Green Turtle Cay to Manjack Cay
We left our
slip at The Turtle Cay Marina and Resort at 0930 near high tide. We had no difficulty in finding our way out
of White Sound as we followed the track of our entering which was recorded on
our chart plotter. Also, we had almost 3 additional feet of water under our
keel than during our entering the harbor.
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| Whale Cay |
We traveled to the north end of Manjack Cay to where Frank and Dwayne were fishing the previous day. We wanted to see if we could catch a few snappers or yellow tail for dinner before moving to our anchorage. We didn’t have any chum or live bait and the fish weren’t biting on our imitation lures. At about 1 PM we eventually gave up and decided to haul in the anchor.
The swells
from the Atlantic were enough to cause us a problem when hauling up the anchor.
Our bow was slammed directly opposite of the lay of the anchor chain and the
bail on our bow roller broke. This allowed the anchor chain to come off the
roller and slip back to jam against the pulpit which prevented us from raising
the anchor. After assessing the
situation, we discussed how to once again get the chain back on the bow roller. Following Dwayne’s hand signals, Carla
maneuvered the boat in such a manner as to allow enough slack in the chain to
permit Dwayne to manually get it back on track. Dwayne rapidly recovered the
chain and anchor with the windlass while Carla maneuvered the boat to reduce
tension on the chain. We were on our way to the anchorage as soon as the anchor
was secured.
There were
well over a dozen boats at anchor in this popular Manjack Cay location. We found a patch of clear sand in the grassy
bottom and the anchor set right away without difficulty. Dwayne attached two
snubber lines to keep the chain centered on the bow roller and reduce tension
on the chain. He then went to work to
remove the bail from the secondary anchor roller and put it on the primary
anchor roller to replace the one damaged earlier in the day. He then tied the
secondary anchor securely to its bow roller to prevent it from accidentally
deploying in heavy waves.
Dwayne
decided to sort out the chain locker and reset the locker divider since it now
became more of a priority due to the damaged roller. All was in order within an hour. We are hoping to obtain a replacement for the
damaged bail when we get to Marsh Harbor or Hopetown in a few days.
Our final
task before the sun set was to empty five gallons of diesel from a jerry can
into the main fuel tank. Carla held the
fuel filter funnel while Dwayne poured the diesel. We have to filter all our fuel as the purity
of the fuel in the Bahamas is sometimes inadequate resulting in engine
problems.
Someone on a
conch shell sounded out announcing the end of the day as the sun set. We turned
on our anchor light and Carla installed our cockpit LED lighting to provide
additional warning to boats traveling near us that we were here at anchor.
.
.
Carla made a
wonderful meal of chicken burritos and fresh green salad. We closed out the evening watching a DVD
before shutting down the generator.
Tomorrow we
attempt to negotiate the Whale Cay Passage and enter the southern Abacos. Hakuna
Matata and Silver Girl will
rendezvous with us so we can make the trip south together. We need to be in Treasure Cay by early
afternoon to get a slip or mooring to ride out the severe weather expected to
arrive on the following day. This
Nor’easter is forecast to bring winds in excess of 30 knots and may last three
or four days. Treasure Cay is our best
harbor of refuge.
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