From White sound in Green
Turtle Cay, we went to Manjack Cay. The
cruising info we have shows it as being uninhabited. Apparently someone has move in. Fresh laundry
hung on the clotheslines near a house there.
We expected to find two or
three boats sharing the anchorage. The
final count for was around two dozen.
Someone has marked a
maintained trail across the island to the beach on the Atlantic side. They’ve made creative “native mask” signs and
others to mark the trail. We enjoyed the
hike to a beautiful pink/white sand beach.
One boater referred to a particular beach as so wonderful it was “to die
for”. All the beaches here seem “to die
for”.
Except for plastic. Anything floating can be washed ashore, and
it appears everything plastic floats.
Some things degrade fairly rapidly and disappear. Not the plastic: ropes of every size and
color, fishing nets, drinking water bottles, crates, motor oil bottles,
flipflops and tennis shoes, garbage bags, barrels and buckets and lids of all
sizes, Frosty the Snowman(really!), and on the list goes. Past storms have carried some of it deep into
the undergrowth. Everyone everywhere
uses plastic but it appears almost no one disposes of it properly or cleans it
up. Beaches “to die for”? Yes, except for plastic.
There was discussion of
staying at Manjack, but wind was supposed to build from an unfavorable
direction, so the next day we had a nice sail to anchor off Coopers Town. We had no reason to go into town, so spent a
quiet evening aboard with Barbara giving me more Cribbage lessons (and him
giving me lessons in humility). We enjoyed an incredible “light show”
accompanied with rolls of thunder. The storm skirted us, so no rain to wash the
boat.
Next day, we made the short
crossing to Powell Cay. We had the
island to ourselves for most of the day.
Two trips ashore included walking beaches along both sides of the island
and a short hike up the Bluff “trail”.
This trail is unmaintained and barely passable, but the view was great. The walks were great as was wading along the
beaches. We were going to swim on the
Atlantic side but noticed the splashing of our wading was attracting a light
colored barracuda looking fish. Most of
them were in the one foot long range, but one over three feet stalked us for a
long ways. Reggie calmly said, “Barbara,
look at that.” I saw a three foot ‘snaky fish swimming right toward us and
chose to run to the shore. The other problem with the Atlantic side was the
sand, which became very soft and gooey when we were about knee deep out into
the waves. Swimming was delayed until we were back at the boat, anchored in 7
feet of water. No barracuda, no sand
between our toes.
One spot on a beach had signs
indicating off the grid campers had stayed there for varying amounts of
time. Real signs. Tied in the low trees. Of course, I forgot the camera. If they are to be believed, a small group of
folks spent 3 months there last year.
Another group could have been there longer several years ago. It made me wonder about doing such a thing. You would have to bring everything you
needed. We’ve seen nothing edible
growing anywhere wild except the very occasional coconut. There is no fresh water source on these
little islands, so you would have to bring lots and rely on rain. We’ve been rained on twice since we arrived
here, which isn’t much. You would have
to catch a lot. Now where did I see that
plastic bucket?
Our stay was a delightful
day, dinner and cocktails in the cockpit and a quiet night at anchor.
We are currently back on a
mooring ball in Black Sound. There is
supposed to be a storm of sorts building today, Thursday the 4th of
April, through tonight and Friday and perhaps into Saturday. Winds on Friday are predicted to be 25-30
miles per hour with gusts up near 35, so we’ve chosen to hide in this protected
harbor for a couple days, find some internet to catch up on work and post
reports, and maybe stretch our legs walking New Plymouth, rain or shine.
We have started our
discussions of “what next?” so our time here must be coming to an end. We
expect to work our way to a ‘jumping off’ or crossing over spot after this
stormy weather has passed. We hope to
stop at a couple more uninhabited islands along the way.
On your way home, consider stopping at Fox Town. I never have but always wanted to. There's not much from what I have been told, but the people there are supposed to be very friendly and the local food good. There is a Batelco tower there that is visible from quite far.
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