.This is the second time I have done this entry. The first one disappeared into thin air, never to be seen again! Oh, well, I have time. It's Sunday, and we are on a mooring in Man-O-War Cay riding out the latest front. Apparently not too many people would feel sorry for us, though. The weather system has dumped 1' of snow on Washington DC and parts north, and speaking with my brother Bill, there is still lots of snow in PEI, so I guess we're not so badly off after all. On Friday, we left Cormorant Cay which, for Jeannie was none to soon. It was full of no-see-ems, tiny flies that can inflict a painful bite. They don't seem to like me, because I get very few bites, and the ones I do get don't bother me. But Jeannie's swell up and itch for days. So I have orders not to anchor anywhere near a potential site for them in future. On Friday, when we left Cormorant Cay, we were heading for Hope Town, but we didn't get there. It is a tiny harbour, with a couple of Marinas and the harbour filled with moorings (for rent, of course), but when we called, there were none available. That was probably due to a combination of the fact that they were running a regatta (which we watched as we went by) and that the weather for the weekend is bad, so people were starting to hunker down. So we diverted to nearby (most things are nearby in the Abacos) Man-O-War Cay. It has another tiny harbour with one marina and moorings throughout (for rent), so, like Hope Town, has no room to anchor. We ran through the very narrow entrance and motored past a 38' Island Packet that had mis-read the posts (apparently) marking the channel, and run hard up on a ledge. It was low tide when we came in, so he was clearly there for the day. Late in the afternoon he was gone, but he didn't come in to the harbour. (I wouldn't have either, if it were me! We picked up a mooring off the marina, went ashore to pay for it, and walked around the town. It reminds us of Spanish Wells. It was settled, like Spanish Wells, by United Empire Loyalists, and their descendants still constitute the majority of the year-round population of about 200. There are about 200 winter-time residents too. It is also prosperous, like Spanish Wells, although not due to fishing, but boat-building. There is a boatyard that builds a variety of very nice looking fiberglass boats that can be seen throughout the Bahamas. And, like Spanish Wells, it is a Dry Island! The streets are the narrowest we have seen yet, so the golf cart is the standard mode of transportation. In fact, some "streets" (all paved in concrete) are so narrow, that we had to step off onto the grass to let a cart pass. There are a few 1/4 ton trucks, but we have not seen a single car. So we spent Friday night here, planning to go to Hope Town on Saturday. But when we called (we had our name on a waiting list, second in line), we were told that there was no chance. So with the major front coming through on Sunday (today), we decided to stay put too. We spent Saturday just tidying up (I fixed a chainplate leak we discovered during a squall last week) and wandering around (spending money). There is also an old sail loft from the days of sail that has been converted into a shop making canvas products (bags, etc) that are very attractive, so now we have another bag to add to our collection. That plus a bit more exploring, a few groceries, a few post cards, and we pretty much wrapped up the day. In the evening, we watched a charter catamaran come in and try to pick up a mooring next to us. But there was no pennant (rope) on the buoy, so they made a few attempts, first dropping the boat hook overboard, which someone retrieved by swimming for it, then they got it hooked on the buoy, and left it there when they drifted away. So I got in the dinghy and went over and attached a line to the buoy for them. Last night the wind rose all night, and by dawn we had a steady 25 knots. By mid-afternoon it was a steady 30 knots, and another charter cat came in and did another mooring dance, this time down the harbour from us (thank goodness). But this mooring did have a pennant on it, which, after a few failed attempts to pick it up, they got nicely tangled in one of their props! Someone promptly jumped over and cut the line. They probably didn't think that one through, because now they were drifting down the harbour with only one engine, and in 30 knots in a crowded anchorage, you can't maneuver a 40' cat well enough. So they ran around the boat with fenders, bounced off a few boats and came to rest (luckily) on an empty dock in front of the grocery store. I hope they have the sense to stay there and don't see the empty mooring next to us! I looked over a few minutes ago and their jib came un-furled, and was flogging nicely, but they must have noticed, and got it in. Such are our amusements! But I also can think back to some pretty entertaining maneuvers that we have gone through when picking up a mooring or entering or exiting a marina, so I should remember; There but for the grace of God... In one marina, which shall remain nameless, we wiped out a power pedestal on leaving... in another, we couldn't get the boat to back out without swinging wildly to port... until we noticed the line we had forgotten to untie. This front is forecast to come through late this afternoon, and the squalls along it are just starting. Tomorrow it is supposed to calm down in the afternoon, and hopefully we can get out of here (nice as it is, we have seen enough of Man-O-War Cay) and head north to few smaller cays with some nice snorkeling.