Great Harbour Cay..Berry Islands-April 28-30

Saturday, April 28, 2018

There are many, many stories regarding the Out-Islands of the Bahamas but in our travels throughout the Islands we believe Great Harbour Cay has the most intriguing and colorful history.

This phone booth is just one of the many relics from the 1960's when development of the Island was in high gear.

I encourage anyone who is intrigued by such history to click on the link and do some reading. You will find it very interesting.

Click this link.....

Great Harbour History

First things first....gotta get some "Go Juice" in the Jeep....that's what the rental guy called it.

We towed a little Suzuki like this one in our other life and we always called it our little "Cheap Jeep".

Like most vehicles over here, it's a rust bucket.

We decided to see just how many different beaches we could find since we had a vehicle to cover the Island in.

We were overwhelmed at the beauty of them all.

I can't remember all the names but this one was near the "Beach Club" which is a little beachside bar/cafe that was also built during the development of this Paradise back in the 60's.

It is the oldest continually operating business on the Island.

Annie had a field day, getting to go to so many beaches in one day....

The Admiral took us to the "Flats"..she had been here with girlfriends during our last visit here in 2015.

The "Flats" is a huge area that becomes dry during low tide and you can walk across to another Island if you swim a few feet across "Shark Creek" which dumps into the Flats.
She loves to find driftwood too.

Annie ran herself til she was exhausted....running on the Flats in Toe Deep water...it's not quite low tide yet.

She took a break with Dave at this rock...

Dave is worn out too...lifting those beers will do that to ya..

Clouds not threatening, just passing over..
That covers the South end of the Island so it's off to the North end.

This is one of the caves along "Sugar Beach"...Some of the most beautiful water in the world...

I am first into the cave to take pictures of everyone as they come around the beach and see the cave for the first time..

It's a sight to see....

The sun was behind us so the pictures are not very good looking in this direction.

Our previous trip here was a different time of day and the pics were better.

We staged this picture just to see how it would look compared to the same shot taken in 2015 on the same rock at the same angle....hey, it's something to do.

And here is the picture taken in 2015....note the same hats, same pose, same dog, same rock, different time of day...

But fun it was...

What else you gonna do when you retire....

Pools like these form along the beach in this area making for great playgrounds.

It's easy to see why the "Rich and Famous" and Movie Stars wanted to own a piece of this.
It's just impossible to understand what happened to make it all crash and go to ruins.
More on that story later.

Atop this rock bluff sits one of the houses built during the boom development in the 60's or 70's.

What a view, and some are still occupied but most have gone to ruins after the crash.

All part of the history of this unique Island.

This is one of the new homes being built on Sugar Beach.

Not very many new builds on this Island like on some of the other Islands we visited.

Could be because all it has going for it is an airport, a good Marina (both built during the boom) and Sugar Beach..

So, it's off to find another beach....And get in a little "Off-Roading" while we have this Cheap Jeep..wonder where this will take us?

Well, imagine that.....we must have found another beach..

While wandering up and down Sugar Beach we came across this fellow loading up his jet ski...
Here's how he does it...He gets a fast run toward the beach, I mean fast. He hits the beach head on...the Jet Ski slides up the beach toward his home-made wooden ramp behind his house. He then gets his sand buggie trailer down to the ski.

He winches the ski onto the buggie. He brings down the Polaris Ranger and hooks up.

If he doesn't get the jet ski far enough up the beach he usually gets the ranger stuck...He did just that today,
The sand is like sugar, very deep and fine. The Ranger just buries itself so he then gets his pickup and parks on the ramp. He winches the whole outfit up the ramp and he's done.
He says it just all part of the fun. He is from Ft. Lauderdale and built his home here in 2005...gotta ❤️ it..Great Harbour Cay History

Sunday, April 29

We took full advantage of another beautiful day in the Berry Islands.

We took the dinghies out the Cut and headed North to go exploring.

Clear skies and calm seas made for a great day on the water.

The first thing we found was a sunken DC-3 ( or what's left of it) just off Cistern Cay.  Only an engine mount is above water and only at low tide.

Seems everytime we explore an Island with some old Drug Running history we find sunken airplanes.

The last on was off Norman's Cay in the Exumas.

This shot shows a better view of the wing span that is still intact under about 4 feet of water.

Like I said, you need to read the history of Great Harbour Cay to get the full effect of what went on back in the 70"s...

And as usual, Christine was determined to find another beach.
This time we found a great beach and we had it all to ourselves.

Her and Annie (along with Michele) wandered around for and hour looking for treasures.

And she managed to find some nice ones.

She is collecting a bunch of driftwood, sea shells, and coral to make some yard art......we'll see how that goes over in a Kentucky backyard.

The squirrels will have a field day.

While the girls are plucking treasures I wandered back to the dinghy and mixed me a Jack Daniels chiller from under the seat and proceeded to take more pictures.

Life is Good...

After I mixed my Chiller I walked out several more yards and took this Pano Shot of the beach we found. The water is so clear it is hard to get an idea of how far out I went. The water at this point is about 3 feet deep.

Annie had a great time with no body to yell at her.
She could just run and hunt all she wanted because we had it all to ourselves.......

On our way further North after Cistern Cay we came across this huge pod of Dolphins. We followed along with them for several minutes. They seemed to enjoy our company and stayed close the whole time.

The look on Annie's face is priceless....It's as if she is saying "Holy Crap, did you see that one guys"?   Dogs and Dolphins make the best movies.....

Monday, April 30

Kinda quiet around here today, seems my crew and the "Just Us" crew needed some rest so they all napped.
Guess all that Dolphin chasing and beach roaming wore'em out.

After a quiet day around the boat we attended the weekly pot-Luck dinner at the marina.

The Marina host the dinner and do a great job, hanging flowers, decorating the tables, and even provided the conch salad for everyone.

Another couple from Legacy arrived yesterday. Rick and Michelle "Ghost
Rider" have been trying to catch up to us for a month but weather and visitors held them back a few days.
Finally the Legacy gang are together for awhile. Sure glad they could join the fun.
I will lead them on a walking tour of the ruins today..

There was plenty to eat. Christine made a chicken alfredo casserole and a dessert, while I fried up some Kentucky style "Taters and Onions".

If dinghie riding wore'em out....wait until tomorrow.
This upcoming walk is thru some back country bush.

Spanish Wells to The Berry Islands

Tuesday, April 25, 2018 
                                                Miles traveled so far =  598.6

Moving to Royal Island....from there to the Berry Islands and Great Harbour Cay on Thursday..........see previous post.
Leaving Spanish Wells....the best and fastest  WiFi I have ever used.

Dave has all his fishing gear ready for the trip across the Big Water to the Berry Islands.
I have my "Cane Pole" ready on Mystic Lady so if the weather isn't too bad we will catch the Big One.
What we really need is that Big 92 Foot Sportfish in the background.
The boats name is "Lucky Dick"....go figure.

Out the back window of Mystic Lady it's "Haul Ass" time.

The weather moved in a little early so we gotta Boogie.

We tear up a lot of water at 15 knots. No fishing today.

Squalls and T-Storms moving in.

Skies are clearing as we round Great Stirrup Cay and Little Stirrup Cay.

The cruise ships have their toys out and are parasailing the patrons.

Only a few miles to go.

Two different cruise lines own the Stirrup Cays and there is almost always a ship anchored here. Today both are here.

We just motored between them and headed on down 4-5 more miles to Great Harbour Cay.

The Stirrup Cays are at the North end of the Berries.

Entering Great Harbour Cay cut in the rain. We held outside the cut until the rain showers subsided. This is not a cut you want to do without good visibility. This 15 minute video has been shortened to 2 minutes in order to meet blog requirements.

Saturday, April, 28

Yesterday was wash down day so no big stories there.

While the Captain scrubbed from radar to rub rail the Admiral was inside cleaning anything that would hold still.
Mystic Lady needed a good bath after that high-speed crossing.

And right on time, it rained all night.

Way before the sun came up I was watching the folks across the harbor getting ready to catch a ferry to work.
The showers just kept coming...

These people probably work for the Cruise Lines. They hire a lot of the locals here in Great Harbour Cay.

As daylight approached it was obvious that we were in for lots more of this liquid sunshine.

Guess we will just hunker down and wait it out.

An upper level Trof has stalled right over the Southeast US and is supporting all these squalls and rain showers.

Yep.......gonna be a wet day.

It may not rain often in the Bahama's but when it does it a doooosey..

A day on North Eleuthera Island

Monday, April 23, 2018

Another good chance of rain today so we took a ferry over to North Eleuthera today.

Gonna rent a car and travel south down the Island to find a friend we made while in Great Harbour Cay in 2015.

We are in for a short ride in this ferry.

It's only a couple miles from Spanish Wells to North Eleuthera but this is the only way to get there other than flying.

These ferries run every 30 minutes...taking mostly workers to and from work.

Remember the log house story from the last post

Well, this is the view from the bay of that Log House.

I said it would stick out like a sore thumb...you be da judge.

Ferry driver says some folks in town not happy.

Annie doesn't waste any time finding some cute little girls to love on.

This family was waiting at the dock for the ferry to arrive to go back to Spanish Wells.

Never a dull moment with Miss Annie around.

Next on the list was to rent a car, that's a whole story in itself,
might get to that later.

For now we gotta get to the top of this hill for a better view of the Glass Window Bridge.

The trail is solid jagged rock, not at easy task for Michele.
Christine would not even try it.

And it was certainly worth the climb up the rocky hill.

What a beautiful sight as the Atlantic Ocean cuts it way thru the rocks and dumps into the calm waters of the Caribbean Sea  on the other side.

The next Video helps show the power..

Eleuthera-map.com.     for more on this Natural Bridge that was destroyed by a hurricane.

Dave and I were taking pictures atop this hill right at the edge of the bluff..

I've always said.... "If you ain't living on the edge you're taking up too much space"....




Check out this panoramic shot..

Down the road about 1/2 mile are these two boulders named "The Bull and the Cow"..
They were placed here by the force of the water during a storm.
That's the story on the Offical Placard and they are sticking to it.
And it is TRUE that people and cars have been swept off the bridge during a rage. A young man was killed recently by ignoring the warnings.

Down the road a little further are "The Queens Baths and Hot Tubs"....

These pools are formed by waves coming over the rocks and then heated by the sun to form hot tubs.

Many warnings to stay away during high tide and storms. Yet, some German speaking folks just couldn't resist.

This man was knocked off his feet while standing in this pool.....all it would take is one rogue wave and he would be fish food.

This cave is at the head of the cove that the hot tubs are in...all formed by millions of years of water force.

We would never have found these stories had we not rented a car. Boat access is impossible on this side of the Island.

Now It's off to Governor's Harbour to try to find our friend.

After a stop for lunch at the "Buccaneer Club" for lunch, again a stroke of luck to find this out of way place with great food.
We asked the service station attendant for a recommendation.
Works every time, cause I was one.

Well, we found the infamous "Potlatch Club" but still no sign of our friend Hans.

So we take off on foot to track him down...what are they going to do ? Shoot us?

Once inside this old Clubhouse that is being restored we look out the back window and WOW, what a view.

Where is Hans?

Down by the house someone answers. Take the driveway toward the beach.

And we find Hans Febles, the man we met at Great Harbour Cay back in 2015. Hans was the Marina Manager there in The Berry Islands.

He always had a dream to build (or rebuild) a resort. He is living that dream on 12 acres of some of the most beautiful land on the planet.

We also met Han's partner, Bruce Loshusan. The two of them tried real hard to develop something on Great Harbour Cay but the local Island politics just buried them with problems.

They found this piece of paradise and purchased it from the bank here on
Eleuthera Island.

Two fine young men working hard to build a dream.

The twelve acres they own is bordered on this gorgeous pink sand, reef protected, beach..This shot was from the middle of the property and looks the same in both directions.

A true playground for the "Rich and Famous"..I sure hope they succeed.
Then we can say we knew them back when all they had was a dream.

It's time to say our good byes, certainly glad we made this adventure happen.
I told Hans that if we were ever in the neighborhhood we would stop in and say HI.


Now we have to get the rental car back to the girls mother...I told you it was a story of another color.
We ask the ferry driver to see if he could line up a car. He says sure, makes the call and a few minutes later a young girl drives up in a Right-Side drive Honda. Yeah, we drive on the left side over here. She says drop me off at my mothers house and when you are finished with the car come by and pick me up. Yep, it's mom's car we are driving around in. That's the car rental company. So at the first stop ( the Glass Window bridge) the Honda fails to start.....no hill for a climber..I get out and tighten the battery cable with a rock and we are on our way. I usually have a pair of pliers in my back pocket but this trip I brought my Skinning Knife instead. Didn't know what we might be in for and felt the knife might be more important. LOL.

Back at the ferry dock just in time for the last ferry to
Spanish Wells.

The ferry is operated by three brothers in their early twenties. Their grandfather owns the ferry company but these three fine young men keep it going here in the Islands.

We had some very interesting talks about this area.