The Abacos
We left at 6am to take advantage of the
calmer winds – and it worked for the first couple of hours. Then we
had a very rolly 6 hours in a north to nor easterly swell & chop
although we were assisted by some current for part of the way. We
reached a good anchorage in Lynyard Cay just after midday&
settled in with 15 other boats.
Next day we anchored at Sandy Cay, &
tied to the dinghy moorings placed there especially for snorkelling.
A good spot but a strong current which we have found in many of the
spots. We upped anchor & zig zagged our way between shoals to
Matt Lowe's Cay. This is a private island with 3 manicured, sandy,
palm lined beaches & an internal canal & docking area. You
can't see either that or the house complex but it is indicated on the
chart. (We would buy that one). There was a large sport fishing
tournament (tag & release) on that weekend & we counted the
Sports Fisherman boats (60 – 70 footers) returning to base that
evening & there were well over 30+ . Thankfully we were on the
other side of the island so avoided their wakes.
There was an unsure forecast for the
next couple of days so we headed for Leeward Yacht Club Marina in
Green Turtle Bay. It would have to be one of the best ones we've
stayed at ; - most reasonably priced @ $1.25 a foot (plus elect &
water as they do in the Bahamas) laundry, cheap food & drinks at
Lizard Bar & Grill, a pool, & showers & everything clean
& tidy. Each town or bar has signature drinks such as goombay
smash & turtle delight (usually rum based) so we try to support
the local economy & sample a few as we go.
We cycled into New Plymouth town next
day & it is delightful – all pastel coloured houses (Victorian
style), neat, spick & span lining the waterfront & harbour.
It was Sunday so most things were closed but we found some home made
ice cream and watched as the local ladies walked to church in their
best dresses – didn't see any men with them. We did get to see the
bronze sculpture garden in memory of the Loyalist settlers.
Unfortunately, the museum, rich in the area's history, was closed &
Monday was also a holiday.
We made our way north hoping to find
more snorkelling spots (of which there are plenty) but wind &
strong currents limited where we could go. Our anchorage at Manjack
Cay revealed a ship wreck close to the beach & out of the current
that turned out to be a great snorkelling spot with a variety of
fish, some in huge numbers making their home in the rib cage of the
sunken boat. We swam through schools of tiny fish like whitebait –
so many that at first they seemed like floating sea grass. I was
reminded of catching whitebait in the river when we were about 10
years & whitebait fritters, We had a comfortable although windy
night.
Crab Cay on the northern end of the
Great Abaco Island was our next anchorage out of the south easterlies
that got stronger as we moved north. We had high winds most of the
night and then one of those unpredicted tropical storms hit us at
6.am with wind gusting up to 35 knots, heavy rain & lightening
for over 2 hours and it was northwesterly – a complete change.
However our anchor held in this south easterly anchorage with a
howling northwesterly but we did keep a long watch & got very
wet. A neighbouring sailboat was not so lucky he lost 2 anchors, we
hoped to recover them for him but conditions were too trickey. The
forecast for the next 2 days is much improved & is the best
weather for crossing the Florida Straits through the Gulf Stream for
the foreseeable future. So a fast 140 nautical miles back to theUSA.
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