The past two nights at Black Sound have been memorable for hot, hot, hot humid weather and 3 am thunderstorms, which until today, did not cool the air a bit. I did not know that this Minnesotan could sweat that much! We finally have the promised cooler N/NE winds and are ready to head out for Allans-Pensacola Cay about 28 miles away on our way back to the West End.
Allans-Pensacola Cay was initially two separate cays and were joined together as a result of a hurricane decades ago. NASA supposedly had a missile tracking system here in the past. The cay is uninhabited now (although we did hear a generator and see a hodge podge dwelling on shore), offers good protection for most winds except W and NW and although the holding ground can be marginal, we had no trouble setting our Delta.
We took our dinghy into the abandoned dock area, tied it to a tree and followed the trail lined with conch shells, and through the mangrove forest, to the ocean beach. There we found the “signing tree” where cruisers leave signed mementos of their visit here. We took our picture with our improvised leather sign made out of a chaffing guard. What do you think Bob means by the date—is that a trendy way to denote “09”, have we been here already in the 1990’s or are we time travelling and haven’t really been here yet?
Later, we were joined on the beach by Will and Muffin and their dog, Lucy, aboard “Antares.” They have been here several times before and found a kayak paddle that a friend from Lapland made and left here years ago. We also met Buddy and Ria, dogs aboard “Seadog”, who were out walking their parents, Jim and Connie.
As the sun began to set with the cloud backdrop, Bob joined the chorus of conch shell blowers to signal the closing of another day and the beginning of the night filled with a million shining stars.
Allans-Pensacola Cay was initially two separate cays and were joined together as a result of a hurricane decades ago. NASA supposedly had a missile tracking system here in the past. The cay is uninhabited now (although we did hear a generator and see a hodge podge dwelling on shore), offers good protection for most winds except W and NW and although the holding ground can be marginal, we had no trouble setting our Delta.
We took our dinghy into the abandoned dock area, tied it to a tree and followed the trail lined with conch shells, and through the mangrove forest, to the ocean beach. There we found the “signing tree” where cruisers leave signed mementos of their visit here. We took our picture with our improvised leather sign made out of a chaffing guard. What do you think Bob means by the date—is that a trendy way to denote “09”, have we been here already in the 1990’s or are we time travelling and haven’t really been here yet?
Later, we were joined on the beach by Will and Muffin and their dog, Lucy, aboard “Antares.” They have been here several times before and found a kayak paddle that a friend from Lapland made and left here years ago. We also met Buddy and Ria, dogs aboard “Seadog”, who were out walking their parents, Jim and Connie.
As the sun began to set with the cloud backdrop, Bob joined the chorus of conch shell blowers to signal the closing of another day and the beginning of the night filled with a million shining stars.
