May 7 to May 14

After fueling and filling, we left Green Turtle Cay for the quick ride over to Manjack Cay. We had remembered this as a favorite from 9 years ago. It turned out to even better than we remembered! It was known as a private island, so no one went ashore. Well, little did we realize that the owners have a sign that says “Trespassers welcome”! These people own 20 acres and the rest is a preserve. They live completely off the grid and are very ingenious. They have cleared 3 wonderful paths around the island. The walk out to the ocean beach was magical. It twisted and turned and came complete with whimsical signs letting you know you were still on target. Someone is very creative using driftwood, coconuts, etc.
We met a couple who hailed us because of our boat name. They had a Meltemi a while back and thought they were the only ones. It was interesting chatting with them about multihulls (they have a cat now but used to own a trimarran). They also had up to date info on “connectivity”, so we took notes. At high tide we took a long dinghy ride through the mangrove to a lagoon where the owners keep 4 or 5 boats. On top of working to survive, gardening, building pathways, etc, they buy and restore boats to sell. Guess that’s where their cash comes from. The area had a ton of random boat “stuff”—props, anchors, oars, cleats, blocks, etc, etc. Really quite impressive.
Our next stop was also a revisit: Powell Cay. We had great expectations; this time it was a let down. The beach seemed much grassier and had lots of trash. We had “caught” our first conch here and this time it seemed barren. Oh well, it was still pretty and very comfortable. We also took a dinghy ride across the Sea of Abaco to Cooperstown. This is a off the beaten track, TYPICAL Bahamian settlement. That means small, quite run down, with lots of boarded windows and missing shingles, lots of men hanging around, and not much else. It was really sad, but the people were friendly; chatted with an older guy who’d caught a bunch of grunts off the shore and a huge permit off the dock. It was nice to be able to make this trip due to our new motor. It would have been too far and slow with the old 5 hp.
On Friday we sailed over to a new spot: Allans-Pensacola. This is another uninhabited cay with a few paths forged by other cruisers. They are marked with flotsam and jetsam—old floats, buoys, milk crates, plastic buckets etc. The amount of trash is amazing. It is virtually all plastic—indestructible! You wouldn’t believe how many shoes we see!!! The wind built quite heavily and Jeff got to play good Samaritan; a young couple on an older cruising boat had rowed to shore in an inflatable and were gone for hours (wonder what they were up to?). Jeff zipped over and towed them to their boat; they were very grateful. The beach here was ironshore and not user friendly, so next day we sailed across the Sea of Abaco to Foxtown. This is another isolated settlement on the eastern tip of Little Abaco. Pretty much the end of the line. Getting into the anchorage was quite tricky with rocky cays galore. The wind was favorable though, so we anchored and felt very secure. This town was also pretty rough. But again, the people are great. Chatted with a man at the gas station and he was friendly and knowledgeable. The little grocery store had what I needed—box milk and tomatoes. You guys can’t fathom the lack of food choice here. Basically all the stores have is sugar, rice, oil, tinned meat and dried beans. The staple filler here is called peas and rice; it is pigeon peas, like black eyed peas, with white rice and sometimes tomatoes added. I think they brown the rice in oil first because it is brownish when done. Season with lots of hot sauce. At restaurants, you’ll also get coleslaw and mac and cheese, which they make like baked ziti, in a flat pan and dry not saucy. Any protein you order is fried. There are a fair number of overweight people here.
Later that day we were buying fuel and I chatted with the man filling his outboard with gas. I asked him about all the young men hanging around. He paused and then said that they all want the fastbuck. That means fishing; they would rather go out one day and make $500, than get a job for 5 days and make the same. I asked about the young women’s view of this; he shrugged and said “they look the other way”. As elsewhere, everyone was friendly and we chatted with 2 young women and a toddler and they were great. He did say all the girls graduate high school, but most of the boys don’t.
After all these short jumps, it was great to sail 30 miles to Double Breasted Cays. These were absolutely gorgeous. The anchorage is like a ring around a small, sandy cay. The water is very shallow; so shallow, that Jeff was standing on the sand to scrub the bottom!! There was only room for 4 boats there. I got brave and tried our new motor; started right up, but boy, it’s fast. Looking forward to putting it on a RIB (rigid inflatable boat) for added stability. Another great place for exploring by dinghy. We used our look bucket to search for conch (no luck), and saw turtles and needle fish. There was very little coral around.
Another short hop brought us to Little Grand Cay. This was a stop recommend by a dockmaster at Green Turtle who was raised here. It is a big sport fishing mecca. There is a marina full of uber expensive fishing boats and 2 sailboats anchored. We went to visit Randall’s grandma and conveyed his love to her. Obviously in a town of maybe 100 folks, everyone knows everyone. Darlene offered us a ride in her golf cart since it was so hot. Just nice people. We ate at the restaurant at the marina, Rosie’s Place (Rosie being Roosevelt). The waitress had a pierced tongue; I said, “I don’t think you got that done here” and she laughed and said she went to Freeport to get it done. Oh, the inconvenience of living on a little island!
Strangely enough, this little place has wi-fi, so I will send this today, Tuesday May 14. Next time I update things, we will be in Florida. We expect to leave here tomorrow about noon and will cross the Little Bahama Bank for 50 miles, then jump into the Atlantic and pick up the Gulf Stream. With any luck this should bring us to Fernandina Beach, FL by Friday noon. We will leave the boat in Brunswick, GA for the hurricane season and drive home.
It’s been another great trip. Waking up every day saying “Wow, what a beautiful day”. Meeting interesting cruisers and friendly locals. Honing our sailing skills. Living with less and enjoying it more. We are both looking forward to spending time with family and friends and enjoying the other summer activities at home that we usually forego in favor of sailing.