The wind blew most of the night
Saturday when we were anchored off of Powells Cay but we were pretty
protected by land. The sunrise with a mostly clear sky was a welcome
site from the rainy overcast previous day.
In the meantime, a rather large yacht
(note the seemingly small dinghy on the front bow!) came in and
joined us late in the day. Guess we must have been at the high end
anchorage and didn't even know it!
We quickly headed out in the morning in
an effort to trek the 15 miles to Green Turtle Cay before the winds
picked up too much. It was ok but the waves were coming on our beam –
a perfect time for using the steadying sail that Steve loves to fly
:-) And I have to admit that it does help us from rolling back and
forth so much …..
Halfway through getting the sail up, I
heard the zing of the fishing reel – great timing – really??? Do
we need to deal with a fish right now? Turned out to just be a
barracuda again – about 3 feet long. Still fun to catch but it was definitely NOT the time to stop and take a picture!
It wasn't long before we were tied to
the dock at Green Turtle Club and Marina. Nice place for sure and it
was good to be off the boat after 3 ½ days :-) Fortunately the tide
was up so Peter and Cheryl could make it in the somewhat shallow
channel without any problems.
Time to take the bikes off so Steve and
I headed down the road to see what we could find. This island is only
3 miles long and 1 mile wide so it was easy to find our way to the
nearest ocean side beach. So THIS is what we were looking for! The
white sand beaches and many shades of blue water.
The ocean side is crazy beautiful with
the waves breaking on the reefs about a mile offshore and then some
small patches of rock just off of the shoreline.
The small birds that feed along the
beach were enjoying the water as well ….
Today it was time to rent a golf cart
for the day to do some serious exploring of the island. First check
out the beach we had ridden our bikes to and then on into town we
went.
New Plymouth – settled primarily
after the War of Independence with Britain by Loyalists and former
slaves.
It's a quaint little town with narrow
streets and small homes sitting on the shores of Black Sound at the
southern end of Green Turtle Cay. There were a few restaurants –
many open only on weekends or for dinner only – and a few small
grocery stores, hardware, bank, and liquor stores.
There was a very impressive bronze bust
memorial garden honoring many individuals from the 1800's and 1900's
who played a role in the development of the area.
A small museum rounded out the
educational stops for the day as the gentleman working there gave a
short tour and history of the area. The model ships were really
amazing. Can't remember the modelers name but he built these until
his death and his son now carries on the tradition. One of his models
was presented to Prince Charles and Lady Diana for a wedding gift.
(Hope I remembered that right!).
Loved the sign coming down from the
upstairs (location of the dormer bedrooms). Maybe we need one of
those for the boat for our quite tall brother-in-law Scott :-)
And of course the “closet” which is
not functional but is located to the rear of the property. We had
Steve check it out :-)
Afterwards, we headed out to the north
end of the island – toward, appropriately named – the North End!
Saying we took the road available would be a stretch as the path
stretched along on a narrow strip of land between impenetrable
bushes. It was crazy rough and uneven - could hardly go slow enough!
There were houses here and there. Some obviously closed and
not in use. A few cottages that were available for rent – otherwise
not much along the way.
 |
| The beach at the end of the road - North End |
Finally we reached the North End –
complete with a sign indicating as much – and an old cracked bell with a note it was to be rung - we complied!
Picture on the right is one of the many ocean inlets
that are the cause of much of the wave action that we've experienced
crossing the Sea of Abaco which lies between the northern cays and
Great Abaco Island. You can see the distinctive color of the Atlantic
off in the distance.
Meanwhile, we spotted this little guy
as we were driving around. It's weird in that it looks like the small
lizards that run around the Florida keys but these kind run with
their tails all curled up! Almost looks like a scorpion but it's not.
We'll be staying a few days yet to let
some unsettled weather roll through – then it's continued travel
eastward.
No comments:
Post a Comment