05/05/2010, Manjack Cay

May 3rd, 2010 Fisher Bay to Manjack Cay, Abacos

When we got up this morning our plan was to run north about 6 miles to Baker's Bay to clean conch on Spoil Island and do a little shelling. I had purchased a picnic ham in Marsh Harbor a few days ago and had lots of pieces that needed to be used up. We also had a frozen pie curst so along with some spinach and cheese, I whipped up a quiche for a late breakfast. It couldn't have turned out better.

We weighed anchor around 10 and sailed up to Baker's Bay only to find very little protection from the southerly wind. After radioing "Solitaire" we exited the Whale passage with the idea of continuing on to Green Turtle Cay for the afternoon. But....there really wasn't a very good place there to clean the conch that we've kept in a bag overboard for the last few days ... so we kept going up to Manjack were we found some protection behind Crab Cay with 6 or 8 other boats.

After another slice of quiche...lunch this time, we loaded up our conch, hammer and a couple of knives and headed for shore. It was decided to divert to the mangroves where we have found conch in the past to top off our catch. Unfortunately we didn't find any that were large enough to add to our pile so it was off to the beach to clean the ones we've been carrying around.

With our conch cleaned and the sun lowering in the sky, Kathy got out the cookbook and found a new recipe for spinach salad with a hot vinaigrette dressing.

We put some potatoes in the oven to bake and a little later added our last two pork chops. It was a great meal... too much actually. I tossed the bone over the side and instantly had a black headed tern for a pet. It hung around till dark waiting in vane for another handout.

The Bahamas are under the influence of a high pressure system for the last few days that has been perfect for crossing to the States. We probably won't be ready to leave until Friday at the earliest and who knows what kind of window we'll have then.

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05/05/2010, Fisher's Bay, Great Guana Cay

May 2nd, 2010 Marsh Harbor to Fisher Bay

In the morning I ran in to the Marina where "Savage Son" is slipped. I deposited some used oil and filled our water containers once more. Last night I told Jim, (Bev's brother) that he could sail over to Fisher's Bay with us. The rest of the guests were going to take the ferry over for the pig roast at Nippers.

We had a nice sail over and anchored in Fisher's Bay next to "Mad Cap" and "Solitiare."

Around noon we dinghied in to Grabbers and then walked up to Nippers. It was a beautiful day and the place was hopping. We stayed for a couple of hours and then walked back to Grabbers for a burger.

Back on the boat we both took naps and read for the remainder of the afternoon.

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05/05/2010, Tahiti Beach, Abacos

April 29th, 2010 Tahiti Beach, Elbow Cay

After coffee and time to finish a book I got the snorkel gear out and began the process of cleaning our hull. There were no barnacles, but quite a bit of soft hairy growth. It comes off easily with a scrub pad.

Before long a huge barracuda showed up to check things out. When it came too close I exited the water and worked on cleaning our stern from the dinghy. With that done it was back in the water for more scrubbing.

Kathy spent the morning working the stainless and got most of it done before lunch. After we ate I was back at it for a couple of hours but finally got too tired. Jim and Beth stopped by on their way to the beach from lunch at Cracker P's.

We joined them a little later, along with "Solitaire" and "Inamorata". Jeff had picked up a couple of conch on his trip over, so after hiking the beach with our friends, Kathy and I went hunting. The area is all shallow grass and there were small conch everywhere. We ended up with 5 nice ones that went in our bag and will spend some time there until I get the chance to clean them.

We returned to boat where I took a shower and then returned to the beach for cocktails around 5.

I made meat loaf for dinner which we had with a salad and mashed potatoes.

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