Great Gauna Cay

We find ourselves meandering; progressing along a couple of miles each day from beach to beach on Great Gauna Cay.  Our first anchorage was Crawl Bight, our 2nd was at Fisher's Bay, 3rd - Crossing Bay and our 4th was at Baker's Bay.  

                    Crawl Bay was spectacular as it is beside a channel open to the Atlantic Ocean. 

Our first ride over in the dinghy was quite a wild one as we rode in to the incoming tidal surf.  On our 2nd trip we were able to walk out to the sandbars at low tide. 

                               4 Tropicbirds entertained us with their chattering at Crawl Bight. 

This is not my photo but it shows more clearly how beautiful the tropicbirds are with their long sweeping tails.  When they fly over the water the turquoise colour reflects on to their white underbelly.  Unlike "gulls", tropicbirds chatter back and forth between each other.

We made a hasty retreat from Fisher's Bay after we watched a tug with a barge skim between the boats on anchor.  We also weren't too sorry to escape the jet skis coming out of the resort on the beach there.

                  At Crossing Bay we were shocked to see the wreck of a catamaran on the beach.

Numerous ferries and barges were bringing workers and construction material in to the commercial dock at Crossing Bay.  Reconstruction and development is underway everywhere we look.  Right now the beaches are ours to enjoy but we can see that may not be the case in the future.

                                Baker's Bay offered the longest beach and the best shelling to date.

The shells on Baker's Bay beach look like bubbles in the sand.

A very interesting huge building is centre stage on the crescent of beach.  We wondered if it was a church.  They were doing reconstruction work on it as was the case with most of the buildings. 

                                   

Moving "Forward" --- Let's go to the Beach!!

 On April 11th we received a message from the U.S. Postal Service advising that the transmission parts we ordered had moved along to J. F. K. airport.  (we do note they're moving north instead of south)  

Time will tell what happens to our package but in the interim we hoisted sail and made the 6 mile passage across to Great Guana Cay.  

We dropped anchor at the very southern end of Great Guana Cay....where it meets Scotland Cay.  A truly gorgeous location that offers a magnificent view of the Atlantic Ocean as it surges in to the Sea of Abaco.  

Several beaches surround the small inlet. 

We enjoyed a thrilling dinghy ride through the surf and even came upon a sea turtle in the shallows.

It's great to have escaped from the noise of Marsh Harbour's commercial port's ships and ferries (and the smoke from the dump) to enjoy the fresh ocean air and sound of the surf once again. 

Local Colour

 We love that the buildings edging the harbour are painted different colours.  The Bahamas Government Complex building was resplendent in "traditional" Bahamas pink with a courtyard abloom in the centre.

  

The Union Jack dinghy dock in Marsh Harbour.  Sea Star is anchored off, just to the right.

The building on shore behind the dinghy dock is a reminder of the devastation that hurricane Dorian brought to the island.  Note the twisted steel girders.  

Our walk to the grocery store is about 2 blocks from the dock.  Following are photos of the local colour that has emerged amidst the rubble in just that short distance.

                                                                   Marsh Harbour

And Then This Happened

 On our approach to Marsh Harbour we noticed something odd going on with Sea Star's diesel engine.  It would chug along forward for awhile then sort of "coast".  We lifted anchor in Marsh Harbour on April 1st; destination Hopetown, but immediately dropped again when we realized we had no forward motion.  Barry determined the clutch was slipping on the transmission.   

Barry ordered a transmission overhaul set and a thrust washer from Basic Power Industries in North Carolina.  They ship by U.S. Postal Service.  We paid $58. (U.S.) shipping.  

And Then This Happened:

Barry checked with a nearby marina (Conch Inn Marina) to see if they would take delivery of the package for us.  Their address is 700 Bay Street, Marsh Harbour, Abacos, Bahamas.  Unfortunately, when we received confirmation of the order we saw that an error had occurred and the word "Andros" had been substituted for "Abacos"......close, but regrettably quite a different Bahamas island.  

Every effort was made repeatedly, each day to amend the address with the shipper and the U.S.P.S. over the next seven days.....to no avail.  

Prior to this, we made a major decision to leave our boat in the Bahamas.  We booked with Abaco Yacht Services on Green Turtle Cay to haul out on May 3rd and store with them.  We also booked non-refundable flights to Miami that day but now we found ourselves anchored in Marsh Harbour with no transmission. 

And Then This Happened:

Barry decided to take the transmission apart and switch the forward clutch with reverse.  If we could at least go forward we could get to Green Turtle Cay to haul out, albeit with no reverse gear.  While working, Barry dropped (and lost) one of the small ball bearings in the transmission.....truly a devastating consequence. 

It seems impossible to imagine that a ball bearing could be lost in the boat cabin and not found but indeed that was the case.  We searched e-v-e-r-y where, many times, to no avail.  Barry felt it fall on his foot.....never to be seen again.  

Sooo, we found ourselves searching through a hurricane ravaged community for 3 days for a ball bearing. 

We posted on the Bahamas cruisers Facebook page looking for help and called in to the Cruiser's Net on the VHF radio.  Several good suggestions were received from fellow boaters but many of the businesses suggested were no longer operating, having been destroyed.   Remarkably, we had two separate offers from people flying in from the U.S. who said they would bring a ball bearing with them.

Luckily, the bike shop in Hopetown (on the island of Elbow Cay) was reopened and they had ball bearings.  Kindly, one of their employees brought some over to us in Marsh Harbour on her way home on the ferry.  Regrettably, they were the wrong size.  Barry took the ferry over the next day ($20 U.S.), went to the bike shop and managed to get the right size.   He installed the transmission the next day and we now can move forward.

So, now we just need to await delivery of the "improperly addressed" package from the U.S.  We have received word from the U.S.P.S. that it has made it as far as their clearing center in Jamaica, New York.  We ordered it one week ago today.

How long could it possibly take?

Hurricane Dorian - Category 5 - largest Atlantic hurricane ever recorded

 

Hurricane Dorian:

- September 1 - 3, 2019

- Strongest Atlantic hurricane on record

- Strongest hurricane to ever hit the Bahamas

- pummelled the Abacos and Grand Bahama Island for 48 hours

- hovered over the islands moving as slow as 1 mph

- highest wind speed recorded 298 km/h

- maximum sustained winds for a one minute period - 185 mph

- estimated storm tide 20 - 25 feet

- estimated rainfall - 3 feet

- 74 deaths

- 282 missing (many undocumented Haitians)

- 70,000 left homeless

- 45% of homes suffered damage or were totally destroyed

- 90% of infrastructure in Marsh Harbour (Great Abaco Island) destroyed

- 60% of Grand Bahama Island was left submerged

- airport was under 6 feet of water

- efforts are still underway to restore and flush the aquifer of salt (the locals buy bottled water)

- eye came to land at Elbow Cay

- 87% of Dorian's damage was in the Abacos

Our hearts are saddened to see the devastation that hurricane Dorian has brought to this area.  We take comfort in seeing the number of cruisers who are here, contributing to the local economy.

On March 25, 2022 the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (Will & Kate) paid a visit to the Marsh Harbour/Elbow Cay area to draw attention and to view some of the devastation caused by Dorian.   Every day we've been afloat in the Abacos has been sunny and hot with an extremely rare squall passing.  The day the "Royals" visited was a drab, overcast, dreary day ..... all day.  It certainly fit with the mood of sadness surrounding this tragic remembrance.   

We were definitely in the right area to see the Royal contingent.  We had our Canadian flag flying proudly but sadly didn't get a glimpse of the dignitaries.  

Devastation

 

Having now made our way as far north as Elbow Cay, we find ourselves in the area that was totally devastated by hurricane Dorian, the strongest Atlantic hurricane ever recorded. 

Properties are either destroyed or brand new.  This is where the eye of the storm lingered for an unbelievable 48 hours.  Lord have mercy.

                                                                 Palm tree trunks

Thirsty Cuda Boat - Restaurant and Bar

 

Yes, that's Barry ordering us Bahama Mamas and cheese burgers .... in paradise.

The Tahiti beach sand bar is a very popular location.  The "Thirsty Cuda" restaurant and bar boat anchors itself at the edge of the sand bar each day to offer ice cold tropical cocktails and foods such as conch/fish, burgers and fries.  While waiting for your order you can watch the many fish who hang out around the boat, obviously hoping to be fed.

Many charter boats find their way here to enjoy the pleasures of the beach and sand bar.  We note that all the charter boats are flying a blue burgee on their flag halyards.  We're not sure if it's so "Moorings" can locate their boats or to give the rest of us a "head's-up".

Tahiti Beach (Dry at Low Water)

Tahiti Beach is an area of sand bar that juts out where crescents of beach on the south and west shores of Elbow Cay join.  

The beaches are located just inside the narrow ocean channel at the south end of Hope Town (Elbow Cay).  Not only are the beaches and sand bar a pleasant distraction but the ocean swell crashing in also makes for a gorgeous splash to view.  

Continuing North - Abaco's Barrier Island Cays

Sandy Cay (Coral Garden), Pelican Cays, Tilloo Cay Sand Bank

 On March 22nd we set out from Lynyard Cay heading north.  Our plan was to anchor in the lee of Sandy Cay (Coral Garden) which lay just 2 miles from us.....we could easily see it.  Six hours later we dropped anchor north of the huge sand bank at Tilloo Cay.

Unfortunately we found the Sandy Cay anchorage to be too unsettled .... too open to the ocean with too much swell.  We carried on north and made 2 separate attempts to anchor in the lee of the Pelican Cays.  They were too small to offer protection plus they had too much swell and current running round them. 

We continued to carry on and made our way around the Tilloo Sand Bank.  

It was certainly easy to see where the shallow water lay.  We tucked in on the north side of the bank for the night. 

The next day we moved forward and anchored at the north end of Tilloo Cay just around the corner from Tavern Cay.   While there we could see a huge beach/sand bar just north of us.  On March 24th, at high tide, we took the shallow passage route on the inside of Lubbers Quarter to anchor north of Baker's Rock.  Here we had a very enjoyable visit to Tahiti Beach (Elbow Cay, Hope Town)