Allen's Pensacola Cay, Abacos, Bahamas

We set sail for the 25 mile trip to Allen's Pensacola Cay in bright sunny skies. 

And were chased by these storms all day, but never got hit.  They did provide some great sailing winds though.

Pretty anchorage and uninhabited island.

The cruisers have left another of their marked trails over to the ocean side of the cay.

Jagged limestone at the shore and a good bit of washed-up plastic and fishing nets/lines.

On down the beach there is another marked trail.  This one I think the cruisers have gone a bit too far with the piled up junk.  I really think they should burn the stuff instead of this....some call it "quirky" - I call it a trash pile.  (I know it's hard to get rid of stuff when you're on a small boat - it's not like we could easily load the stuff up and take it away with us....)  

This trail leads to a sandier beach and this "signing tree" where the cruisers put their "signs".  Again, just a little too trashy for my taste.  

We were thinking that we saw a weather window to sail to NC at the end of the week, but the forecast has changed and it looks like it may be a while longer yet.  No worries!  More little islands to explore!

Green Turtle Cay, Abacos, Bahamas

We moved the boat a short way down to New Plymouth settlement.  Decided to take the opportunity to go out to eat one last time (not really many restaurants as we make our way north and west).  We picked Harvey's and had a fun meal.

Pretty sunset for the dinghy ride back to the boat.

Green Turtle Cay, Abacos, Bahamas

We left Scotland Cay this morning and set sail north to Green Turtle Cay, about 20 miles. 

The wind/wave condition was forecast to be good to pass thru the Whale Passage - an exposed ocean channel.  It was a little "lumpier" than forecast.  The video, as usual, makes it look calmer than it truly was.....we're sailing here with only the reefed mailsail in 22 knots of true wind.

Anchored in White Sound on Green Turtle Cay.  Just a quiet little resort area.

Later in the evening we went over to the "Dollar Bar" at the Green Turtle Cay Club.

It's one of those bars where you're supposed to tack up a dollar bill "to buy your friend a drink in the future".....we decided against throwing a dollar away there (and the beer is $7 each so you'd have to leave 7 dollar bills, not just one!!)  

Scotland Cay, Abacos, Bahamas

Saw a pretty little green turtle in the marina - eating the little grass that was floating on the top of the water.

With guests on board, we had used a lot of water, so we spent 5 or 6 hours making water and waiting out some rater stormy weather.  We'll be heading north now to slowly start making our way home!

Abacos, Bahamas

Had a great time with Dick and Lindy during their short stay!  Relaxing on the way over to Little Harbour.

The legend tells that the folks who run the Pete's Pub Foundry sailed  to Abacos in the 1950's to escape "civilization" in the US.  They originally lived in some caves in the Little Harbour cove.

We explored a little bit - not sure I'd have wanted to live in this cave!

Took the dinghy over to Pete's Pub.

Sojourn in Little Harbour (we can only come in here on a high tide).

Moved the boat over to an area where we could go see a blue hole.  This is the shallow entrance to the mangrove creek.

Saw a pretty ray.

Couldn't really get a good photo of the blue hole since it is pretty large.  This is the ledge that drops off to 100's of feet of depth - a hole or tunnels connecting it to the ocean.

There is a plaque on shore that tells the tale of 3 SCUBA divers who tried to explore the tunnels about 20 years ago and perished!

Hard to see, but this is the ledge of the blue hole as it drops down to hundreds of feet deep with horizontal tunnels.

And captured a shot of a green turtle swimming away from us

Took a nice walk on Lynyard Cay to the ocean side.

Pretty scene, but up close there is alot of plastic trash....

We had planned to meet up with Rita and Will to snorkel at the Sandy Cay nature preserve, but the waves from the ocean were rolling in to the reef and it would have been uncomfortable.  So, we called them on the radio and decide to head to Snake Cay instead for a protected mangrove dinghy ride/snorkel.  We did a bit of snorkeling and had some lunch....and then we sortof got attacked by stinging pesky black flies!  We all decided to pull anchor and go somewhere else!

 Dick and Lindy's time was about to come to a close, so we headed back north, stopping at Tahiti Beach.

 Wandered the sandbar.....here is the Thirsty 'Cuda - the food truck/boat.

Dick got Lindy and I a "Goombay Smash" - a nice, refreshing tropical drink.

 And that's about it for the trip!   Watched a movie in the evening - Lost in Translation - which apparently gets really good reviews.  But we all absolutely hated it!  Oh well.

And before we knew it - Dick and Lindy were taking off for their journey home!

Lynyard Cay, Abacos, Bahamas

Rita invited us over to their house for lunch so we walked the mile from the marina.

I'm including photos of Rita's orchids for Sharon since I know she enjoys them.  

There are dozens of them all around her house.  And they're all blooming at the same time!  She says she puts them outside in the garden for the summers while they're away - then brings them inside when they arrive to the Abacos.  Lovely and delicate.


In the afternoon, Dick and Lindy arrived in their plane to the Scotland Cay airport.  Will and Rita have 2 golf carts so we all greeted them and carried their luggage over to our boat.  We said our thank-yous and goodbyes to Will and Rita (although we likely will see them again).

In the afternoon we went over to the lagoon for some sunshine.

A stranger offered to take a photo of the group!

Others enjoying the lagoon at almost low tide.

The next morning, we sailed over to Hope Town.

Climbed the lighthouse.

Fun viewing the town from the top of the lighthouse.

On the dinghy.

Just did a leisurely tour of the pretty little town.

And back to the boat for a few more hours sailing south to Lynyard Cay for the evening.

 At Lynyard we went ashore for a little beach combing.

Found some neat sealife.  A pretty little starfish.

And not sure what this is - but I have an empty shell on the boat of this variety.  This one was occupied by it's owner!

 It was "stuck" to a big rock - when we pulled it loose you could see the large suction cup-like "foot".  Pretty cool - we put him back in the sea.

Back to the boat for a relaxing evening - played some cards until all were sleepy.....

All for now!