A Taste of the Abacos

Alyssa and Lisa rode the latest Bahamian bicycles into town, Luc and Lauren sped around in kayaks and Guy waited for the mechanic.

We left June 4, Friday evening for a beautiful anchorage off of West End.

Left Saturday morning for Double Breasted Keys. The sail was absolutely gorgeous and we got to use our spinnaker and enjoy downwind sailing. Found an isolated anchorage, nicely sheltered. Alyssa and Lauren went exploring in the dinghy. Guy was attacked by a shark disguised as the volume control knob for the stereo system. He received a messy head wound that was tended to by the onboard medics.

Sunday morning we woke up and went exploring in the dinghy, circumnavigating the island, looking for the best beaches. Beautiful sanddollars and starfish were everywhere. Found a great one and hung out. Ginger was very excited, digging for sand creatures and decided to explore the reef. Got stung by an unidentified creature, then ran to Lauren and got some of the poison on her. Lauren was fine, with just a brief rash, but Ginger’s leg was paralyzed for several hours. A pork chop bone offered to her in the afternoon began the healing process. Emergency medical services were avoided.

We left Monday morning (we think, we have forgotten how to figure out the date without the internet) for Allans-Pensacola. The sail was peaceful. Allans-Pensacola promised a great trail leading to an abandoned missile tracking station and beautiful beaches. FAIL.. The trail led us into serious brush with no chance of crossing the island. Although the beach looked beautiful, we have gotten spoiled and knew there were more beautiful beaches to come. We picked up the anchor and moved on to Powell Key.

We arrived at Powell Key around dusk. Beautiful anchorage with only a few neighbors. Luc and Guy took Ginger to the beach and tried to play football with a coconut, which turned out unsuccesful. That night we enjoyed first row seats to watch Moby Dick in the boat. The next morning, we got ready for a day exploring the beautiful beach. We hiked a trail to the top of the bluffs and got a beautiful view of the anchorage. We spent the rest of that morning in a cave that we found. After snorkeling a sunken crane, we picked up anchor and headed to our next destination: Green Turtle Cay.

With our quickest preparing-the-boat-to-leave-ever, we arrived at Green Turtle Cay in the late afternoon, on Tuesday. We picked up a mooring from Donny's Boat Rentals and headed up to town to get dinner at Laura's Kitchen, who had a reputation for the "best cracked conch in the Bahamas." Our team of food critics confirmed this. Wednesday morning, we raced to the laundromat for the first spot. After, we rented a golf cart, cruised around town, and had burgers at Pineapple's, a beach side bar and grill. We battled the dirt roads in the golf cart that afternoon. Then, we came back to the boat for another night in Green Turtle Cay.

Thursday morning, bright and early Guy set out to find a willing mechanic to fix our steering problem that had only been "band-aided up" at West End. After many stressful encounters with no one up to the job, we picked up anchor and headed to Baker's Bay off of Great Guana Cay. Luc and Lauren enjoyed snorkeling a little too close to a barracuda. Then, we headed into town to have Conch Fritters and drinks at a bar.

After a relaxing nights sleep, Friday, June 11, we headed to Marsh Harbour, the third largest city in the Bahamas. We got fuel and headed to our slip. Alyssa and Lauren explored the town and got some trendy purchases. After, the whole family explored the town which included raiding the Sugar Shack and stopping at all the souvenir shops. That night, we went to Snappa's for dinner and then Luc enjoyed playing Marco Polo with some boys in the marina.

Sunday morning, we sailed for Nipper's on Great Guana Cay. We enjoyed a pig roast buffet on a beautiful beach, and we also took advantage of the two pools. Nipper's proved to be a great restaurant with a terrific atmosphere. We went back to the boat, Guy and Lisa went back to the island that night, while the kids stayed on the boat. However, that night, the air conditioning decided to crash-and-burn.

Monday morning we left for Hopetown. We got there and decided to walk to their Sugar Shack, about 2 miles later, we found out they were closed on Mondays. We walked back to town and quickly quenched our thirst at a restaurant in town. After, we once again terrorized every souvenir store. Then, we got ready for dinner at Capt'n Jacks.

Tuesday, we left for Sandy Cay, for a great snorkeling expedition! We all enjoyed the reef lots. That afternoon, we headed to Little Harbour to anchor. The kids swam around the boat, and enjoyed trying to accomlish a flip off the boat. That night, Guy and Lisa went out to dinner with some friends that they had made on another boat.