The seasons they are a changing
AJAYA'S CRUISE
Phil & Nikki Hoskins
Sat 22 May 2010 13:52
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In Green Turtle Cay 26:46.7N, 77:20.2
As May draws to a close so the summer weather
arrives in the Caribbean and Bahamas. Humidity shoots upwards ensuring
that a t-shirt donned one minute is soaking wet the next.
Thunderstorms become a daily threat as huge columns of convection cloud spiral
upwards to form threatening and powerful afternoon storms that can affect one
small area and leave others completely untouched. The skies take on that look so
beloved of the travel brochures with awe inspiring cloud formations that we
never seem to see in the UK. The locals love the rainy season which refills the
water tanks that are running low after the 'dry' winter. One characteristic
of the change in season the locals do not welcome is the threat of hurricanes.
June 1st is deemed to be the start of the hurricane season. However, rather like
Britain's official start of summer on June 22nd there is certainly no guarantee
that it will actually happen that month, which is good because we are still
here!
Plans to move north to the Chesapeake in one hop
are on hold as an area of low pressure has formed and will move just where we
would be if making that voyage. We are not alone. Whilst many yachts de-camped
from the Bahamas at the end of April some remain still cruising the
islands and also waiting for the weather to clear further north so as to make
the same trip as us. In the meantime we enjoy our current location of Green
Turtle Cay.
To fill in some details since we were in Marsh
Harbour, we finally met up with our friends on Lily Pad who deserve a medal
for waiting so long to get across from the USA for a months cruise of the
Abaco. They must have felt they were going the wrong way as most of the traffic
crossing the Gulf Stream was heading the other way. It was great to see them
again and catch up with their recent adventures. We met up in Marsh Harbour and
again in Great Guana Cay before we sadly parted company to go in opposite
directions. Have a great time in the Abaco Nancy and Sandy. See you again
soon.
   The Lily Pads - See you
again soon we
hope Heart-stopping
moment in the anchorage - a barge
arrives The Whale Passage on a
flat calm day - a rare event
The Whale Passage is one of those areas where
you need to throw a double six to pass through. Locally it has a bad reputation
and we can understand why - reef strewn, exposed lee shores and an ocean
swell on the beam that's travelled thousands of miles adds up to a nasty place
to be in the wrong conditions - fortunately we caught it on a good day!
   'Grubby' is glad to be through the
Whale Passage!
The marina setting at Green Turtle
Club
........ and the anchorage
It's no place for small squeaky ducks! (see note at
end)
The reward on the other side was arriving in an
area we had yet to experience in our Abaco travels and Green Turtle Cay has a
good reputation for a very friendly welcome and its excellent shelter for
visiting boats. The settlement at New Plymouth is a gem. Old colonial homes,
some restored, some in ruin adorn the narrow streets just wide enough in most
places to accommodate one car or two golf carts. We spent a few hours wandering
the quaint town populated by British Loyalists fleeing the upheaval in the
Americas and more latterly being the home of a very young Neville Chamberlain
whose family owned a sisal plantation on the island.
   Welcome to New Plymouth as the
sign
reads
Captain Rowland Roberts house c.1863 - now
restored ....
as are many more of the local properties
One particular dilapidated house we passed had an
aroma that could be picked up long before we were got there. It wasn't the
tantalising smell of a bakery, or somebody cooking some tasty Bahamian dish - it
was the stench of many feral cats living in a very small area. There were too
many to count, were not in the least bit friendly, obviously out of the same
family lineage and beginning to also occupy the building opposite - presumably
to stake a claim on some new territory whilst still being fed by an old lady
that we suspect smelt similar to her moggy brood. We passed by as quickly as
possible, heading for some sweet clean sea air!
   This is the local jail - honest .
Still in
use Just
a few of the residents of one property - Up the
gingers!!
The house Neville Chamberlain lived in as a boy
We stopped by the hardware and marine store to
purchase another fishing lure. Out of desperation our lures are becoming larger
and more adventurous, with various forms of silicone squids, hopping fish
and cedar wood plugs with vicious looking hooks in the end. It has to be
said that few actually look edible but then pelagic fish have never acquired the
suspicions of their pond and lake living cousins that know exactly what looks
like a meal and what doesn't! So we are now ready to get out into the deep blue
again and catch some good fish. In the meantime we have had to suffer the
frustrations of seeing the sport fishing boats that have been flooding into the
Abaco in the past few weeks hitting the Dorado and Tuna populations just
offshore. They bring their catches back to the marina where they are all
expertly filleted before their carcasses are thrown into the water to be seized
upon by shoals of hungry snappers, rays and nurse sharks all fighting for some
of the action in just 2-3 feet of water. Fascinating and just a little sobering
when we were about to go back to the boat 100 yards away for a
swim!
 
4' Nurse Shark - looking for some
pickings
A stingray settles over the carcass of a Dorado and tucks
in
We have walked the ocean beach here for the last
few days - its one of the best, although hopeless for collecting seaglass except
for an exceptional piece of blue glass that Phil walked straight past. Luckily
the Admiral had her eyes in and picked it up. Our wanderings around the island
were interrupted as the air became very unstable for a couple of days causing
rain and thunderstorms to move through the area, but that's now cleared and we
are back to blue skies and sunshine.
   The ocean beach at Green Turtle
Cay
Long and sandy with rocky
buffs
Nikki in a rare moment with both feet off the ground!
 Despite its beauty this is
not the sort of sunset we prefer to see in the Bahamas - precursor of
unsettled weather to come
(Note - Grubby Duck joined the crew of
Ajaya back in Bimini. Was found sitting on the beach looking lost and lonely
staring out to sea. We said if he was still on the beach two days later we would
adopt him - he was, we did.)
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