Still Dancing in the Rain: 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.