NH heads to Great Harbour Cay

After a fantastic few day with family Nana and Nandad are ready to move on. Early morning start and ready to leave at 7.30 am, all lines are off, head sets on and lo and behold the throttle won’t go into gear!! Now this is not good. Nandad puts it into reverse and there is no problem but it refuses to go into gear. We had to tie up again, trouble shoot, review the manual , call a friend and then a mechanic. What are the chances of having a mechanic respond same day in the Bahamas ! Before all this Nana knew nothing about throttles but now she knows what a solenoid is, what it does, where it is on the boat and how it operates. Our buddy in Newport - who had worked on this issue in the past - was extremely helpful. The mechanic had a cancellation and arrived on the boat by 10.30 ( by that time Nana and Nandad had done some diagnostics ) and by 11.30 we are on our way. Amazing and certainly the luck of the Irish.

Here is a picture of Atlantis in the background as we head out into the New Providence Channel. We are so excited that we can catch the weather window for our 70 mile trip and Nandad will have to speed up in order to make up for our three hour delay. A beautiful crossing under perfect cruising weather provides us with a magnificent view of the Berry Islands from a different angle. 

As we pass Great and Little Stirrup Cay at the tip of the northern Berrys we are able to catch all three cruise ships. As mentioned before Norwegian Cruise Line owns Great Stirrup Cay so the Epic was anchored right there with its 4288 passengers. Right next door the Royal Caribbean Group lease the other island which they call Coco Bay and right there is the Wonder of the Sea and the Oasis of the Seas. Both these ships carry over 10,000 passengers between them. The island is a playground for adults and kids with floating bars, cabanas, pools, slides, zip lines, air balloon tower, and of course beach club. The Perfect Day is guaranteed.

The entrance into Great Harbour Cay is right around the corner from the cruise ships but a total different world. The cut into the harbor is hidden and would certainly be a challenge in the dark. Once inside it is easy to cruise into the protected Harbour. This spot was likely a hopping place at one time but now it needs a lot of TLC. Our slip assignment is right beside the working locals - who seemed to have every swear word in the vocabulary- it’s noisy and we don’t get a sense that things work too well. The dock hand is very pleasant and the lady in the dock office is also helpful. We decide to take advantage of the free bikes and took a short ride to the beach. Once again a lot of derelict homes, cars etc all around. The settlement is about 900 and there is an airport. In its day I guess the ‘Rat Pack’ used to party here and had their own club which is now in ruins. We will not stay another night as planned and will leave in the morning for the Grand Bahamas.

An incredibly quiet and beautiful spot overlooking the anchorage. You can see the Stirrup Islands in the background.

These are the villas that surround the harbor , some are for rent , others owned by islanders. In the morning the small whalers take out guests and bring them to a fishing lodge that they have nearby.