In order to get to Piggyville on No Name Cay, we needed a boat. We had reserved a little 17 foot Aquasport for three days from Sunset Marina and Boat Rentals. It was the smallest and cheapest option. For the four of us, it would be plenty of boat for where we were going. During the reservation process, I was never asked if I knew how to drive a power boat (I didn't). When I expressed some trepidation to the lady at the check out desk about boating, she finally asked what boating experience I had. I responded, "I just spent a week on a sailboat." She replied, "Well if that's the case, then this should be a piece of cake compared to sailing." I never really did tell her that I wasn't the one actually doing the sailing.
The Boy (my first mate) and I were given a quick one minute orientation from a dockworker on the important features of the boat. We were then given the keys to take it for a quick spin around the harbor. After almost colliding with a couple of other boats, the dock worker gave me a couple of helpful tips and sent us on our way.
We then made our way to No Name Cay. I had my copy of Steve Dodge's The Cruising Guide To Abaco, but I really didn't need the charts inside. It was pretty easy to see the shallow waters, so we went out farther to the nice deep areas and pushed the throttle. Although the seas were not very rough, our small boat did not provide us with the most comfortably experience as we crashed through the waves After driving the boat around for a few minutes, I discovered that it was pretty simple to use. The Kids even had a go at driving it. We were able to find No Name Cay with just line of sight navigating. We never veered too far from land.
As we approached the Piggyville beach, we noticed a couple of boats already docked nearby. I didn't really know the proper techniques for anchoring a boat, so I just guided it close to shore and threw the anchor onto the beach. That method was pretty ghetto, but it worked as long as the tides didn't change significantly.
We gathered up the bags of our cut vegetables and started feeding pigs. The little ones would only eat the green apples. Some of the larger hogs would also eat the carrots. None of them were interested in the celery. The largest pigs were very aggressive. They would chase away the juveniles, which pissed us off. When we would focus our attention on the smaller ones, the large hogs would even bite us to get our attention.
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| The nearby beach bar currently under construction. |
Eventually, we dumped the remaining food (mainly celery) into a feeding trough. We took our last photos at Piggyville and called it a day. We backed our boat out from the beach and headed back at to sea.
We made a quick stop back at the Sunset Marina to drop The Wife and The Girl off. I had a hard time with the docking process, but I was able to get close enough for them to disembark. They would drive our golf cart back to the cottage. The Boy and I then motored the boat to Coco Bay. Our approach to the harbor was a little more nerve-racking as there were areas that are only 1-2 feet deep at low tide. We had to drive the boat with the motor almost all the way raised out of the water for fear that we would damage the propellers on the muddy bottom. Somehow, we were able to steer our Aquasport in towards the pier and dock it. My first experience with a motorboat was a bit stressful but a lot of fun.
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| Our dock for the cottages at Coco Bay |
For dinner that night, we headed back to New Plymouth and ate at the Wrecking Tree. Back in the 19th century, part of the industry of this islands was salvaging wrecks that had the misfortune to encounter the reefs that surrounded the island. The wrecking tree was the spot where salvagers would bring their loot from the ocean. The tree still stands today with a restaurant having been constructed all around it. We enjoyed a meal of the standard island favorites--grouper, conch, and spiny lobster.
From the screened-in porch, I watched the local captains effortlessly guide their boats to their docks. It was fascinating to see them park "Abaco-style" with their boats perpendicular to the pier in order to take up as little room on the crowded piers.
We also made a quick stop at Sid's Groceries again. We purchased some bait squid as we had some plans to see more wildlife the following day.
Later that night, we found a dusty box of Trivia Pursuit Junior Edition. We had another family gaming night with this board game classic. Order was restored, and I won.
Wednesday, June 19, 2019
The next morning, we boarded our rental boat for another excursion to the neighboring islands. This time we would be travelling north to Manjack Cay. Over the years, this sparsely populated island has also gone by the names of Munjack or Nunjack. Whatever it is called, we just knew it as a place that we could possibly find some marine wildlife.
We took the boat first to a shallow, grassy area called Rat Cay. Green turtles reportedly can be found in this area munching on the grass. Although we were coming in higher tide, we still had to raise the motor a bit so that we wouldn't be churning the waters. As we entered the bay, we saw a round underwater shape quickly darting away across our bow. It was indeed a turtle. However, our motor probably spooked it, so it swam away. We anchored the boat and donned our snorkeling gear. We spent the next twenty minutes exploring the area including the mangroves at the edge of the water. Aside from a couple of conchs and a very large barracuda that was checking us out, we really didn't see anything of interest.
Once back aboard the boat, I discovered to my dismay that I had left my iPhone X in the pocket of my swim trunk. It was still on and working. Maybe the claims of it being water resistance to 3 feet were true!
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| Conchs are usually covered in sand and seaweed, making them hard to see to the casual eye. |
We traveled further north until we entered a bay at the northwest corner of Manjack Cay. There were several boats docked there with people wading at the beach. This was what we were looking for--the stingray beach. Over the years, dive operators and tourists have been feeding these rays causing them to be "tame." That being said, they were still wild creatures with stingers. We would still need to be cautious lest we end up like poor Steve Irwin.
I drove the boat right up to the beach and threw the anchor on the sand like I had done the day before. We grabbed our disgusting bag of squid that I had chopped up earlier that morning and waded into the water. We were careful to shuffle our feet so that we wouldn't accidentally step on a stingray.
A half dozen of them swam up to us, expecting to be fed. I held pieces of squid in my palms, and the rays ate right out of it. After getting my fingers chomped on causing a small amount of pain, I learned to curl my phalanges to prevent that from happening. The rays even got aggressive enough that they tried to climb up our legs (especially when we were kneeling) to get our attention. The Boy and The Wife got into the fun of feeding stingrays. The Girl was too scared of the stingers so she kept her distance.
There were also a couple of small reef sharks, about three to four feet in length that swam around us. They were not nearly as trusting as the stingrays so they usually stayed beyond arm's reach away from us. We had to throw them pieces of squid for them to come closer.
We spent quite a long time feeding the stingrays and sharks. Afterwards, we walked along the nice sandy beach and swam in the deeper areas of the bay. We did notice that there were several more stingrays down below, many partially buried in the sand who were resting.
At this point the tide had started to recede, and our boat was three-quarters on the sand. I muttered a quick expletive as I realized that it would soon be fully beached. We would then be stuck until the next high tide 12 hours later. The boy and I lifted the anchor and started pushing the boat as hard as we could back into the ocean. Initially, it barely budged. However, with enough force and time, the Aquasport finally slid back into the water. We breathed a sigh of relief.
I motored the boat about thirty feet into the bay and properly dropped the anchor. Instead of leaving, we decided to have our lunch of sandwiches that we had packed. As we ate, I noticed two much bigger shadows around our boat. They were two large nurse sharks that were five to six feet long. As they swam around, we dropped a few pieces of squid for them. I stuck my GoPro into the water to film them, and one kept coming to bite it thinking that it was food.
Eventually, The Wife and I grabbed our masks and snorkels and jumped into the water to swim with them. Like the other sharks, these tried to keep their distance from us. The closest I could get to one was a foot away when it sat on the bottom of the bay to rest.
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| This nurse shark who attacked my GoPro surfaced just enough for me to pet him. |
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| A large nurse shark swims past a much smaller reef shark. |
It was pretty cool swimming with the sharks. I was surprised that The Kids were completely apathetic about getting in the water with them. It's not like we do this daily. The Boy just sat on the bow of the boat dangling his feet in the water. A few minutes later, he looked down and there was a green sea turtle trying to nibble at this toes.
The sea turtle apparently didn't like stinky feet, so it swam back towards the sea. Rays, sharks, and sea turtles--Manjack Cay was awesome!
Our cruising guide noted some reefs just east of the bay, so we headed there thinking that we could do some snorkeling. I anchored at a spot just up current from a dark patchy area in the water that I suspected was the reef. Our boat didn't have any sonar or depth gauges so I really couldn't tell. The plan was to have The Wife and The Kids float with the current to the reef and then I swing around and pick them up down current. I decided to jump in the water to see if my hunch was correct.
I swam for a distance of what I believed was about 20 yards only to discover that the brown patch was only a big, grassy mound raised above endless, deep sandy ocean. Obviously this was not the reef we were looking for. I turned around only to find to my shock that the boat was a good 50 plus yards away. The current was very strong and I had carried me a lot farther than I had actually swam. I started swimming back against the current, but it was really tough. I slowly made headway, but I was tiring quickly. I guess I should have gotten in better shape before the trip. With about twenty yards left to go, I was exhausted. I could see The Wife and The Kids standing on the boat not even paying attention to me in the water. I screamed at them for help. They just stared at me with a blank look. I yelled for them to "Throw me a goddamn line!" After two tries, I finally grabbed the rope that they threw, and pulled myself aboard the boat. I was exhausted and distrustful that my family could help with any lifesaving scenarios. I quickly gave up on the idea of trying to find the reef. We headed back to Coco Bay and approached our pier. The Boy and I were getting much better at docking the boat, so that we were able to do it successfully on the first try.
I was too tired to go out for dinner, so we had the last of our red beans and rice for dinner. The rest of the family was tired of losing to me, so we skipped family game night.
Thursday, June 20, 2019
Today was our last full day at GTC. We had no specific plans for the day, so we decided to take the boat out for one last spin before we had to return it. We had thought about renting some fishing poles to try and catch some reef fish. However, we nixed that idea as none of us really like or are good at fishing.
The final tally for our three day boat rental with gas came out to be about $280--not a bad deal and comparable to a car rental in the Bahamas.
Later on, we drove through New Plymouth one last time. We stopped off at Miss Emily's Blue Bee Bar, where the Bahama's most famous alcoholic drink, the Goombay Smash, was born in the 1960's. According to lore, Miss Emily didn't really partake in alcoholic drinks, so she asked her friend Brendal Stevens, the scuba diving owner to try it first. They came up with the Goombay Smash name together. Interestingly, the "rum punch" on Brendal's dive boat tasted identical to the bar's Goombay Smash.
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| Business cards and dirty T-shirts decorate the walls and ceiling of the bar. |
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| (Left) Fruit punch (Right) The original Goombay Smash |
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| Miss Emily has since passed on, but her daughter now runs the joint. |
Back at our cottage, we decided to see if we could get some coconuts. Unfortunately, we didn't have a ladder to reach them. I first tried to climb a palm tree which was a terrible idea while wearing flip flops. I then tried knocking one down with a rock and then a dried up fallen coconut. Finally, we found a long PVC pipe. I still had no luck. However, The Boy was able to stand on a pile of palm fronds and knock two coconuts down.
A machine would have been nice to cut open the coconuts. Since we didn't have one, we had to make do with a dull carving knife and a rock. It was a lot of work but worth the effort to have fresh coconut meat.
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| Gynecomastia can be a serious problem for men. |
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| Smashing the coconut with a rock was more helpful than the dull knife. |
We decided that we would have a fancy meal for our last dinner in the Bahamas. We drove to the Green Turtle Club Resort and Marina and ate on their covered patio. They also have a white table cloth dining room, but we preferred to stay more casual as the food was the same.
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| There were some pretty impressive yachts docked at the Green Turtle Club. |
The food was good especially their blackened conch soup special and the pasta dishes with lobster.
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| Conch chowder |
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| Blackened conch chowder |
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| Tuna poke |
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| Conch and grits |
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| Seafood pappardelle |
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| Jumbo artichoke and lobster ravioli |
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| Later that night, we sat on the patio and enjoyed our last sunset in the Bahamas. |
Friday, June 21, 2019
We gave our rental house and golf cart a fond farewell, and boarded the 9 AM ferry back to Abaco Island. We had plenty of time to spare to make it for our 12:30 PM flight to Miami.
We had a seven hour layover in Miami. Instead of sitting around the airport the whole time, we decided to make an excursion into the city. We checked our carry-on luggage at the baggage storage area in Terminal E. Then we took an Uber to the Wynward District which is known for their outdoor murals.
Before we would do anything touristy, we stopped off for some cold treats at Morelia Gourmet Paletas.
While we could get some great Mexican popsicles back home, these gourmet varieties were a couple of notches higher. They took the already-delicious dessert, drowned it in a sweet sauce, and then dipped them into a topping of our choice. The spicy salt was my favorite.
Afterwards, we headed to the hip Wynwood Walls area. What's the difference between art and graffiti? Permission. The murals within this area were no ghetto street art. The paintings were very impressive. I'll be the first to admit that I don't "understand" them all. However, there were several that were pretty cool.
Miami is really hot and sunny, so all the mural-admiring made us sweaty and thirsty. We stopped at Zak the Baker for some iced coffee drinks and pastries. Afterwards, we popped inside several of the boutique stores in the Wynwood neighborhood. One of the cooler shops was Walt Grace Vintage, a guitar store that juxtaposed those instruments with classic sports cars.
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| A portrait of Prince made with guitar picks. |
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| I almost got upset until I saw the fine print. |
After we had our fill of window shopping, we decided to grab an early dinner at a Peruvian restaurant called Suviche. The ambiance was more hip rather than authentic South American. The food was still good albeit very filling.
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| (Left) Pisco sour (Right) Chica morado |
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| Causa's topped with tuna and chicken |
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| Suvana ceviche |
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| Pescado a lo macho with shrimp |
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| Assorted sushi rolls |
After our hearty dinner, we took an Uber back to the airport, collected our carry-on bags, and headed towards the long lines to get through security. After years of travelling internationally, we finally decided to enroll in the Global Entry program. After passing through the TSA checkpoint in a few short minutes, we all wondered why we hadn't signed up years before. We relaxed at the Centurion Lounge until it was time to board our flight back home.
Overall, we had a nice and relaxing time at Green Turtle Cay. For the longest time, I had a pretty negative impression of the Bahamas. However, that was based mainly on my experiences in Nassau. The outer islands like the Abacos have a lot more to offer for those who want a quieter, more secluded time at the beach.
