Green Turtle to Treasure Cay
Trip Start
Jul 21, 2001
1
42
45
Trip End
Apr 22, 2002
Treasure Cay,
Bahamas
Friday, January 25, 2002
As we arrived at the outer harbour of Green Turtle, we were greeted by our wonderful friends Pauline and Martin aboard FOREVER YOUNG whom we hadn't seen since December 13, after leaving each other at Stuart, Florida. They anchored in the outer harbour because they had to clear customs. After greetings shouted across the water, we left to tie up at the Black Sound Marina. It is an excellent little marina with an initial cost of only 60 cents a foot. This would be our second experience with the extra costs. There was a meter gauge on the water and it cost 50 cents a gallon, every shower you took cost $3, ice was $4, electricity cost $12 (thankfully we didn't need this option), to do one load of laundry cost $10. After staying one day, our bill for the dockage was $18 but the total bill ended up at $54 - buyer beware.
Martin and Pauline dinghied over from their anchorage in the outer harbour to meet us and spend an afternoon catching up on the events of the past month. In the evening, we walked to the town of New Plymouth to a restaurant which had been recommended to us - Laura's Kitchen. Staying with our Bahamian theme for the evening we had Cracked Conch and Grouper. Excellent food, moderately pricey.
January 22 & 23
NICOU stayed tied up at the marina for the duration of the stay while we opted to anchor in the Black Sound harbour, a short distance away from the marina. FOREVER YOUNG stayed anchored in the outer harbour and due to their larger size and being a catamaran were able to ride the waves in the more exposed area better than we would have been able. Despite our different choices, we spent the days together and enjoyed sun-downers on board a different boat each evening.
Dave had an excellent idea of renting a golf cart for 24 hours. Not only did we tour the island, but Dave provided rides for Martin and Pauline and another singlehanded cruiser whom we had meet at Powell Cay. Good times were had by all.
If readers of this web site ever visit Green Turtle a great little restaurant with low prices for conch dishes is the Wrecking Tree right on the beach at the town site of New Plymouth. In front of the Wrecking Tree one can watch the tide go out leaving the local boats high and dry at their moorings.
To commemorate their bi-centennial, the Loyalist Memorial Garden was constructed. Dominating the center of the garden is a life-sized sculpture of two young women, one black and one white. Rows of bronze busts of prominent Bahamian citizens complete a design which is in the shape of the British flag. All of which creates a very unique garden.
These early colonists tried to make a go of farming but the land was quite poor. There were mahogany trees on the island and they were cut down and sold to the Carolina states. Here on Green Turtle a number of the colonists finally gave up and tore down their homes, put the lumber aboard ships, sailed to Key West, Florida and rebuilt their homes there. Key West and Green Turtle are now officially sister communities and share a number of special events.
In 1932, a hurricane devastated Green Turtle and only one house was left standing. A huge church which could seat 1200 people and was built of stone couldn't stand up to the force of the hurricane. The curator of the museum showed me pictures of the devastation of the island. Even the graveyard suffered as bodies came to the surface and had to be reburied a week later. One recent death had to be buried in a tarp, as it had bloated with the sea water into huge grotesque corpse which wouldn't fit into a coffin. The people from Key West arrived to help rebuild some of the area and contributed money in particular for the work in the cemetery. This island has been hit by several hurricanes since but none with the destructive force of the one in 1932.
Walking the narrow streets of New Plymouth is a pleasure. There is no indication of the 1999 hurricane damage, the town is neat and very clean. It is also like going back in time to another era.
here are a number of beautiful, quaint Cape Cod style cottages in the area and, in town, the narrow streets are lined with pastel coloured clapboard houses trimmed with gingerbread, with white picket fences entwined with bougainvillea. I was told that I would have seen much the same architecture in the late 1800's.
January 25 Treasure Cay
The cruising guide states that the area from Green Turtle Cay to Marsh Harbour is the most popular cruising area in the Abacos - perhaps the most popular in the entire Bahamas. It is about 20 miles long and about 5 miles wide and offers the cruiser incredible variety - snug harbours, beautiful beaches, ocean cruising, quaint villages, good diving, excellent restaurants, good anchorages, fancy marina, and good shopping. During our next month of cruising we hoped to sample all of the above but to get there we had to enter the southern portion of the Sea of Abaco via Whale Cay Channel and Loggerhead Channel. The guides state that this is the most difficult and treacherous part of the Abacos.
Each day on the morning VHF net the sea conditions for this passage is given. Not being in any hurry we waited until we had a day with sunny skies, light winds and almost no swells. This gave us a perfect passage through the shoals and one wondered what all the fuss was about.
FOREVER YOUNG had left the previous day and were at Bakers Bay but NICOU and ourselves wished to proceed to the resort community of Treasure Cay. We had read that National Geographic listed it as "One of the 10 best beaches in the world".
We anchored in a harbour protected from all winds. Because this is a private community they charge a modest $8 to anchor in the dredged harbour. This allows you to be considered guests of the marina with full use of all facilities - great value. In the marina complex there is a pool, bar, restaurant, dive shop and jewelry store. Nearby is a grocery store with fresh produce at reasonable prices (for the Bahamas), a post office liquor store and a laundry where you leave your washing with an elderly lady and pick it up all washed, dried and folded for $5 a load. For our friends who like to golf the resort even has an 18 hole golf course where apparently a number of famous tournaments have been held.
But we were interested in the famous beach. We took our dinghies to the marina office to check in and immediately walked to the beach which is only about 3 minutes from the marina.
What an incredible sight. Three and a half miles of powdery white sand in a crescent moon enclosing water coloured with all the various shades of blue and turquoise stretching as far as the eye could see. As this is considered to be the low season in the Abacos, there were few people on the beach and due to its length it was easy to have a section all to our very own.
This was one of our dreams come true. It is almost impossible to believe it is January and our family and friends are back home dealing with winter. Once again, it has been a day of temperatures in the low 80s and tonight it is predicted the temperature will be around 70 degrees. Great for sleeping.
After swimming and sunbathing and generally totally relaxing, we made our way back to the marina to enjoy fresh water showers, a swim in their pool and Bahama Mama drinks at the pool side bar.
This is retirement! What a life!
