It is so wonderful to wake up to the quiet of a secluded anchorage sunrise. Manjack Cay is protected from all winds except for southerlies and these are forecast for 20 knots the next few days with clocking conditions which will make this anchorage very uncomfortable at times. We don’t want to push further west to Great Sale Cay either as that does not offer great southerly protection.
We made the decision to travel east 5 miles back to Green Turtle Cay which is favored with two good harbors, White Sound and Black Sound. We decided to tie up for a few days at Black Sound Marina because at a $1.00 per foot and no obligation to use their metered water or electricity, this is a very economical choice. We visited Green Turtle Cay only briefly on 3/13 and stayed then at the pricier Green Turtle Club and Marina in White Sound. I did a 3 mile walk there on 4/14 and it certainly is appealing with its yellow buildings, multiple restaurants, cottages and pool, but there were very few boats at the dock, and more on the cheaper mooring balls. We are not alone in trying to make the dollar stretch as far as possible.
Green Turtle Cay is not prettified like Elbow Cay but has a very authentic Bahamian ambiance. One of the earliest Loyalist settlements was here on New Plymouth and this heritage is celebrated in Memorial Square. It is a working island with 2 hardware stores, a massive travel lift at the Abaco Shipyard as well as 3 grocery shops, 5 churches and a few good restaurants, including Miss Emily’s Blue Bar for grouper and lobster and McIntosh’s for baked goods. Because it is west of the Whale, boaters and tourists are usually hurrying through to get to the Hub of the Abacos and do not usually linger here. We met a number of boaters who will store their boats on the hard at Abaco Shipyard and swear that their boats are more protected here from hurricanes than in FL.
Anthony is one of the owners of Black Sound Marina and told us a little about the island’s colorful past. In the 1980’s before the US had a lot of banking regulations, anyone could show up with a suitcase full of money for an offshore account at Barclay’s Bank. With its many inlets and harbors, this cay was a popular pirate hang-out and people still search for lost treasure. In the 19th century, many residents dismantled their homes and shipped them to Key West and you can definitely see the similarity minus the tourist hoopla.
Winter boaters are making plans to head back to FL and looking at whatever weather information we can get. We are here with a large contingent of Chesapeake sailboaters and we have been trading information on weather and anchorages. We will have to go back to West End and it looks like we will probably start that trek on Thursday, 4/16.
We made the decision to travel east 5 miles back to Green Turtle Cay which is favored with two good harbors, White Sound and Black Sound. We decided to tie up for a few days at Black Sound Marina because at a $1.00 per foot and no obligation to use their metered water or electricity, this is a very economical choice. We visited Green Turtle Cay only briefly on 3/13 and stayed then at the pricier Green Turtle Club and Marina in White Sound. I did a 3 mile walk there on 4/14 and it certainly is appealing with its yellow buildings, multiple restaurants, cottages and pool, but there were very few boats at the dock, and more on the cheaper mooring balls. We are not alone in trying to make the dollar stretch as far as possible.
Green Turtle Cay is not prettified like Elbow Cay but has a very authentic Bahamian ambiance. One of the earliest Loyalist settlements was here on New Plymouth and this heritage is celebrated in Memorial Square. It is a working island with 2 hardware stores, a massive travel lift at the Abaco Shipyard as well as 3 grocery shops, 5 churches and a few good restaurants, including Miss Emily’s Blue Bar for grouper and lobster and McIntosh’s for baked goods. Because it is west of the Whale, boaters and tourists are usually hurrying through to get to the Hub of the Abacos and do not usually linger here. We met a number of boaters who will store their boats on the hard at Abaco Shipyard and swear that their boats are more protected here from hurricanes than in FL.
Anthony is one of the owners of Black Sound Marina and told us a little about the island’s colorful past. In the 1980’s before the US had a lot of banking regulations, anyone could show up with a suitcase full of money for an offshore account at Barclay’s Bank. With its many inlets and harbors, this cay was a popular pirate hang-out and people still search for lost treasure. In the 19th century, many residents dismantled their homes and shipped them to Key West and you can definitely see the similarity minus the tourist hoopla.
Winter boaters are making plans to head back to FL and looking at whatever weather information we can get. We are here with a large contingent of Chesapeake sailboaters and we have been trading information on weather and anchorages. We will have to go back to West End and it looks like we will probably start that trek on Thursday, 4/16.
