Manjack Magic

When I last posted, we talked about going back to Manjack. It was a wonderful few days. The water is clean so we swam off the boat each day. The tides rise and fall both in the Atlantic and in the Sea of Abaco, so you can swim in low tide and practice snorkeling. Kelly really showed her confidence and enjoying zooming around looking at shells and things under the water. We were not in prime a snokeling area, so no cool stories about striped fish, or sea turtles, but you have to learn first, and there is no such thing as “boring snorkeling.” Kelly, Chris and I were all in the water a lot, sometimes with wet suits and sometimes just our swimsuits. The water temperature was about 74 degrees, which is cool but very nice if it is sunny and hot. It would be like Lake Pend Oreille in August maybe, but don’t forget the salt. I scrubbed the boat just because I wanted to clean it off and keep the growth down under the water line. It shows like work, except in low tide when you are just fooling around, it is not bad; it is fun actually.

Ann and Neville had collected some hermit crabs and put them in a bucket, which affectionately got named the “TV”. They watched the critters zoom around and eat and fight and play, so our kids immediately set up their own TV although we are partial to putting things back after awhile. Kelly and Chris went snorkeling with another Dad and his son from Pincoya, to go and look at some boat wreakage. Their time was cut slightly short when Pincoya (a nice catermaran) started dragging her anchor and moving rapidly toward the shore. Boaters in dinghies came from every direction (six maybe) to try and assist, which the Dad Jim really appreciated. His wife Lily was on the boat, but he had not taken a hand held radio, and she is not very experienced. We are trying to make sure all of us know the basics for an emergency, but you have to keep practicing little things since you don’t think clearly when you are paniced. By little things, I mean just having everyone know how to start the engine, or how to drop a second anchor. Lily was pretty calm, and the situation was not precarious, but it could have had bad consequences if he had hit the rocks. Boaters do look out for one another which is nice.

At Manjack we didn’t spend as much time on the beach as I expected. The days go by so quickly. One day I went in a motorboat or skiff back to Green Turtle to use the Internet. Just as I got to the point when I was sending the form, the power went out (not very noticeable when it is sunny and in the afternoon) so the Internet went down. Very frustrating. But after sailing, cruising in a powerboat was cool. The boat was being used by new cruisers we met on Sailyn Grema. They had an 8 year old boy named Salyn. Very cool people, and some of the first cruisers we met who were younger than us. Their destination was St. Lucia. Sunny, the Mom, invited me to their boat’s christening, where they served mamosas and had a toast and a blessing. Sunny then did a Hawaiian hula dance and sang a song which was beautiful. That was neat to be watch. Hopefully we will see them again. We had some sunny and beautiful days in Manjack, but then I felt a need to keep moving. So we packed up to go through the Whale Cay again, to a place called Treasure Cay, known for its beautiful beaches. Plus I needed a place to watch the Superbowl. So on Superbowl Sunday we set off to find another kind of TV.

About these ads