Beatitude moored in Fishers Bay, Great Guana

On Friday morning, the 23rd of January, we slowly dinghied through the choppy waters of the Sea of Abaco around Delia’s Cay and into Settlement Harbour. We first stopped off at the Orchid Bay Marina for a trash drop-off at $1/bag. Next, we dinghied over to the public dock to explore the town with Julie and Tracy. We shopped at a couple of boutiques. We bought some beverages, although not much. If you are a beer drinker, your habit will be expensive in the Bahamas. Beer on Great Guana costs $77.00/case. I’m not much of a beer drinker, but I do like my diet soda. Soda drinkers have it no better in the Bahamas. A six-pack of Diet Coke on Great Guana will set you back ten bucks. Even water is expensive! It, like soda, is about three times more expensive than in the U.S. Most marinas charge between $0.20 and $0.50/gallon for water from the hose to fill your tanks or wash your boat. Fortunately, not every place in the Bahamas is quite as expensive as Great Guana Cay, but it is still expensive compared to prices in the U.S. The good news is, if you are a rum or wine drinker, prices are quite good!

Just stepped off the public dock on Great Guana

We wandered around town a little and made our way over to Nipper’s, the beach bar/restaurant perched high on a sand bank overlooking the Atlantic. We first descended the steps down the sand dune onto the beach. The beach is breathtakingly beautiful. Waves were breaking over the rocks along the sea shore. Our feet sank three inches down into the pretty pink sand as we walked up and down the beach. After spending a few minutes on the beach, we walked back up to Nipper’s to enjoy a nice lunch of cracked conch, fries, and “Nippers.”

This cool cemetery is on the walk up to Nippers

We passed this beautiful creature on the way

Approaching Nippers on the dirt/sand path from the road

The Atlantic Beach

Julie and Tracy in front of the rocks

Look at Julie and Tracy’s deep footprints in the light pink sand

A view down the beach

The gift shop at Nippers with its sand floor

Rocks on the Beach

Enjoying a snack and beverages while looking out over the Atlantic from high above the beach

We returned to Beatitude and released the mooring lines around 1:30 in the afternoon to head across the Sea of Abaco to Treasure Cay. It was a gentle hour and a half expedition across turquoise waters terminating at the channel leading into the Treasure Cay Harbour. Julie and Tracy have to return home on Monday. Tomorrow, Saturday, is supposed to have 20-30 knot winds and thunderstorms. In lieu of the above, we decided to go ahead and take a slip in the Marina and relax there for the weekend. We will leave our boat at Treasure Cay Marina for a couple of weeks while we return back to Lakeland for another round of shifts in the emergency department. The harbour is secure and very well protected from all directions.

Beatitude in her slip at Treasure Cay (she sits quite low in the slip at low tide)

The marina is nice, but the 3 1/2-mile long crescent shaped beach behind the marina is drop-dead gorgeous! After securing Beatitude’s lines and hooking up to shore power. We put on our swimsuits and made a bee-line for the beach. It truly is one of the most beautiful beaches you’ll see. The girls walked up and down the beach collecting sand dollars and sea shells while I kicked back in a lounge chair enjoying the pleasing vista.

Cindy and Julie on the Treasure Cay Beach

Treasure Cay Beach: A gorgeous 3.5 mile stretch of sugary white sand

My view for the afternoon

Once we were back aboard Beatitude, we had wonderful fish tacos, compliments of the generosity of the shark who left us a half of a wahoo for our own dining enjoyment. The wahoo, fried up with a beer batter crust, made delicious tacos. Homemade guacamole was a great complement to our fish. After a couple of games of Jeopardy and a couple of “pain killers,” we retired for a good night’s rest.

Beer-batter fried Wahoo fish tacos for dinner

The sun sets on another great day!