Tapas QCYC

Wednesday, April 10 2013- Man-of-War Cay
We left at 0800 to go to Man-of-War to enter at a rising tide, as the entrance is very narrow and is shallow. Only one boat can go in or out at the same time. We arrived around 1015, got a mooring ball and then Dwight looked at the engine once we were settled. Well, we have a major leak in the seal as a significant amount of Transmission fluid in the pan after only 2 hours of gentle motoring. We called the marina that did our work on the heat exchanger and booked an appointment for next week to have the mechanic come to Marsh Harbour and give us the bad news. In the meantime, we stayed at Man-of-War for 2 nights. Another cruising friend, on Still Crazy, came into the harbour in the afternoon and that of course lead to an invitation on their boat to join them for supper. They cooked steaks and we provided the rest. Music played and we sang some old tunes in their cockpit until all hours.
The next day we took our dingy to find a beach to clean the bottom. We had 3 inches of grass growing on the bottom of the dingy. The grass on the bottom is because we do not have dingy davits to raise the boat every night and also because we have been immobile in marinas, so the dingy sits there. To find a beach that is not on private property is a challenge. Never the less, a couple in a rowing skiff pointed us out a cut to an area that we could beach the dingy. It was fun! Luckily I had brought a putty knife to use to scrape the grass off!!! This time we did watch the tide and kept pushing the dingy to be at the water line so we did not get left high and dry with dingy again. No young man at a deserted beach to help us push it back this time!
There are Beautiful beaches on the Atlantic side that are easily accessible from the roads. On our way back from our walk we got hailed by an elderly lady who asked if we wanted to buy cinnamon buns and bread! Of course we would! She has a little sign advertising her little business out of her house. Walking in one direction you will see the sign. In the opposite direction you will miss it. We had to go around another house to get to her place. She told the story of the American who built the house right in front of hers and now she cannot see the road. I am sure it has hurt her business as you would not even know her house was there.
We had Dinner at the Dock And Dine, which by the way is the ONLY restaurant in Man-of War!!! They only serve a luncheon bar menu Monday to Wednesday, but have dinner specials Thursday to Saturday. I ordered the 2 Lobster Tails dinner and Dwight ordered a large salad. As an aside, there is no liquor or cigarettes sold on this Cay. If you want wine with dinner, you can bring your own bottle but they charge a corking fee of $5.00 a bottle.
This island is very tightly controlled by one familiy. We were told, no person of colour is allowed to be on the island after 5PM, so all the workers have to leave by water taxi. I don’t know what they would say if there was a cruiser that did not meet their guidelines for race! The community is very close-knit, and most of the residents are in some way or another related to the Albury family. The island is famous for its boat-building history. William H. Albury was famous in the country for his tremendous boat building skills. Albury Brothers Boats builds small boats in their facility next to the water.
Several boats stay on moorings all year round, even during hurricane season. We talked to a few of the boaters who have been doing that for several years and say that they have weathered the hurricanes fine in the protected harbour. One couple we talked with is from National Yacht Club in Toronto and they have left their 52 foot sail boat there for 8 years on a mooring. The downside is they cannot get insurance now being on a mooring during hurricane season.