We had gotten word that our sister crew would be at Treasure Cay this day. It is known to have one of the best beaches in the Abacos Islands. We planned on joining them, but we were in no hurry. Nice beaches can be found easily, but great snorkeling can be harder to find. El Capitán recommended that we try some reefs at the northwest tip of Great Guana Cay. There wasn't enough wind to let out the sails, so we motored on over there. I was surprised to hear that the catamaran's motor uses very little gas. We could cruise around for days before needing to refuel. El Capitán encouraged the scouts to take turns driving the boat.
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| Those who weren't driving the boat started a game of poker to pass the time. |
We arrived at our destination. Several large houses prominently abutted the beautiful beaches. We were told that Bahamian law considers the beaches to be public up to the high tide mark. Nevertheless, private security will kindly request people to leave if they land on the beaches. The adjacent reefs, however, are fair game. There were several other boats anchored in the area with the same idea as us.
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| The rumor is that a movie star bought this beach-side mansion. |
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| Sun protection is of paramount importance, no matter how uncomfortable the application process is. |
We did some drift snorkeling. El Capitán motored the dinghy towards a reef in the distance and dropped us off. We would then lazily let the medium current take us back to the boat. We did this a few times, getting our fill of the vibrant reefs.
Some of the scouts returned to the boat and opted for some extra relaxation. Not ready to get back in the boat, others swam around searching the ocean floor for conch shells. However, the 20 foot depth was probably too deep for them.
Others tried their hand at catching fish, namely a large barracuda that swam a few feet away from our boat. We tried every type of bait and every fishing method that we knew of to try and hook him. However, he was smart enough not to take a nibble on our lines.
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| This barracuda didn't get so large by being stupid. |
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| Once everybody was back in the boat, Momoa tried his hand at spearfishing, but to no avail. |
It was time to join our sister crew who were probably already at Treasure Cay.
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| Hot dogs were on the menu for lunch. |
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| We usually wait until we are anchored to cook. However, hot dogs and mac and cheese are easy to make even while moving. |
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| After lunch, some took time to relax... |
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| ...while others tried their hand at fishing. |
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| Sugarcrash landed a decent-sized snapper. |
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| He filleted it, and we stuck it in the freezer for a later meal. |
By early afternoon, we had arrived at Treasure Cay, a segment of land that is part of Great Abacos Island. We anchored in the protected harbor and took the dinghy into town.
We rendezvoused with the crew of the Observation, who had already been here since mid morning. They were relaxing at an air-conditioned condo at the Bahama Beach Club. Towelie's wife was staying there all week with their daughter. She had rented a place large enough where the crews of both our boats could crash in case there was a hurricane. That was probably a bit unlikely and a little overprotective, but a nice gesture. Our two crews updated each other on our adventures while we relaxed in the club's freshwater pool.
It was clear that our two captains had completely different styles of captaining a boat. El Capitán was pretty laid back whereas Lord Nelson was much more regimented. While we had no set schedule to start the day, the Observation's crew were generally up by 6 AM and eating breakfast by 7. In addition, they had quiet time at 9 PM as to not disturb their captain. Despite these rules, the other crew was having a blast. Their captain (and crew) were more interested in fishing than us. So they had caught a lot more than we had, including a barracuda and shark (which they quickly set free).
Everything was not all roses as one of their boys, Sugarcrash's brother, had received a substantial sunburn. He was noticeably grouchy and irritable, unlike his usual self. The Accountant informed us that he did have to have a "discussion" with one of the other boys on their boat. That scout was obsessed with reenacting a scene from the Titanic movie. I prayed that it was the "king of the world" scene and not the "nude drawing" one. Later, The Boy whispered to me that those boys were doing some crazy things on the Observation. He then showed me a cellphone picture taken of their crew leader, The Accountant's son, getting hogtied up. I reassured him that those scouts were probably just practicing their knots and lashings.
It was good catching up with our friends, but we had to start heading back to the dock. We stopped off at the shopping mall that was adjacent to the dock. In reality it was about ten shops, most of which were closed for yet another Bahamian holiday. We did stop off at Cafe La Florence, a bakery known for their cinnamon rolls. Both captains raved about it. Lord Nelson even tasked his crew to pick up a dozen of them for their breakfast tomorrow. I tried one and it was good, but not transcendent. Sugarcrash spent half of his money buying $35 souvenir T-shirts for his friends back home and a gigantic piece of cake. He would spend the remainder of the afternoon sleeping.
We had to wait at a bar at the Treasure Cay Marina for a sudden torrential rainstorm to pass. There were free showers available. The folks from the Observation jumped at that chance while our crew all passed. Only Joy showers for us. Before leaving the marina, we were given a couple of promotional Captain Morgan hats that the bartender had no use for. The boys had a blast wearing them for the remainder of the trip.
We left Treasure Cay and sailed east to Water Cay, also part of Great Abaco Island. We anchored there and prepared a dinner of grilled pork chops with applesauce and mashed potatoes. I asked Coverboy if he also made the best pork chops too. "Of course. How did you know?" was his reply as he got to work on grilling those hunks of meat.
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| The boy channels his inner captain to make instant mashed potatoes taste like real potatoes. |
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| Sugarcrash looks over to the place where bluebirds fly. |
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| Personal Jesus steers the boat into the sunset. |
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| Momoa serenades Too Sexy For My Shirt with a little singing and guitar-playing. |
We faced some rain showers that evening. Our crew ended up staying up pretty late. By the time that everybody was ready to turn in to bed, the precipitation had already passed. After my obligatory Joy bath, I was able to return to my nice little bed on the trampoline.
*****
Tuesday, June 11, 2019
*****
After a long night, everybody including myself slept in late.
The crew of the Observation was finishing their morning snorkel when our boat was just beginning to stir. Before we had even started breakfast, they pulled up their anchor and sailed away. So much for sticking together.
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| Breakfast was scrambled eggs and reheated pork chops from the night before. |
Although I was still sleepy, I managed to don my snorkeling gear and join the others for a swim. Water Cay is frequented by sea turtles, but the depth was too shallow for us to get our boat close enough in to see them. Nevertheless, there were still some nearby wrecks in the bay that tends to attract sea life.
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| Our crew always has a little captain in them, especially when snorkeling. |
The bay was not pretty. There was no coral reef (which is probably why a dock was built here), just a dirty, sandy ocean bottom. We did find the remains of a wrecked boat. It was teeming with schools of smaller fish. Presumably, most of the larger ones had been scared away by the previous group of snorkelers.
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| The ugly duckling of fish. |
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| Atlantic spade fish |
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| Porcupine fish |
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| The dreaded lion fish--fortunately the only one we saw that week |
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| Spiny lobster |
Overall, Water Cay was a disappointing snorkeling site. The water is too murky and the sea life sparse. Our next destination was Man-O-War Cay. The wind was almost non-existent, so we motored over to that settlement.
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| Alas, even captains must perform mundane tasks such as filling the water cooler. |
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| Before going ashore, we had a lunch of sandwiches and chips. |
Man-O-War Cay is the ship-building center of the Abaco Islands. In 1820, Benjamin and Eleanor Albury moved to this island, and now 70% of the entire settlement is descended from them. The Albury name is synonymous with the high quality boats that are made on Man-O-War Cay.
Despite its renown for ship-making, the Man-O-War Cay settlement is still very small with less than 300 people who reside there. Some of the shipbuilders actually commute to there from more populous neighboring islands.
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| The small beach on Man-O-War Cay |
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| To the left of The Queen's Highway is the Atlantic Ocean and to the right is the Sea of Abaco. |
Despite the heat, the long walk into Man-O-War Cay was pretty nice. We passed many quaint houses built by locals, often adorned with conch shells. We even came across an old telephone booth and royal post office box--reminders of the Bahamas past as an English colony.
We wandered around the town for a short while. It was so small and secluded that we half expected it to be populated with fish-men who worshiped the Old Ones. We were able to peer into a warehouse where workers were constructing one of the fiberglass Albury boats. Probably one of the most notable stores on the island is the Albury's Sail Shop. It was founded in the mid 20th century by Selina, wife of the notable boat maker Norman Albury. She would sew pieces of canvas left over from sails to make hand bags and purses. Today, the shop is manned by four older ladies who were busy crafting all sorts of canvas products on decades-old sewing machines. The prices are not cheap. But, these bags are well-known for their good quality. And if it tears, they will fix it for free. All you have to do is bring it all the way back to Man-O-War Cay. I ended up purchasing a tote and draw-string bag for The Wife.
After seeing every nook and cranny of Man-O-War Cay, we returned to the Viento Azul, which had anchored just south of the entrance to the harbor. Since we were hot, we decided to go ahead and jump in the water right there. There was not much in terms of fish down below, but we did spot plenty of shells. So we grabbed our snorkeling gear and hunted for some conch. After some time, Big Blue found one intact shell that still contained a conch inside. I also found a shell with a different sort of mollusk inside. However, Momoa told me that it was a protected species and that it would have to be tossed back in.
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| I wasn't really sure what type of gastropod this was, but I knew I shouldn't eat it. |
During our search, Sugarcrash and Nikola found two wrecked sailboats facing hull side up. We explored the wreckage but couldn't find anything of interest.
At one point, I thought that I had spotted the boat's propeller. But as I dove down there to retrieve it, I realized that it wasn't a heavy piece of metal propeller, but a light, plastic fan blade. I returned it to the depths below.
It was Tuesday, so that meant tacos for dinner. While the scouts were busy preparing the food, Big Blue and I debated about what to do with his queen conch. Conch salad, conch fritters, cracked conch--the options were limitless. However, we first had to figure out how to get the animal out of the shell. I had seen George remove one at Marsh Harbour using a hammer. We even pulled up some how-to videos on YouTube. At the end of the day, we realized that it would take too much effort for us neophytes. So Big Blue returned his bounty back to the sea. It was a somber moment for our crew, knowing that they would be bereft of snail meat for the night.
Meanwhile, Nikola spent much of the late afternoon and evening helping the captain make repairs on his boat. Being a bit of a savant with electronics, Nikola went to work repairing the electrical connections to some of the non-functioning lights. Soon enough, we were bathed in the glow from working lights on the aft deck.
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| Nikola solders some wire thing to another wire thing. Magic ensues. |
After a hearty dinner, we relaxed and enjoyed the sunset, knowing that our adventure was one day closer to ending.
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| Wish You Were Here was the former name of this vessel. El Capitán kept it, and a couple of barnacles as a memento of the ship's past. |
*****
Wednesday, June 12, 2019
*****
This would be our last full day on the Viento Azul. One of the traditions at some BSA high adventure bases is to have the adults do the chores for one day, allowing the scouts to relax. Although we adults had been chipping in with the workload already, we decided to keep that tradition alive. But Big Blue, Too Sexy For My Shirt, and I really didn't want to slave away in the kitchen, so we picked a day with the easiest meal plan. So we set out some bowls and spoons and treated the boys to cereal for breakfast.
Afterwards, the wind had picked up. so we raised our sails and headed towards Elbow Cay.
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| The Boy discovered that he had an idiotic-looking sunburn after falling asleep the day before with his shirt partially opened. |
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| While the boys were having fun sailing the ship, I was having fun doing absolutely nothing. |
Elbow Cay is easy to spot from a distance because of the prominent lighthouse that sticks up above the treeline. Its main settlement of Hope Town was first established by people who salvaged the wrecks of ships who strayed too close to the island's reefs. When the British government first proposed the construction of the lighthouse in the 19th century, the citizens of Hope Town were opposed to it as it would adversely affect their source of income. Eventually, the lighthouse was constructed in 1862, decreasing the number of shipwrecks in the area. It is now one of the last three manually-operated lighthouses in the world and the very last kerosene-powered one as well.
Before visiting the lighthouse, the adults "treated" the scouts to an early lunch of make-your-own sandwiches. El Capitán anchored the boat outside the harbor and Momoa took us on the dinghy to the lighthouse.
The climb up to the lighthouse isn't bad. It's only a few flights of stairs. However, any physical exertion on a tropical island exacerbates the effects of the heat and the humidity. I was sweating profusely after visiting the attraction. Nevertheless, I did get a good 360 degree view of Hope Town and the surrounding sea.
After visiting the lighthouse and its adjacent gift shop, Momoa ferried us across the bay to the center of Hope Town. We met up with the crew of Observation at 1 PM. Lord Nelson had dropped them off at Hope Town at 8 AM that morning. They were planning to stay there until pickup at 4 PM. Eight hours in Hope Town! Those guys informed us that they had already visited the lighthouse, walked around the entire town, seen the local museum, and were now on their third restaurant just so they could have a shaded place to sit and enjoy a cold beverage.
Our boys wanted to see the town, so I accompanied them. I soon realized that most didn't care about the quaint colonial-style homes, the charming neighborhoods, or the vibrant flower gardens. They just wanted to ogle at the teenage girls in swimsuits.
Having seen everything of interest in Hope Town over a three-hour span, we took the dinghy back to the Viento Azul. While waiting at the dock, we noticed Towelie's wife waiting at the ferry station. She had taken the ferry from Treasure Cay to check on her son while he was in Hope Town. Now that was going a little too far. Later, El Capitán me that, a few years ago, a group of overprotective parents had even charted a sailboat and shadowed their scouts' boat wherever they went.
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| How NOT to tie up your boat. The owner will need to wait until low tide to free up his boat. |
El Capitán offered to take us to a nearby reef to do some snorkeling. Who were we to refuse. The current was stronger and the ocean was deeper than on previous sites.
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| For safety purposes, one snorkeler always towed a dive flag to warn other boaters of our presence. |
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| There was a plethora of sea fans, but not as many fish |
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| The exception was a green moray who poked his head out from a hole in the rocks. |
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| Sugarcrash finally found a sea creature who couldn't swim away fast enough from him. He was promptly instructed to put the starfish back. |
Back aboard the boat, the scouts had plenty of leisure time since they were not responsible for dinner. Most of them spent the remainder of the afternoon and evening playing the card game Hearts. El Capitán anchored the boat off of Tahiti Beach which is on the southern end of Elbow Cay.
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| What's a game of cards without a good brew? Actually, the beer bottle was a piece of trash that we recovered from the ocean floor. |
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| Coverboy caught our second fish of the trip. As he was preparing to fillet it, the snapper flopped back into the safety of the ocean. |
This would be our last dinner aboard the Viento Azul, so we celebrated by having steaks. As I was heating up the grill, I noticed Coverboy hovering around me. I asked him if he knew anybody who can make the best steaks ever. He grinned widely as I handed him the grill tongs.
To accompany our steaks, we also made mashed potatoes and green beans. We also grilled the fish that Sugarcrash had caught a few days before. The key lime pie from Vernon's was the coup de grace for our waistlines. This delicious feast was a fitting meal for our last dinner at sea.
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| Best steaks...ever! |
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| I don't know what was in the pie, but the boys were acting like fools that night. |
*****
Thursday, June 12, 2019
*****
El Capitán was up early this morning. He had gone over to Tahiti beach and had brought back a couple of coconuts. While he worked on getting them opened, the scouts made pancakes.
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| El Capitán was able to open the coconuts using a hammer and screwdriver. |
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| Personal Jesus cut up the coconut meat which was a great addition to our pancakes. |
After finishing breakfast and cleaning up, we took the dinghy over to Tahiti Beach. Since we would plan on getting in the water, we were still required to bring our snorkeling vests.
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| With its soft white sand and clear waters, Tahiti Beach is considered one of the best in the Abacos. |
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| Part of the beach is a long strip of sand that protrudes into the ocean. |
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| A speedboat towed a floating bar right up to the beach. It would open later when more visitors arrived. |
The scouts played in the sand for awhile before moving into the surf. Soon their gentle ribbing morphed into an all out wrestling match. The boys decided to have a Seabase Smackdown. Four of them would do a round-robin tournament where their goal was to dunk their opponent's head underwater to gain a point. The Boy acted as a referee as he knew he had no chance again most of the bigger kids.
Despite his feistiness, Sugarcrash was no match for the other larger boys. He would run at full speed at them only to be stopped as if hitting a brick wall. He was then unceremoniously dunked repeatedly. It was tough to watch. Eventually, The Baptizer won the tournament, beating Personal Jesus in a close finish.
Since we already had our snorkeling vests, we figured that we might as well use them. Instead of taking the dinghy back to the sailboat, we swam back. With the wind picking up, we raised the sails one last time and made our way back towards Marsh Harbour.
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| I finally got off my butt and helped with the jig sail while we tacked. |
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| The Boy and Sugarcrash competed with each other on who could sail the fastest. Both were able to get the Viento Azul to reach a maximum speed of 8.3 knots/hr. |
Soon enough, a familiar sight loomed ahead of us--the buildings of the Pelican Beach Villas. A few hundred yards from that hotel lay Mermaid Reef, a small protected area right off the north coast of Marsh Harbour. We would get one last swim before it was time to dock our boat into harbor. Before we could start snorkeling, we had to let a small squall pass. This effectively drove away all the other boats that were anchored near us, leaving the reef all to us.
It was not as much a reef as it was a group of large boulders in the water. Colorful coral was non-existent. But Mermaid Reef was not lacking in fish. Like an overcrowded aquarium at a Chinese restaurant, the area was teeming with schools of fish intermixing with each other. These fish must have known that they were safe. We could practically swim right next to them without them darting away There were some huge parrotfish, but also several large angelfish as well.
We snorkeled for about 45 minutes. We called it a day once the reef became overrun with other swimmers who had returned. We motored into Marsh Harbour and deftly slipped the Viento Azul into her dock.
We now had a huge job ahead of us, cleaning the boat completely. We noticed that another Seabase boat docked next to us had already finished their job. Their crew had already left their boat. A few slips down, our sister crew in the Observation had already finished their clean up process too. It looked like we were the last Seabase boat to arrive in Marsh Harbour. We weren't too upset having a few extra hours on the water.
For the next two hours, we cleaned the bathrooms and the saloon. The aft deck took quite awhile because there were so many small pieces of food and bits of debris that had found their way into every small nook and cranny.
Once we were finally finished with the boat, it was time to clean ourselves up. The boys took the opportunity to use the pool at the Conch Inn and Marina. Then we had a chance to use their real showers. It was tough for me to wash off about a week's worth of lemon-fresh Joy, but I'm sure The Wife appreciated me not smelling like our dishwasher.
Once we were cleaned up, we changed into fresh clothes as we would be treating El Capitán and Momoa to a nice dinner at Mango's Restaurant. To help propagate the image of boy scouts being big dorks, Coverboy and I tried to look as nerdy as possible in our new Seabase Bahamas shirts.
Mango's was a much more fancy experience than what we have had over the past week. I ordered the halibut in curry. The fish was very good, but it wasn't "best ever."
That night, we slept on board the ship. Without the ocean breeze, it would be too hot to sleep on deck, so I found an unoccupied bed down below. The next morning, we disembarked from the Viento Azul. Everybody took a flight back home, except The Boy and I (but that's another story).
And so the sun had set on our wonderful Seabase adventure. For us adults, having a carefree week away from the stress of work and family was invigorating. For the scouts, Seabase helped build their self-confidence. Many of the boys had accomplished things that they had never done before--flown in an airplane, sailed a boat, snorkeled in the ocean, and survived without a cellphone for a week.
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| The captain and crew of BS060819A |
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| The route we took on our week-long journey sailing the Sea of Abaco |
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