Green Turtle Cay, Abacos, Bahamas

 We had a positively delightful sail north about 25 miles to Green Turtle Cay.  Transitioning "the Whale" - a cut on either side of Whale Cay - is usually a bit bumpy because it's open to the ocean swells.  Today it was fairly smooth due to the wind direction.   Crossed paths with this lovely Canadian boat with shortened sails.  We left our sails fully up and were rewarded with a very fast passage.

 

In the distance, we were following Purrfect,  Chris and Allison from Canada.  They will be crossing to the US probably the same time we are.

 

 

The fancy beachfront houses along the Treasure Cay coast in the distance.

Going in the channel into White Sound, you could easily see the hurricane damage. 

 

The Green Turtle Club is well repaired though.

 

We went for an afternoon walk.  We've been to this area several times, but we've only come ashore for fuel, garbage disposal, etc.  It is a lovely island.

 

On the other side of the bay - Sojourn is in the center.

 

We walked over to the Bluff House area and turned around.

 

Lots of the houses are fairly well repaired, several look like they have a few finishing touches with equipment and supplies in the yard.

 

These little resort houses don't look like they're occupied though.

 

And there's the occasional house that has been left just as it was after Dorian.

 

A lovely walk.

 

Back to the boat!  Early night, customs tomorrow to do our outbound clearance paperwork.

Marsh Harbour, Abacos, Bahamas

 We had a great motors-off sail all the way from Lynyard Cay to the entrance of Marsh Harbour.

 

 

The effects of Hurricane Dorian 2 years ago were more prevalent as we headed north.

 

Here is a photo of a cute little house /tower I took 2 years ago.

Current view.  Lots of vegetation and the lighthouse cupola is missing.

 

And Tahiti Beach, a sandbar that dries at low tide and is a popular hang-out spot - 2 years ago - was hopping!

 This year, completely deserted (it's overcast but nice and warm).

Heading into Marsh Harbor to anchor, we were very careful and approached slowly in case there was anything to harm us in the water.  One of the derelict boats.  Other sunken items were marked with makeshift buoys.
 

The anchorage inside Marsh Harbour 2 years ago.  A busy place!

The anchorage view now.  4 boats in view and one of them is listing and has no mast.

View of one of several  busy docks 2 years ago.

 View of the dock now.

 
We took the dinghy ashore - and found that there was really no organized dinghy dock any more.  So we tied up to this concrete structure instead.  Marsh Harbour isn't really ready for cruisers to return yet....

 

Walking around, lots of debris remain. 

 

And many flattened structures.

 

Lots of structures like this - damaged but not repaired.  This building will eventually fall into complete ruin since the roof is open to the elements.

This structure apparently used to have a second story.

 

But there is also alot of construction/rebuilding going on.  This disaster relief project is in full swing.

I admire the volunteers!  This is there housing/staging area!

 

And of course, one of the liquor stores is completely refurbished.  The liquor store we frequented in the past, Bristol Wine and Spirits, is  GONE - just a concrete foundation remains.

Got a new flavor of Raddler - yummy, sweet and light. (Just 2% alcohol so good for a mid-day walk).

 

I look forward a few years to Marsh Harbour being a hive of activity.   

For a little comic relief - I spied this bench on our walkabout.....

 

Back to the boat - overcast skies but very warm.

Will move on north to Green Turtle tomorrow for customs check out and final push before the gulf stream crossing in the next few days!

Lynyard Cay, Abacos, Bahamas

 We're kind of in a holding pattern waiting on a good weather window to head home.....

Needed some bread....

 

And did a couple of loads of laundry.

We'll probably go further north tomorrow.

Lynyard Cay, Abacos, Bahamas

 It was a travel day, but a little more excitement.

The anchorage was mill-pond still in the morning.

 

We studied the winds for the next week or so and decided that the best option was to go north thru the Abacos.  This was a change from our earlier plans.  It's going to be hard to find a nice 4 day sailing window to go from the Bahamas to NC directly in the next little while.

 

Passing Egg Island, the water was just beautiful!  As soon as the depths allow, time to put the lures in the water.

 

We were rewarded shortly with this nice Wahoo!  28 pounds and 51 inches long.  The seas were fairly calm so we didn't mind taking the time to do some measurements.  (It's usually blowing like stink and tossing us around when we catch a big fish!)

 

The forecasts that we looked at were quite wrong for the day - much better winds for the 60 mile sail.  About 1/2 way we crossed paths with this nice Canadian boat..a quick wave of greeting....both of us having a really nice sail!

 

We did catch a small-ish Mahi-mahi later.  It was about 2 foot long - we decided that it needed to grow a bit and returned it to the sea for another day.

 

 

Into the anchorage at Lynyard Cay at the southern end of the Abacos, we anchored near another Manta!  Two nights in a row - this one is named Tangent.  We don't know them but may get a chance to say hello.

And if you want to know what a full freezer looks like ----(it's about 3' deep)

Royal Island Harbour, Bahamas

Another travel day!   Approaching Current Cut - we left the sails up and turned the engines on just to be careful.  There was only a 1/2 knot current against us so it wasn't a problem.  (Depending on the tide state, there can be 3-4 knots of current here for the short 1/4 mile pass).

 

 

Skies were still hazy and overcast. 

Approaching the anchorage for the evening - Royal Island.

 

And late in the evening, another Manta, Hahalau came into the anchorage!  We had not met them so was nice to chat with them briefly.  They are heading back to Florida but we hope to see them again.  More travel tomorrow.....