The Sea of Abaco is just small enough to jet across it (at 8 miles per hour) but big enough that if the wind blows across it, it can make waves enough to make life miserable.  If you read our last blog you realize we are now on the east side of the Sea anchored out due to a change of wind from out of the west.  Over night the winds changed out of the north which make us exposed  at both side of the sea. The waves were building and we tried to wait it out until it moved from NW.    It was almost noon and we were feeling beat up and decided to head back to Manjack where we will be more protected by afternoon.  To our surprise by the time we got there the wind shifted and we had calm seas.

As we anchored, we heard on the radio that Trawler Live and Have Another Life were on their way through the Whale and Don’t Rock and should be coming in shortly.  Cathy and Michael from Trawler Life wanted us to take them to the reef.   We got out the trusty “Boat Hook Depth Finder” and took off  for the reef.  They got in a little late for high tide and we were kicking up a little mud. They were wondering why I had out the boat hook and quickly figured it out.  We anchored, geared up and hit the reef.  It wasn’t long before Michael speared a Lobster. It was a dream come true for him and cause lobster envy with Scott. Michael had the “lobster bug”  He went back out near the rocks in the bay later in the day but was cut short by shark sightings. There has been reports from other boaters, that there is a 12 foot tiger shark that comes into the lagoon.  I’m sure it is because of people cleaning fish aboard their boat. Frances, one of the young Canadian boaters named it “Peaches.” However, he later told me that that scrubbing his hull is nerve racking knowing that shark is in there.

Earlier, we hiked back to the ocean.  There is an area in the dense woods that is all dug up and has tunnels dug in the grounds.  We saw them before and still wondered what lived there.  We met a couple on the trail that told us when they came through earlier they saw white crabs the size of dinner plates.  After we spent time on the beach and climbing rocks we came back down the trail, walking like ninjas in hopes of seeing an elusive crab.  No luck.  Darn it. At least we know they are crabs and we found out they are nocturnal.  I don’t think we will walk a mile in the dense woods at night to see them because the noseeums would eat us up.

 

Pretty little cove we found hiking the back trails.

As the sun set, the water was perfectly clear.  We were in 10 feet of water and you could see the spines on the sea urchins on the bottom and every blade of grass.  We  saw a small reef shark swim right next to our boat. Once again no camera in hand. It is unbelievable how clear the water is there.

Several of the young Canadians were wake-boarding behind their dinghy at sunset.  They were having so much fun.  It was great to watch, but if that was me, my mind would have been worried if I wiped out about that Peaches would find me. They never should have told me about her.

That night the people from the Cay and the boaters all had a bonfire on the beach. We were amazed at the quality of musicians that showed up.  One guy played the violin and guitar and picked up mandolin for the second time and played it like a pro.  There was a husband and wife.  She played guitar and sang with a beautiful soul-filled voice and played the guitar and her husband accompanied her with the harmonica while they other guy added in the violin. There were also two older gentlemen that got up and sang an old sailor song from Greenland.  One of them borrowed a guitar and rocked “House of The Rising Sun”  There was a Canadian Family there with their kids who sang us a song in French. They also lit a chinese paper lantern that went high among the amazing star lit sky.  It was a Magical Night in a Magical Place.

In the morning we start the trek for West End where we will cross back over the Atlantic to the US.

Thanks for reading,

Karen and Scott

 

Unique Random Photo Of The Day:

Found this gem on the edge of the beach.