Abacos – Man-O-War

While enjoying a lovely morning in Hopetown (Elbow Cay, Abacos) and listening to the morning Cruisers Net, we learned that there was fund-raising event on the island of Man-O-War. We also learned that the main marina was having a special – pay for two nights and get the third night free. And it included 50 gallons of free water!

Mooring Free-for-All

As we prepared to depart, a neighboring boat that we had met in Green Turtle Cay hailed us to confirm we were leaving. They wanted to put a life jacket on our mooring so their buddy boat could come and grab our mooring immediately.

Moorings in Hopetown are harder to find than a parking spot at a Costco on a Saturday afternoon! As soon as we tossed the mooring lines, a life jacket was attached by the neighboring boat. A life jacket is an indicator that the mooring is taken.

With high tide at 1000, we headed out of the channel before 0900 to make sure we had deep water for the passage. The buddy boat was on their way in to claim the mooring before we cleared the channel!

Man-O-War Cay

Man-O-War Cay (MOW) is a mere 5NM north of Hopetown. By 1100, we were tied up to a slip at the MOW Village Marina. Because of the 2-to-2½-foot tide range in the bay, the fixed dock was, at times, a bit of challenge. At low tide, it required a bit of a scramble as the ladder was forward of our gate access. For those of us in the “senior” category, climbing over the lifelines and up a wood ladder is not the easiest. We both managed to get off the boat. I was hoping no one caught my ungraceful flops onto the dock!

Water

Getting excited about 50 gallons of water seems a stretch for those from Minnesota with an abundance of fresh water. However, fresh water in the Bahamas is scarce. For example, the water in MOW is sourced from a combination of ground water, rainwater (captured and stored in cisterns) and reverse osmosis (RO). During times of drought, MOW will get big cisterns full of RO water brought in from Marsh Harbour, just across the bay.

Filling your water tanks with potable water ranges from 50 cents a gallon to over a dollar a gallon throughout the Abacos. When you’re accustomed to free water, it’s an eye-opener when you must start conserving and actually thinking about whether you really, really need a shower!

Make Your Own

Many who cruise in the Bahamas and other islands install a water maker. Since we were not planning on spending more than one season in the islands, spending $6k for a water maker didn’t make sense. Howard installed one on SV Gaviidae 37, but they were planning on staying more than a year in salt water.

Having friends who have a water maker is a perk! Having friends who also have an ice maker is an even bigger perk! But Howard and Kerri-Ann were still back in Green Turtle Cay.

MOW Fund-Raiser

We wandered our way through the small town (population ~300) to where the school and one of the three churches were located. Yes, 300 people need three churches! We were hoping to find some fresh produce or bakery items. We didn’t find either but we did score three jars of mango jam!

There were a couple of grill/food options. One was in the church and by the time we got there, they had slashed the price to $10 for a BBQ dinner. We ordered two and they piled the Styrofoam container to the top with chicken, ribs, rice, coleslaw, and cornbread. It was so much food that we took one whole container back to the boat!

Some of the flowers we saw along the way:

Bath Time

Gaviidae hadn’t had a bath since the Chesapeake. We decided to splurge our 50 gallons of free water by giving her a good soapy wash and rinse. She’s so pretty when she sparkles!

Much of the marina is brand new after Hurricane Dorian wiped out the prior marina. With brand new, huge showers, we also got cleaned up. Taking a leisurely shower is bliss for a boat person!

Laundry was the next order of business – $20 per load! Did I mention that water is expensive?

Dry Dock n Dine

Part of the deal with the three nights dockage for the price of two, was the expectation that you would eat in the marina restaurant. MOW is a dry island–as in no alcohol available for sale– the only one in the Bahamas. You can’t even buy a beer! However, the restaurant was able to get the town to allow boaters to bring their own wine into the restaurant. We did – and there was no corkage fee because we had to bring our own corkscrew!

Exploring

We spent the next two days wandering around much of the island. There were a few stores, including Albury’s Sail Shop which sells bags made from sailcloth. They were very nice but we really didn’t need anymore bags. Our shopping excursion took us to the local grocery store, which turned out to be one of the best we encountered in the Bahamas. Certainly better stocked than any of the stores in Hopetown. Apparently, many boaters from Hopetown come over to MOW for provisioning so they don’t have to deal with the hustle and bustle of Marsh Harbour.

Along our walk we saw numerous buildings that had been destroyed by Dorian but also saw brightly colored homes with fresh paint and extensive flower gardens.

As with Green Turtle Cay, most residents of MOW are descendants of the Loyalists who fled to the Abacos from the newly formed United States after the revolutionary war. They are very conservative, and religion is extremely important to the people here, hence the three churches and the reason the island is dry. There seems to be an unspoken rule that everything needs to be orderly and look as spotless as possible.

One of the more common surnames names in MOW and the Abacos, is Albury. Besides the sail shop, the local boat building business is Albury Brothers Boats. MOW was a center for boat building and the Albury family has been involved in boat building for generations. Even the ferry that runs daily from MOW to Marsh Harbour is an Albury business.

During my prior visit to the Abacos in 2022, I met a gentleman at the Abaco Beach Resort in Marsh Harbour who informed me that his sister, Yvonne Albury, married a Thorndycraft from Canada!

Weather

We had expected to move on after our three nights at the dock but heavy weather and rain was forecast. Instead, we moved to the mooring field where we tied up to a ball close enough to the marina that we could still pick up their WiFi signal.

Eleuthera Bound

We had stayed in touch with Mike and Andrea on SV Shadow, another Gozzard G41 just like ours. They were heading to Eleuthera and then on to the Exumas. We decided that sounded like a great opportunity to explore more of the Bahamas.

I requested a custom weather report from Chris Parker and we set off for Lynard Cay, 18NM to the south of Man O War and Elbow Cay, halfway down Great Abaco Island. We motor sailed past Marsh Harbour, with it’s flashy sport fishing boats and hotels, and dropped anchor off the west shore of Lynard Cay. A short while later, SV Shadow dropped anchor just north of us.

We were ready for the 56 nm hop across the Atlantic Ocean to the northern islands of Eleuthera.

February 15, 2025 – February 22, 2025   26°21.355’N  076°59.138’W     2853.9 Nautical Miles