A Wonderful Family Reunion on Great Guana Cay. March 17-25

We left our mooring in Hope Town on Thursday March 16 and went to Marsh Harbour to re-provision and be ready to be the “ferry” for Sarah and Joe, Brett and Natalie and Jordan (we wish Eliza could have come too….we missed you Eliza!).  Julie and I made three trips to Maxwell’s grocery store and had the refrigerator, freezer and coolers all packed full for the week’s visit with everyone.  We are so excited about having everyone together for a week!! 

Sarah, Joe, Brett and Natalie all arrived on time but Jordan’s flight was delayed.  We needed to get checked into our villa before 5 so we texted Jordan and asked that he take the ferry and we would meet him at the dock at 6:15.  We all had lunch, bought some fresh conch salad from the local dock vendor, checked out of the marina and then departed for Great Guana Cay around 3PM. 

They had a craft fair this weekend.

Our hour cruise was nice and calm and we arrived to an almost full Orchid Bay Marina.  Getting luggage off the "ferry"....

This of course was because Barefoot Man was playing concerts this weekend.  It was his 16^th concert at Nipper’s and it has become a sort of cult following.  The free concert was this afternoon and there will be a cover charge when we go to see him on Saturday night.  Check him out on ITunes…but be warned some of his lyrics are not PC!

We got checked into the villa, Abaco Baby,

and then walked over to the ferry dock to greet Jordan.  He had texted us that he was relaxing with a beer at Curly Tails, a bar near the ferry dock in Marsh Harbour so his plane did finally depart Atlanta.   On the way we ran into our Looper friends Kenny and Kathy (No Zip Code) at a house they had rented with friends for the concert weekend.  Like I said, Barefoot Man has a following!  We will catch up with them later in the week.  We last saw them in Annapolis in October.  Here comes Jordan's ferry.  Note the full marina and anchorage.

We all went to Sunsetters restaurant at the marina for dinner and had a wonderful dinner and conversation.  We retired to the boat fairly early and promised a big breakfast at the villa at 9 AM on Saturday.  The kids all stayed up till who knows when, but we are still on Looper time and Looper midnight is around 9 PM….

As promised, Julie and I carted a bunch of food over to the villa and prepared blueberry pancakes, bacon, coffee etc.  It was a great breakfast overlooking the beautiful Sea of Abaco. 

In the evening we went to Nipper’s for dinner and the Barefoot Man concert.  Lots of people having a really good time, us included. He did all his classic songs including “My Big Deck”, truly a classic.  Listen to it on ITunes….

Sunday we did breakfast, enjoyed the space at the villa in the sun on the private dock and in the shade on the porches and generally had a lazy day.  Also went to the beach at Nippers and swam and snorkeled.

A grilled chicken dinner topped it off.

It was so wonderful talking with all of our children in person and all together.  This villa idea was such a good one.  And it was from Julie’s mom and dad, God rest their souls.  The kids all said thanks to Grandma and Grandpa…we are all thankful for their lives and guidance over the years.

Got a little snorkeling and swimming time in at the dock at the villa.

Sunsets from the villa.

Monday we rented golf carts and explored the island.  It was fun to explore.  We found the Atlantic side beach for the Orchid Bay community

and saw many nice waterfront homes.  We went to Grabber’s for lunch and had a friendly game of Jenga

and then continued to explore the north end of the island. 

We checked out a new resort called Mermaids, but it was closed on Mondays.  Scrolling ahead a bit, we contacted them via email (their preferred method as they did not even list a phone number on their website) on Friday to inquire about dinner but did not get a response.  I’m not sure what to make of this business as the couple reviews were not complimentary either.  It sure looked nice though.  We made it to the gate at Baker’s Bay but could not gain entry.  It is quite an exclusive place with annual dues starting at $37,500 and scheduled to go to $45,000 as more amenities are opened.  The only way in is with a realtor and a big bank roll….

We had a great meal of seafood Julie and I "collected" along the way in our freezer to share with our family.  Stone crab from Spanish Wells, lobster from the Exumas and mahi-mahi from Cat Island.  It was all delicious!  Oh, and pineapple tarts from Eleuthera too.  A wonderful sampling of foods from our adventure.

Later in the evening we stopped at the local bar right by the docks and spoke to Forest the owner about the island and things in general. 

Barefoot man stopped by for a beer and we asked if he would be back next year.  His response was “If I am still alive I will be here”.   Forest said Kenny Chesney stopped in one night and other celebrities have stopped on their way to and from Baker’s Bay.  Interesting little bar and grill with lots of local color.  Fun.

Tuesday was a nice calm day so at just before 8 AM we took Sum Escape out on a 40 mile day trip to Tahiti Beach, Hope Town, Baker’s Bay beach and back to the marina.  Setting the anchor and bridle at Tahiti beach.

Natalie, Joe and Brett snorkeled to the beach and the rest of us dinghied in to meet them.  We all wandered the sandbars to find shells (not many) and just relaxed.  Then Brett, Natalie and Jordan took the dinghy to meet us at our mooring in Hope Town. 


It was nice to have them pass up the mooring loops to secure the boat in this crowded mooring field.  We walked around Hope Town, walked the Atlantic beach a bit, stopped at the Reef Bar and Grille at the Hope Town Lodge for lunch

then went back across to the Hope Town Inn and Marina to walk over to the lighthouse. 

We climbed to the top…what a nice view up there.  This  harbor on a mooring can is/was our home for a month.

We then loaded back aboard and headed to Baker’s Bay beach to walk it and watch the sunset.  There were a couple other boats anchored there, but we were the only ones on the beach.  And we saw no one at any of the huge homes lining the beach.  This is clearly an escape destination for the rich and famous.  We had a nice walk and then returned to the boat as the sun was setting.  A sting ray along the shore.

Dinghying back from the beach.

We arrived back at Orchid Bay just before 8 PM. Julie and I were spent and had dinner aboard and retired by 9:30.  The kids all went to Grabber’s for a pizza dinner.  A long but fun day.

A little tidbit about the Baker’s Bay development.  Years ago the Disney Cruise Line dredged a deep channel, built shore side entertainment facilities, etc. on this end of Great Guana Cay using the same concept as other cruise lines, their “private island” stop.  But it is just off a notorious cut called “The Whale” around Whale Cay.  Because swells off the ocean can come from hundreds of miles away, plus winds and outgoing tides moving through this “restricted” water can create a “rage” which has large breaking waves making the cut impassible, even for a large ship like a cruise ship.  So after a few years of trying to use this facility they abandoned the area as it was so often not accessible.  Now the developer of Baker’s Bay has taken over the entire end of the island.

Me and my two sons....

Wednesday Julie and I washed the salt off the boat from Tuesday’s excursion and then went to a late breakfast at the villa.  We scheduled a fishing excursion for wahoo, mahi-mahi and tuna for the afternoon.  It was very convenient as the boat was the cottage owners 27’ Albury center counsel docked right at the villa.  So it was easy to transfer some refreshments to the boat and board it for the outing.  We trolled at 8-10 knots trying to find the right speed, colors, depths, etc.  But nary a bite.  The captain felt bad about it when we said we were all planning on fresh grilled fish so he brought us fresh snapper, grouper and some frozen mahi-mahi.  So we still had our grill out and it was fantastic.  Thank you to Ricky Sands Charters. 
Handy having the charter boat right at our dock!

 Note how calm the ocean was!

While we all fished Julie prepared things for the evening’s dinner.  And given Sarah and Brett’s birthdays are only two weeks apart, we celebrated their 36th and 30th birthdays with the rum cake Julie had prepared. Tough to see in the picture but she had purchased sparkler dates for candles!  What a surprise for all. 

Thursday the winds kicked up and we spent the day at the villa visiting and laughing.  We also took advantage of the Wi-Fi and laundry facilities and got caught up on chores too.  The tax return is now filed.  Julie says it is nice to have our accountant ready and able to do this even out of the country. Oh, did I mention there was Wi-Fi? Not too many devices in use here....

But there were puzzles and games too!

And of course eating some of Mom's famous stove top popcorn cooked with coconut oil while watching Michigan lose by one to Oregon....darn.

The wind had blown some coconuts out of the palm trees so Brett and Joe tapped a few (and also picked a few I think) for the water.  We learned that the green ones have water and the brown ones milk.  Anyways it made for a fun exercise in learning.

Friday the winds continued as we bid farewell to Sarah and Joe and Jordan.  We had planned on getting them back to Marsh Harbour via Sum Escape but not with 30 knot gusts!  So we saw them off at 11:30 at the ferry dock.  It is sad to see them go, we so much enjoyed being together as a family again…but it was a great week full of memories for all.

We did some browsing with Brett and Natalie and then they spent the afternoon at the marina pool out of the wind.   We went to Sunsetter’s again for dinner.  Very good fresh catch, good service and an enjoyable evening.

The marina treated us well pricing wise given we rented a villa and a boat slip for the week.  Everything was neat and clean, employees were friendly and tides were not too big for the fixed docks.  I think this marina should get more business than it does (except it was full for Barefoot Man as previously mentioned).  I guess Great Guana is just not the destination it could be with a few more businesses.  But that would change the flavor of the island too and we like it the way it is.

Saturday, Julie and I took a long walk out to the ocean beach at Orchid Bay and then came back to prepare breakfast onboard for Brett and Natalie.  After breakfast they took a beach walk by Nipper’s, then got ready to depart on the 2:30 ferry…yes it is still too windy for our liking and we chose not to transport them on Sum Escape.  So here is the ferry whisking them away to their flight out of Marsh Harbour.

The group just before departure.  The next time we will all be together will be at Jordan and Eliza's wedding in September.  It will be so good to see them all again then!  We miss them everyday.

We will head back to Hope Town Sunday morning and hope to catch up with Tom and Vicki (Grand Baron) and of course our travelling partners DeVere & Carole (Job Site) and Scott & Brigitte (Putz’n Around).

Here we are back in the neighborhood....home for another couple weeks before we start slowly working our way back to the US.