Florence’s Cafe & Bakery, Golden Groceries, a gorgeous powdery pink beach, aquamarine waters and even a pizza! We landed in Treasure Cay sailing from Marsh Harbor and discovered all these treasures on Treasure Cay as we began our trip toward home. We are “schizoid” about heading home - on one hand we cannot soak in enough of the Bahamas on the other hand we are eager to get home to family and Chicago land. The Bahamas offer so many wonderful experiences in the water along with gracious and smiling Bahamians. The life style is S-L-O-W and each day seems to just flow into the next with few things to worry about other than what is the weather and how will we “play today”? However, being from the midwest makes it more challenging for us to just accept the Bahamian lifestyle of “go with the flow” - and we do miss multiple sources of entertainment, our information rich environment, and the cultural advantages of being near Chicago. However, more than all of this, we miss our kids, friends, pets, home etc.
We anchored outside of the Treasure Cay Marina after waiting to follow a couple of boats into the anchorage. It appeared to be a little tricky entering into the anchorage because of some sand bars near the entrance so we waited outside to follow in a large power yacht and a large sailboat. After entering and setting our anchor the sailors dinghied over to our boat to tell us that they too had never been in the anchorage - so following them may not have been the best idea! :-)
We anchored for $10. a night and were able to access all of the marina’s resources - a great pool, bar, showers, etc. The local bakery - Florence’s Cafe is where we met Captain 400 and Florence - very friendly and gracious Bahamians. She makes the best cinnamon rolls in the world - so once again we are eating our way across the islands. We were able to indulge in a pizza offered at the marina bar - so we brought it back to our boat and with some great wine (yes - we continue to drink as well as eat our way across the islands). It sure wasn’t Chicago pizza - but put a small bandage on our missing home wounds.
It was Wiley’s 64th birthday while at Treasure Cay and we spent the day singing the Beatles Song - When I’m 64 and heading toward Green Turtle where his birthday present awaited him - Diving with Brendal. In order to get to Green Turtle we needed to go through the Whale - an area all boaters monitor closely because of frequent Rages. It appeared calm, although there were dark storm clouds on the horizon. Since it was Wiley’s birthday he made the call - and decided that we should go ahead and cross the Whale to get to Green Turtle.
The greatest gift Wiley could receive and a moment I will always treasure happened on the way. A large pod of dolphins - more than a dozen were swimming in the shallow white sand waters on our way. They swam under and around our boat. I was thrilled to have such a close encounter with these gorgeous creatures. We wanted to drop anchor and swim with them but a dark cloud was approaching so we spent a short time sailing among the dolphins before heading through the Whale. It is amazing to watch them turn to look up at you while you are on the bow of the boat - they appear curious - or maybe they are thinking the same thing about us looking down on them.
When going through “the Whale” boats go out through Loggerhead Passage - the Atlantic Ocean and then Whale Passage. The seas roll more here and at this time they were only 2 to 3 feet but we did watch the waves crash into Whale Cay. We were delighted that while we were rolling we were making a good passage. Wiley’s birthday lunch was given him just as the seas and boat rolled from one side to another. The storm rolled over and passed us. It was a great passage and we arrived in Green Turtle excited to be on our way home with treasured memories of Wiley's 64th birthday and excited to be going diving with Brendal at Green Turtle.