Day with Wheels

February 23, 2011
Three other crews and we rented a van yesterday to tour some of the Great Abaco Island that we may not visit this year. Our first destination was Treasure Cay. It is basically an upscale development whose primary function seems to be golf. The harbor is nice and there is an anchorage which is much protected. By far, the ultimate reason to visit this Cay is the beach on Sand Banks Bay. Supposedly, the beach is in the top 5 in the world (original post said US). We could see why. Imagine water so clear and of such a color that it would inspire cheesy restaurant murals. Our group of eight doubled the beach count.
We then headed to the other side of the island to beaches quite different than TC. The other side has rough coral rock beaches and much better shelling. We stopped at several beaches on the way to Little Harbor, about half way down the Great Abaco Island. This is the home of Pete's Pub, a famous watering hole for cruisers. It is a very picturesque harbor where the founders lived in a cave before the docks and huts came along. Totally enclosed by high cliffs on the south and land all the way around, the harbor is something from the movies. Pete's Pub makes a great burger. Just over the dunes to the east is Northwest Providence Channel. Its shores are rocky. One can only guess how difficult it must have been to land a long boat through the surf while missing the rocks. Bosun, take the Captain ashore for some exercise. Don't get him wet.
Our next destination was Sandy Point right on the edge of the Bight of Abaco and where the water is one to two meters deep next to water that is 2,874 meters (that's meters) deep just a few hundred yards offshore. Back at Little Harbor, those depths a few miles offshore drop to 4,510 meters deep.
The final stop was Southwest Point. This is the southernmost place on the Great Abaco Island. There is not much there during the off season. During Bonefishing season, the place is busy. A short wharf (as opposed to dock for lighter duty) is used to bring goods ashore from the supply boat. Alongside was a large motorized deck boat. That boat meets the Disney Cruise ship to offer passengers snorkeling trips. It also delivers local hair dressers skilled at dreadlock hair fashions so that passengers can get that island look. Disney Cruise Ships do not land at this dock so all commerce is at sea. We were late in the day and the sun was below the yard arm. It was five o'clock. One thing all small villages have is a watering hole and Southwest Point was no exception. A fellow sitting outside opened the bar for some hospitality. We spliced the main brace and had a good time discussing life at the tip of Great Abaco Island. Our designated driver behaved himself and got us back to the dock.
The prizes of the day were three shells. One was a very beautiful conch shell that someone discarded after evicting the critter inside. Since the sun quickly bleaches the vibrant colors from the conch, you are very lucky to find one so discarded that is still fully colored. I am not sure what the other two shells are but they are equally pretty. We are urged to keep the Queen Conch out of the sun. The idea that I would surprise Bear with a conch pearl quickly evaporated when we learned they are more valuable than black oyster pears by a huge margin. Ear studs with conch pearls the size of bird shot come at the price of $800. A pea sized one is in the thousands. They too bleach in the sun.
We decided to do some provisioning next day when the veggies would be on the shelf. The supply ship made port but it would be overnight before the taters, mangoes, onions and other stuff would be out on the shelves.