YACHT "WANDERING STAR": Its Beginning to Feel A Lot Like Christmas....

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Its Beginning to Feel A Lot Like Christmas....

Enjoying a stroll around Green Turtle Cay, Abaco

Its hard to believe that we have been in the Bahamas for less than two weeks. Our time in America already seems like a fond but distant memory. Bikinis, shorts and tees have replaced foul weather gear and we are back into the swing of living in the tropics (technically the sub tropics at the mo).

Street decorations at Green Turtle Cay

Christmas is out in full swing in the Bahamas and no more so then the very quaint Green Turtle Cay. What a cute and pretty island. So neat and clean unlike so many of their counterpart islands with Pastel coloured houses lining the streets and the odd golf cart running around. They have maintained everything so well that even the original jail still stands. Not much goes on in this sleepy town but it’s hard not to like it. We enjoyed a cheap burger $5 and not so cheap beer $5 (that’s the happy hour price) at “Sundowners”. Every property, building and public place is decked to the nines with Christmas decorations. It would have been a great place to spend the Christmas day but with a forecast predicting a strong cold front coming through over the following days we opted to move on as the anchorage here is very exposed.

Pigs and piglets on the beach at No Name Cay

We made a brief visit to No Name Cay – another island just like Staniel Cay further south in the Exuma’s with pigs on the beach that like to be fed. I find these pigs quite intimidating with their yapping teeth waiting to be fed so I keep my distance......Sim was thinking BBQ! We then carried on to Spoil Cay - a tiny little island 12 miles further south that could be walked around in 15 mins. More walks on beaches that were filled with thousands of tiny shells.

Fair weather anchorage at Spoil Cay

We moved on again, with no wind, it was more motoring but the skies and seas were fabulous blues so who is complaining about settled weather? Sim and I checked out the outside anchorage of Treasure Cay not noted on the charts as a place to anchor but seems like a good place with excellent holding and protection from both the west and north should things get ugly when the front passes through. Now we have made our way to Marsh Harbour and its protected anchorage - where we intend to spend Christmas day. It’s a much bigger town – by Bahamian standards but you can read that as everything is further apart for those of us with legs as our only mode of transport. But unlike much of the Bahamas there is a big super market where you can get anything for a price. The coin laundry, on the brink of shutting down, is only $2 a wash but $.25 for 2 mins in the dryer. And water to buy from Conch Marina $.20/g. So not bad for the generally over inflated prices of the Bahamas.

Wandering Star likes being in the Bahamas

The weather forecast has been put back and back so if we do see any nasty weather it will be on Christmas day and won’t be as bad as we had originally thought. As long as the BBQ will light all will be well. We are having drinks aboard Khaya Moya tonight and tomorrow they are joining us.

So from the crew of Wandering Star we wish you all a very merry Christmas