On Anchor: Great Guana Cay, Abaco, Bahamas

We cruised through the night last night, straight across the Little Bahama Bank and around to Green Turtle Cay, where we dropped anchor around 0230 this morning. The full moon gave us an amazing amount of light, and it was comfortable to be in familiar waters, having spent so much time here on several different occasions. Once the anchor was set and the boat secure, we slept until Customs and Immigration opened, when we popped Eclipse in the water so that Ron could head to New Plymouth to clear us in. 

And our little stowaway from yesterday? She flew the coop, of course! She clearly had eaten (and left us a little “thank you note” on the flybridge as well) so I can only assume she made it safely to land, as close as we are to the islands here! When she came aboard, she definitely was far from home, being miles from land at that point. 

Once Ron returned, we immediately hauled anchor and set out again, as we knew the winds were forecast to increase later in the weekend and we wanted to get around Whale Cay in good weather. As it was, we had quite benign conditions in Whale Cay Cut, and made our way quietly to a lovely anchorage in Baker’s Bay off the northwest coast of Great Guana Cay. Anchor down before noon, without another boat around!

Whale Cay Cut with just a few small swells

Once there, we did a light wash and wipe-down of Equinox to make sure she was free from any salt spray, enjoyed a bit of lunch and then did some boat projects: Ron set up our new bicycle trainer for use with one of our folding bikes, so we have a way to get consistent cardio exercise when we’re aboard. He’s pretty excited about it, as am I...that was one component we were lacking when the winds were so fierce last winter and we couldn’t get off the boat as much as we liked. The trainer is up on the flybridge, so we'll have extensive water views while working out! While Ron was busy doing that, I did some much-needed scrubbing of the aft deck table and chairs, getting rid of the boat-yard grit and grime, and re-installed our mesh sun-shades around the perimeter of the cockpit. It really creates a lovely sun porch, providing a bit more privacy and keeping the temperatures cooler.

Our view of Spoil Cay with the sun setting behind it to the west

We swam, read and relaxed the remainder of the day before dinner on the aft deck at sunset, which was gorgeous in its own right. We enjoyed a light salad and fire-roasted veggie pizza (CPK, of course!) with a glass or two of wine, sitting and just enjoying being here. Then, Ron discovered the views to our east were just as spectacular; the full moon rising in the darkening lavender sky along with clouds over the cay reflecting the sunset’s pale pinks from the west...it was so beautiful as to be surreal! Once darkness came, we managed to watch a DVD before a very early bed-time. It was a long day, after a long passage, and we are simply happy to be here!!