Abacos Oct 26 - 27 Big Cave/Moores/home

Saturday, October 26 Allan's to Big Cave Cay (19 NM) to Moore's Island (39 NM)    

Woke at 6, boat and wind absolutely quiet. Checked engine oil - needed a bit, probably due to all the manipulating it took to get out of the hurricane hole. Needed to tighten the alternator belt. When we get back will have to make some adjustments and investigate the black water in the bilge. 

Left before 8:30, wind had picked up, full sails, wing on wing what a beautiful sight and no one around to see it. Unfortunately it was short lived.  Yesterday's forecast  for today (2 sources) was 15-20 mph. How could they be so wrong? Since the wind was negligible we headed right to Spence Rock instead of stopping at Big Cave Cay. Two men in a tiny skiff raced by and one cormorant. The sea is deserted once again. 

what the course looks like when Otto loses it

On the way Otto kept losing the nut we slid in to tighten the patched belt. When it falls out we go way off course. He needed something bigger, so we tried an old rubber plug but he kept losing his plug too. Finally found a miscellaneous piece of rubber which did the trick for a while. 

When we got to the Spence Rock channel we switched places. Gerry barked out directions and I pushed the buttons, was a lot less stressful (for me). The old depth sounder gave up after half an hour and Lowrance kept on flashing which means he knows nothing. We were barely above idle (for steering), no sails but the current pushed us along at 4.2 knots! Suddenly we bumped the bottom, twice, and the old depth sounder sprang into life showing a depth of 3.8. Small wonder we hit. I'd like to note that when I was piloting through here we hit nothing.  Since I was just pushing buttons I could take pictures.

Spence Rock SPOT

Once again vast emptiness over shallow water

Spence Rock

Took about an hour to get through and then the most amazing thing happened. I had just taken a picture of Spence Rock when a dolphin jumped out of the water right in front of me. Had to scramble to the bow to see him again. There were 3 of them, frolicking across and around and under our bow. Unfortunately they didn't stay long and the sea was once again desolate except for a small bird that rested on the bow before leaving for who knows where since there wasn't any land nearby. 

Arrived at Moores at 8, motoring sailing with the jib. Early to bed since we've got an early start and a long sail tomorrow.

Sunset approaching Moore's

 SPOT

Sunday, October 27  Moores Island to Port Lucaya (60 NM)

Up at 6:15, hauled anchor 6:45. Winds are fair, almost a beam reach, engine off averaged 5.5 for most of the day but often dropping to barely above 4.

I have apologized to Lowrance. Gerry discovered that he had come loose so had a valid excuse for acting up. He temporarily hung him from the ladder where he works just fine. Not enough wiring to leave the screen where it was so we taped him in.  We anxiously watched his depth display to see what would happen when we reached the really deep part of the ocean (over 4,000'). We were disappointed when he wouldn't register anything over 184' but at least he's working well now.  

Lowrance's sonar screen

Lowrance's chart screen

Otto kept losing his grip and eventually we had to put 3 things under his belt and keep a close eye on him, every once in a while putting him on standby and adjusting his adornments.

At 3:30 I finally spied something in the vast emptiness of the ocean - a cruise ship leaving Freeport and off to starboard there was land! Shortly after that the wind really picked up and we averaged 6.5 with Lowrance topping out at 7.8!  Ramblynn was like a horse heading home to her stable.

Port Lucaya in the background

Last sunset of this trip, no green flash.

Made it to the Bell Channel markers in exactly 12 hours, then another half hour puttering through the canal, taking down the main, getting lines ready, etc etc.  It was dark by this time but our green flashing marker light guided us into the dock, home.  SPOT

Here's the song:

Hello Mudda, hello Fadda;  Here I am, out on da watta
Life is good here, on the ocean; But can you please stop all of this damn motion?

The wind's a screamin', the captain's beamin'; The boat is weaving, my stomach's heavin'
The sun is scorching, my skin is salty;  Mudda, Fadda I hope this boat has nothing faulty.

Take me back to Grand Bahama; Take me back or there'll be drama
Don't leave me here, where I just might disappear.

Wait a minute, it's stopped waving; and the ocean, it is behaving
We are a'swimming, we are a'sailing; I really think that I can stop my wailing.

We've done reach, we're on the beach; The water's fine, it's just sublime
We take the dinghy all 'round the shore; Who can ask for anything much more?

We watch the dolphins, we swim with stingrays; No more tan lines, and sunny days
Life is good now, all is betta, Mudda, Fadda kindly disregard this letter!

Abacos Oct 24 - 25 Pensacola/Umbrella/Allan's

Thursday, October 24   Pensacola to Umbrella Cay (5 NM)

We left the Ipad running so we would hear the alarm but all was quiet. For the first time this trip we awoke to a gloomy day and it stayed that way, with a sprinkle of rain in the evening. According to the 2007 Cruising Guide within the past few decades Pensacola and Allan's Cay were separate until a hurricane joined them. I also found this paragraph that might have been helpful yesterday. 

      "There is complete protection in the very small mangrove-lined hurricane hole at the east end of the cay.  Controlling depth in the small creek is about 3' MLW in several places (favour the south side) - there is 6' MLW inside." Research is so very important. We found all the 3' places but had we read that note we might not have gone in and missed all that fun.  MLW = Mean Low Water. 

Lowrance didn't like me calling him names yesterday so refused to work for me this morning, Gerry had to reset him. 

One of the few boats we encountered.

We were really headed back to Allan's Cay but there was a boat there. Gerry didn't want to get dressed so we went to Umbrella Cay. 

Small beaches with rocks in between

Approaching Umbrella Cay

Narrow beaches and a lot of dead baby conch, I wonder why they died? They haven't been eaten and the guts smell absolutely horrible. 

The trees grow right out of the rocks - amazing and there's hundreds of snails. 

Snails

Gerry had another burr incident, got those same nasty burrs all over his shorts (didn't think to take a picture).

Good shot Gerry

Gerry put a snubber on the anchor chain. The snubber is 12 feet of stretchy line that grabs the chain in front of the boat and acts like a shock absorber. 

What the weather mans calls a cold front around here has moved in (high 83, low 70). The wind was howling (15-20 mph) and trying to push us off all night. The anchor alarm was set and even if we dragged we would have been blown off shore, nothing to hit for miles, but it's still disconcerting. Winds are supposed to pick up, we can't go through Spence Rock with high winds, will have to wait.  SPOT 

Friday, October 25   Umbrella to Allan's Cay (2 NM) 

Sitting inside the boat this morning was getting dizzy looking out the companionway at the clouds swinging by so decided to measure the swing. Gerry guessed 30°;  pretty accurate, 30 to 47°.   

Winds 20-25 mph, we're not going far today, just back to Allan's Cay where it's more protected. We met the boat that was there yesterday going out so we had the whole place to ourselves. 

The bench is still there and just as I had Gerry convinced to take it along a leg came loose. Guess there's some rot in there somewhere. 

 He took photos of its construction so he could build one just like it some day, right.

Mix of clouds and sun.  We strolled along the beach, mostly in knee deep water. We stopped to discuss how the mangroves have sent many roots out into the water and when we started walking again a shark (about 4' long) and Gerry startled each other.  I'm disappointed that I didn't see it just the mud it churned up escaping. Later, while sitting on the beach a very skinny foot long fish kept flying out of the water right along the edge of the beach until he ran out of beach. He went so fast there was no way to get a picture. And that's the end of the fish stories.  SPOT

Abacos Oct 23 Manjack/Pensacola Hurrican Hole

Wednesday, October 23    Manjack to Pensacola Cay  (17 NM)

On a typical sailing morning:  I get up turn off the anchor light, turn on Lowrance (depth/plotter) and Otto (autohelm), make coffee and put on my deck shoes (so very handy on dew laden boat); Gerry charts a course, hauls up the anchor and I pilot us out of the anchorage. We both set way points but Gerry usually does the first one, checking for things like islands and big rocks that might be in the way.  I then double check it looking for those pesky little rocks that only show up when you zoom in and scroll along the entire course. When I set the way point he double checks. When we arrive Gerry drops the anchor (because I suck at it), and I stand at the helm waiting to put her into reverse if necessary. I turn off Otto and Lowrance, make dinner and Gerry turns on the anchor light at dusk.

But this wasn't a typical day. Its 9:30 a.m., and I'm deciding about breakfast when Mother Nature takes control. The wind suddenly picks up and got stronger and stronger and then it poured and then we started to drag. Gerry had the Ipad on so the anchor alarm went off (see note *). He started the engine, idled us forward, and waited to see if the anchor had recaught. We checked the GPS and we were still dragging and were moving at one knot towards the shore! Gerry pulled up the anchor I put her in gear and we got out of Dodge. The rain immediately stopped and the sun popped out, but the wind shifted to NW the very least desirable direction. 

Off we went bouncing through 2 foot waves with a good blustery wind on our nose looking for a place to hide for the night. Powell Cay was out of the question (no shelter from NW) so we headed for Pensacola a few hours away hoping the wind would either die or shift. Weather forecasts are wrong everywhere. There was a place called Hurricane Hole at Pensacola but the chart showed blue water and no soundings so we had no idea if we could get in. White on our chart is good, blue questionable, turquoise too shallow. 

Shipwreck, no not us.

 Saw this on the way. Hard to see in the photo but this boat is completely out of the water on a rock. Didn't know we would soon be in a similar but not as dangerous situation.

Gerry says if you haven't run aground you haven't been anywhere interesting so in we crept, slowly. Was better than getting bounced around in open water or at least that was the thought. We got part way in at levels between 5.0 and 6.2 and when it was consistently at 5.0 we tried to see if we had swing room and got stuck in the mud. You have to add 1.5' to the depth sounder number to get the real depth. We decided to stay awhile and wait for the tide to lift us off (as if we had a choice). 

looking into the channel

looking out to sea

1:30, the tide is going out. Won't be the first time we've sat on the bottom but last time we weren't surrounded by mangroves and what monsters do they harbour? Around 4 we paddled up the inlet and much to our surprise the hurricane hole got much larger than indicated on the chart, and there were 2 pilings. We tried measuring the depth with a paddle and guesstimate it was well over 6'. Had someone actually bothered to chart this we would have been floating free in a large enough basin for more than a dozen boats of our size.

tried to capture immensity of "hole"

Ramblynn's mast; one piling

 

Got back to the boat and discovered the monsters were no-see-ums and they have rung the dinner bell. We let them torment us for a while then fixed the companionway screen, put in the hatch screens and placed a mosquito coil on the front deck in front of one hatch. Oddly enough the boat has not tipped over, yet. 

6:30 - waiting for the big crash over to one side, death by no-see-ums or death by mosquito coil. 

7:30 - raining, have to close the hatches so now it could be death by asphyxiation. Without the fan it would be death by heat exhaustion. 

9:30 - anchor chain moved, maybe we'd soon be out, Gerry doesn't want to wait for the next high tide at noon. All we managed to do is get turned in the right direction then ground to a halt. High tide is 11:47 we must wait, at least the no-see-ums have gone to bed.

12:15 a.m. (after getting stuck twice more) we're out of the hurricane hole thanks to Gerry's skill and perseverance (which I thought bordered on madness) and despite my poor direction giving skills. 

I was afraid we'd blow the engine so I would have waited for tomorrow's high tide which was higher and in daylight. The moon came out to help us but Lowrance that son of a bitch who got us in there refused to work telling us we had 60 feet of water. As soon as we were safely in deeper water (13') he worked just fine.  The Abacos are shallow, averaging between 12-22 feet (at least where we've been). 

We never listed to one side, I suppose we sank well enough into the mud. We've anchored just around the corner, wind has died, waves almost non existent.

Note * the Ipad chart plotter NavX is great except for one flaw. The anchor alarm will not wake the Ipad up, so unless it's on we don't know if we're drifting. Simple games will wake it up with stupid notices and yet something as important as this will not. What were the programmers thinking? I'm hoping that once we download the manual (it didn't come with one) we will find more precise instructions than the useless Help button which tells you what you can do but not how. We'll have to also find a manual for Lowance. He came with a tiny 15 page manual of diagrams impossible to read.

SPOT 

Abacos Oct 20 - 22 Manjack/Great Guana/Marsh Harbour

Sunday, October 20   Manjack Cay to Great Guana Cay (19 NM)

Going past Green Turtle Cay

Tidied up the boat, how does it get so messy? Bade the Hattaras farewell, loaded our 5 day cooler with their ice and hauled anchor around 10. Forecast next 4 days no wind, no rain, then too much wind, no rain. Tried to motor sail but the wind quickly died so we hauled in the jib.  Weren't using the main much so we put a tarp over the boom providing some shade from the relentless sun. It is ugly though, not like the excellent shades Les 'n Chris, and Anita 'n Steve have. While we were motoring Gerry decided to verify the amount of anchor chain (rode) we had. He had to cut some of it off at some point and wasn't sure how much was left. It's now official we have 65' and over 150' of rope.

Arrived at Great Guana Cay at 3 and dropped anchor in the small harbour of Settlement. Strange name for a town.  I prefer secluded islands, there's a lot less chance of either swinging or drifting into other boats, and you don't have to wear so many clothes.

This is a photo of a man made cay from dredging a cruise ship channel and turning basin that was only used for 3 years. No one had noticed that the way in, Loggerhead Channel, experiences a lot of rough weather so too many trips were cancelled. Perhaps a little more research was needed before spending millions.

Walked to the famous Nippers Bar on the other side of the island ( 7 minutes). It's where all the tourists go but the season isn't full on so it wasn't crowded. It's on a bluff with a great beach and a pool. I jumped in expecting chlorine for a change from the salty sea, but yes it was salt, joke was on me.

Nippers beach from above

Nippers beach from below

Nippers pool (one of 2)

Stopped at a wee roadside bar called Milo's and got some local colour (sort of, the owner was white Bahamian). There are a lot of expats and white Bahamians in the Abacos and except for Moore's Island that's who we've seen the most of. So different from Freeport it was a bit shocking. There's a big project at the north end of this sparsely populated cay which will bring in more rich white folk.

Great Guana Harbour

These inhabited islands are also the realm of no see 'ums, I'm always happy to get back on the boat where they've only plagued us once. By the time we get back to the harbour 3 big catamarans have moved in around us and 2 more snuck in after dark. It's getting way too crowded. Most of the cats  are chartered - how does the charter company really know if those people know what they're doing?


SPOT

Monday, October 21   Great Guana to Marsh Harbour (6 NM)

Gerry conked out at 8:30 last night and I was close behind. Still didn't get enough sleep what with the noise from the other boaters, and at some point we were awakened by a noise that to me sounded like the chain was quietly sneaking out over the bow lengthening our scope. It was in fact, according to Cap'n Gerry, the chain dragging on the rocky bottom because the wind had shifted more than 90 degrees. We decided to skip Man O War Cay and head over to Marsh Harbour for fuel, water and groceries. On the way over the prop hit a patch of floating seaweed so big it threw us off course enough to make a wiggle on our track line. 

I assumed Marsh Harbour would be even busier than Great Guana but there are very few boats here. When we were here in November 2007 there were a lot more. At the height of the season you have to wind your way through aisles of boats to find space for yours. I don't understand why they crowd in like that when there are so many islands that are a lot prettier.  Marsh Harbour is - hate to say it - it's ugly.

As is typical on the islands things never stay the same and stores with huge ads in the 2007 cruising guide no longer exist so we wandered aimlessly. Finally found a grocery store and were pleasantly surprised that on average prices were good. Next day someone mentioned the other grocery store on the radio, so where was it hiding? We had seen the big sign but no store anywhere near it. There was supposed to be a garbage container on the dinghy dock but locals were filling it up as fast they took it away. We walked a long way before we could get rid of one small bag of smelly garbage.

Groceries

View from dinghy dock

Out for dinner at Snappas, one of the few places open. They didn't have fish today - yet.  I broke down and logged on to their free wifi to send birthday greetings to my brother, etc. I have not missed the internet. We eventually decided on Philly cheese steak but found they didn't have it but they now have fish. Coconut grouper (the special) was mighty tasty, should be for $22.  Gerry spent a lot of time on the "phone" trying to get more minutes on his U.S. cell phone before his account expires.

View from Snappas with ferry on the right, Ramblynn in the middle.

The photo of the harbour above shows one of those pesky ferries that run from 6:30 a.m. until midnight, often coming close, making the boat roll with their wake.  I was surprised at the number of them, often 2 at a time.

While at the restaurant the promised rain came but again disappointing - it only drizzled and the sun came out from behind the clouds in time to set.

We're filling up on water tomorrow so I was looking forward to a long shower tonight but just to make sure the captain had water for one as well we filled up the solar shower bag. Wouldn't you know it that is all the water we had, but it was enough for two. I believe if we just use the solar bag we would use less so that's what we'll be doing on the way back. Water tank 2 empty on day 11. It's not our drinking water so it was surprising how quickly we ran out despite our conservation efforts.

 Instead of going down around the tip of Great Abaco we've decided to go back from whence we came. I'm sorry we'll miss the national park but potentially strong winds make this direction more favourable for sailing and doesn't involve an over nighter on the last leg.  SPOT 

Tuesday, October 22   Marsh Harbour to Manjack Cay (26 NM)

After a restless night we motored over to the fuel dock for water and diesel. Got $100 worth of diesel and filled the water tanks for $7 (20 cents/gallon) and off we went back to Manjack Cay, arriving at 3 pm. Winds weren't cooperating so we mostly powered over, only a bit of sailing. 

Anchored near the ray's cove where we had been before but alas there were 2 small boats there and we didn't feel sociable - damn tourists! 

Gerry dove the propeller to make sure no seaweed was entangled. For only the 2nd time this trip no-see-ums were in the boat but a mosquito coil took care of them. Luckily we've been able to leave all the hatches open without screens almost every night. It wouldn't really matter though because I do believe most of the no-see-ums are small enough to come right through the screens.

Volunteers run a radio service called Abacos Cruisers Net. Every morning at 8:15 they give a weather report, community announcements and advertisements and if you need to get a message to someone that you can't find you can email them and they'll try to help. Today there was a request to keep a look out for a 40' white sailboat named Island Gal, she's overdue. As luck would have it a sailboat was coming our way (seen so very few). With binoculars I saw the name Island Gal II. Didn't know if it was the right boat since they didn't mention the number 2, but we hailed her on the radio. The Net can't be heard very well north of Manjack so they might not have heard the announcement. He said no one was expecting him but one time his mother called the Coast Guard so he'd check it out. 

Wasn't much different to take pictures of but we did walk further down the beach and found this.

Conch fire pit

 SPOT

Abacos Oct 17 - 19 Allan's/Powell/Manjack

Thursday, October 17 Allan's Cay to Powell Cay (14 NM)

Even paradise has its problems. Mysteriously awakened at 5 a.m. by a gently rocking boat, it had been absolutely motionless the last 2 nights. It wasn't that though, it was the incessant tiny bites that had roused me - we had been invaded by no see ums (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceratopogonidaeh).  

I don't recall that ever happening and I was not pleased. Thinking perhaps the small smelly garbage bag we had left on deck had attracted them I tossed it into the dinghy, took a second to snap a pic of the brilliant almost full moon, and to deter the critters inside I (first time in decades) actually used bug spray. 

Captain has decided to let first mate choose next destination and she's chosen Powell Cay, only 3 hours away, uninhabited, pristine beaches, good shelling and a wreck. What more could you want? 

Bird kept flying around us.

Hauled anchor at 9:30, motoring under a big dark cloud, hoping it would rain and wash the salt off the boat. Was not to be it just spit on us for 20 minutes and moved on. We put out the jib, eventually turned off engine and heard nothing but the splashing of the dinghy behind us, a water fowl keeping pace.

Usual beat the sun attire and Otto steering.

Unusual attire and me steering.

Perfection and peace! Until 10:45 'snap' Otto's belt had broken and we had no spare and our course took us pretty much into the wind. I took the helm for an hour trying to steer without the sail luffing while Gerry attempted to repair the belt. After an hour he managed to stitch and tape it together. We took off the steering wheel and did a 360 or two ( without an audience), wrestled the belt and steering wheel back on and we were good to go. We'll see how long it lasts.

Our arrival was only delayed 45 minutes, not bad, and here we are anchored near the wreck. Maybe this is the third incident and we're done.

Explored the wreck, was a bit disappointing. Guess we were expecting a ship not a dredger.




We went to the beach to swim and find treasurers. Saw 2 starfish, no fish of any kind.

starfish

This is what the islands are made of.

Reminds me of the beaches of Grand Bahama.








Gerry fixed the anchor windlass while I shot the moon and made dinner.

Check out all the salt on the deck.

Gerry was in bed by 8:00, I managed to stay up one hour longer. Beaching and sailing must be hard work, but then we have been up since 5.

SPOT

Friday, October 18    Powell Cay to Manjack Cay (10 NM)

After breakfast we explored the other side of Powell by dinghy. The south side was supposed to be good shelling but it wasn't at all and was almost impossible to get on the beach because of the dead Australian pines.

We carried on to the other side and walked the beach finding just garbage and no shells. I decided to keep the fishing net buoy. Gerry didn't object as it was a lot smaller and lighter than the bench. 

Other side, house on island to the left.

check out how deep our footprints are

Cormorants

There must be lots of fish somewhere around here because at least 4 pelicans and 30 cormorants live here. Saw 2 more starfish and a wrecked paddle boat (in the bush).  Not sure how a paddle boat would get there.

On the way back we checked out the beach directly off our anchorage  and found a trail that took us back over to the far side of the island in about 3 minutes.  A lot less time than by dinghy.

Trail head and markers left by other travellers

Left Powell close to noon, motor sailed with jib doing between 4 to 5.2 knots, arrived at Manjack Cay at 1:30, dropped the hook in 6.5 feet (low tide) - Ramblynn's draft is 5.5. We're closer to civilization there's a house on this cay and we've anchored as far away as possible. 

 This afternoon I tidied up while Gerry took apart the starboard primary winch to clean and grease it, but will need to be addressed again because he couldn't get 2 pins out to do a complete job. He did the port halyard winch just before we left and yesterday the anchor windlass so that just leaves two winches, and those jobs aren't even on the main (at least 15 items) To Do list, which includes things like re-insulating the ice box, installing dorado vent, new water tank plugs, shrouds, and life lines. It never ends. 

Mid afternoon a couple, John and Sandi from Florida stopped by. They had a 61' Hattaras motor yacht over in the next bay. They asked if we needed ice as they had 2 ice makers making so much ice they have to throw some of it overboard. They told us the cove to the left has a friendly shark and stingray but they weren't there today. Coincidentally that's where we had planned on going. 

It's a double beach until high tide and one side is warmer than the other so that's where I snorkelled, no sign of shark or ray. I had just passed a bunch of bottom hugging seagrass on my way out of the water when it appeared to be moving towards me! Scared the hell out of me until I realized it was the stingray and not some monster out of the deep. It came directly at me as I was backing out of the water and ran into my leg. It swam around and into us letting us touch it. It felt like velvety rubber.

Close up of eye and gill

I'm glad it wasn't the shark that showed up although rationally I know Bahamian sharks don't attack they just look so darn scary I don't like to get up close and personal. While playing with the ray I noticed a little yellow bird fly into the water. Thought it was taking a bath but then it stopped moving. I rushed over, scooped him up and put him on the beach. He looked rather dead and Gerry didn't want to give him mouth to mouth. I checked on him a few minutes later and he was gone! 

There's a cute little house on this cove that's for sale ($380,000 - Canadian owns it) and while Gerry was walking back from it he foolishly walked off the sand into the greenery without shoes and managed to get the bottom of both feet half covered with burrs. Ouch! 

Close up of the burrs, nasty things

Beware circular greenery

Not an unusual site - docks rarely used or abandoned.

Gorgeous sunset

SPOT

Saturday, October 19    Manjack Cay 

 On our way to Great Guana Cay we swung past Sandi and John to say bye. They invited us to drop anchor next to them and go to the nearby full moon beach party so we said sure! 

Anchored by the Hattaras, beach party on the beach to the left.

Outside grocery store

Buying phone minutes

Went for a quick dip then to lunch with them (in their dinghy) to Green Turtle Cay. Last time Gerry was here (years ago) the bank was open once a week for a few hours. Things must be picking up, it's now open twice a week.

Green Turtle Cay

Nice low key full moon party hosted by Bill and Leslie who live on the island (22 years) and actually have a sign welcoming trespassers and pointing out the path to the ocean side of the island. Party was attended by any cruisers anchored in the bay and locals. Met a few interesting people, mostly rich. One couple Jane and Bob live on a catamaran and they survey and help make charts such as we have on our Ipad which make course plotting so very easy. Bob, and others, were impressed that we came up through Spence Rock as very few boats go through there. Bill tried to get rid of the no see ums but wasn't all that successful, they were merciless on land, fortunately none on the boat.

Bob, Jane and dogs