This morning (Saturday) , Jim tried to log into the SSB radio ham weather broadcast since we are out of phone service. We know there is some weather coming in this week and it's critical that we time our adventures such that we can cross a 50 mile stretch of open ocean in time to catch a flight home for Christmas. Of course, our SSB radio isn't very happy and we won't be able to get it attended to until we return to the states. Argghhh.
We decided to move south until we could get some phone service so we can get the weather from our weather router on the internet. Fortunately, we found some cell service when we reached our preferred destination of Powell Cay, a 13 mile trip - - not so bad!
Yup, you guessed it. The front caught up to us and dumped a copious amount of liquid sunshine on us. We slowed waaay down in order to wait out the storm before heading to our anchorage.
Powell Cay is a lovely, deserted island that we had heard had a couple of nice trails to follow. Sooo, once the anchor was down, we dropped the dinghy.
Fortunately, conditions weren't too bad today. Mostly benign 3 foot swells that well up as they crash into the Whale.
Notice how clear the water is here! You can see the anchor chain dribbled on the ocean floor below us in 11 feet of water.
The cliff enroute to the trail was pretty.
Before we could get to the trails, the rain returned & so did we.
After lunch, the rain moved on so we went back & found the first trail & after several attempts, never did find the 2nd. Oh well. The first went through a dense jungle to the top of the bluff for a nice view of the anchorage.
Then we decided to take the dinghy around the end of the island in search of a shelling beach. No luck there but we did find an unusual boneyard of trees and an interesting mat of decomposed plant matter that had compressed into a spongy, cork-like substance. Weird.
Monday, our 25 mile trip to Treasure Cay was over smooth water - yeahhh! The only concern was "The Whale". It's the only area in the Abacos where you must leave the shelter of the islands to go around the Whale Cay and then back in. Depending on conditions in the far eastern Atlantic, the "Whale" can be dangerous. It's been known to have "rages" that can last for up to a week, during which no one can pass due to the conditions.
Here is a picture of our chart plotter's route that we need to take today. You can't just go direct because there's no water - - maybe a couple of feet!
We anchored outside of Treasure Cay and headed into the long entrance canal by dinghy to check on the status of the marina. We had been here several other times and had spent a week here at one point waiting on weather. We had heard that hurricane Dorian had destroyed most of Treasure Cay and wanted to check on the status of the island.
Though the beach was still beautiful and long, the marina was decimated and the restaurant had been completely removed. Though homes were beginning to be rebuilt, things were sad!
During the afternoon, we took the dinghy a few miles to a mangrove estuary in search of something to eat for dinner. Sadly, the only treasure we got for our effort was a rock bass. Bummer!
Tomorrow, we plan to check out a small marina a few miles from here where we hope to visit the world-famous Nippers. It's a beach bar which, it seems, everyone who cruises in the Abacos visits. A must-see. Well, I guess we'll see.
