Friday, 15 April 2016

April 10-14, 2016 Powell Cay, Munjack Cay and Allans Pensacola Cay


Manjack anchorage


a squid landed in the cockpit during the night ..


walking the beach, you just never know what you will find .. a cement dock


3 burnt gas cans


Modaki is the boat on the right, this is private property but the owners Bill and Leslie allow cruisers
to cross their place and head to the ocean beach


one of the many chickens, this one wants me to open a coconut and feed it


another day in paradise


with light winds we sailed north .. note the colour of the water, the same as our dodger


skirting the shallows


the best sand dollar beach around


we just about have the area to our selves




found objects made into art forms


last time we where here the beach was clean .. this sea weed looks like shredded paper


Cinderella lost her shoe


our dinghy and Modaki


the beach created this art form


Quit Jobs, Sold Everything, Bought Boat, Sail Away and House Key


a live Sea Biscuit 


a live Sand Dollar


not too sure about this, but it is like a snake skin, but it is attached down a hole in the water


Dead collectable Sand Dollar on left and alive brown Sand Dollar


the  Captain bringing the night to a close


this sailboat did not make it to home port


Allans Pensacola Cay


anchored in a large sand patch .. the light colour in the water


this is built out of found items that have washed ashore


including this


and this




we walked over to the ocean side and the Signing Tree


there was lots of interesting signs










and Modaki added ours .. it is on a wooden fan blade that we found washed to shore


some one even made a swing


this plant is Ram's Horn .. the seed pod


Ellis the Mutton Snapper fisherman, we shared a meal with and lots of stories


good night … 
little did we know the No Seeums would be coming 



in Coopers Town .. the Laughing Gulls


old abandoned church


there was a beautiful walk way along the waters edge


school children all in uniform


at anchor with her stern to shore


we delivered our Boat Orchids to Bill and Leslie, we made up these holders


part of Leslie's orchid room


their vegetable garden


hydroponic garden


Sue Allison this one is for you … Night Blooming Sirus Orchid growing up a tree


Leslie and Fred


Fish Tail Palm


it looks like Lovage Plant


cleaning our dinghy bottom


and cleaning the water line … we can actually see the water line now after 5 1/2 months


Pat from Celtic Cat came with his niece for a visit


Whisper, Judy and Bill


another day is over, Modaki is looking good

April 10-14, 2016

White Sound - Green Turtle Club
We sat out the 30 plus knot winds, at some times the boats at our end swung in different directions, because of the tide and currant.  I was up for a few hours, sitting in the cockpit from 4-6 AM, when the winds where at their peak. Joe slept, I could hear him snoring, ha ha.  The next night we reversed the watch.
At 8AM, Joe took me to shore at GTC to post the blog and by 11, I radioed for a pick up.  In the mean time a Cruising MV left the marina and just about hit Joe in the dinghy. Then the MV continued thru the anchored boats and came so close to a sailboat's bow that he got the rode wrapped around his prop. So that is too close. It stopped the MV instantly.  The SV quickly put down another anchor. Then the MV bow and SV  bow hit, causing damage.  A lot of cruisers came to help, but Joe was still mad at being just about hit and decided to not get involved.

We went to say good bye to Whisper and then Zingaro, Alison and Dave and ended up having coffee and donuts, it was a great visit.

We left White Sound for Munjack Cay and anchored outside of  about 15 boats.  Just before Joe dropped the anchor he pointed to the STB and there swimming past us was a large shark.  Okay, no swimming for us.
The winds where to settle but of course that never happens. 
After watching a Canadian movie, One Week, we went to bed. 
At 10pm we heard loud voices. One of the boats in front and to the side of us dragged anchor into another boat beside us.  The winds where gusting to 30 knots.  So it was Joe's turn to stay up on watch until 2 AM
We set the handheld VHF on Anchor drag mode.

The next morning we headed to shore to talk to Bill and Leslie, permanent residents, if I could leave my boat orchids with them this summer and fall.
What a fantastic house they have built and orchids every where.
Yes I can leave them, but if a hurricane hits, they are not responsible. Fair enough. So we will drop them off in a few days.
Then we walked to the ocean beach and back to Modaki and sailed 6 miles
north to Powell Cay.  
There was only 2 other SV and one MV.  This area can hold 200 boats, so we all had our own spaces.  We had another long beach walk on the ocean side and the bank side.  This is the best place for sand dollars, and Joe found 2 sea beans. We had a quiet night, winds light. In the morning the Tropic Birds where in flight, about 15 at one time. Snow white with a very long tail.
With no wind we motored 14 miles to Allan Pensacola Cay, a new place for us. These Cays use to be separate, but a Hurricane blew sand around and they are one now, (Allan Cay and Pensacola Cay)
There was only 2 other boats, we motored past them and got to the far end, anchor down in a large patch of sand.
We snorkelled on the anchor and Joe worked on cleaning the bottom of Modaki, I finally got a chance to wash my hair in good clean water.
There is no wind but lots of sunshine, so tons of power.
At low tide we dinghied to shore and found our way to the ocean side and the Signing Tree.  I had another quick swim.
Ellis from Abraxas came by and offered to share his freshly caught
Mutton Snapper.  So I cooked and we enjoyed, fried rice, 3 bean salad and fish. It is amazing how you can form a friendship in such a short time, share food, cruising stories and you feel like you have known each other for years.
We had our bug nets up and ready, but there was no No Seeums at dusk.
But by 1 AM they where all inside Modaki.  Even Joe was complaining.
Both of us got bit, but I react differently, and I look like I have a bad case of the Chicken Pox.  Taking Allergy pills, full strength is helping.

We love Allan Pensacola and would stay here again, it is a very beautiful area.  But by 9am we are off to Cooper's Town.  Three hours of motoring, no wind again, we anchored off the BTC Tower, between the fuel dock and government dock.  A slight breeze was blowing and it was uncomfortable leaving Modaki with her stern towards the shore.
We took advantage of the garbage bins and got rid of the last 2 days bags.
Cooper's Town runs along the shore with a nice cement walk. We went by the Elementary and High School, a gas station, businesses that where not open or maybe closed down. A lot of the houses are not kept up.
We stopped at the general store and it was void of everything on our grocery list.  We bought a loaf of white bread, (it has been over 10 years since Joe ate white bread). It looks like everyone heads to Marsh Harbour for groceries.
We where still uncomfortable with Modaki's stern to the shore, so we hurried back and motored to Munjack Cay.  The auto helm did most of the steering , but when we got to the ocean opening, we would swing a 20 degree angle.  We had plotted our course just outside the shallows (4 ft), so these swings made us nervous, it must of been the currant and tide moving us.
We had the anchor down at 4:30, it was a long day of 7 hours.
We saw Groovin, Escape Velocity and Zingaro at anchor.
The next day we headed to shore with our orchids and met Leslie.
We got a tour of the vegetable garden, fruit trees (mangoes, sugar apple, papaya, banana). They have orchids some hanging from the trees, and some that have attached them selves to the trees. They have a very impressive indoor and outdoor place. Lots of artwork on the walls and tables, benches  made from local wood.

We flipped the dinghy on shore and washed its bottom, what a growth of sea weed in only one month.
Whisper invited us for happy hour on their boat.
Tomorrow we head back to White Sound, to do laundry, blog and a shower, then into Black Sound to Donny's Dock to start taking the boat apart for the summer  … there is high winds and a thunderstorm coming in the next few days ...

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