SUMMER BREEZE: May 29 - 30, Tilloo Cut and bank, Sandy Cay snorkeling and Lynyard Cay

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May 29, Wednesday

We decided to leave Elbow Cay, by Aunt Pats Bay and Tahiti Beach because it was just so crowded and we are still working our way south. We have a few more stops to make before getting to the turn around point. There is a narrow channel that goes south from here but it is shallow at low tide, according to the charts, it is about 4 1/2' and we need 5' to scoot across. In the ICW, we can scoot through pluff mud but not so much here if it is an area with limestone just barely under the sand. Being the patient cruisers that we are, we didn't want to wait 4-5 hours for a higher tide so we took the long road around Lubbers Quarters Cay to the south part of Tilloo Cay which was about 14 miles. It was a great day on the Sea of Abaco with low winds and very calm seas. The whole trip took us about 2 hours. It was a very pleasant cruise.

We spent the day in the dinghy going all around the bank which is a shallow (5'ish) which is known as a swimming pool and full of rays, turtles, fish and dolphins. We did see some turtles, some jack fish and a large ray.

Quite a pleasant change in our parking spot! Marsh Harbor and Hope Town anchorages were busy and we were 1 of 2 boats!

We dinghied over to the outer cays where we could walk across the sand to the ocean side. The Atlantic Ocean and the Sea of Abaco colors are just amazing here with several colors of greens, teals, blues.

The open space between pink lines is the shallow cut at low tide. We went around Lubbers Bank.

Miles:14.3

Total miles: 750.1

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May 30, Thursday

This morning, we decided to move on south a bit more. There is no way for us to cross the Tilloo Bank so we had to go around again but it was a very pleasant ride across the sea.

Sandy Cay

But 1st, we made a stop at Sandy Cay to snorkel the Coral Garden there. It is a popular spot for tour boats to bring snorkelers or for cruisers to stop at. It was a good day for us to be there as there weren't many others. The reef was spectacular though it is not comparable to some of the diving we used to do in the old days. We did see some pretty yellow and purple corals and bright blue fish, parrot fish and others, a large spotted ray swam under us and a small sea turtle decided to play with us for a while.

We anchored here off of Lynyard Cay and dinghied to the beach and walked around and over to the other side.

The Atlantic Ocean side where there is some sand but mostly volcanic rock and breaking surf. Not a good place to swim even though it is a very calm day out there!

The Sea of Abaco side, where we are anchored.

It is a very nice beach to walk on, very small shells and lots of trash that apparently gets washed up from the ocean. Someone had made a welcome man out of the trash.

Our beach loot! Found several small pieces of sea glass!

We had picked this coconut up at Green Turtle Cay and it was finally time to cut it open. We were hoping for some good fresh coconut water!

And since Captain Bruce is not allowed to use a machete, out comes the electric saw! I'm not quite sure it was safer but he got it open!

And we were rewarded with a good amount of coconut water that was later put to use in our new signature rum drink.

Summer Breeze Tea

I had bought some guava juice a few days ago, so we created the Summer Breeze Tea. My recipe is 1 part rum (2 parts for Bruce), 2 parts coconut water and approximately 1 part guava juice. I have plenty of boxed coconut water on board, so it will continue on!