Just as we were starting to hear of the Coronovirus in the US, we had a nice weather window to go to make a 2 night trip to the Bahamas. It was timed perfectly with University of Tampa’s spring break so that Charles and Nicole could join us as well. With a free place to stay in Green Turtle it was a no-brainer to run a little farther than normal for a 2 night trip. We woke a little early and headed out Jupiter inlet toward our favorite stop in the Abacos.
It was a beautiful flat day in the Gulfstream and everyone was comfortable as John Captained the boat for our journey.
Thanks to Capt John, even dad got a short nap in the bean bags.
Arrival at West End was easy. We cleared customs in rapid time and got a quick snack of conch salad and some goombay smash’s before heading to the Bahama bank for the lake-like portion of the trip.
Capt John had things under control and was excellent at both driving and navigating through Indian Rocks and the remainder of the trip to Green Turtle.
We made a quick stop near Mangrove rocks for some drone shots.
We were fortunate enough to get a couple golf carts for the crew. After Dorian, golf carts were hard to come by.
While we left before any quarantining, we felt safe in the islands. We probably came in contact with a total of 15 other people our entire trip. Charles thought drinking Kalik was a good option to avoid the corona as well!
Upon arrival, we got our gear to the house, and made a tour of the island to see how the restoration efforts were going. For a 360 Degree ride through town check out this link Green Turtle 360 Video.
One of the few open restaurants was Pineapples. We had great views of the Sea of Abaco and some awesome fish sandwiches.
The next morning we headed out for some trolling with high hopes of dolphin. Instead of dolphin we landed this nice wahoo! We got lucky that he picked the only bait with wire in our spread. It was awesome to see him break the surface to eat the horse ballyhoo.
After cleaning the fish we headed out to the reef for some snorkeling. The water and reef was beautiful, but we didn’t spot any fish to spear. It was a little chilly for some, but the views were fantastic.
After diving, we headed to No Name Cay to feed the pigs. We havent been to this part of the abacos in years and were impressed with the growth of the pig population. They were some guys working on the restaraunt which wasnt there the last time we were here. They came out and requested some beverages and we gave them some cold Kalik to end their day.
For dinner, we opted for the Green Turtle club. Not only did the bar full of dollar bills survive we were able to find our bills from many moons ago.
While we waited for our table, John and Dad got in a heated chess match.
The beach on Bita Bay was beautiful. It was great for morning walks and searching for shells.
No trip to Green Turtle is complete without dropping the trash at the dump. Gillian and John used the opportunity to take some cool photos for school projects.
We decided on one last ride through town before we headed home.
While the wrecking tree didnt survive Dorian, the owner was cooking out of her house and vowed the Wrecking tree would return.
The house had lost some land during the hurricane, but on a positive note, it appeared more sand had washed up on the beach.
The neighbors to Coral Sands were medical staff that stayed during the hurricane. Their house was totally demolished and they were living out of a trailer. During John’s battle with the wahoo, the wahoo knicked his leg so we went next door to get it bandaged up. In return we left some Wahoo fillets for them.
As we were pulling out of Green Turtle, we were blessed to see some Manta Rays swimming around. They were beautiful to see gliding thorough the pristine waters.
The attached videos are some clips from our ride home. The weather was even nicer than our trip there. This is one of our favorite cruising grounds between Great Sale and Mangrove. On a calm day, the water is crystal clear. At a depth of 8-12 feet, you can see the bottom, even the star fish and other objects while you cruise at 45mph.
We are so fortunate to have gotten another trip to what feels like our second home in Green Turtle. The islanders were all getting excited thinking about the return of tourists after a rough 6 months of rebuilding after Dorian. It was hard leaving Green Turtle to return home especially knowing that school was cancelled for Gillian and John. That being said, we were lucky to get home before all of the lock downs started.
It was an awesome family trip!
Brenner Family 