More about Manjack Cay

I was going to tell you about our 4 days and nights in the protected anchorage on Manjack Cay. We had arrived early in the evening of July 5^th, the day that storm cell that blew in from the north, and we tucked into the north shore of the anchorage to be out of the biggest of the winds. 

The anchorage is a shallow bay about a half-mile wide on the Sea of Abaco side, and about half a mile across from the Sea of Abaco until you reach the junction of the two cays that form it- Crab Cay south to east and Manjack Cay east to northwest. Depths are about 5-9 feet (mean low water, MLW) for about a quarter mile in, then quickly drop to as low as 1 foot (MLW) as you near the cut between the two Cays. The southeast end of Manjack reminds me of a Maine lobster claw. The longer, upper portion of the claw on the Atlantic side curves gently from NW to SE, the tip pointing straight down at the narrow eastern portion of Crab Cay. The lower, shorter part of the claw runs east to west and points at the northern most point of Crab Cay. This yin/yang forms what the charts label Manjack Harbor, between the two cays. It’s not really a harbor, just a very shallow cut to the south and east leading to the Atlantic. If one turns NW inside the cut, you enter the space between the two halves of the Manjack “lobster claw” that forms a mangrove river running SE-NW for about three quarter of a mile.

The morning of the 6th, we were just getting into dinghy to head for the art trail we’d read about, when we were greeted by an older couple (my folks’ ages) in their tender. They had come over to say hello and ask about our boat. Turned out they own the property adjacent to the beach we were heading to. They told us to stop by after our walk if we saw them out and about. We continued to the beach and the art trail. It was a fun, interesting walk. Many cruisers and other vacationers who walk the trail contribute a piece of art made mostly of flotsam and jetsam (plastics, nets, etc.) and/or flora (palm fronds, coconuts) and fauna (shells and seabiscuits). Paint and markers are often used in the decorating. I took a ton of pictures and will eventually turn that into a slideshow, but for now you’ll have to enjoy the handful of pictures I’ve included here. Dave and I spent the afternoon and part of the next day ruminating over what our contribution would be and collecting raw materials when we walked on a beach the following morning. We ultimately decided to create something to represent us, so we made an Indigo Lady- as in a “lady” that was made of blue materials. Can you find her among the pictures in this post?

After our trail walk we decided to eat our granola bar snacks and look for the ocean beach trail. On our way there we bumped into the couple we’d run into that morning. They were doing yard work. Leslie and Bill have lived on Majack for almost 30 years; they hail from south Florida originally. They own about 5 acres and built everything on it. They are downsizing, however, and are moving to a new, smaller house they’re building a little further up on the bluff. Did I mention they’re in their 70s? They are installing enough solar in the new house to run AC, a small comfort for their aging bodies, as they put it. I’ve read comments other cruisers have written about the “lovely couple” on Majack who are very welcoming of cruisers. They are indeed. They have a little cabana on a post in the shallows of the beach that had swings on it pre-Dorian. They have some picnic tables in the shade at the head of the beach for cruisers to use, and a station for opening coconuts. They gave us a tour of their property and extensive gardens (which they also plan to downsize, a little). Leslie gave me some herbs from her garden; so sweet! Dave helped them hitch a trailer of rock wool insulation to his truck and we bid our farewells as they headed up the hill to install the insulation and we headed back to Lady for lunch.

The normal SE-ish winds had resumed. The wind was brisk, which set up a bit of chop across the open expanse of water (fetch) between us and the opposite shore making it a bit bouncy. After lunch we hauled anchor and tucked in near that opposite shore to reduce the bounce. Then we waited for just past low tide, around 2pm, and set out on a dinghy safari through the mangroves. We saw dozens upon dozens of small sea turtles, but no stingrays or young sharks, which we’d heard were often spotted here. At any rate, it was lovely and we went as far as water depth would allow, which was the back side of part of Bill & Leslie’s property where they have a dock onto the mangroves. Back at Lady we cooled off in the water off our stern for a bit and were just drying off in the tramps when we heard the approach of a dinghy. Two men and two women from the catamaran anchored in front of us had come over to say hello and ask about our solar-electric system. Dave had the guys come aboard the sugar scoop to see the engine room. The women stayed in the dinghy and I chatted with them a bit. We told them what we knew about things to see and do in the area. When they left us they were heading for the mangroves. We passed a quiet afternoon in the hammocks with fruity rum drinks.

After breakfast on the 7^th we headed back ashore, this time to find the trail to the beach on the ocean side of Manjack. We arrived just in time to help Leslie and Bill stack one dinghy on top of another. Then we proceeded to the trail. It was about a mile walk through the woods to the beach. As we got nearer, we started to hear the surf, then see a preponderance of sand on the trail, and then the view. What a view greeted us! The water in dazzling shades of blue, the white sand, and we had it all to ourselves! We were sweating at this point, so we waded into the shallow water to cool off before combing the beach for “art” supplies. Once we’d had our fill (sun was getting higher and it was getting hotter), we headed back to the trail and to Lady for lunch. En route we encountered the foursome from the other catamaran and wished them a lovely day. We had lunch, then Dave got into the hammock to read. I made granola bars first and then got into my own hammock with a book (e-reader, actually). I started feeling creative around 5pm, so I pulled out our art supplies and we created our Indigo Lady, our contribution to the art trail. Just as we were finishing, my alarm went off to remind us that we had a Zoom meeting with our boating club (hello ABC-Portsmouth crew!). We had a strong enough signal to join with video; it was nice to see faces. We followed that with a late dinner and a short movie before bed. 

Next morning, the 8^th, we dinghied ashore after breakfast to place our artwork on the artists trail. Then we went back to Lady, hauled anchor and headed back to the NW end of Manjack to see about a dive on the Atlantic-side reef. It was too bumpy on the larger outer reef to anchor dinghy, and no place to anchor Lady out there – too much reef and not enough sand. After cruising the inner portion of the reef a bit, we found a perfect tongue of sand to anchor Lady in and launched the hookah. It was nice enough, and good to be on another dive, but we’ve discovered that all the reefs in this section of the Abacos look the same, so it was a short dive. We were stalked by a 3-foot barracuda the whole time. Dave stared him down once; just like a dog, the ‘cuda looked down and away. He still followed us, though. We had lunch at anchor, then returned to our anchorage. As we ate dinner that night, we got to listen to a livestream of the Soggy Po Boys at the Lu (a friend’s barn/music venue in SW Maine). It was a fundraiser for our friends’ nonprofit- Continuum Arts Collective. Just as we finished dinner, it started to rain. So we listened to New Orleans Jazz while we danced in the rain (we may or may not have been clothed at the time). It was a refreshing evening, both because of the music and the cooling rain. 

Mid-morning on Friday the 9th we hauled anchor and started our trek south. It was time to head back to the Berry Islands. Here we are a week later, Friday the 16^th, and we are on the last leg of our journey to the Berries as I type, hopefully arriving by mid afternoon. Next week I’ll tell you about our last few days in the Abacos and the two day trek from there to the Berries.

Until then, stay safe and take care of each other!