Manjack Cay

Since I wrote last, we have not had internet for more than a week. We left Hope Town on a flat calm morning at dawn. It was spectacular with the full moon setting and the sun rising at the same time.


We arrived in the Don’t Rock Passage right at high tide and there were only long swells with no waves breaking. Right behind us was Bill on his sailboat Interim and we guided him through this shallow water channel for the first time. Now he knows exactly where the deepest water is and he can proudly state that he is not a Don’t Rock virgin anymore.
Bill and his crew Brendan continued on to cross the Gulf Stream while Dave and I took the Manjack Cay ‘exit’ off the Sea of Abaco.

Manjack Cay is a large island that only has a few houses on it, and the only power that they have is from generators. However, one homeowner who is a former cruiser himself, used to provide wifi internet for boaters in the anchorage. Unfortunately the Bahamas Government didn’t like that and they blocked his internet. Now an internet provider is going to install a new antenna and provide wifi for a fee. Many people will be in for a shock next time they anchor there and find it now costs $20 per day. This is a major stop for boaters who have either just crossed the Gulf Stream or are on their way back. It was a great stopping place to contact family. Now everyone will most likely travel on to Green Turtle Cay, which is about 5 miles away. Dave and I stopped by one of the resorts at Green Turtle in our dinghy and got our 41 emails for 50 cents a minute. The plus side is that the resort had a phone that worked really well, and when I called my mother she said I sounded like I was already in Daytona.

Anyway, Manjack Cay is protected from the easterly winds that we had, and the weather during the week we were there was gorgeous. The anchorage is huge so the boats can all spread out, and it is very quiet and serene.

The same homeowner who used to provide internet owns a huge piece of land and has made wide trails to the ocean beach and also to a bluff point overlooking the Sea of Abaco, where he has placed a park bench.


In the distance every morning we can hear the owner’s pet roosters and chickens, which is so Bahamas-like.

It is also a great place to kayak in lots of tidal creeks through the mangroves and over sandbars.

There is a park a few coves to the north, where the local dive shop has trained a couple of stingrays to come over and be hand fed.
There is also another nature trail across the island to the ocean here, and boaters paint the name of their boats on items that have floated in. Then they hang them from the rafters at a gazebo at the start of the trail.


Manjack Cay was a perfect place to decompress from the hubbub of Hope Town and clean and decommission the boat for storage. Tomorrow New Horizon will be hauled out on dry land and ready for the hurricane season. Meanwhile (after spending a few days visiting family in Daytona and then flying back north) Dave and I are ready to settle in at the Pashley Rd. house and get on with our spring and summer activities. I have written a couple of other stories about our explorations and adventures which I will post from Daytona.