2007 - 6/29 - 7/2 - Man O' War to Green Turtle

June 29; It can’t be the 29th already! We planned to go ashore to continue exploring, but it was raining again and Tom’s flight from Daytona at 7am to Treasure . Discussion ensued as to how to get Laurel back to Green Turtle.  Hell...we'll just all go back so we can attend the opening regatta party July 3rd on Fiddle Cay just north of Green Turtle. This is a yearly, party given by the owners of Stranded Naked swimwear. The race begins on 7/4 (our independence & ends on 7/10, the Bahamas independence day. The skies were dark and angry looking all around us but we were in a clear hole. We had to travel across the Whale Cay passage as you might remember, can be extremely dangerous.  Just as we approached Whale Cay, all hell broke loose. The wind picked up, rained so hard we couldn’t see but a few feet ahead of us with a 5’ sea at our beam. No sweat for Blue Max but we sure got jostled around a bunch.  We anchored outside New Plymouth town or “the Settlement” as it’s called about 3:00 but still no word from Tom who should have arrived before Noon.  Laurel figured he missed his 7am flight – she was right but he did make it later in the day. After Wayne showed Tom every nook and cranny of Blue Max we went into town for dinner at “Wreckers”; I had the cracked Conch, of course. The restaurants in this area are just a tad above the basic places we discovered in the Exumas. A very pleasant evening with newly found friends.
Saturday, June 30; Overcast & rain again in the morning; For the past several days it’s been stormy & rain in the AM then clearing with sun after 3:00. Another lazy day; decided to get off the boat and see more of the settlement of New Plymouth. Wayne went to the Museum,

Typical home in New Plymouth

Molly, Scupper and I wandered.  Somehow, we always seem to wind up at Miss Emily’s Blue Bee Bar!! Today was no different. It took all my will power not to go in to get a ‘smash’ so I walked on by…until I heard my name being called. It was Laurel and Tom - I couldn't resist.

Baby Scupper & a really nice dog lover

Before I knew it there was a drink in front of me and the girls were being picked up and loved by all the customers. Low & behold, Wayne poked his head in the door – the girls were the first to see him.  While the boys were talking boats, Laurel & I checked out the cemetery in more depth. I usually visit the cemeteries on each island - is that morbid??
July1st maybe 5am when a huge storm came thru with thunder, rain and winds at about 40 knots!  Blue Max held fast while other boats dragged or broke loose. We went back to bed. Based on information from others who said more storms were coming, we moved back and anchored in White sound outside the Green Turtle Club.  We waited and waited for the storm...no storm. But that’s OK, it’s nice in there and we had Internet service. Quiet day. We wandered in to the Green Turtle Club where we met up with Laurel and Tom  attending a pre-regatta meeting. These are a few pictures of the bar area – gorgeous, pictures can't even describe it.

Green Turtle club, restaurant & marina

Actually, I didn’t see anyone talking business, but just an excuse to have drinks in this perfect setting. At this point we pretty much decided to hang around for the big party on Fiddle Cay on July 3rd. The cheeseburger in paradise party is huge & it’s free. Burgers, hot dogs, adult drinks - all free. Hell, we have no pre-set plans, let’s just  p a r t y for a change. July 2nd; Dawn of another rainy morning. After it cleared, we decided to walk to the beach side of the island. Dogs in tow, we explored the area. The water was gorgeous and temperature-perfect.  Quick swim to cool off then headed back. Thoughts of cheeseburgers were dancing in our heads.  Our dreams were fulfilled at the pool bar.  Didn’t do much else today.