Hopetown to Manjack Cay

Greg & Sheila Cobb, Carol & Jim Pattison

After spending the night anchored behind little Garden Cay, we high-tailed it just 4 miles to Hopetown Inn & Marina to get out of the high wind and forecast thunderstorms on Monday and Tuesday evening.

Once settled in, we decided to check out the lighthouse. The instructions to get to the lighthouse were interesting. We were told to follow the path up the hill, take the first right & go through the boat yard until you find another path near the water. Then follow that path to the lighthouse. Hmmmm.

Greg stayed below while Sheila, Carol & Jim climbed the lighthouse. You can see him on the sidewalk below.

The lighthouse is still in operation and appears to be lit by a kerosene flame via these pressure tanks located near the top.

After a relaxing afternoon on the boat, we had a wonderful dinner ashore at the marina's lovely restaurant. Our waitress suggested getting this picture with the lighthouse in the background. Nice.

Tuesday, we took the marina taxi to the little village of Hopetown & explored it's mostly golf cart roads.

After lunch on the boat, we took the taxi back to the other side of the bay and walked 3/4 mile down the island to "On Da Beach", a cute little beach bar, for some rum punch & beer.

Wednesday, we left our marina a little after 8:00 for Manjack Cay, a 30 mile trip. It was reallllly cold & windy so we spent most of the morning driving from the pilot house instead of the flying bridge on the boat.

For maybe 45 minutes of our trip, we had to transit the "Whale", a sometimes treacherous passage from the calm Sea of Abaco into the Atlantic Ocean and then back again.  Just before we reached the Whale, we passed a sailboat who had just come through the two cuts. They reported that the ocean wasn't too bad so we plunged ahead.

Our experience didn't quite match theirs. We found the 3' to 5' seas to be a bit sporty and not a lot of fun. Fortunately, we made it and no one felt obliged to chum during the trip. Phew!

Though the winds continued to be up around 20 knots for much of the day, our anchorage was well protected and calm. Thank goodness as the forecast for the late afternoon was for rain and squalls.

Since we had to spend pretty much all afternoon sequestered in the boat due to the weather, we are a bit undecided what we will do tomorrow. Oh well, we'll figure that out when tomorrow comes and we see what the weather brings us!

Sunset tonight was the first time all day we've seen the sun. It's been so dark & dreary that this was a real treat.

Then, of course, was the requisite blowing of the conch horns to celebrate another great day.