Great Harbour Cay
I woke up to a strange, but welcome sound this morning. Rain was tapping out a wonderful melody on the cabin top. We have not had any precipitation in weeks and Crossroads has been looking mighty unloved. I grabbed my chamois and started to give her a good wipe-down, even before the little squall moved on through. A hint of a rainbow appeared off our stern. Today's activities were planned based on low tide which would not occur until around 1:00 pm. In preparation for crossing back to the States within the next week, I reluctantly deflated my paddle board and bagged it up. I enjoyed every time I was able to put the board in the water. It was a great addition to my travel gear. The board gets stored in the commissary so the next step was to clean out and rearrange that storage area under the floor. While down there we got waked by a center console and I went crashing into a storage crate, busting my upper lip open. So a little more drama than I expected quickly occupied the morning. Once cleaned up, we put the dinghy and headed into the dinghy dock at Great Harbour Marina. Crossroads was looking much better as we pulled away. From the marina, we walked over to The Beach Club for lunch. The sky did not look too promising when we sat down, but by the time we were done, it was much improved.
We still had a substantial walk to get to our destination of Shelling Beach. I visited this spot several times on our last Bahamas cruise and it is definitely one of my all-time favorite beaches. A path through the woods led to sea oats on the sand dune. The tide was out and the sand flats were expansive. The receding water had left ripples in the hard-packed sand.
At low tide, one can walk all the way to Haines Cay and Hawksnest Cay. The real draw, however, are the shells. Sand dollars are plentiful and easy to spot in the sand.
Waves converging from two different directions created interesting patterns.
The water is not even knee-deep. Tiny waves lapped onto shore in a soft rhythm.
From every direction, the view was glorious. A brown sand dollar represents on that is still alive. A single mangrove sprout fights to take hold in the sand. This is my idea of a perfect day and I could have walked through the shallows all afternoon looking for shells.
Barry, on the other hand, prefers to walk where it is high and dry. Eventually he won and we started back down the beach toward the dinghy. When we reached The Beach Club, I went in the water for a relaxing dip. The water was wonderful and I didn't want to leave.
A few final pictures ...
... and then I went to find Barry. The restaurant is right across the street from the airport. Planes of all styles and sizes filed on and off the single runway all afternoon. Looks like it will be a busy Easter weekend here on the island. We got back to Crossroads by 4:30. I sorted out our shell collection (a few were broken in transit) and got a shower before dinner. It is supposed to rain tomorrow, but I hope I can make several more trips back to Shelling Beach before we depart next week.
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