Green Turtle and on to New Providence Island

We left our anchorage at Fox Town the next morning, heading to Green Turtle Cay.  There was a noticeable difference as we cruised down to Green Turtle Cay. Up to then, there were few boats and little radio traffic. The northern Abacos are “out islands”, largely uninhabited with some small communities here and there.  Once we passed Spanish Cay and were heading to Green Turtle, we were in the Central Abacos with all kinds of boats and radio chatter. I’m looking forward to exploring!

There’s a bit more going on at this Cay and we thought we might stay a couple days to check it out. The channel to get into the White Sound at the north end of Green Turtle has been dredged to 7 feet at mean low tide. So we thought that we should be able to get in on a mid to rising tide. With our 6’8” draft, we’re a deep boat for the Abacos (and the Exumas) so there aren’t very many marinas and snug sounds/bays where we can fit. I was excited to be able to get into this bay so we could be near the action J  We anchored outside the sound initially.

Vector off of our bow on the east side of Green Turtle

After a seeing a Nordy 62 leave and knowing the tide was rising, Vector ventured in. We followed and had no more than 6 inches under us at a couple places. As soon as Blossom was anchored we settled in for a drink on the fly bridge. We’ve gotten used to being alone in large anchorages and it was a bit nerve racking setting the hook in such a tight space.  We’re nestled in with several sail boats and catamarans who are anchored and moored in the bay. Our neighboring sail boat said he’s been here 2 weeks and we’re the biggest boat to have come in. Given how shallow it is, we’re not surprised!

Our sailboat neighbor who we anchored very close too, and a local resident, Jim, SUPing through the anchorage.

White Sound anchorage looking north (Vector is in the far back)

Sean & Louise put Scalar in the water, picked us and we headed to Green Turtle Marina Restaurant. We settled in on the screened patio and had a drink and really good dinner.  

Dinner at Green Turtle

On Tuesday we put Petal in the water and we all drove down to New Plymouth, the town on the south side of the island (about a mile away). It’s a quaint and friendly town with the customary colorful Bahamian houses. We were able to top off our Batelco phone cards (very important since we use these for internet and to text each other) and dump some trash. We did the tour of the town, picked up some fresh produce and enjoyed some home made ice cream. We tried the other restaurant in White Sound that night, the Bluff House and had a nice dinner though there was no one else there!

New Plymouth from atop the hill

Watch out for those attack roosters!

We had hoped to get out and about a bit more but it was very windy (we aren’t that good on the SUPs to handle much wind/wave action) and we realized that the weather window that we’d been watching for early next week was closing in. Rather than Monday or Tuesday it was looking like Friday so we needed to do some planning.  I spent Wednesday pouring over charts, looking for possible anchorages for this passage and for the rest of travel down to the Georgtown.

Today, we left in the morning (on the high tide and saw 1.5 feet below us!) and headed for Man-O-War Cay.  Sean & Louise listened to Chris Parkers report on the SSB in the morning and we called him in the afternoon to confirm that tomorrow is the best day to head out. It looks like it is, so we’re anchored off Man-O-War, right by a cut to get out to the ocean. It’ll be about an 18 hour trip so we’ll leave in the afternoon, arriving at anchorage late morning so we can see any corals or obstructions in the shallow water.  Sean & Louise weren’t sure of which route they’d take to get down to the Exumas but they decided to come straight down through the NE Passage too so we’ll both be heading out together.  I’m getting excited to see the Exumas again!  We fell in love with the area back in 09 and we’ve been waiting to get back there ever since.

Man-O-War Cay

Once we got anchored today Martin had to bleed our stern thruster tube. Air got in there somehow and they stopped working. We ran our wing engine and prop to make sure our emergency get home option was working (it is J) and we’re doing laundry and a few other chores in preparation for the passage. Tomorrow morning we hope to pop into town and get a quick look at the cay before we head out.