Great Guana Cay, Marsh Harbor, Regatta Time

    Nipper's Pig Roast on Great Guana Cay

Sunday, July 5, 2009

 

June 28, 2009 (Sunday)  found us going to Great Guana Cay to go to Knipper's  Sunday Pig Roast. It took us about 3 hours to get there.  We tried to anchor in  Fisher's Bay but ended up picking up a mooring ball.  The wind and waves were rough on the Sea of Abaco side.  We dinghied ashore and walked to Knipper's where it was sunny and hot.  It was very cr

owded and several had their boats along the shore.  We enjoyed ourselves and saw friends, Bob and Chris, from 2007 from the boat "Leap of Faith". She makes jewelry out of sea glass. Knipper's is a place where everyone acts young no matter how many years olds they are. The beach was crowded but we walked along it and into the water.  

June 29, 2009 (Monday)

     Back to Marsh Harbor.  I needed to see a doctor about an infection.  It was raining much of the day, but late afternoon I found a clinic and went.  Then off to the pharmacy for medication. We went to Curly Tails bar for a drink and to try to use their internet but the storms had knocked out their wifi.  We ate ashore and then back to the boat.  

June 30, 2009 (Tuesday)

     We had to get ready for our guests who will be crewing with us in the Regatta, but it stormed all day long, so we got little to nothing done.

July 1, 2009 (Wednesday)

     We did groceries and a trip to the liquor store.  I did laundry.  We moved the boat to a marina so it would be easier to get our guests on board that night.  Unfortunately, they had a plane delay which made them miss the connection so they could not fly into Marsh Harbor until the next morning from Nassau.  It seems that we have rain and thunderstorms daily.  

July 2, 2009 (Thursday)

     Our guests arrived after breakfast.  We got them on board the boat, unpacked their things and got them settled.  We filled the water tanks and took on fuel.  We left Marsh Harbor just after noon heading for Green Turtle Cay.  It took us about 6 hours.  We went through the Whale Cay Cut  and anchored outside of the Settlement at Green Turtle Cay.  many boats had already arrived for the Regatta and the Stranded Naked Party at Fiddle Cay on July 3.  We ate on the boat.

July 3, 2009 (Friday)

     The Stranded Naked Swimwear company has a party on Fiddle Cay which is the next cay north of Green Turtle Cay every year the day before the Abaco Regatta begins.  Everyone is invited and they all come!  It is a HUGE Beach Party with free cheeseburgers and beer and rum drinks from 11a.m. until about 3:30.  Families also attend.  I don't think I've ever seen more good-looking bikini-clad women in one place.  We saw a number of Charleston racers at the party.  Registration for the Regatta and the Skipper's Meeting was held at the party.  We took the boat up to Fiddle ( about 3 miles) and then took the dinghy in to the party. After returning to the big boat, we moved it back to Green Turtle Cay and reanchored.  We went into Green Turtle to walk around a bit and to the Sundowner's Bar.    

July 4, 2009 (Saturday)

      The Abaco Regatta begins.  We had to leave our dinghy anchored in the harbor while we raced. The races were to begin at 11 a.m.  All the boats had to go past the Committee boat before 11a.m. as a way to check in.  We successfully did this and practiced some tacking and jibing with our experienced crew members:  Sylvia Galloway and Mike Messinger.   We were waiting for the races to start when the skies opened up and hard cold rain poured down for about an hour delaying all the races.  All the boats just sailed or motored back and forth waiting for the rain to stop.  Meanwhile we all got soaked!  Finally the races began about 1230. We had spells of good wind and then almost no wind and finally a little wind again .  We were able to use our staysail to give us a boost and also put up the whisker pole.  Sylvia served as an excellent coach for us as to when to tack to get the best position and wind.  Mike was excellent on the whisker pole and great on tacking.  I don't have the strength to pull the jib on a tack without a lot of winching which loses much time critical in racing.  We almost had a terrible collision when a boat from a higher class barged in between us and an Island Packet just as we were rounding a mark.  If Charlie had not made an emergency jibe which caused us to pull a dorade off, the Island Packet would have been rammed by this other boat barging in.  We were so shocked and shook up we did not think to file a protest at the time.  Unfortunately this boat "No Limits" won first in its class.  We did well with Sylvia and Mike's help.  We came in 5th in our class.  A big party was held at Green Turtle Cay that night including free rum drinks.  Food venders were selling dinners.  There was a live band and they had a Junkanoo walk out ( somewhat like Mardis Gras march) with big drums and wild costumes, head dresses and masks and hats.

July 5, 2009 (Sunday)

     After a leisurely breakfast, we left Green Turtle Cay and sailed back through the Whale Cay Cut ( calm)  to Treasure Cay.  As were were approaching Treasure Cay, the skies again opened up with a violent rain storm, drenching us again.  After finally arriving into the Treasure Cay harbor and anchoring , we attended  another party this evening on beautiful Treasure Cay Beach.  Again this evening, we have had numerous rain showers.  Tomorrow we have our second race which will be from Treasure Cay to Great Guana Cay.