March 10, 2022
The winds continue to make travel around here less fun than one would hope for, but compared to the flurries expected in Ontario over the next couple of days, boy is this awesome! Yesterday we moved from Great Sale Cay to Allans Cay which is about 25nm. The wind was kicking up the water quite a bit and so another wash down of the boat was required.
Despite some heavy winds, the sun shone bright the temperatures are moderate (around 25C) and this little cay offered decent protection from the wind. We dropped the kayak into the water and went to the beach to walk, see a lot of sea shells (tons of sand dollar and conch) and generally enjoy the day. This little bay is currently holding four boats and is quite shallow. Being the last ones in, we are furthest out, but we also have the biggest boat. Three of the boats, including ours, are Canadians, although we have only met the Americans. Bill and Bobby-Sue (if I remember correctly), have been coming here for 20 years and love this little spot.
To end the afternoon, we took the opportunity to snorkel along the shallows. Being covered with mangroves means that there is decent snorkelling and we saw quite a few small, colourful fish and zero sharks!
Today we will go ashore again, but dressed appropriately (per Bill and Bobby-Sue) to hike through the mangroves to the ocean side of the island. The beach there is apparently nice.
Later in the day, we moved along to Manjack Cay. This cay is protected on three sides which seemed like a good idea. This beach is easier to access, much nicer and it is visited regularly by rays and a few sharks. The tourist boats come throughout the day to chum the waters and attract the rays and sharks, so we will try swimming in the morning before the sharks come to feed. We swam with a little guy today (about 3 feet long), but while there is food in the water, it is best to stay out of the water.
While I thought it would be a great spot to anchor, so far we are getting rocked quite a bit. It may be a good night to bring out the stabilizer! The views are magnificent though, and the weather should settle tonight before exploding on Saturday. The calm before the storm as it were!
One of the goals over the next two days is to find really good protection for Saturday night when winds are expected to gust up to 40 knots with steady winds in the 25 knot range. Perhaps even a dock will be on tap, but sometimes it’s best to just drop anchor along way from everyone else and just wait it out.
