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Apr 27-28 It's Sunday - time for the famous pig roast at Nippers on Great Guana Cay.
The settlement is flanked with two marinas; its small harbor was already filled
with boats on moorings. We moved out and anchored at nearby Delia's Cay. On the way to
Nippers, we saw one convenience store, a post office, and several resorts,
but we saw hardly anyone. When we got there, we were surprised to see all
the people already partying there. This must be THE place to be on Sundays. The succulent pig roast buffet was very reasonably priced at
$18, the delicious rum punch was $6, and water was free (a pleasant surprise). The rice
n peas was yummy,
the cornbread-like Johnycake delightful. After lunch, Joyce and Eileen swam in
the salt-water pool, later walked around the gorgeous seven mile beach. The guys
and Cody hung out, listening to the band playing Calypso music. In the
mid-afternoon, the
sky turned ominously dark and gloomy. We hurried back to the boat. Huge rolling 2-3 foot waves was crashing
onto our boats so bad we had difficulty climbing onto our boats. Minutes later, it poured so hard we took the opportunity to
wash the salt off the boat.
What a difference a day makes. We awoke to a serene morning; the water was like
a sheet of glass, shattered only when rain started coming down. When it finally
quit, we went in to town again. At Nippers, the crowd was no
more. The beach was totally deserted. We liked the solitude, so we didn't mind. On the way back, we stopped at a
store for ice cream. After Eileen bought a cone of pineapple coconut ice cream,
the woman gave Joyce the whole box of whatever was left of it. It was um
um good.
Apr 29 Man-O-War Cay, another loyalist town, is very proud of
its boat building heritage, a tradition they continue to this day. We went into the
harbor where boats were moored so close together it felt almost
claustrophobic. We left to anchor outside, but still close
enough to go ashore by dinghy. My, this is a religious town. The only free
stuff they were giving away here were religious brochures. A dry town (if you're
looking for rum or a bar, you're out of luck), all shops close promptly at 1700.
Otherwise, it's actually a tidy little town, with very clean streets. We went into one grocery store
where the canned goods were all neatly lined up on the shelves. This island might as well be called Albury Cay - their name was all
over town - Albury
Real Estate, Albury's Bakery, Albury Marina, Albury Ferry, to name several.
Ed and Joyce thought some of the town people even look alike. While we were walking around,
we bumped into Lola, a jovial woman in her early 60s, who was delivering her
baked goods in a golf cart around the town. She solicited us, but we had already
bought our bread from Albury's Bakery, which was actually someone's house
selling a few baked goods. We regretted the purchase
because Lola's looked like they were fresh out of the oven. She told us to
visit her bakery while she went about her delivery. Thinking this is more like a
real bakery, we walked up the hill, through a narrow trail to ... you guess it, her house. Bakeries
on this island were getting more and more
personal. Lola returned and opened the door for us. We felt much better
about buying something from her since her kitchen was spic-and-span.
Apr 30- May 6 Marsh Harbor - the hub of the Abacos. The only town
that has a traffic light. Before we arrived, we thought this to be a busy town,
hopping with activities. Some people have told us that it's a little like Key West.
We'd say it's more like Marathon - very low key and laid back. There are two big
supermarkets here, two major liquor stores, a department store and scores of restaurants and marinas.
It is truly a hub for chartering and cruising. After checking out the
vicinity, we settled for lunch at Mangoes - conch fritters, grouper
burger, and steamed pork - and excellent Goombay Smash.
The next day, we checked into Port-of-call Marina for water ( exceptionally
cheap at $2 a day) and laundry
(very clean but charges a hefty $3/load to wash or dry) in the midst of a
heavy downpour. While we were waiting for laundry, Ed volunteered to
fix a broken light at the marina and was rewarded with half a dozen Kalik
beers. Good going! All chores completed, we moved out of the
marina the following day to find out that our windlass would no longer
function! All things come in threes. We wonder what would be next? Our
answer will come soon. Meanwhile, who do we call? Cruiser's Net on VHF channel
68, which comes on at 0815 every morning to talk about the weather and
events of the day, and even forward email and relay messages, came to mind.
We were laying low and have not participated. Until now. We called on the radio for some recommendations.
Immediately, a response came back with the name of Iceman. The next
several days were spent taking out the windlass, motor and all, delivering
it to Iceman (another Albury. Why were we not surprised?) and waiting
for him to come back with his diagnosis. While waiting, we partied at the
Jib Room one night, and snorkeled at Mermaid Reefs most days. What colorful fish! They were lots of them, and they swam close to people,
especially if you have goodies for them. We saw parrotfish,
pilotfish, butterfly fish, a moray eel and lots more. Another day, we
walked
over to check out Abaco Resort and Marina, which was filled with sport fishing
boats and megayachts. It has a beautiful pool, classy restaurant and a couple
of gift shops. A woman we talked to recommended Jamie’s Place right
outside the resort for lunch. A deli/ice cream type place that served up a delicious conch burger
and grouper sandwich. Iceman brought back the windlass. The motor was
intact, but the housing and bearings needed to be replaced. It would entail
ordering parts from the U.S., so we decided to fix it stateside. Meantime, the
captain will have to flex his biceps to retrieve
the 100 foot of chain plus a 35 lb anchor every time we stop at a new place.
May 6 We left Marsh Harbor to explore the rest of the Abacos. At Tahiti
Beach, we ran into Shantih again. As we were maneuvering around the spot
to drop the hook, the starboard engine faltered. Oh-uh. What now? Based on the
symptoms, the captain suspected dirty fuel filters to be the culprit. One
Love came
over to help diagnose the problem. The first mates decided to dinghy Cody to
the beach. Until this moment, both first mates Joyce and Eileen
haven't mastered the dinghies yet, but by the end of the cruise, they'll
be zipping around with their new toy. How liberating to be able go in and
out as one please! When the captains came over, they reported the good
news: indeed it was the clogged fuel filter that was stopping the flow of fuel to the
engine. They changed the filters, bled the fuel line, and when they
cranked up the the engine, it started. Phew, now, we can enjoy
the rest of the cruise.
Next stop: Little Harbor. There are no anchorages here, only moorings, at
$10/day with no facilities to speak of. Apart from the gallery founded by famed sculptor Randolph Johnston, Pete's Pub was about the only place in
this remote part of the Abacos. Around lunch time, people were coming in by
jeeps and by boats. All of a sudden, it got very crowded. Whatever they
were serving for lunch, most of the choices were sold out. We settled for conch
fritters, and grilled snappers. It was the worst conch fritters we've had so
far. Thus was the beginning of our lousy food experience. At 81 degrees F, it was hot
and buggy in this very protected harbor, no breeze whatsoever. The mosquitoes almost ate us alive that night.
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