and I went with Gotta life and Mum and Dad took our dinghy. Because it was Easter Monday everything was closed. The town was neat. There was an "Olde Gaol" painted pink with green wooden doors that anyone could have broken out of any day (even me). There were a lot of chickens, and white picket fences around every yard. While we were waiting for Brian to come back with the dinghy after getting diesel, Mum asked Sheryl if Erin and Geneva could come for supper and a sleepover on our boat. She said yes, so Annie and I went back in their dinghy to Gotta life to get their stuff, and then we all went to Bird. Mum took us all to shore to go swimming and to have showers while Dad made supper (and brownies). We had a really fun time. (end of Kristen’s entry)
April 14 – Green Turtle Cay
We had chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, and then Brian and Sheryl came to get the girls around 9:30. We made another trip to town so they could actually go in the shops before they left to go to Angelfish Point. (We planned to stay a few more days in Green Turtle.) In one store we found a Bahamian steel drum, so Annie and Kristen bought one with their allowance. Gotta Life got one too – I wonder what the concert will sound like! After Gotta Life (and Sandpiper) left we went back to the boat and had lunch and then did school. Dave worked on tightening the motor mount that had slipped again. Later in the afternoon we went into the pool and had a swim and a shower. We met Val and Peter off Valerie Arden, a Baba 40 that seems in the same places as us every night! They were really friendly, and gave us a brand new game "Voyagers" that they had had on their boat for a long time and had never played – they thought a family should have it! We had a fun time playing it after supper. As we were playing there seemed to be a lot of activity in the anchorage and then there was a lot of chatter on the radio about a squall coming. We turned on the radar and could see it coming towards us. There was a lot of thunder and lightning all evening, and lots of rain in the squall, be we didn’t see the really high winds that had been forecast. In any event, we were really glad to be on a mooring and not worrying about dragging anchor in the poor holding in White Sound.