Man-O-War Cay

Today was pleasant weather so we finally lifted anchor and headed over to Man-O-War Cay. 

Beautiful day on the Sea of Abaco!

 We anchored a bit west of the island.

 Reid and Laurie met up with us and took us on shore.

Narrow entrance to Man-O-War harbor.

 We rented a golf cart to explore the island a bit.

The island is small - just a few miles long and the "roads" are all just golf cart paths.

Some of the "roads" are just sand paths.

The island is well known for it's boat-building - the Albury family is famous for building these boats.

Just toured the island.

 Ocean side views.

The "Narrows" - just a narrow strip separating the ocean side from the Sea of Abaco.

In the "settlement", the "roads" are actually concrete.

Before long, it was time for Reid and Laurie to go back north to Great Guana.  Fun day!

And as usual, a pretty sunset!

Marsh Harbor

Still hanging around Marsh Harbor.....just doing normal everyday chores.   Things like getting propane or going to the grocery store are more difficult - always a dinghy ride and walking involved.   But mostly we've just been relaxing/reading.


I did not have a loaf pan on board (although I have 4 or 5 of them at home, I didn't think to bring one with us).  I found one at the grocery store and splurged on the $11 price tag!

Fun to make a more "slice-able" loaf!

There are, once again, two other Mantas in the harbor.  Amazing how many others we've run into during this trip!!

We invited both couples over for "sundowners"....in cruiser terms that means "come over for a drink around sundown".

Really fun chatting, instant connection because we are on such similar boats.  Always comparing things about our boats since they are all slightly different.

Lisa from Va Nunc and Martine from Beach Magic.

Normand from Beach Magic and Lee from Va Nunc. 

Before we knew it, the sun had set!

Marsh Harbor

We woke to stormy skies....but luckily we didn't actually get hit with a thunderstorm.

  Before long, the front had passed us and the sky cleared a bit.

Had another of my "boat ripened" tomatoes.  (They were completely green when we got them in Georgetown).  Yummy!

Took a short walk in Marsh Harbor to the "Friends of the Environment" office.  They have a nice little display room with artifacts from the island.

And they have a short trail - with lots of trees marked.  Don't touch this one!

Or this one!

A sisal plant left over from a plantation (used to make rope and cordage in the 1800-early 1900's.)

That's it for the day!  Just some boat chores and cleaning.  Ho, hum, but it's gotta be done!

Moving the boat to Marsh Harbor

There is a strong cold front coming thru tonight that will bring strong winds (40 knots), so we decided we needed to be anchored somewhere protected.  So we pulled anchor at Great Guana and headed towards Marsh Harbor. 

We made a little detour at Fowl Cay to snorkel a spot that was reported to be very nice.

It was early in the morning so we decided to slip on our wetsuits to make the swim a little warmer.

It was a lovely snorkel!  Beautiful clear water and healthy coral.

Back on the dinghy.

A couple of hours later anchored safely in Marsh Harbor.

I'll let you know how the storms were tomorrow!

More Abaco

Laurie had given me a couple of "sour oranges" from their back yard.  She said to use them for a marinade as they were extremely acidic.  I made a marinade for some chicken - jerk style using the sour orange juice, some cinnamon, garlic, ginger, thyme, olive oil, soy sauce and some sugar.

Trying my hand at an actual loaf of bread instead of rolls this time.

Turned out wonderful!

About the time the bread was finished, Reid called and invited us to join them on the power boat for the day.

 First destination was No Name Cay to see some "wild" pigs....similar to Staniel Cay.

They seem to be well fed and secure.

Next stop was Pineapples Beach Bar....nice little venue. 

And next was a stop over near Manjack Cay to let the kids see some stingrays.  I took a little walk around the pretty beach.

There was a group of girls from Germany that were on the beach - they were happy to help the two boys trying to feed the stingrays.

Of course, Bob and Reid were happy to help too while the girls were there!!  Never know what will happen in the Bahamas!