Exodus from the Bahamas

After leaving Green Turtle Cay we did a short sail over to Manjack Cay for some unsettled weather to pass by and further contemplate our own plan to cross back over into the US. Manjack Cay is a largely uninhabited island with some interesting bays to explore.

The northern cays in the Abacos are generally less inhabited and also less visited than the central Abacos. So as we moved further up the chain we saw fewer and fewer boats. Most of the cruisers there were like us heading back to the US. However, unlike us, most were just going to Florida. There were also many coming in from Florida heading south. Many Floridians don't cross over until April or May after the northern cruisers have left and the weather is nicer.

The first stop on the way out of the Abacos was Manjack Cay. We got in fairly late because we left Green Turtle after doing some last minute provisioning because the mailboat came in late Thursday. After the short sail we anchored and wanted to tour some of the back bays but it was low tide so we were limited in getting access into the more remote areas. We beached our dink on one of the beaches and walked it looking for interesting things. We found a starfish washed up on the beach and it seemed to be alive so I took it into the water and put it down. Soon it turned itself over then started to move and we watched it move several feet before it buried itself. We have a video of it but it is in doubt too large a file to upload.

Our anchor wasn't buried too well so I was happy the next morning when we had only turned with the wind and pulled it up to move on to Spanish Cay.

Spanish Cay is another private island with a small boutique marina but very friendly and easy to like atmosphere. After hauling the anchor we had a great sail up to Spanish Cay right up to the time when we discovered an overwrap on the jib furler. Overwraps are a condition where the furling line gets a confused wrap usually from spinning too quickly but the result is that the sail can't be furled until the overwrap is resolved. So with the motor running we went into the wind while I undid and redid the furling line to resolve the overwrap. Once resolved we went into the marina with south winds in the 20's. When we got our slip assignment it was obvious that backing in would put over 20 kts of crosswind on the bow so with discretion being the better part of valor I pulled into the slip for the one night we planned to spend there.

While at Spanish Cay we continued our weather discussions to determine when we would be able to leave. After watching the weather evolve and getting word from our weather routers we decided that leaving Monday night or Tuesday morning from the Abacos would get us to Beaufort although the next weather system might move through Thursday night.

So we made our plans and enjoyed another night at Spanish Cay doing some beaching and snorkeling while we made ready for several days offshore.

Monday (Apr 25) morning we left Spanish Cay and with the wind behind us flew the spinnaker and sailed to Great Sale Cay in the extreme northwest Bahamas where we prepared to leave early Tuesday morning.