Who would have thought that you can have so much, for so little. So it is here in Treasure Cay. We arrived in this beautiful harbour on Monday, February 3rd after spending a few idyllic days at Green Turtle Cay. A group of 4 boats (all Canadian) left Green Turtle at high tide with the Whale Cut to conquer. The "Whale" can be a nasty bit of water depending on weather conditions because you have to go out into the ocean to get around Whale Cay. If the conditions are not favourable, the Whale in many cases is not passable. The winds had been relatively calm for the previous two days, so we were confident that we would make it through, and we were right. Although there were some 3-5 foot waves, it was certainly not uncomfortable. It's not a long distance and before long, we were turning the corner to make our way to Treasure Cay.

Wayne didn't make it to Treasure Cay on his last visit to the Abacos two years ago, so this was a new adventure for both of us. We were lucky enough to pick up a mooring ball, well actually a mooring line with two milk jugs tied to the end of it and we settled in. Our buddy boat picked up the only other mooring available and the other two boats travelling with us decided that they would go to the dock at the marina. Once settled, and having had our obligatory Bloody Caesar (it's a thing we've been doing for over 25 years when we come into harbour), we went ashore and registered with the Treasure Cay Resort and Marina. A mooring here is just $12.00 a night and it gives you full access to all the resort amenities. Who could ask for better than that? Treasure Cay is a resort area and has a fair amount of townhouse condo development and a number of businesses including a well-stocked grocery store, liquor store, bakery, marine store and some others.

On Tuesday, we spent the day at the beach (see lead picture). The beach is probably one of the nicest we've ever seen and we've seen quite a few. The sand is the consistency of flour and almost as white. The beach stretches for miles and the water is the most lovely aquamarine colour. It is paradise. I keep pinching myself to remind me that this is real. This is what postcards are made of.

Wednesday was a "boat" day. That means doing some odd jobs - there is always some little thing to be maintained and of course lots of time for reading. Both Wayne and I are reading some of Ken Follett's novels and they're very addictive. You realize that hours have passed and you're still engrossed in the book.

Thursday was the infamous Pizza night. After spending another glorious day at the beach, we were encouraged to attend pizza night by some of the boats that we had travelled with from Green Turtle. Jules (a retired Air Canada Pilot) and his wife Kathy had been here last year and said it was not to be missed. We thought it sounded like a fun evening and joined them and another couple, Dave and Kathy (from Halifax). They serve about 10 different types of pizza which is cooked in an outdoor oven. It was a great night although the pizza was expensive ($38.00 for a large). All the locals come out to enjoy the food and live music as well as boats from other islands. By the time we left to go back to our boat they had served over 100 pizzas and there was still a line up for people to order.

I had heard about a ceramics studio in Treasure Cay and wanted to visit it. We had seen the ceramics in a store in Green Turtle and here at the resort, but I thought it would be interesting to see the studio first hand. Our friend Dave assured us it was just a 20 minute walk down the road, but the 20 minutes turned into an hour and we still hadn't arrived at the studio yet. A nice local gentleman in a golf cart offered us a ride the rest of the way. He was very interesting and told us about a number of the people living in the area including many Canadians. The studio was much smaller than I had expected but had lovely pieces. We weren't walking that far without buying something, so we picked up a couple of pieces to bring home. We were not looking forward to the long trek back, but fortunately when we were about half way home, a man in an SUV came along and offered us a ride. He had seen us walking to the studio and took pity on us. It was such a hot day that he figured we'd be frying in the sun. The people are so nice here.

We are now looking at a beautiful sunset with a red sky. You know the saying, "red sky at night, sailor's delight". Tomorrow should be another JASDIP day. In case you don't know what that means? Just Another Shitty Day in Paradise!