Meandering Magees: Great Guana Cay, Abaco

Monday, April 9, 2018
Day 372
15 miles from Hope Town to Great Guana
15 miles from GG to Treasure Cay

Waiting for high tide, we didn't leave Hope Town on Saturday until 12:15, heading for Great Guana Cay, which was only 15 miles away. Since Lynyard Cay, we have been off the ocean and traveling in the Sea of Abaco. That is the body of water between Great Abaco Island and the barrier cays.

Greg put a couple of fishing lines out during the short trip and I actually reeled in a Spanish Mackerel. (we gave it to the dockhand at the marina).

Yes, we went to a marina. We were planning on spending two nights at an anchorage in Fishers Bay at Great Guana Cay. The winds were much stronger than the forecast as Mike put the anchor down. It was very rocky and we debated on whether to stay. Thinking it was tied to the boat, we launched the dinghy off the swim platform because if we were staying, that was our transportation to land. The 3 of us stood in the back, deciding what to do when Greg shouted, "Oh no!" (those weren't his exact words). The dinghy had come loose and the wind was pushing it away. I said I would jump in and get it but by the time I scrambled up the ladder to the fly bridge to get a life jacket on, it was too far away. We quickly pulled up the anchor and thankfully were able to get the dinghy before it was in too shallow of water for True North.

The wind was rocking us around so much, we were afraid the TV wouldn't stay upright on the counter. Since it was Masters golf weekend, that just wasn't an option. A radio call to Orchid Bay Marina made our decision easy. They had room for us. Their sea wall provided some protection. We still rocked, but not nearly as much as in the bay.

At 7 miles long, Great Guana is the largest cay in the Abacos. Like Hope Town, it was settled by British Loyalists and many residents are direct descendants of those who came here in the 1800's. The two main attractions on Guana are both pub/restaurants: Nippers and Grabbers. We knew we were going to Nippers on Sunday to meet up with some Loopers, but figured we would check out both places on Saturday. Mike has a bum hip and walking even a short distance is difficult for him, so the marina called the Nippermobile for us. It is a 6-seater golf cart. Nippers is on the ocean side, sitting on top of a dune that overlooks a pretty beach with great snorkeling.

Here's the good news and the bad news: The good news is, I finally got to snorkel!!! The bad news is, I was horrible at it! In my defense, let me say that it is MUCH easier to snorkel when you are on a boat that anchors right next to the reef and all you have to do is get in the water and the fish are there. I've done that successfully many times. I didn't know how hard it was to walk out from the beach into the wavy water and swim to the reef. Sections near shore were quite rocky and I thought I could sit on the rock to put my fins on. Big mistake. The waves were crashing me into the rocks. I got out of there (not an easy thing) and went farther down the beach. I saw lots of underwater rock formations, but not one fish. I think the problem was the reef was a little farther out than I was willing to go. I was by myself (Mike and Greg were watching from Nippers atop the dune) and I just wasn't comfortable going out too far. In fact, Mike saw a snorkeler quite a ways out and told me later he was praying that it wasn't me!

We got the Nippermobile to take us to the bay side to Grabbers. Nippers is the more famous, but we actually liked Grabbers better as they had chairs in the sand, hammocks, a ping-pong table, and giant Connect Four and Jenga games.
We found out the Nippermobile is not a taxi. It will only take you to and from Nippers. So it would not pick us up at Grabbers and take us back to the marina. A woman from Georgia who had a rental golf cart offered to give us a ride while she waited for her take-out order. The kindness of strangers.

Sunday morning we did some maintenance work on the boat (it is never ending) and left for Nippers about 3. Nippers is known for its "Sunday Funday" and boats within 50 miles all seem to converge on Great Guana, many just to tie up for the day. We were able to find Loopers Steve and Debbie from Gypsies Palace. No small feat considering the place was wall to wall people. Except that Nippers doesn't have any walls! Total party atmosphere with music blaring and dancing. We had to go to the farthest corner picnic table to be able to carry on a conversation. They have been in the Abacos since mid-February so we had a lot of questions for them.

I snorkeled for a while and then we took the Nippermobile to Grabbers, thinking it would be less busy. We are obviously getting to be old farts as the 20-40 year olds at Nippers were a little too crazy for us. Grabbers was only slightly less busy. They might not call it that, but it was certainly Sunday Funday there, too. Another kind soul with a golf cart gave us a ride back to the boat in time for us to watch the last few holes of the Masters tournament and grill chicken for dinner.

Another 15 miles across the Sea of Abaco on Monday brought us to Treasure Cay Marina. Greg once again got the fishing rods out but the only thing we caught was his hat. Mike was driving the boat and Greg hollered out to stop, which usually means he has a fish on. This time it meant that his hat blew off. We circled around and found it floating - a small brown speck in a literal sea of blue.
Greg says he just tries to add excitement to our travels!

Treasure Cay is on the Great Abaco Island. Their beach is ranked in the top ten in the world. I walked to it today and would agree. Sugar sand like we have back home that leads to clear blue-green water. I will take my snorkel equipment back tomorrow, this time looking for sea shells.