Green Cay

 

Grampa and Grandma had visited Staniel Cay and Friend Mark C in September and had spent a lot of time with Bahamian local, Hollie. Hollie had told Bob all about Green Cay, an uninhabited Island, off the beaten path, with only goats and lizards to liven things up. Grampa really wanted to go. After spending nearly two weeks trapped on a 35-foot boot with a family of four, it was the least we could do for him. I was a little timid about venturing so far off the beaten path with so little experience until, while perusing the Bahamas Explorer Chart Book, I stumbled upon a chart of Green Cay which showed two nice anchorages. The final approach to the island was pretty exciting. Bob had decided to troll the drop-off, the depth goes from 30 to thousands of feet deep almost instantly. Upon reaching the drop off, the fish, (and dolphin!) activity was epic. Huge blitzes, slicks of fish oil and whining reels. Soon, both Grampa and Bob were in the stern and I was left steering, trying to navigate. We reached Green Cay and I followed the 3 meter contour into the designated anchorage, completely stressed that we would hit a coral head while Grampa and Bob were on a fish-high, screaming behind me.

We dropped anchor on the north side of the island at lunch time, shoveled down something (I don’t even remember what) and jumped in the dinghy to begin explorations. The kids were beyond excited after months of talking about the Bahamas, warm water and beaches, we were finally here! The island was amazing, beautiful beaches with long reaches of shallow water, great for a three-year-old ready to learn to swim. Finn was over the side and out of the dinghy before we even reached



 

the beach. We played at the beach, Anna attempted some snorkeling and did some shell collecting. Grampa and Bob tried hunting up some lobster on the way back to the boat and were shocked by the cold water. Apparently, the water from the depths of the tongue on an incoming tide were a little chilly! We headed back to the boat for a dinner of grilled red snapper with Uncle Ted’s homemade chicken rub, rice and green beans, MargaritavilleRadio on the newly borrowed Sirius and a beautiful sunset. Yummy!



We awoke on Day 66 to adventure. We dingied over to the east end of the island and anchored a little way off, allowing for an outgoing tide and started a trek, clockwise around the island. The goats have created a browse line, which, combined with strips of bedrock, made for fairly easy walking.  It wasn’t long before we spotted the local residents including both goats and lizards.  An object first identified as King-Kong poop, turned out to be a termite mound, a favorite lizard-snack.

The Local Wildlife:

King Kong Poop?

The large flats around the west side of the island are conducive to conch, and the shore up into the interior, was littered with conch shells. We had a real Lord of the Flies moment with goats and conch shells and deciding who really has control of this expedition. Obviously it is not the adults.

 Who has the conch?

 
 

 

 

 

 

Grampa left us about half way round the island to backtrack and retrieve the dinghy to pick up any stragglers on the flip side. We continued on, eyeing baby goats, a goat roundup area complete with cleaning station, an inland lake, awesome beach debris (and washed up shoes, of course) and fantastic views. We finally rounded the northwest bluff and caught sight of Midwatch anchored in the beautiful turquoise water and knew we were in a little piece of paradise. We trekked the north side of the island in one to two-feet deep water with the kids stopping to play, swim and explore along the way. We were trailed by a rather large barracuda like a lost puppy following us home. We began to wonder what had happened to Grampa, and with Finn and I trailing behind, Bob and Anna rounded a bend to find Grampa napping on a grounded dinghy. I have to admit, it wasn’t the worst place in the world to sit and wait out a tide.

We knew there was an approaching front and Green Cay is unprotected, so upon returning to Midwatch, we pulled anchor and fished our way north to the Decca channel entrance, which is routed east across the banks to Staniel Cay, Grampa’s departure point.

Fun at Green Cay:

Green Cay South side bluff

Goat Roundup