Touring the Ruins of Great Harbour Cay..May 1-3

Tuesday, May 1

Being a bit windy today it was the perfect time to do a walking tour of the surrounding area.

Not your typical brochure tour..anyone will show you the beauty of the beaches but I wanted to show the "What it Used to Be" side fo GHC.

Christine and I gathered up 3 more couples and headed off.

These first two pics are of the Tiki Hut and Pool that is on a little knob about 50 yards from our boat...buried in the bush.

This is part of the original structures built in 1969..but closed for now.

The dockmaster says it has been recently purchased and will reopen again some day. (someday being the key word)

Also on the waters edge at the end of the marina is the Old Tamboo Club...This is owned by the Homeowners here on the Island.

It was the sight of a birthday party last time we were here but it is closed and in disrepair at this time.

After leaving the marina area we head up the road to the Clubhouse...and what a place this once was..

Very extravagant in it's day.
Captain Rick of Ghost Rider leads us up the steps of this old ruins that seen it's heyday from 1969 to 1979.

Once inside the building it's easy to see the attraction of this Island development.

This view is from the second floor just above the swimming pool and overlooks the marina.

It sits atop a hill that would allow views of both the Atlantic ocean and the Berry Sound.
Just imagine the view without all the overgrown foliage.

Christine and her walking stick leads us down one of the many golf cart trails that intwine this development.
Here at the bottom of the hill is one of the nine holes still left of the golf course. The Homeowners are trying to keep these nine holes maintained. The other nine disappeared in the brush. Water issues and maintenance was it's downfall.

As Rick tries to pin a hole we make our way along the golf path to the "Roundabouts" or "Golf Villas" as some called them.
They are scattered along the path in the woods overlooking the marina but most all have disappeared in the brush also.

Fires destroyed many of the Villas long ago.

The golf path led us back to the road to the marina and this shot was from the Townhouses across the harbor from the marina.

Mystic Lady and Just us are waiting for a weather window to cross over to the states...
Hopefully, next week some time.

Back at the Marina we wander through this old restaurant that is being restored by the owners.

However, no body seems to know what it is going to be when finished.????

The huge beams throughout shows it was built to last and well worth restoring.

Annie found a new friend and I found a wealth of information regarding the history of this unique place.

Meet Margaret Saunders, she was sitting outside Elon's store as we walked by.

I get a lot of my knowledge about GHC from the locals like Margaret.  Elon, the store owner is also a valuable source of info.

By luck, during our last visit here, I met a young man while walking the Golf Paths. He was the one that showed me the old villas and some of stories about the development.

Almost with tears in her eyes Margaret explained how beautiful this place was in the 60's and 70's. We were looking across the harbour at the hillside where the villas were. She was truly saddened by it's condition now.
She came here in 1978 and worked as a waitress in the Clubhouse until it closed on May 5, 1979. She remembered the date well.
She said she met so many nice people...and remembers the Millionaires and Movie Stars that visited here regularly.

For more on the History click the link below:

Great Harbour Cay History

May 2 and 3  2018

Took time to visit Rick and Michelle on "Ghost Rider II" today.
I took a tour of their 50 ft. Nordhavn, very similiar to their 47 and of course the only picture I took was the engine room....go figure.

Later in the day we took a dinghy ride thru the harbours to view some houses.

Rick and Michelle will need to turn "Ghost Rider ll" around to get their dingy off so they went with us.

We will help with the turn-around later.

With the winds blowing over 20 knots out of the East today we decided to stick our nose out the Cut and see if we could follow the Leeward side of the Island tomorrow for a long ride.

Didn't work....too choppy.

We did manage to show them "Bardot Beach" named for Bridgette Bardot who spent a lot of time on her little piece of beach.

Christine cooked up some pork chops and invited the gang over to "Mystic Lady" for dinner.

I mixed up a blender full of "Mystic Marvels", (a rum drink I formulated after several different blends), for everyone to toast a great Island Adventure.

Rick and Michelle from "Ghost Rider", Dave and Michele from "Just Us" and " The Captain, the Admiral, and first mate "Annie" from "Mystic Lady" all had a good time with perfect weather...the stronger than normal winds kept a nice breeze blowing through the "Back Porch".

Thursday, May 3

The crews are getting restless as we wait out this latest weather issue...seems we won't be crossing until next week.
So, Captain Dave gets out his favorite Rod and Reel and starts fishing off the back of "Just Us"....no sooner had he laid his rig down to grab a chair something rather large grabs his rig and pull it all under the dock.
He then gets the dingy so he can reach the bottom but to no avail. The water here is 12-13 feet deep. Luckily, a diver was cleaning the bottom of the boat next to "Mystic Lady" so he came over and free dived to find the Rod and Reel...It was certainly an entertaining sight watching Fisherman Dave.

Can you see our little buddy the "SeaHorse" ...he is orange and on the left side of the Piling Picture...Lots of barnacles on this piling.

Our marina neighbor this week is this "Yellow" 72 foot Sportfish Yacht. It is a fully composite built boat, the details are staggering. I had lots of questions for the Captain.
It belongs to the owner of Manley Performance, they make engine parts for Racing Engines. I'm sure my racing friends will recognize the name.