Green Turtle Cay (2014-01-19)

N26° 45.712', W77° 19.467'

Tonight we are on Green Turtle Cay, tied to the dock at the Leeward Yacht Club and Marina.


We ended up spending a second day at Spanish Cay.  The main reason was due to waves rolling in over the breakwater and effectively pinning us to the dock.  The breakwater has been broken down by the last hurricane that they went through, so at high tide if the waves are rolling in from the northwest they pretty much roll straight in to the marina harbour unhindered.  While we probably could have gotten the boat out of the slip, we decided to not take the chance, and just enjoy a second day on the island.

The winds eased up overnight and this morning dawned bright with winds below 10 knots.  Just past 0900 we left Spanish Cay and headed for Green Turtle Cay, a short trip of about 16 nautical miles.  It was a great travel day on the Sea of Abaco, with waves of only about 1 foot rolling down the sea from the north.

By noon we were tied up at the Leeward Yacht Club, and after a quick lunch decided to walk to New Plymouth to do some exploring.

New Plymouth is a very quaint and picturesque little town, but unfortunately pretty much everything was closed, being Sunday and all.  Tomorrow afternoon we plan on making another trip to check out the fresh bread at the bakery.

We'll probably spend a couple days here, and after that we might head off to anchor nearby. 

Our next big challenge will be the Whale Cay.  Shoals south of Whale Cay pretty much cut off the southern Sea of Abaco from the northern end.  While there is a shallow route through the shoals, most people transit from one area to the other via the Whale Cay passage, heading out into the Atlantic around Whale Cay and then back in.  It can get very rough around Whale Cay, so you have to watch the weather closely and pick your window carefully.  There's lots of places to explore in the islands above Whale Cay, so we're in no rush, and will wait for the best conditions we can get.