Visiting with Friends at Great Guana Cay
Mid-February arrived and we spent a windy week tucked in Hopetown Marina. I spent a lot of the time working on taxes. Unfortunately, this is something that must be done even in paradise. However this past week we visited with friends who own a house on Great Guana Cay.
We met Russell and Carolyn on Guana Cay several years ago and have been friends ever since. They are from Boston, MA and visit their island home in February every year. Because of rough weather we traveled by ferry from Hopetown to Guana Cay to spend a few days with them. On this trip we stayed at their cottage which is in a very nice location on Fisher’s Bay right next to the Grabbers Resort.
If you don’t want to take your boat to another island, you can always take the local ferry
For these few days we went to the Man-of-War annual flea market. This event is a fundraiser for the island school and is attended by people from all over the Abacos. We later visited with other 2nd homeowner friends on Guana Cay and spent a lot of time catching up with everyone.
After three days we took the ferry from Guana Cay back to Hopetown (this is actually two ferry rides). We did this because the weather calmed down and we wanted to take our boat “Odyssey” back to Guana Cay, so we could take Russell and Carolyn sailing. The weather was very calm so we motored from Hopetown to Guana Cay. This trip took about two hours where we picked up a mooring ball in Fisher’s Bay.
Fisher’s Bay on Guana Cay
The next day we took our Boston friends on a nice two hour sail to a spoil island informally called Shell Cay due to the abundance of sea shells on the beach. We anchored Odyssey very close to the Northeast side of the island and had a picnic lunch on the boat. After lunch, we took our dinghy ashore where we spent time searching the beach for sea shells. Later we motored back to the Orchid Bay Marina in Guana’s settlement harbor. That evening we attended a sunset happy hour organized by cruisers staying at the marina.
The big event of our friend’s visit was a big surprise birthday party at their cottage for Carolyn. Russell enlisted Dena and me to be part of the “diversion team” to keep Carolyn occupied at Baker’s Bay Resort at the north end of Guana Cay while others set up the party at their cottage that afternoon. About 50 people attended the party that evening and it was a big success.
Carolyn and Dena at Sunset on Fisher’s Bay
A Junkenoo Parade
The day after the surprise party we took Odyssey over to Marsh Harbour so we could attend the Junkenoo parade that evening. Junkenoo parades are a Bahamian tradition that is similar to a Mardi Gras parade. They take place on most inhabited islands between Christmas and New Year’s. This Junkenoo parade in Marsh Harbour was a special event. It was a parade competition between several islands with judges.
A Bahamian teaching Dena how to do the Junkenoo dance
The next morning Russell and Carolyn were leaving the Bahamas. So we met them for breakfast in Marsh Harbour before they flew out. We spent most of the day re-provisioning in Marsh Harbour where selection is better and prices are a little lower.
The next morning we left Marsh Harbour where we had a great two hour sail on a beam reach on the Sea of Abaco back to Hopetown. On this sail we were greeted by four dolphins that swam alongside our boat for about five minutes.
We could not enter Hopetown Harbour right away as the tide was too low. On this day low tide was at 1400 hours so we could not go into Hopetown until 1700 hours when the water reaches mid-tide. We anchored about a quarter mile outside Hopetown, had lunch, and went swimming until the tide was right for us to enter Hopetown Harbour. While swimming we saw some very large starfish. The water was noticeably warmer than just a couple weeks before. This means we will soon be going scuba diving.
Dolphins swimming alongside Odyssey
- All sorts of boats sail the Abacos
- Anchored outside Hopetown waiting for the tide to rise
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Great story, and hopefully you will come back to Guana Cay again soon. People on Guana Cay are so nice. That is why we chose to buy property on Guana. We know Russel and Carolyn and they are wonderful. It was interesting to see my boat in the picture of the dock.