March 10th- Green Turtle Cay, Abaco Islands Bahamas

Evergreen is still tied to the dock at Donny’s Marina. We’ve been enjoying the warm, sunny, days. I think we’ve shopped at every store on this side of the island. We also found a hydroponic greens farmer. We had fresh salads and basil for a few days. We’ve made some friends who have showed us around. We found the Goombay Smash at Miss Emily’s Blue Bee Bar to be a delicious, if somewhat dangerous, drink. We each had only one. Two Goombay Smashes might cause vision problems – Three and you can’t find the boat. We were back at Two Shortys today for the BBQ chicken special. Lynne bought a cook book and we have integrated “peas and rice” into our evening repertoire. The important ingredient is canned brown pigeon peas.

Last Sunday Donny threw a pot luck party. A staggering amount of food was brought by all the cruisers in Black Sound. The Admiral acquired a bunch of potatoes and made a big batch of potato salad. While we enjoy solitude we also enjoy the camaraderie of like minded individuals. The band was a collection of boat gypsies (The Scupper Brothers). A good time was had by all. Ollie spent some of the evening on Evergreen but we brought him down to the party later on and he had a good time romping around with Mocha whom lives one dock down from us.

The Big Party.

Donny talked about some of the hardship of hurricane Dorian but also about the determination of the local populace to bring this island back to life. Donny had to have 180 truckloads of debris removed from his property. His family sheltered in the basement of his house which is on a hill. The family home was obliterated. His destroyed docks (and house) were rebuilt 10′ at a time. It was so overwhelming that the larger picture couldn’t be focused on. Everyone out here has a heartwrenching story. Over 200mph hurricane force winds for 48 hours with embedded tornadoes. I find it impossible to imagine. Everything was destroyed. Donny’s house. The whole town. Every dock. The police station. The post office. The churches. Every tree. What a horrible thing to have happened. They are still rebuilding. Some communities have rebounded better than others. Green Turtle Cay has done well.

Beach combing has brought some new treasures to Evergreen. With the help of the Admiral on SV Sabbatical, Admiral Lynne has acquired many colorful shells, sand dollars, coral, sea biscuits, glass, and other sea mysteries which I can’t remember the name of. They’ve also got a few “sea beans” which are actually big seeds that have traveled across the ocean from Africa. Even rarer, they found a “sea hamburger ” which is also an African seed. We are taking great care to preserve our treasurers in coffee cans that we have saved along the way.

On the other hand, the Captain has managed to find a big old bronze and aluminum windlass. I spent the better part of a day clearing out an area next to Evergreen’s diesel engine to store the piece of heavy equipment. I intend to bring this big hunk of metal home and restore it for use on Evergreen’s fore deck. A windlass is a winch for raising the anchor chain. Our boat gets lower in the water with each pound of cargo we add.

We are docked next to the crew of SV Modaki who have cruised the Bahamas for several years. They’ve helped us to upgrade our Abaco charts with many “Xs”, marking interesting anchorages. We have enjoyed our time at Green Turtle but are feeling the urge to press on and explore. The weather has been great but we still need to watch the winter patterns and pick the right days for transit. Sunday looks like the day and Marsh Harbor looks like the destination. We then plan on spending a few weeks poking around the southern Abacos.

Some scenes from Green Turtle Cay.