Vector at sunset at Man-O-War Cay
On Friday, we decided to head into town on Man-O-War Cay to
check things out and search for milk.
Louise was struggling with a washing machine issue so she stayed aboard
and we went off in Petal with Sean. The town
was very nice with several shops. We were able to drop off trash (we paid $1 to
drop it at the marina and then found the free dump!) There were two grocery
stores that were very well stocked with lots of fresh produce. They also had a
batik shop where they sold goods made from the batik factory on Andros and a
sail shop where they make all kinds of totes and bags from sail fabric. We didn’t
do any shopping but the products were all lovely.
Ladies sewing canvas products
Lunch at Man-O-War Marina
On our way home the adventure began! Just before exiting the cut, thank God it was
before we got out to the bay, Petal died.
Out of gas. Doh! Luckily we have paddles and Sean & Martin were able
to paddle against the outgoing current close enough to shore that it got shallow
and I could hop out and pull us to a dock. It happened to be the dock to the
dump site, that’s how we found out that you can dump your trash for free ;)
Martin met a lovely couple that drove him and the gas can
back from the fuel dock in their golf cart. Martin filled the tank and then
couldn’t start Petal. So again, awesome group came by on their dinghy and towed
us out to Blossom & Vector. Talk about the kindness of strangers making a
rough situation so much easier. I love cruisers J
So after quite the adventurous morning/afternoon, we pulled
up the anchor and headed out to sea via the Man-O-War cut. It was a really nice trip. Chris Parker was
right on – 3-5 foot rolling seas at the start and then almost nothing the rest
of the way. There was a big bright moon out so it was quite light. We went
through a brief rainstorm that washed the salt off as well. There wasn’t much
traffic other than several cruise ships, all moving east to west. They are
amazing huge to see all lit up at night!
Here’s a few shots of we saw traveling at night…
Rain over the Abacos
Sun setting
Moon rising
We arrived early, around 8:30 and dropped the hook right on
the bank on the south west tip of New Providence. The winds are so mild that we
don’t need any protection. There’s a little roll from surge but not much. What
a difference! In Lucky we would be
rocking and rolling but in Blossom it’s a comfortable motion. Saturday was a
lost day, as is usually the case for us after an overnight. We took a nap and
then Martin worked on Petal. He just needed to prime the engine a bit better
and she started right up. I washed the boat a bit. Then another nap. Then
lunch. Then another nap. We woke up for dinner and enjoyed grilling and eating on
the aft deck. Daylight savings is Sunday so we’d have an early day Monday.
We saw a lot of traffic out where we anchored. There’s a high
end marina there ($8/foot + $200 daily “resort fee” for transients. Holy sh*!, I
think that’s more than Atlantis charges) and a big snorkel/dive area on the
west tip. There were a few huge megayachts, we anchored near one. We saw jet
skis, dinghies, fishing boats and commercial snorkel boats going by. The
megayacht Casino Royal cruised by this morning. We saw her all the time when we
were here in ‘09. We’re seeing all kinds
of coral heads now - welcome to the Exumas. We didn’t see nearly as many up in
the Abacos.
The route to Highbourne Cay was about 40 miles which is a
long day when you’re hoping to be able to read water. The wind had picked up and it was quite choppy
on the bank - much less comfortable than we had coming down through the North
East Passage! We ran through a squall just before arriving and then the sun
came out and it was gorgeous. We’re
looking forward to visiting Highbourne and checking out the changes that have
been made there, including a new restaurant. Sean made reservations for 7:30pm
so we’ll have a nice evening ashore tonight!
Once we were anchored I felt like I was in heaven. It’s
Amazing here! Photos in the next blog
post!
No comments:
Post a Comment