Powell Cay to Green Turtle Cay - 2017

--Blogpost written by Bob

Powell Cay to Manjack Cay

The wind picked up to about 25 knots out of the east about mid-morning, February 27.  Because our anchorage was a little unsettled we decided to pull up anchor near Powell Cay and head to Manjack Cay where we had better protection from the easterly wind.  The 10 nautical mile-trip took 2 hours by motor because we were headed directly into the white caps on the Sea of Abaco.

During the short trip we lost one of our 3/4-inch 12-strand dock lines overboard--this is the second dock line we lost on this trip.

When we arrived at the Manjack Cay anchorage, there were 18 boats in the anchorage.  The anchorage is pretty big--so, it didn't appear to be crowded.  We anchored just west of Rat Cay (the smallest of the three cays that join together in the anchorage area) in about 9 feet of water.

We anchored just south of Manjack Cay and just north of Crab Cay
(not titled above) and Rat Cay was a very
small island to our East.

Manjack Cay to Green Turtle Cay

Fortunately, the wind velocity died down to less than 15 knots on Tuesday morning, February 28.  We relaxed on board for a couple hours to see if the wind would die down a little further because we wanted to go snorkeling out on the ocean-side reefs.  When the wind showed no sign of relenting, we motored down to Green Turtle Cay--it only took an hour or so.  We entered the channel into Black Sound--the Sound was well protected from the wind and very calm.  We picked up a mooring buoy owned by the Other Shore Club.  We took the dinghy in to pay for our mooring but no one was around so we had a nice lunch at the outdoor Pineapples Bar & Grill ($60 for sandwiches and Kaliks!). After lunch, there was still no one around to whom to pay.  After inquiring at the bar about paying for our mooring, we were told "If you're not ready to leave, don't worry about it."

This is Black Sound--it got its name because the bottom is
covered with grass and makes the water look black.

Our sunset was blocked by palm trees and casuarina trees
but was still very colorful from Black Sound.

When I was here 25 years ago, I picked up a mooring from the same facility--it was called something different then.  There was a houseboat called "Stranded Naked" that was tied up to the main pier--the house boat is still here in Black Sound but it is tied up to the next pier south.  It now has solar panels on its roof.

This house boat called "Stranded Naked" was here 25 years
ago but tied to a different dock on Black Sound.

There are about three times as many marina's in Black Sound as there were 25 years ago.  There are also more (Bahamian style) homes along Black Sound but, fortunately, no McMansions (yet).

We expect to be staying in Green Turtle Cay for another week or so.  More about Green Turtle Cay in our next blogpost...

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