We'll start part two of our Adventure by posting some parting shots of this wonderful island called Great Harbour Cay.
We rented a car today (if you want to call a totally worn out Geo Tracker a car). We toured the entire island and found the caves at "Sugar Beach" first.
Annie loved the rocks and sand but had little to do with the surf.
This shot was taken from inside one of the caves along the shoreline.
We only found one cave due to the incoming tides keeping us from walking along the beach. In about another hour this one would be impassable also.
The bluffs along this shore are beautiful but rugged. Click the link below and hang on.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8ODYNFfBZc
The Admiral and her sidekick Annie are exploring the cave along the shore line. Note the deep sand inside the cave that washes in during high tide.
Our good friends and "Boating Buddies" Mary and Howard with the shoreline surf in the background.
This would be an awesome place to make a movie. The sand is like sugar and the rocks are gorgeous.
Looking down on one of the caves from high up on a rock ledge.
The view from here is breathtaking, the water is so clear you can see large fish swimming by.
OK, everybody back in the "Cheap Jeep" and off we go to check out the next site.
Note the boat seats bolted to the wooden boxes for front seats.
The door is about to fall off the hinges, the rag top is falling apart.
And if you take the top off or get the seats wet there is a 25 dollar up charge. I ain't lying....
We had to push start it three or four times today...
Hey, it's Da Bahama's Mon..
We stopped at "Coolie Mae's" for lunch, a little front porch diner in town.
The place looks like our kind of place. It is known for it's sunset dining but we were there for lunch so a little early for a sunset.
The food was the best we've had on the island.
BBQ Ribs, peas & rice, mac N' cheese, and potato salad.
Oh, and a rooster in the yard.
Next stop was the airport. Just wanted to check it out just in case anybody wants to fly over and visit us.
Like most everything else here, it was built for the rich and famous to fly in and play golf.
Now it's just a run down building with abandoned shops and offices.
However, the airstrip is good. They land small jets and have routine air service.
Across from the airport is the "Beach Club" and another opportunity to play on "Sugar Beach"..
Just taking pictures of Mary and Howard playing in the surf.
Annie was swimming with Mary a few minutes earlier.
Careful Jerry, don't drop the iPad........
Thank you, Jacob and Dana for the awesome Drone GoPro videos...
For an aerial view of this playground just click on the Drone video below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OfNdKbKpnU
Sunday, March 15, 2015
On this perfect Sunday we decided to take the Jupiter and cruise over to Hoffman's Cay to see "Hoffman's Blue Hole"
The Admiral and Annie seems to be quite relaxed as we cross over some calm waters on the way.
It's about a 17 mile trip down to the Blue Hole.
As we approach the area where the trail starts we find only one other boat.
The beach and whole area here is very remote and secluded. One of the best anchorages we have found so far.
Very easy to get the tender in close and walk ashore.
Aside from the freedom of running on the beach this was Annie's favorite part of the adventure.
As Christine leads us up the hill to the Black Hole, Annie is free to hunt in the brush. She exhibited her Spaniel characteristics by hunting anything that would move.
The trail leads up to the top of a hill where the Blue Hole is located.
We found Hoffman's Blue Hole and it was odd to say the least to find a hole on top of the hill full of water.
Solid rock ledges all around and they say it's about 25 feet deep.
However, being from Kentucky where limestone quarries full of water are plentiful I didn't find this all that impressive.
The beach and trail was my favorite part.
Annie swam with Mary and ran the beach like a wild dog.
The dingy in close to shore belongs to another couple that came over with us to Hoffmans. They are from New Orleans and staying at the same Marina. T.hey have a 53ft. Navigator like ours so we hit it off pretty good.
Annie says I think I'll head back to the boat. I'm getting hungry.
Next, we are heading on down the coast line to "Flo's Conch Bar"....
talk around here is that Flo's has the best conch in the Berry Islands.
Her it is, the infamous "Flo's Conch Bar"...I hope the food is good because the surroundings leave a little to be desired.
But hey, It's Da Bahama's Mon.
Flo's was pretty active when we arrived. This group of folks had run over from Nassau just to eat lunch. That's a good sign.
They were all from Canada, Argentina, and one other country I don't remember.
You have to call ahead and turn in your order before arriving.
The homemade sign on the wall tells it all.
The food was great but very, very pricey. Six of us had fish dinners and a couple of Rum Punch drinks and the bill was $180...
Chester and his family are the only people living on "Little Harbour Cay"..Flo died in 2010 and the place seems to be going down hill but maybe it's always been a hole in the wall..great food though...
After lunch we just cut the engines about half way back to the marina and did some more snorkeling.
Annie jumped off the swim platform when she saw me in the water.
It was just too pretty to pass up the opportunity to swim again.
No reefs here but lots of starfish on the bottom. Also saw lots of sea turtles while cruising over to Flo's.
Mary brought this small one up but she found bigger ones later.
Some were over 14 inches across and a beautiful red color.
Time to head back and try to catch the "Green Flash Sunset"...
We stayed around the marina today to get everything ready to depart for the Exuma's tomorrow but Howard and Mary had friends fly over from the states so Howard took them out for some spearfishing.
They came back with a nice grouper and a couple of snappers.
Some other folks went out diving today too and brought back some huge lobster.
The fishing and lobstering here in the Berry Islands is as good as it gets.
These were speared in 25 feet of water just off the shores of Stirrup Cay.
Jeff Seigel is "pickin' N grinnin" for us before dinner. He made up some lyrics about boating the ICW in Florida and it was really cool. All about the bridge openings along the waterway.
I fried up some of my special "taters N onions" for the pot luck and boy, you would think these folks had never had real campsite cooking before.
We are heading down to the Exumas tomorrow morning with a stop over at Rose Island. That's about 6 miles from Nassau so we will probably take the tender into town there and get more provisions. The pickins' are slim in the Exumas so gotta get more eggs, milk, veggies, etc. Don't know when we will have internet again to update the blog.
Saying good-bye to Great Harbour Cay and the good folks we met there. Made lots of new friends and will meet up with some of them as we journey down the Exumas.
Sorry for the delay in the updates but just now have internet after several weeks in the Exumas.
Todays date is April 4 so I have a lot of "catching up" to do.
Anchored up just outside Nassau at
Rose Island.
Here we are taking the Jupiter into Nassau to get provisions for our journey down to the Exumas.
Notice the Admiral has her "little red wagon" onboard to truck back the groceries.
And I said we were NOT going to Nassau. Plain and simple.
Oh well, she usually gets here way.
Back at Rose Island after a hard day of shopping.
Just me and my trusty Annie chilling on the foredeck.
It didn't take long to get our fill of Nassau.
I never was much for "Big Cities"....
Sunset over Nassau from the boat....
That's about as close as I want to get to that place again.
Too many people, all in too big a hurry. Highest crime rate in the entire Bahama's.
This shot is looking over "Atlantis", the Disneyland of the Bahamas.
Friday, March 20, 2015
Arrived at Highbourne Cay in the Exumas. Heading over to the marina to pay our $5.00 per day per person beach usage fee so we can let Annie run a while.
This place gets no "HooRays" from me. It's a bit Up-Adie and way to Expensive for my liking.
They cater to the High-Rollers, you know, those people who don't really care how much it costs.
However, we did enjoy watching the sharks at the marina at Highborne.
We are in the dingy heading back out to Mystic Lady.
Nice shot of a Shark sneaking around our boat. This one was right off the swim platform.
If you need to dive the boat for some reason, and I did (got our dingy tow rope wrapped around a prop shaft and had to dive to cut it off)....you need to check for sharks before diving because they like to stay under the boat in the shade.
I must say Annie did enjoy the beaches at Highbourne Cay.
After all, it's a privately owned Island and they can charge whatever they want.
The anchorage here is also top rated, nice and deep, lots of room for several boats.
It was Spring Break and the place was packed with Mega-Yachts. Boy, the kids were having a good time....
While the "High Rollers" are playing on their jet skies the Admiral is washing clothes and growing a garden on the upper deck. Yeah, that's right.....growing a garden on a boat.
We have tomatoes, lettuce, celery, and sweet basil.
All while towing the dingy and cruising the Islands.....
Part Three of our Island Adventure follows.....