CRUISING IN THE SEA OF ABACO

Ene-Mai at Powell Cay

Powell Cay

It’s been about five weeks since my last post from Spanish Cay, time that we’ve spent cruising in the Abacos. We left Spanish Cay on February 28^th and anchored at nearby Powell Cay. From there we moved on to Manjack Cay (pronounced in the Bahamas as “Munjack” or “Nunjack”) where we anchored at the north end of the island. In the morning a guy named Frank came by in his dinghy and invited us to come to his house on the beach for a cookout that afternoon; he said that a bunch of his cruising buddies were coming over.

Powell Cay

Powell Cay

Sure enough several boats showed up in the anchorage and we dinghied over to the beach. Frank and his wife Vicky are from Ontario. They have been long time cruisers in the Abacos and recently bought the property on Manjack Cay and built a house. It turned out that many of the other guests at the cookout were also cruisers that had put down roots on Manjack, settling on other parts of the island. And they seemed to enjoy an active social life there.

Frank's and Vicky's house, Manjack Cay

There were some serious cruisers there, including a Swiss couple that had completed a circumnavigation. When their diesel engine recently gave up while in the Bahamas, they thought nothing of sailing off to Venezuela without engine, because they had found that they could have a new engine installed more cheaply there.

The other interesting person that we had a chance to talk to was a woman who had decided that she needed to do something after a divorce, so then sailed singlehanded from New England to Ireland in a 28-foot boat, not even stopping in the Azores. She lived in Ireland for a while, then moved to England and married a Brit and together they built a 46 foot catamaran (a James Wharram design) which now serves as their home on which they divide their time between Rhode Island and the Bahamas.

Ene-Mai at Bluff Houae Marina

 Our next stop was Green Turtle Cay, where we tied up at the Bluff House Marina, which brought back some vivid memories from some thirty-odd years ago. Back then we were sailing on a bareboat charter and were returning to our anchored boat in the dark by dinghy after a very nice dinner ashore, when Ene-Mai felt something around her neck choking her. Her first thought was that I was trying to kill her. She then felt a stab of pain in her hand, which turned out to be a fishhook that had penetrated the fleshy part between thumb and forefinger; the fishing line had caught her in the neck. Someone had carelessly left a line out in the dark, with nothing to mark it.

New Plymouth, Green Turtle Cay

New Plymouth, Green Turtle Cay

Picket Fence in New Plymouth

After Green Turtle we passed through the Whale Cay Passage and anchored for a couple of nights at Bakers Bay on Great Guana Cay. I went ashore to walk around the attractive beach and ran into some pretty tight security. Apparently the entire bay is an exclusive private resort. By Bahamian law everyone is entitled to land on the beach and transit as far as the high tide line, but every time that I tried to venture further, I was told to leave, finally by a woman in a golf cart who insisted on driving me back to my dinghy on the beach. It was so unlike the normally friendly reception that we’ve everywhere else in the Bahamas.

Bakers Bay, Great Guana Cay

Bakers Bay, Great Guana Cay

Bakers Bay, Great Guana Cay

From Bakers Bay we had a spirited sail to Marsh Harbour, having to tack twice. We tied up at the Jib Room (aka Marsh Harbour Marina). Where we saw Sue and Charles Springett’s boat Ariel on the same dock. A few days later Sue and Charles arrived, returning from a trip to the Netherlands. Our stay in Marsh Harbour got extended to eleven days when Ene-Mai got sick with a respiratory tract infection. She was able to get medical help from the Auskell Medical Clinic, where they prescribed antibiotics, medication to control her fever and cough medicine.

Sailing to Marsh Harbour

When we left Marsh Harbour on March 23^rd, Sue and Charles stayed on waiting for a part for their malfunctioning chart plotter. We headed to Hopetown, where we picked up a mooring and eventually met up again with Sue and Charles.

Ariel in Hopetown harbor

Hopetown

Hopetown

Hopetown colors

On Sunday morning the 25^th, in Hopetown, we awoke to find that we had no pressure water, with the pump running. The water tank was close to empty. I spent the day troubleshooting the pump, faucets and couldn’t figure out where the water had drained to and why the system wouldn’t hold pressure. I made several trips to shore to ferry water to the boat and that evening discovered the source of the problem. A hose clamp from the water supply to the hot water heater had come loose, allowing water to drain into the port engine bilge. At least the solution was easy: tighten the clamp. But another problem also appeared. The diesel generator stopped producing power. The engine runs fine, but there is no output from the generator.

The Springetts left Hopetown to continue further south to Andros and on to the Exumas, and on the next day we sailed down to Little Harbour, the southernmost point in the Sea of Abaco. The food there at Pete’s Pub was so good that we stayed an extra night before leaving to head back north. Unfortunately, my camera broke in Little Harbour, so I won’t be taking photos for a while. The problem is a “Lens Error” display that disables the camera, something that seems to plague the Canon S100, which I learned when I Googled “Lens Error”. The only solution is to send it back to Canon for repair, which I will do when we’re back in the States.

We anchored for a couple of nights at Lynyard Cay and then at Tahiti Beach on Elbow Cay. And at this writing we are enjoying three days in Man-O-War Cay, where we tied up at the Man-O-War Marina. We’ve tried to get some repair for our generator problem, but no luck, so at this time we’re resigned to making do without it.

Man-O-War is a community with a strong religious tradition and one result is that there is no alcohol for sale on the island. We thought that dinner in restaurants might not be so enjoyable without wine, but no worry, it turns out that the restaurants don’t mind if you bring your own bottle.

The royal wedding

ARRIVAL IN THE BAHAMAS

On the New River, Fort Lauderdale

Our jumping off point for crossing the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas was Fort Lauderdale. We were there for a little over a week, having some more work done on the boat, including new batteries, some electrical upgrades and work on the saildrives. Prior to Lauderdale we met up with Steve and Sheila Zukor in Melbourne where they were visiting family on their way back from a trip to Patagonia. We had lunch and their minivan was a great help for some much needed provisioning.

The day before departure for the Bahamas we anchored in Lake Sylvia, so as to be near Port Everglades to get out in the ocean. Our destination was West End on Grand Bahama Island, a distance of just under 70 nautical miles.

We thought at first about leaving in the late afternoon and crossing at night for a morning arrival, but in the end, decided instead on a four AM start with arrival at West End in the afternoon.

Getting from Lake Sylvia to Port Everglades in the dark turned out to be straightforward with well marked channels and one bascule bridge to negotiate. By five AM we were outside the Port Everglades entrance. There was a bit of traffic at the port, particularly some five or six large in-bound cruise ships that were lighted up like Christmas trees, so fortunately they were quite visible from a long distance. Radar and AIS were helpful for negotiating the traffic in the dark.

The wind was light when we left so we had to motor, but there was a nice boost from the Gulf Stream current. A breeze picked up after noon and we were then able to sail in light winds the rest of the way, arriving at West End at 4:15 on Saturday, February 24^th. We tied up at the Old Bahama Bay Marina and cleared customs and immigration.

 

West End Settlement, Grand Bahama Island

West End, Grand Bahama

West End, Grand Bahama

West End derelict, Grand Bahama

Old Bahama Bay on West End, Grand Bahama

  

Sailing on the Little Bahama Bank

On the Little Bahama Bank

 We stayed in West End for two nights and then sailed across the Little Bahama Bank in beautiful turquoise water as far as the eye could see. We spent a night anchored at Mangrove Cay and another in Great Sale Cay, en route to our destination, the Abacos.

Sunrise through the porthole at Great Sale Cay

View from the top at Allans-Pensacola Cay

 Allans-Pensacola anchorage from the mast top

 

Arriving in the Abacos, we sailed into the anchorage at Allans-Pensacola Cay, where I managed to get the topping lift tangled while taking down the mainsail, and then lost the topping lift up the mast. There was nothing to do but to climb up to the top. Fortunately, I have an ATN Mastclimber, a clever device that makes it possible to hoist oneself unassisted up a halyard, by alternately bending/raising legs and then standing; the climbing effort comes primarily from the legs. The topping lift fed nicely down inside the mast and we were back in business.

There is a beach on the ocean side of Allans-Pensacola where cruisers have left signs of their arrival, so we left our memento as well, carved from a scavenged board.

Memento on the beach at Allans-Pensacola

View of the Atlantic at Allans-Pensacola

From Allans-Pensacola we sailed to Spanish Cay, where we tied up at the marina. This location is a big sport fishing attraction during the summer, but strangely quiet during the winter off-season months. There is an airstrip on the north end of the island so boat owners can fly in for fishing after their captains have brought their boats over. The island is only three miles long and very narrow, very easy to walk everywhere.

Spanish Cay Marina

From Spanish Cay we plan a leisurely cruise southward in the Sea of Abaco, looking forward to a rendezvous with Charles and Sue Springett on Ariel, in Marsh Harbour, sometime in mid-March.

FLORIDA AT LAST

We finally made it to Florida, having reached Daytona Beach, where we’re enjoying the hospitality of the Sunset Harbor Yacht Club.

How we got here: After we left Cuba we flew back to Charleston where we had about two more weeks to wait to get all the work completed on Bottlenose. If you have to be stuck somewhere, you could do worse than Charleston. The food was great, as it seemed to be everywhere in South Carolina.

Ross Marine did an excellent job of patching up Bottlenose. They are a really high quality yard with tremendous attention to detail and we feel like Bottlenose is stronger than ever after all the repairs. Paul Speight, Jr. oversaw all the work; we would recommend the yard to anyone needing work done in the Charleston area.

On December 30^th Bottlenose was back in the water, so we were able to move back on board, even though a few more repairs needed to be done. We celebrated New Year’s Eve on the boat at the marina on John’s Island and were treated to a marvelous series of fireworks all around us; the weather was warm enough for drinks in the cockpit. We were thrilled to finally be back on the boat and even more thrilled to resume our journey going south, looking forward to the new year.

Bottlenose at anchor in Tom's Point Creek, SC

Anchored in the Wahoo River, GA

Calm day on the Front River, GA

We left Ross Marine on January 4^th and anchored that night at Tom’s Point Creek off the Wadmalaw River, and the following night we tied up at the marina in Beaufort, SC. From there we passed into Georgia and anchored in the Herb River in Thunderbolt and then in the Wahoo River and the South River. All of the anchorages were scenic and secluded, we were usually the only boat, no doubt due to our passing through this late in the season. And still enjoying fairly mild weather.

Foggy morning on the Little Mud River, GA

Spanish Moss at Fort Frederica, GA

Anchorage at Fort Frederica

Anchorage at Fort Frederica

Live oaks at Fort Frederica

Ruins of the barracks at Fort Frederica

 

 

 

By January 9^th we reached the Frederica River, where we anchored off Fort Frederica on St. Simon’s Island. We dinghied ashore to the ruins of the fort and found it to be a fascinating visit. Fort Frederica and the adjacent town were founded by James Oglethorpe in 1736 in what was then “no man’s land” between the British possessions to the north and the Spanish in Florida. As a result of Oglethorpe’s efforts Georgia became British. As an interesting sidelight, the garrison was disbanded in 1749 when the threat of war ended and this led quickly to the demise of the town, which was dependent on the money spent by several hundred soldiers. The Park Service has done an excellent job of displaying the ruins and has a very fine video at the visitors’ center.

Ruins at Fort Frederica

Bridge at Brunswick, GA

Jekyll Island "cottage"

After Frederica we spent a couple of nights at a marina in Brunswick, GA and then a night at Jekyll Island, which was once a social club for the wealthy (the Rockefellers, Morgans, Vanderbilts, etc.) and is now a state park that preserves the “cottages” from that bygone era.

From Jekyll Island we moved on to Florida and tied up at the municipal marina in Fernandina Beach for two nights. After that we ran aground at Pine Island in the Tolomato River in an area that showed 15 feet of water on the charts, but caught us about one and a half hours after high tide. We couldn’t kedge off so we had to wait overnight on the tide. But we liked the area so much that we anchored there for another night; this time we went around the south side of the island where there was plenty of water.

Next stop was St. Augustine where we picked up a mooring at the municipal marina for two nights, and then anchored in the Matanzas river at Fort Matanzas. We beached the dinghy and visited the small fort and walked a short nature trail. The highlight at Fort Matanzas was seeing a great horned owl sitting on her nest.


From Fort Matanzas we motored to Daytona Beach where we plan to stay one night.