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| Welcome to the BAHAMAS ! |
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| Sunset at our Great SaleCay anchorage |
| Our Bahamas courtesy flag flies above turquoise waters |
| Docked at Spanish Cay Marina |
| (The PDQ Baltic Flotilla Blog may be down, but you can still see it here.) |
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| We crossed the Gulf Stream on a beautiful day with near calm winds and seas. We left from Hillsboro Inlet (just north of Ft Lauderdale) at 7 AM and pulled into Old Bahama Bay Marina at West End, Grand Bahama at 11:45 AM. We checked in with Customs & Immigration, paid our $150 fee - good for a 12-month stay (plus a 3-mo. fishing permit), hoisted our Bahamian courtesy flag and settled into the good life! (We're glad our boat is only 34 feet long, boats over 35 feet LOA pay a $300 fee for the Bahamian cruising permit.) |
| From West End, we crossed onto the Little Bahama Bank at the Indian Rock passage which is quite shallow (and looks even shallower) but is no problem for a PDQ - even at dead low tide. We did it at mid-tide and never saw depths less than 5 feet. It was a beautiful run through gin clear turquoise water to Great Sale Cay where we anchored for the night (with 4 other boats). 02/05/08 - Today we are in Spanish Cay just north of the west end of Great Abaco Island. It was so pretty here, we stayed another day. |
| We toured Spanish Cay by bicycle, it's very pretty, but what was really amazing is that there's absolutely nobody here. We are the ONLY boat in the marina, this place is a ghost town! But it is rather pleasant having our own private island! |
| Our next port of call was Hope Town where we met up with Paul & Ann Gooding, owners of PDQ Horizons. They were one of our companions on the Baltic Adventure last summer - we hadn't seen them since last September in Holland. Click on the link below to continue your trip... |
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| Spanish Cay Sunset. Click on this photo to see ANOTHER ONE! |
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| 02-06-08 - A short trip on the turquoise Sea of Abaco brought us to Green Turtle Cay. We docked at Black Sound Marina (for a mere $34 for the night incl elect) and walked into "downtown" New Plymouth. Unlike Spanish Cay, there were a few people here, but certainly not crowded. I gather it's "off season" here; apparently more people come in April and May - which seems strange considering how perfect the weather is now. For the past week (and predicted for the next week) the daily Hi is 78° and the Lo 72° - it's hard to imagine anything more perfect than that. No heat or AC needed here! |
| Welcome to downtown New Plymouth - Be warned, there be treasure here! |
| The Green Turtle Fire Department - when the siren sounds, they're off like a herd of turtles! |
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| Green Turtle Cay was a lovely little place. We actually found a hardware store with a blender which we bought so now we can make our own Pina Coladas. Also a great little Bahamian restaurant named Blue Bee's. |
| The Loyalist monument at Green Turtle Cay |
| "Don't Rock" - that's its actual name! |
| Gives new meaning to Banker's Hours! (click on small photos to see larger) |
| This is why we come here! Here we are crossing onto the banks at Indian Rock Passage after spending the night at West End. |
| Cruising on the Sea of Abaco - we never tire of this amazing color |
| 10 minutes later, it looked like this! Very dramatic, but the rain missed us. |
| Bahamas Wake |
| Headed east from Green Turtle, most cruising boats go out through the Whale Cay passage to get around the sand bar extending out from Treasure Cay. We however, being brave & foolish (and having a shallow-draft PDQ) chose the infamous Don't Rock Passage. Even at half tide, we never saw depths less than 4.2 feet. It seemed quite easy, but other boats called us nervously on the VHF to find out how we did it! |
| Green Turtle Cay. . . |
| Spanish Cay. . . |
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