Pot Luck & Green Turtle

Last night Dennis & Jan hosted a potluck dinner aboard Mother Ocean at the Spanish Cay docks.  We had an amazing spread of delicious foods - and everyone got to take some back to their boat.  It was a lively group with dinner and conversation going on until about 9 o'clock, when the smart ones in the group decided to call it a night and head back to their boats.  The rest of us trouped up to the Spanish Cay bar for some shuffleboard and ping-pong.  Alas, the bar had closed early, so we retraced our steps back to Mother Ocean to play a crazy card game called Taboo.  I'm still not sure who won, but since Jan was keeping score, I'm pretty sure her team did!

It was also somewhat of a bittersweet evening as our too short visit with Mark and Cathy aboard Midnight Blue came to an end.  As you know, they have been in the Bahamas for about six weeks and with the coming weekend's forecast bad weather, they decided to see if they can get back to Florida this week.

We have all been teasing poor Drew about his graceful splash off the dock the other night.  Well, the pressure is off him now as Mark one-upped him by being in a hurry and putting 20 gallons of (expensive) water right into his diesel tank.  That's not exactly ideal when you're planning a Gulfstream crossing in the next couple days!  He was about as hangdog as a guy can be, but was very lucky that Eddie from the marina made it his mission to help Mark get every last drop of water out of that tank.  Mark reported earlier today that the boat was running smoothly on their way to Great Sale Cay and no water being deposited in the Racors.  Definitely dodged a bullet there!

                      Dennis points out the water fill on his GH47 to Mark

Everyone rose a little bit bleary-eyed this morning to check out of friendly Spanish Cay and get moving south to our destination at Green Turtle Cay.  Rainy, breezy weather made for a bit of a choppy Sea of Abaco, but, one by one, we steamed up to the docks at the beautiful Green Turtle Club around 11:30am.  Although the docks are in very good shape, all of them have quite short finger piers, requiring the entire Great Harbour Armada to back into their respective slips.  A task which some of the group have not practiced much.  Mother Ocean and Pipe Dream were quickly into their respective berths with me in the dinghy doing my best to choreograph the whole deal.  Dennis happened to be with me in the dinghy when Cedric asked if Dennis might come aboard to assist with The Office II's docking.

Like a rock star, Dennis quickly had the N37 securely into her slip.  Next, it was Lee's turn to back his GH37, At Last, into slip 5.  He did a great job on his very first attempt at backing into a slip - right up until the point when the boat came to a halt halfway in.  The slip was at least a foot too narrow for the Great Harbour's generous beam!

After much consternation, Lee took At Last back out to circle the harbour, while Chutay docked in her slip.  The dockmaster was very accommodating and finally found a very nice alongside berth for Lee and Karen.  Whew!  With everyone safely in place, the crews checked in and took advantage of an afternoon break in the rainy weather for various activities.  Some bicycled into the settlement of New Plymouth to explore.  Some took naps.  While others found their way to the very cool "Tipsy Turtle" bar with its thousands upon thousands of dollar bills stapled to the walls and ceilings.

We all met up at 7pm for a fantastic meal at the Club dining room.  The service was great and the food fresh and delicious. During dinner, Dennis made a presentation to Lee of a special jar of the proper substance needed to get a Great Harbour into a too-small slip.

It had been a very good day in spite of the weather, so just before dinner ended, I checked the updated forecast.  It seems the tropical disturbance must be moving in a different direction as it looks like we might have a few days of really nice weather - with much, much less than the previously forecast high winds on the weekend.  So, stay tuned.  We just might be posting some tropical beach-type pics in the next day or so!