Welcome to Great Guana Cay – Public Dock
We stopped at Great Guana Cay on our way south. Well actually, we stopped outside of Treasure Cay first but didn’t get off the boat. Treasure Cay is a resort port. Other than the marina and beach there isn’t much else there. We anchored outside of the harbor as it is a little too shallow for our boat inside. The weather forecast showed some nasty winds and showers coming from the southwest. Treasure Cay offered us the shelter we needed overnight to ride this out while anchored. In the morning the weather had passed and we headed off to Great Guana Cay about 20 miles away.
Upon arrival at Great Guana Cay, we searched for a sandy spot to anchor and could only see weeds in the nice clear water. Anchors hold and grab better when there are no weeds to loosen up the sand. We wound up picking up a mooring buoy in Fishers Bay and paid the $20 per night rental for peace of mind. Our first day was spent aboard Cream Puff as we needed to do a generator repair (nothing major). Once again, the diesel schooling pays dividends. To celebrate a successful repair and purring generator, we grilled a couple of steaks and baked potatoes. We washed it down with a bottle of prosecco. Yum!
Fishers Bay – View From Grabbers Bed, Bar and Grill
Great Guana Cay is very sparsely populated. I think I read there are about 150 people that live full time on the island. It is known for the magnificent beach and snorkeling. There is a reef about 75 yards off the beach offering one of the best snorkeling spots in the Bahamas (according to our guidebook). Unfortunately the weather is not conducive for snorkeling. The same weather we had dodged in Treasure Cay has now pushed through bringing cooler north winds and high surf at the beach. It is a little cooler but we are both still wearing shorts and tees. We decided to take a walk about town and set off for a bar and grill called Nippers.
Main Street
The Road to Nippers
The Sign Makes Me Want To Touch
A Walk On The Beach To Work Up An Appetite Before Lunch
The Beach
Our day aboard Cream Puff usually starts by listening to weather on the SSB radio or local cruiser’s network on the VHF. The cruiser’s net is hosted by local boaters. It begins with weather. This is followed by any special announcements and then invitations. The forum includes a section where boats can announce their arrival and departures to see if they have any friends in the area. Invitations are local area businesses advertising to cruisers like us. We hear Nippers Bar and Grill advertising every day. We also see Nippers advertising in all the local cruising guides. Being suckers for advertising, we headed to Nippers for lunch.
Nippers Maître D’ Asleep On The Job
The View From Nipper’s Bar and Grill
Hanging Around The Bar
Our time at Great Guana Cay is very limited. We need to find a safe port for a nasty bit of weather due in a little later this week. While we were planning our trip to the Abaco Islands several cruisers told us we had it all wrong. They said the weather this time of years was awful and we should head south to the Exuma Islands and come back to the Abacos later in the year. It seemed a shame to us to sail right passed the Abacos. So, we stopped. We figured if everyone else sailed past these islands, we would have the place to ourselves. We were right about that! On Green Turtle Cay, we were one of a handful of boats there. Some of the local islanders kidded us about being the bringers of sunny warm weather. We have had very few days of rain. I don’t think I can complain about highs in the mid 80’s (29°C) and lows in the mid 70’s (24°C). We have been treated to wonderful weather since our arrival in the Abaco islands of the Bahamas. In fact, we have had better weather than the folks that told us to head south. Today we had a little rain but not enough to dampen our adventurous spirits.
We had our lunch and Nippers. It started to rain a little bit. We moved to the bar and drank rum drinks until the rain stopped.
Taking It All In
