LIFE at Great Guana Cay

View of 7-Mile Beach, taken from the upper deck of Nippers, the legendary Guana Cay Tiki bar/restaurant. This place is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner 363 days a year. The owner told us they close on Christmas Day and one other day, but he couldn't remember which one...
Probably suffering from "CRS" (Can't Remember S**t) induced by prolonged exposure to their drink specialty "The Nipper". More than two of those at a sitting brings on early onset CRS.


Susan at sea level on 7-mile beach. The most beautiful sand-castle material I've seen in a long, long, time!


Captain King wades ashore from the sea, shouting: "I hereby lay claim to this beach in the name of the Baby Boomer Generation, its heirs and assigns, free and clear forever!"


Preparing for our second SCUBA diving lesson. Am I the only one here?


World Headquarters for Guana Dive International, Ltd. Pretty snazzy office, eh?


We've been taking full advantage of all that the Bahamas has to offer. Sunny, warm days interwoven with rainy, cool days. On the sunny ones, we roam the island on our scooters, terrifying the populace with our tendency to drive on the right-hand side of the road (they follow British driving rules here). We frequent the beaches, restaurants, Tiki bars, and small merchants of the island. On rainy days, we hibernate, read, do laundry, watch television, take long naps, and visit with new friends aboard nearby boats.

We've also been working toward the PADI Open Water SCUBA Diver certification. This calls for study of the diving instruction manualsl, taking tests to ensure we've absorbed the necessary knowledge, and video instruction, along with 5 lagoon (shallow-water) dive classes, and 5 open-water reef dives to demonstrate our competence. We did our first two reef dives yesterday, and we are clearly hooked! I will be forever grateful to our friend, Terry Carron, for giving me most of the diving gear I will need: wet suit, regulator, vest BCD (Bouyancy Control Device), gear bag, and more. To be honest, without his generous gift, I probably would have been content with my snorkel gear, having never had much interest in going deeper underwater. However, I reasoned that by learning to use it, I could easily save money by cleaning our boat's bottom myself! Now we have to save some money to purchase Susan's gear next time we return to the US. Bahamian duty fees just about double the price of anything you buy here that is made elsewhere.

LIFE on Great Guana Cay has been a joy! Wish you were here!

Pinch Me - I Must Be Dreaming

It seems like a dream vacation, without the dread of returning to the "real world" in 10 days...Every Day is Just Like Yesterday, and the one before that. Every morning, 80 degrees, balmy breezes, azure bay that looks 2 feet deep but it's 20' or more, watching for sea turtles popping their heads above the surface, I sip my iced coffee on the aft deck...Then I wonder if I need to do a stressful chore like a load of laundry, or is it time to change the sheets yet? ...Just another day in Paradise.

Walt and I are finally getting the hang of retirement! This is GREAT! We spent Saturday lounging around the yacht club pool, snacking on delicious appetizers and sipping local beer, reading our books and gazing out at the sail boats in the Sea of Abaco. (The lending library is alive and well with boaters; we read and pass along books faster than the City Library). Sunday we strolled up to Nippers, the local hangout, for the weekly Pig Roast and Party. Nippers is a landmark here on this tiny island. I didn't have it in me to return for their SuperBowl Party that evening, but Walt and our friend Bill were determined to do their All American Guy thing, and whooped it up with the locals for that most exciting game.

I beat Walt at Scrabble the other night; he said that won't happen again...

Walt tuning up his old 12-string Gibson...

Monday was special! We moved Kingdom over to the fuel dock and off-loaded our scooters! To hell with chores when there is a whole island to explore! We covered every paved and sandy road on the island (in under an hour). Then, needing refreshment and nourishment, what better than Cheeseburgers in Paradise! Nippers sits on a knoll above 7 mile beach, a talcum powder white beach which faces the turquoise blue Atlantic Ocean we all dream about. Snorkelers enjoy the reefs just off shore, but we haven't gotten around to that yet, as our plans to return later with our gear was interrupted by nap time!

Bahamians are the friendliest people, polite, gracious and fun. The history here is somewhat convoluted: The islands were first settled by Loyalists during the American Revolution. Freed slaves came with them, and more after the Civil War. Then developers came from around the globe, and either made it or more likely didn't. There are ex-pats from the US and Canada, and Caribbean neighbors. There is no crime, no police presence, and sometimes no electricity on the whole island (like Sunday when some boat tore through the submerged power line and we went dark until the generators started humming on every boat and building in town).

Susan on the beach...

Orchid Bay landing, pool beyond...

Tonight we are BBQing chicken breasts on our cockpit grill. I'll make baked potatoes and salad, and perhaps we'll dine on the flybridge and watch the sun set.

Then, since it is Super-Tuesday, we may watch the early election returns on TV. This is the first time we have not been able to cancel out each others' vote, and might have actually voted for the same person if we'd filed our absentee ballots. But even politics can't disturb the peace and tranquility here on Kingdom.

So I guess it's true: Merrily, Merrily, Merrily, Merrily, Life is But a Dream!

Great Sale Cay to Green Turtle Cay via Spanish Cay

The anchorage at Great Sale Cay was peaceful and quiet at sunset, but we knew that the winds were going to increase and blow from the southeast overnight as a weather front moved through. Five boats eventually anchored here for the night. We anchored well off the beach, and away from the shallow inner cove just in case the high winds might cause our anchors to drag. We each prepared a second, heavy weather anchor in advance, so it would be easy to deploy if necessary.

This is a picture of KISMET, our twin boat, with the sunset lighting her up like gold.


We (KISMET and KINGDOM) had planned to get underway around 7:30am next morning, soon after sunrise. However, we awoke to very windy, squally weather. We tried to wait it out, but by 9:30am, it was still raining. Hoisting the anchor was a perfect opportunity to get a bath while fully dressed. Bill Meissner called ahead to Spanish Cay Marina, making reservations for us to put in there as our next stop. Spanish Cay has good protection from northern winds, and a decent breakwater helps break up wave action from the south and southwest.
Since Kismet's autopilot was acting weird, I offered to lead the way to Spanish Cay. I had already set the waypoints for our course. So Bill and Shelly fell into line behind us. Another boat, FREEDOM (owners Arthur and Pauline), had generator problems, and asked if they could join us. Two other boats anchored overnight at Great Sale Cay fell in line behind FREEDOM. They were PEACE and IFFIN, both out of Palm Coast, FL.
The squalls blew themselves away, but the wind clocked around to the south, and our anemometers registered wind speeds of steady 20 to 30 knots, with gusts of up to 35 kph through the afternoon.
It's a bit hard to see, but in the picture below in our wake are KISMET, followed by FREEDOM, and then IFFIN, with PEACE on the horizon. Squinting my eyes, I could imagine a line of WWII destroyers in convoy...


My First Mate likes to nap on the Pilothouse Berth while we're underway. I like having her nearby while I'm at the helm. She keeps me company, even when she's napping. I also appreciate that Susan demonstrates this level of confidence in my navigational skills. It is always good to be rested for the next leg of our trip.


KISMET and KINGDOM arrived at Spanish Cay Marina around 3:30pm. FREEDOM arrived right behind us. Unfortunately, PEACE developed a leak in their hydraulic steering system, and was dead in the water about 2 miles from the marina. They were forced to drop their anchor and heave to while they diagnosed the problem. Their friends Barry and Barbara, aboard IFFIN, stayed with them until the marina staff agreed to send their work boat out to tow them in. We anxiously monitored their progress by VHF radio from the marina's bar until they arrived safely, around 5:30pm. Then we proceeded to get fairly wasted!
Since the weather was messy for the next 24 hours, we all decided to stay at Spanish Cay Marina another night, before proceeding on to Green Turtle Cay. This gave Jim (Captain of PEACE) time to hitch a ride on the marina's work boat over to Great Abaco Cay, where he was able to get a taxi down to Marsh Harbor, obtain a replacement hydraulic hose, and get back by evening. (I heard it was a $200 taxi fare to get a $100 part! Bummer!)

The next day, we all departed from Spanish Cay. FREEDOM elected to go on down to Orchid Bay, while PEACE and IFFIN decided to anchor in Black Sound, Green Turtle Cay.

Bill Meissner had pre-arranged dockage at Bluff House Marina in Green Turtle Cay for KISMET and KINGDOM. The approach to the harbor there is quite shallow and narrow, so we followed KISMET over the bar at high tide, since they had been there before. Once in the harbor, the boats are protected from winds from all directions, and especially the South and East. A few hours after our arrival, FREEDOM entered the harbor, and docked at the Green Turtle Club Marina, across White Sound from us. We learned later that they had tried to make the passage around Whale Cay, but turned back when they encountered 5' to 8' waves in the channel.

Bluff House is aptly named, since the main dining area is situated high on a bluff overlooking the harbor to the east, Plymouth Town to the south and the Sea of Abaco to the west. Sunsets are spectacular!

This is a view of the dock at Bluff House Marina. In the background is the Jolly Roger Cafe and Bar, which was not yet open for the season. Up the hill to the right is the Bluff House restaurant, which offers excellent meals.

Again due to weather, we stayed put at Bluff House Marina on Green Turtle Cay for two nights, watching for the seas to subside before making the passage through "The Whale". This passage requires deep draft yachts like ours to leave the relative protection of the Sea of Abaco, traverse a narrow cut out into the Atlantic a mile or so, and then head south around Whale Cay, and back into the Sea of Abaco through a wider cut between Whale and Great Guana Cays. When the wind has been blowing from the North or Northeast at more that 15kph for very long, this passage becomes very treacherous for boat traffic. They call it a "rage", and smart boaters wait until the seas are settled before making this passage.

While we waited, Bill, Shelly, Susan and I rented a golf cart, so we could do a bit of sight-seeing. We drove over to Plymouth Town, a tiny village on the island that dates back to the 1880's, located on Black Sound.
Plymouth Town harbor...