Cruising the Abacos V (or is it VI?)
21 April 2007 | Allans-Pensacola Cay, Abacos, Bahamas
Jim Lea
Today is our 34th anniversary. Little did we think today 34 years ago that we would be doing this today! We left Powell Cay just after 9:00 am, having gotten all the weather forecasts and gotten organized. We hoisted the main while at anchor and sailed off to the north-west in a 15 knot easterly breeze, past Spanish Cay, Hog Cays (there are a lot of Hog Cays in the Bahamas), Angelfish point, Ale Cays and finally bearing up towards our anchorage, and dropping anchor at just past noon. It is a short day, but we wanted to come here, and there is really no place to spend the night between here and Great Sale Cay, our destination tomorrow. Allans-Pensacola Cay was originally two separate cays but were joined during a hurricane a number of years ago. When we entered the anchorage between the cays, there was just one other boat anchored. Our cruising guide said that the holding for the anchor was not good, and the first two tries at anchoring, the anchor just dragged over a rocky bottom. But on our third try we got it nicely set in a patch of sand. I checked it and could see it nicely buried, so we know we are safely anchored. Then, as we had lunch, about 8 boats came in in quick succession, dropped their anchors, and just went below. The last to come in, Osprey, are friends of ours, and they were more careful trying to set their anchor without success. Finally I got in the dinghy and found them a spot of sand. When they set it, I checked and they too are well anchored. But this afternoon when we were in the dinghy, I sneaked a peek at a couple of others, and I know that they are not set, but just sitting on the smooth rock on the bottom. If the wind blows, it could be interesting, but there is no one in front of us, so I think we're OK. After lunch, we dinghied ashore and took a path across the cay. In the 1960's it was used by the US as a missle tracking station, so we went to try to find the ruins, that were shown on our chart. All that now rmains is a tall solid concrete tower that must have held the tracking antenna. Then we looked at a "signing tree", a tree where cruisers have left mementos, usually a board or something else, an old bottle, etc. with their boat name and date on it. It is really interesting, and we found Tabitha's entry, so that was fun. Back aboard, I went diving to check on the propeller zinc, which inhibits corrosion. I changed it in January, and it is still OK, but will need to be done again before too long. And I gave the bottom a bit of a scrub as the growth is starting again. But I didn't do a complete job. I did that about 6 weeks ago, and I think it will be OK until we get back. The problem with bottom growth is that it an have a big impact on speed and, when motoring, on fuel consumption. But if today is any measure, we are fine. We had a beam reach in 18-20 knots and with 2 reefs in the main and the jib also reefed, we came up here averaging just over 7 knots which, for us, is excellent. By late afternoon the anchorage had swelled to 16 boats, and someone has organized drinks and nibbles on the beach at 5:00 pm, so we will be off to that, then back for our second last night on the Bahamas. Tomorrow we are off to Great Sale Cay, our jump-off for the US on Monday.