Our weather has been a bit on the windy side, but today brought lighter winds and clear skies. Beautiful! We dropped the mooring in Hopetown Monday and headed for Man O War Cay, just 6 nm to the north. We anchored off adjacent Dickies Cay. A short dinghy ride put us downtown. Man O War is one settlement that takes the name of the Cay. Most have a town or settlement with a name that differs from the Cay on which they’re situated. Hopetown for instance on Elbow Cay. The Abacos were settled mostly by loyalists fleeing the Colonies at the start of the revolution, and they held onto what they knew, their architecture, fishing, boatbuilding and their way of life. It’s interesting to travel only 40 or 50 miles and witness such a dramatic change in the accent. The Abaco accent is interesting, sort of a cross between a Scottish brogue and Caribbean lilt. Very unique!
This is our second visit to Man O War, we were here in ’09 and enjoyed the quaint town with its hustle and bustle.
Albury Brothers Boats is here, they build modern fiberglass boats that are popular in the Bahamas. They are all hand-laid fiberglass, essentially a hand-built boat. The sheds are along the waterfront where there is a constant movement of golf carts. Miss Lola stopped by, but we had already visited with her at her home earlier in the day as we explored the island. We got a loaf of home made bread and some of her sticky buns. I’ll be the first to tell, they’re good, but not as good as the ones the Admiral makes on board, fresh out of the pan! We spent more time exploring this visit, and enjoyed seeing more of the very nicely maintained homes and property there. Very few cars, a few small trucks, but the streets aren’t wide enough to accomodate much other than golf carts!
One luxury available in the Abacos that is absent in the Exumas is ice cream. We treated ourselves to some while we were in Hopetown. Man O War also has an ice cream shop adjacent to the marina, but our visits were timed during the period the shop closes in the afternoon, so we missed out. We decided to head across the Sea of Abaco to Treasure Cay Wednesday morning. It was a spot we bypassed in ’09. It is home to one of “the most beautiful beaches in the world”, so we wanted to make sure we didn’t miss it this time around. The run is all of about 16 nm. One of the nice things about cruising the Abacos, everything is close by!
