Another 12-Day Cruise in Paradise
By April the weather in the Abacos generally calms down for extended periods of time. This makes it easier to take longer cruises to the different islands in the area. Dena and I have just returned from a 12-day cruise to the islands in the northern part of the Abacos.
Our cruise itinerary included the following:
- Great Guana Cay, Fishers Bay – 2 days
- Treasure Cay – 2 days
- Manjack Cay – 2 days
- Green Turtle Cay, Black Sound – 3 days
- Green Turtle Cay, White Sound – 2 days
- Great Guana Cay, Fishers Bay – 1 day
Since I have written about several of these islands in previous posts, I thought I would just write about some of the highlights of this trip.
Dena Dancing at Nippers Party
Our first night in Fishers Bay at Guana Cay a squall with heavy winds came through. That night the winds were at least 40 to 50 MPH accompanied with torrential rains. This storm lasted about two hours. We had thought about just anchoring out that night, but we decided to pay the $20 mooring ball fee. On this night I am glad we did. Luckily no boats in Fishers bay suffered any damage.
Scott, Dena, Bill, and Kathryn at Nippers
We spent the next day at Nipper’s Sunday afternoon pig roast. It was a beautiful day and there were many party goers enjoying themselves.
After leaving Treasure Cay our destination was Manjack Cay. Manjack Cay is on the other side of Whale Cay. Our next challenge was to see if we could pass inside the Whale Cay instead of going through the cut outside Whale Cay to the Atlantic Ocean. The water depth inside Whale Cay across the Sea of Abaco is too shallow for most sailboats to pass. Generally it is not recommended for any vessel with greater than a 4-foot draft to pass inside Whale Cay.
This means that most sailboats go outside Whale Cay. We were buddy boating with our friends on Waylaid South who have a 42-foot powerboat with a 3.5 foot draft. They thought they could cross inside the Whale Cay near high tide. They proceeded out of Treasure Cay ahead of us and passed through the shallow area inside the Whale Cay and radioed back to us that they did not see any depths less than 6 feet.
The Beach on the Sea of Abaco Side of Manjack Cay
I was hesitant to travel this route as Odyssey has a 5-foot daft. Even though the ocean outside Whale Cay was fairly calm, to go outside and around Whale Cay would add an extra hour to our trip to Manjack Cay. It was a risk, but since we were on a rising tide, we decided to try it. To make the inside pass Waylaid South gave us the waypoint to head toward using the west side of “Don’t Rock” as the starting point. However, I was not sure if I was starting from the exact same point as Waylaid South did. After making a couple small detours around some shallow spots, we were able to make it through. Our shallowest depth reading was 5.5 feet.
Manjack Cay is the next island to the northwest of Green Turtle Cay. Manjack Cay is a special place. This island is mostly uninhabited and has many canals and walking trails between the Sea of Abaco and the Atlantic Ocean. We spent a couple days here hiking and snorkeling in the ocean. We also spent time exploring all the Mangroves of Manjack and Crab Cay by dinghy. We saw dozens of amphibious turtles, fish, sharks, and even some wild hogs. The pictures are better at describing Manjack Cay.
Snorkeling off the Ocean Side of Manjack Cay
We made two stops in Green Turtle Cay. We arrived in Black Sound to do some provisioning. We stayed at a new marina called the Leeward Yacht Club. It was a nice but small yacht club. We had to dinghy across Black Sound and walk about 15 minutes to New Plymouth, the main settlement on Green Turtle Cay, to do provisioning. This is not nearly as convenient as shopping in Hopetown where the Marina shuttle drops us off at the grocery front door and picks us up and takes us back to our boat to unload the provisions. But each island is different and that is what makes it interesting.
We moved Odyssey to White Sound because we scheduled a day of scuba diving with five other divers and the dive operator is located in White Sound. The dive boat took us out to a couple of beautiful reefs in the Atlantic Ocean. It was not a calm day in the ocean and the small dive boat was bouncing around quite a bit. I was starting to feel a bit seasick but fortunately we got into the water very quickly. Once in the water all was well. The reefs at these two locations were impressive as well as all the unique fish. Our dive was in water that was about 20 to 50 feet deep.
Motoring through one of Manjack Cay’s Canals
When we left Green Turtle Cay we had to pass outside the Whale Cay into the Atlantic Ocean. Fortunately, the weather was clam and we made the pass without incident. That night we anchored out in Fishers Bay at Great Guana Cay. We did some provisioning as the grocery store in Guana Cay has more choices than the grocery stores in Hopetown. I also had to pick up some extra-large lines for our boat.
Purchasing these large lines provides an example of how casual the Bahamas are. When I went to the Guana hardware store (the store is just two 18 wheeler trailers), I asked if he had any lines in stock. The proprietor said no, but he told me he could order them from Marsh Harbour to arrive on the 4:15 P.M. ferry that day. However, the proprietor told me he would not be open at that time, so, if I wanted to, I could just go down to the ferry dock and pick them up myself (along with anything else arriving for the Guana Hardware store). He told me I could settle up with him the next day.
Manjack Cay Bay at Sunset
So at the appropriate time I went to the ferry dock and the Marsh Harbour ferry arrived as scheduled. There was a box on it addressed to “Guana Hardware.” I picked up the box which had the lines I needed and about a half dozen boxes of drywall screws. I took it back to our boat for the night. The next morning I dinghied over to shore with the box and walked it the one block to the hardware store. I paid the proprietor by credit card and that was it. Being able to get these lines saved us a trip to Marsh Harbour so it was worth the trouble. This is often how things work in the Bahamas.
Odyssey Passing Outside Whale Cay
We left Guana Cay and had perhaps our best sail of the season to Hopetown. We averaged 6 knots on a starboard beam reach. We had to anchor outside Hopetown Harbour for about 3 hours until we reached mid-tide at 1700 hours. Mid-tide allows the water depth to be deep enough so we can pass into Hopetown Harbour where we joined up with our marina friends for happy hour.
After 12 days out cruising, it was good to get back to Hopetown marina our home away from home.
Going Away Dock Party for our Annapolis, MD Friends
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Ireally enjoyed reading your artical. Your trip sounds amazing and really makes me want to be there. Looking forward to seeing you both again and talking. Keep loving it.