Three Kids and a Boat: Treasures, Diplomas and Nippers

Treasure Cay was on the east side of Abaco Island, which had protection from the prevailing winds that were clocking around from the west, caused by tropical storm Andrea. Treasure Cay was named one of the 10 most beautiful beaches by National Geographic. With that kind of endorsement, it was a must see in our book. However, getting there was another challenge. The gorgeous crescent beach was surrounded by very shallow waters and reefs, not a place we could drop the hook very easily. So we went around on the other side to Treasure Cay Marina.

It was a tight squeeze, meandering through a narrow canal in shallow water.

Approaching the multi-colored condos near the marina

The 3 1/2 mile National Geographic acclaimed beach in all its glory.

We were there during a fishing tournament and learned there were sand castle building lessons. We missed them but still enjoyed the castle built during the demonstration.

Gorgeous water in the crescent shaped Treasure Cay beach

Tropical Storm Andrea was not going to ruin our day

A close up of the sandcastle - let it be noted that this was built 3 days earlier and had endured a tremendous amount of rain!

These are yummy, gooey, famous for a good reason, cinnamon rolls from the local bakery. Thanks Craig, for getting up at the crack of dawn to make sure we scored these babies!

Porter and Kate being silly as they make their own graduation decorations

We thought since we had a successful 'boat school' year, everyone deserved a little pomp and circumstance! Complete with diplomas, speeches and a party.

Kate shows off her diploma

Bryson receives his diploma from teacher Erica and principle Chris!

Maggie so happy she graduated, it was a close one! HA HA, just kidding

Party cupcakes with diploma hats - made and decorated by the kids

May we present The Boat School Class of 2013!

And congratulations to the parents, oh, I mean the teachers too!

Great Guana Cay

Moving right along, we motored directly into the wind to get across the bay to Great Guana Cay, a unique barrier island. It was a tight anchorage but with our shallow draft, we snuck up in front of the pack. The cove next door was called Kidd Cove, named after the pirate. This is a lively island with people flocking from all over on Sunday afternoons for the pig roast. We, of course, didn't want to miss out on the fun, so we made sure we were there in time for a late lunch/early dinner.

This is THE place to be on Sunday afternoons for the pig roast

This was the scene as we approached Nipper's.

What you can't experience is the pulsating, obnoxiously loud music blaring from all directions. As we got a little closer, we could see the type of crowd that was gathered - a bazillion 20-somethings hanging all over each other in skimpy swim suits, drinking and smoochin'. It didn't take us long to decide it wasn't a kid-friendly place. We grabbed all of them by the hands and escorted them through the crowd as quickly as possible - hoping they wouldn't see any x-rated scenes.