Our friends from Poly-n-Easy were making for Great Guana Cay, so we decided to try the harbor again, and this time were a little luckier. We snagged the mooring ball we wanted, and Annika dove down on it to make sure the tackle was in decent shape. Just after she got back aboard and went below, two enormous sharks glided under our keel. They were probably nurse sharks, and pretty well-mannered as sharks go, but you kinda catch your breath a little when something like that happens.
Great Guana Cay is as cute as the guidebooks say. I understand that the name is a contraction of “Iguana,” but whenever I hear it or see it written down I can’t help but see Colonel Mandrake dressing down the Major who storms in after General Ripper shoots himself:
“Now listen here, Major… BatGuano… if that really is your name…”
Poly-n-Easy slipped into the bay just before we did, and they’d had great luck fishing on their way from Marsh and sent us over lunch.
Afterwards we went and explored the island, first trying (unsuccessfully) to locate the owner of the mooring ball we were obliged to a night’s rent on.
The opposite side of Guana has a fantastic beach that goes on for miles along the Atlantic Ocean. Beginning about twenty yards off are a series of reefs that are terrific for snorkeling. The world class reputation is no hype – it’s like the Great Barrier Reef out there.
We took a look at the restaurant, but like so many things in the Bahamas it was a bit out of our price range. (Aside: Things may be, as they say, Better in the Bahamas, but you definitely pay more for them). Thirty bucks a person for a BBQ pork sandwich seemed excessive, even with the included can of beer.
We toddled back to the bay side and sat and drank our pork ration at a little shack/pub with some expats. It was really nice. Astounding pink rum drinks that I have tried to duplicate. Near as I can figure it had pineapple and orange juice, a healthy splash of grapefruit juice, medium rum, coconut rum and a little grenadine. Apply repeatedly.
The kids hung out across the way with each other and some locals. It was quite a nice day.
When we left a day or so later, we noticed a little skiff with a huge outboard motor come out a few minutes behind us. It kept getting bigger and bigger until we realized he was coming for us. I cut back the motor, and it occurred to me that… “Hey! Do we owe you for the mooring?” “Twenty-Five dollars.” Steph fished out the dough. “You know, we went looking all over for you when we…” But I could tell he didn’t believe us.
Sailing Perseverance 