A Tale of Two Chemists: Green Turtle Cay and Treasure Cay

Green Turtle Cay and Treasure Cay … Friday 25th and Saturday 26th January 2013

On Friday morning we hiked in from White Sound Harbor on Green Turtle Cay into the main town of New Providence. It was a couple of miles each way and we saw a few birds (including a western spindles and group of 4 parrots) and some fabulous views from the Atlantic Beaches. New Providence itself had a friendly atmosphere with colorful buildings, a beautiful location and friendly people. We stopped by the "Crazy Love Cafe" for lunch - coconut grouper sandwiches for Gloria, Dave and me and grouper and chips for Kathy - a very nice meal. We saw a great bumper sticker - "My wife talks 50% faster than I can listen". On the way back we took a brief detour to visit a cove on the Eastern / Atlantic side. This gave us a view over the ocean that was truly awe inspiring. The wind was blowing 15-20 mph from the north east and had been for the past 2 days and spectacular waves rolling in and breaking on the reef or nearby cays. It made us nervous about our return trip through the "Whale passage" the following day. In the evening we barbecued chicken and sat outside in the cockpit with the paraffin lantern providing a cosy glow.

This morning we woke early (7am) and ate a quick breakfast (bagels and coffee) and then motored out of White sound at high tide. We had hoped to pick up information on the sea state in the Whale Passage on the 8.15am cruisers net - but our VHF reception was so poor we weren't able to get much useful information. (Not sure if we were just too far away from the broadcast or if running the engine provides too much interference - it may be a mix of the two as we can communicate well with boast nearby when under way.) The wind had moderated during the night ad was suppose dot be 5-15 mph from the south. In fact we had next to no wind today so we motored the whole way to Treasure Cay. There was fair amount of roll in the outside passage - but nothing breaking and not too uncomfortable. We took the narrow and shallow cut into the harbor and dropped anchor shortly after 11am. We had cheese, salami and bread for lunch and then headed into the dock and across the road to the beach on the northern side of Treasure Cay. the guide book describes this as one of the most beautiful beaches in the world and we weren't disappointed. We hiked about a mile to the east enjoying the fine white sand and the turquoise colored seas. Returning to the dock we invested in a spear for spear fishing - stainless steel, about 5 ft long with a sharp point and hinged barb. We also need to buy the rubber sling that goes with this but there none for sale at this shop so we manufactured a system using a bungee cord. We took the dinghy out to wrecked boat just outside the harbor entrance and snorkeled around - seeing a nice turtle and a sting ray. Dave used the spear and amazingly was able to catch a spiny tailed lobster. We had chatted earlier in the afternoon to a Canadian couple we had met before and they had clued us in to lobster hunting on this wreck. Note that a ladyin a local dive shop recommended against spear fishing for fish as sharks tend to appear very quickly after you catch something. This is not true of lobster. The Canadian couple said they thought it was oK to spear fish - although the guy did mention in passing that his friends had been bitten on the foot by a shark - not a great recommendation as far as Im concerned! This evening we ate chicken and lobster risotto - very nice.

26 40 10.9 N, 77 17 04.2 W

photos to follow when we have adequate internet connectivity