Days 129 and 130: Boat Friends

Great Guana (anchored) to Black Point Sound, Green Turtle Cay, Abacos, Bahamas (mooring ball)

May 24 & 25, 2022

May 24

Our friend Jen told us to look for the white-tailed tropic birds in Great Guana, which was great timing because they were flying and diving all over our anchorage. We had only seen them at one other anchorage – Shroud Cay – in the Exumas. These birds have really long, thin tails that can look like jet trails behind them. They’re really hard to photograph because they fly fast and they dart all over the place.

A cool fact about these birds is that their legs are set so far back on the body that they can’t walk upright on land. For the rare times they need to move on land, they use their chests, wings and occasionally their beaks to pull themselves along. Those rear-set legs make them good swimmers.

A barge hovered behind the anchorage for a bit while we were eating breakfast. When stuff like that happens it’s unsettling – the charts don’t have this area marked as a shipping/mailboat route. We turned on our VHF radio to see if they would hail us, but in the end, the barge just moved off.

We’re currently traveling in the company of two other boats: SV Wild and SV Luna. We dinghied over to Grabbers Beach Bar and walked to the beach on the Atlantic side of Great Guana.

The easiest access to the beach is through the steps at Nippers’ Beach Bar. The names of the beach bars are really interesting…

John snorkeled off the beach with Andy, Eric, and Nikki while Casey and I got beach time with Frank the greyhound. This was the first time I just sat on a beach in the Bahamas. We’ve walked on beaches, explored beaches with caves and blowholes, and even hung out with lizards and other boaters at beaches, but for some reason, I haven’t just enjoyed sitting on a beach towel with my feet in the sand until today.

It was absolutely perfect.

Dinner and drinks were on SV Wild. John has created this year’s “John drink” (rum. Kahlua, and Bailey’s) so he was the mixologist. We made plans for our next hop through the Whale and to No Name Cay, which is about 10 miles.

May 25

Teamwork is a gift. As we made water for SV Luna, they traveled to shore to get rid of trash and grab ice. Our mainsail had been getting hung up in the furler so we had a team of guys to fix that.

Ever since we crossed over to the Abaco island chain, we have been in the Sea of Abaco. This body of water has Abaco Island on the west and chains of smaller cays to the east (Atlantic Ocean) which keeps the water fairly shallow and the waves pretty small. As we travelled north, we had to go through the Whale Cay Passage, also known as “Crossing the Whale.” The water in the Sea of Abaco near Whale Cay is too shallow for most boats so we have to leave the Sea of Abaco and travel outside (in the Atlantic) for about 2 miles and re-enter the Sea of Abaco on the north side of Whale Cay.

Guidebooks mention that this area can be prone to swells if the prevailing winds are strong enough to push water against the tide. We checked the tides and waves before the three boats in our flotilla made the passage.

We were the last boat out of the anchorage which meant that we benefited from information that the other boats were transmitting. Last night we planned to spend some time at anchor in No Name Cay but the first boat in our flotilla found the anchorage to be too rolly. We all changed course to Black Sound in Green Turtle Cay.

The short hop – less than 10 miles – meant that we had time to sail. Sailing can be slow if the wind isn’t just right, but we had lots of time to get to our anchorage. It’s incredibly peaceful to turn off the engine and move with the wind, especially when the seas were at our back.

Tonight we are on a mooring ball in a very protected harbor and we may stay here for a few days.

We’re planning to explore Green Turtle Cay tomorrow and possibly sail in one boat to Manjack where we can explore some nature trails and a dinghy trail.

Sharing our resources with our boat buddies (now renamed flotilla friends) has been one of the better decisions we have made: we have other folks who share knowledge and excitement, which builds our own. It also allows us to not do an activity – John can snorkel while I sunbathe, for example, because each of us has friends who are sharing that activity.