5-17: Green Turtle Cay, Day 2

The day started with Adrienne preparing egg omelets for the entire crew in the ship’s galley. ‘Very tasty. After that, we rented golf carts for the day to explore the island. Since we were on the north end of the island, we headed south along the east side of the island, adjacent to the Atlantic. About half way down, we stopped at a secluded, deserted beach that the locals said had some interesting reefs. There was even trees (hence shade) on the beach for Peter to enjoy; Peter’s philosophy is that he enjoys doing things on the water, but not in the water. We snorkeled for about an hour, although Yvonne and Ellen got out quickly, not being particularly comfortable in the water either. The reef was interesting but not spectacular.
After exiting and drying off, we proceeded south to the southern end, to the small, but very picturesque town of New Plymouth. Established in the 1800’s, it consisted of one to three story pastel colored wood frame houses, a museum, churches on every corner, shops and a variety of eating establishments. I noted with interest that almost every house had a concrete below-grade cistern to collect rainwater off the roof. I never found out if this water was consumed, or only used for other purposes. I saw similar cisterns in most of the other out-island towns we visited.
We ate lunch at the Wrecking Tree restaurant located beside, what else? the Wrecking Tree. Here a story ensues. In the 1800’s, the Bahamas, although reeking with charm and natural beauty, did not abound with ways to make a living. However, because of the hundreds of miles of shoreline teeming with offshore submerged reefs and the low flat terrain of the islands, hapless sailing vessels and their crew floundered and sank with regularity. Realizing this, a cottage industry of wreck salvage sprang up. While it sounds pretty buccaneer-ish, the industry was fairly regulated by the British government in Nassau. Hence the Wrecking Tree. At this site, beneath this tree, salvaged goods were assessed, sorted and maybe shipped off to be sold. The government got 15%, the salvagers got 50%, and the remainder presumably went to the unfortunate boat owner.
For a while, the business boomed. Then in 1863, the British government decided more navigational aid was in order and construction started on the candy-striped 130’ lighthouse in Hope Town. Concerned salvagers viewed this as a threat to their livelihood. Several instances of vandalism at the construction site occurred, but to no avail. The lighthouse is still functioning today.
After lunch, we made our way back up the island to White Sound, where several of our crew, as well as some from other fleet vessels, had signed up for Scuba classes and a dive on Tuesday. That night, probably 30 of us simultaneously showed up at the Jolly Roger restaurant. We somewhat overwhelmed the staff, but they recovered nicely.
While at the restaurant, we saw a video of James (on Gran Cru) getting dunked while swinging from a Boson’s chair attached by a halyard on the main mast. The Grand Cru, being a mono hull heels over nicely when on a reach. So, anyone hanging from the main mast while the boat is heeling is suspended over the water outside the boat. The helmsman, with simple maneuvers can dunk the outboard rider at will. It was fun and made for great video.
The McKey family has dinner at the Green Turtle Club restaurant (nice décor, white tablecloths). Jimmy treated his entire family, approx. 15. This is a reprise of dinner at this restaurant in 1971 with Jimmy, Jimmy’s wife Frances, John & Mary celebrating J & M’s graduation from USF. This was the family’s first trip to the Bahamas. Many more were to follow.
Weather: clear, winds 10-15 mph. Moderate humidity.