Friday January 11, 2019
This has been a busy week.
Monday we took the tenders out to explore. Don suggested that we ride up a waterway that he and Carl discovered a few years ago. We were searching for lobsters. There are rocky ledges along the side of the waterway that look like the perfect hiding places for spiney lobster. The tide was going out and the water was swift. Too swift for snorkeling. It was a fun ride though. We were able to see lots of green turtles, from babies to big Daddy's. There were quite a few rays skimming the surface outside of the channel. We were able to get in the water by the island at the entrance to Treasure Cay marina. I was trying out a full face snorkel mask. It was great! Judy found a conch shell with a huge hermit crab in it and I found a sea urchin skeleton. We rode around to Windward beach. After touring the homes on the canal, we beached the dinghies. That is where I found a huge sea sponge.
Wednesday we rode our bikes to the public beach. It is a beautiful beach right next to Treasure Sands Club. There are nice pavilions and a large parking lot. The place is always deserted. This time there were two girls with some "31" birthday balloons taking pictures. A beautiful backdrop for a photo shoot. We put on our snorkel gear and headed off the beach to see what we could find. The water was just a little too turbulent, causing the sandy bottom to cloud our view. I came back in first and walked the beach to take some pictures. The dock at Treasure Sands is the prettiest I've seen in the Abacos. The painted pink poles against the blue water makes a stunning photograph. We dried out for a bit and then rode our bikes to Creative Hands Bakery for lunch. The special was pork chops, peas and rice and coleslaw. Yummy! On our way back, we stopped at Abaco Ceramics. I buy something here every year. This year I bought two starfish knobs to put on a closet door at home. There are new colorful collections of plates. I always love to shop here. One more stop, at the library, before going back to the boats. We rode over six miles!
Friday, It was cloudy when I pulled my jewelry supplies out this morning. Just as I finished wrapping a piece of sea glass, Don stopped by. He said they were taking Nemo out to do some snorkeling at the Fish Cays. Did we want to go? Well yeah!! We threw some snacks together and grabbed our gear. We were off the dock by 10:30. The clouds should be clearing later. It only takes about two hours to reach Great Guana Cay. The Fish Cays are a group of small uninhabited islands just off of Guana. After anchoring Nemo, we snacked on fruit and cheese and crackers. Then Don, Judy and I climb into the dinghy and made our way to the Cays. We found a sandy bottom to drop the little anchor. Carl stayed behind to man Nemo. The Cays are all coral rocks with lots of ledges for lobsters to hide. There are a group of Commorants nesting in the trees. They are not happy that we are there. There are a bunch of mean looking red and black land crabs hiding in the rocks. Judy found two conchs and I found one. I was already thinking about making conch salad or cracked conch. We decided to take the one with the prettiest shell, but in the end we let him go. We didn't find any lobsters this time. The hunt continues.