Crew Log for March 21st, 2023
Trip Summary:
• Green Turtle Cay – Manjack Cay
• Trip Distance of 3.5 NM, Total Distance To-Date of 3,208.9 NM
• Departed at 09h15, arrived at 10h15
Manjack, or Nunjack on some charts, is a private out-island in northern Abaco, owned by two former cruisers who welcome visitors to enjoy the island’s two nature walks, both accessible from the cay’s beautiful sand beach. Visitors are asked to limit their movement on the island to the trails, and as the sign says, “Pet chickens roaming, please keep dogs on a leash”. Otherwise, you are free to explore.
It was only 3.5 miles from our anchorage at Joyless Point to Manjack Cay. It was sunny and warm, with a 10-12 knot wind out of the north. We rolled out the jib as soon as we were off the anchor and had a leisurely sail up to Manjack.
The anchorage was in sharp contrast to Joyless Point. Quiet, calm and excellent holding. There were several other boats here, but plenty of room to anchor.
One of the most popular things to do at Manjack is to dinghy up through the mangroves and drift back down in the tidal current. The tide had already started to turn, so we didn’t waste any time getting the dinghy in the water and made our way towards the creek. As we passed by Rat Cay and made our way into the cut between Manjack and Crab Cays, we spotted a couple of large spotted eagle rays in the shallow water. It was amazing to watch them glide gracefully through the water in front of the dinghy.
On the charts, the only notation on the mangrove creek is “almost dry”, and they weren’t exaggerating. We motored as far up the creek as we dared, as the tide was dropping quickly, the whole time being entertained by dozens of turtles and beautiful Ibis’. It was amazing to see so much wildlife in the creek.
There is a beautiful sand beach right in front of the anchorage that has a really cool thatched roof 4 person swing out in the water and a coconut splitting stand. At the far end of the beach there is path leading to what the guides referred to as the “Art Trail”. Not everyone has the same taste in “art”, however, the trail featured a collection of creative compositions, constructed entirely out of beach waste. The “waste” was mostly manmade: shoes, plastic, old toys, bottles, rope and bouys.
At the end of the trail we met fellow “art lovers”, Gabriel from South Africa and Mike from Georgia who were anchored next to us on a Nicholson 31. Another member of the “Small Boat Club”. They were sailing around for a couple of months, but were headed to Hope Town while their wives flew in for a week long visit.
As I struggled to open a coconut, Gilles and Julie from Quebec City who were on sv Mutual Fun, dropped by to chat. Given the name of the boat, I guessed Gilles was a former investment broker. I was wrong, but he did buy the boat, a Catalina 38, from a former investment broker in Florida after the financial crisis in 2008.
Just to put an exclamation point on how small the world is, Gilles not only knew where Truro was, but he was quite familiar with Bible Hill, the village next door, and knew people who used to be in the fox farming business from the area. It turns out Gilles worked for CN Rail for years and, given Truro is “The Hub of Nova Scotia”, travelled through the area many times. Julie was a quality control specialist and was still working for part of year. They were headed the same way we were, although they had a different crossing plan.
When we are on anchor we set an anchor alarm on the tablet and I insist on leaving the radio on, as annoying as that can be in some places, where there is a lot of needless chatter. The last thing I do before I go to bed, after having fallen asleep at 20h00 on the couch, is to check to see that all the other boats in the anchorage are where they are supposed to be.
It was gusting to 30 knots, but nothing unusual, and it was from the north, so the anchorage was actually pretty calm. Which is why I was surprised to see the boat ahead of us, coming within a boat length of us. Bumping into one another in the middle of the night can be a frightening experience, but it sounds worse than it really is. The real issue is when the boats’ ground tackle tangles together. If that happens, lifting one anchor in all likelihood means that both anchors are going to release. Now both boats are drifting freely, with a tangled mess of anchor chain.
I tried calling the boat on the radio. Nothing. I took our high-powered flashlight out and shone it on the boat coming towards us, hoping the light would alert someone inside. Nothing. I yelled. Nothing. Eventually, I got out our air horn, and gave a few short blasts. Gabriel and Mike on the boat next to us heard it, but so far no response from the boat coming towards us. Like a stressed out desk jockey in some dead end job, getting cut off heading home in rush hour traffic, I laid on that air horn for what seemed like a minute. More than likely, it was 10 seconds or so. Finally, a head emerged from down below. Imagine his excitement when he realized they were within an Olympic long jump distance away from hitting us. They hauled up their anchor and moved further away. All ended well.
On our way out of the anchorage in the morning, we stopped by to apologize for the rude awakening. Apparently, it was the first time in 7 years they have ever dragged anchor, which I suppose goes highlights the fact that there is always a first time for everything. I spared him my lecture on anchor alarms and leaving the radio on.
We use Chris Parker’s weather service to provide us with daily updates on weather conditions for the Bahamas and the east coast of the US, including advice on suitable weather windows. As part of the service, you can also email Chris Parker with your plans, and he will provide feedback on whether it is a good idea or not. We received an email from Chris that confirmed that either Friday or Saturday would be a good day for us to leave from Great Sale Cay. We had 2 days to get there.
We really enjoyed Manjack Cay and were sorry we had to leave after being here less than a day. However, we didn’t want to miss our weather window, so we were headed to Allans-Pensacola, which was about halfway between Manjack and Great Sale. We had heard good things about Allans, which also had a beautiful sand beach and a trail to the ocean side.
But more about that, next time.
Additional Photos:
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