Blue Pearl Sailing

Our final days in the Abacos were the total opposite of how our initial days began. The weather was absolutely perfect. When our group parted ways at Cooper’s Town, the wind still wasn’t quite right for us to cruise the barrier islands in the North Abacos so we decided to sail back down to Green Turtle Cay, tuck into White Sound, and spend a few days exploring. We had a chunk of Bahamian cash remaining, and this was a fantastic place to use it up before going back to the states!

There were multiple islands/cays we talked about renting a golf cart at but we’re glad we waited for this place. You could easily drive the entire cay from top to bottom not missing a single stop, including a delicious lunch of conch fritters at Pineapples Bar & Grill. We found some beautiful beaches on the Atlantic side, one with reef that we could swim out to, no dinghy required!

Have you ever had breakfast at a liquor store? We certainly hadn’t, but if you’re ever in Green Turtle, I’d highly recommend it! You’ll leave with a full, happy belly, and you can stock up on boat libations for later!

White Sound also had plenty of places for us to enjoy some evenings. The Dollar Bar at the Green Turtle Yacht club (also knows as the Yacht Club Pub or Tipsy Turtle) was a really cool bar. It’s a unique and beautiful space when you explore from room to room but never seemed to be a place anyone gathered. Possibly the high drink prices keeping everyone away. After a round of beers, our wallets needed to find another watering hole.

Finally the winds shifted & died down giving us the opportunity to hit the final cays we were hoping not to miss. Powell Cay & Allans-Pensacola Cays

Powell Cay is an extremely special place. An uninhabited island with a few trails for exploring. One goes to the top of the bluff, and another across to the Atlantic side.

If you dinghy towards the bluff in the morning, you’ll be greeted by the longtails. Also known as the white-tailed tropic bird. These are the same birds we saw down at Conception Island (and is also the national bird of Bermuda). They’re incredibly unique and nest in crevices or holes in rocks, which you can see in the video below. We loved watching these majestic creatures.

Powell Cay was also special to us because it was the last place we would spend time with Steve & Elation who as you know by now, became part of the Blue Pearl family. After picking up his crew at Marsh Harbour, he met us back at Powell for a couple more nights before heading off for the states. We had a magical evening starting with dinner aboard Elation followed by a bonfire on the beach with a full moon shining overhead.

With one quick stop back at Cooper’s Town to unload garbage & grab a few things at the store (mainly passage snacks for the journey back to the US), we headed over to Allans-Pensacola Cays where we would spend a memorable final 4 nights in the Bahamas.

Where to begin? First of all, this anchorage became the holding place for multiple cruisers all planning their passages back to the US. It was fantastic to have fellow sailors all together to bounce off weather routing & passage planning.

We lucked out with incredible calm weather and spent two full days back to back out on the barrier reef. Out of all the snorkeling and spearfishing we’d done in our 4.5 months here, these two days had the most epic conditions. Once you get beyond the grassy bottom the Abacos are known for and into the white sand the glassy water turns that beautiful blue turquoise color.

The first day Rocky speared his biggest Nassau grouper yet (along with a smaller, but still large one). We realized we had too much fish to finish before crossing back over so we shared a few filets with our friends in the anchorage. It’s illegal to harvest Nassaus in the US which means it’s also illegal to bring any caught in the Bahamas back with us.

Here’s a little snippet of our days out on the reef.

We had our departure day set with one very full day of boat prep leading up to it. I brought Rocky up the mast to check our rigging & fix our steaming light. He dove the boat and cleaned the growth off the bottom for a speedy passage. Meanwhile, I meal prepped down below to avoid the dreaded meal prep during passage when the boat is healing and bouncing around. We were ready. Most of our friends had already pulled up anchor and started their crossing. We were ready for our turn. For what we hoped would be an enjoyable & exciting offshore jump from Allans Cay to Beaufort, NC.

There really aren’t words to describe the last 4.5 months. Even with all the preparation and planning we had no idea what to expect. What we didn’t expect was 141 of the most incredible days of our lives. Okay, maybe 137, at least for Rocky. I’m sure there are a few days spent with his head in OUR head fixing our stupid toilet that he’d rather forget!

-LS