Wednesday, December 7th, Man-O-War mooring

Jillian hailed us about 7:30am to say they were on their way. Then Dave hailed us to say they were leaving, too. We hurried up and readied the boat (hoisting the dinghy) and were not far behind. Out the White Sound channel we noticed more buoys and we saw better depth.

Reports were coming in on the condition of the Whale. One boat said there were 4-6’ rollers; another said 3-5’ gentle swells. It didn’t sound bad. If one’s draft is shallow enough, and ours could be at 4’6”, there is another way, the Dont Rock Passage across the bank, which is what the ferry boat does. But, if it’s rough outside, it’ll be rough inside, and it’s very shallow, 2 feet at low tide. One would only want to do that at high tide, adding another 3 feet. We did see a ketch going that way.

The rollers were big in the Whale Cay Channel, we thinking we should have taking our antinausea pills. We followed the chartplotter line and made it past the breakers and into the calmer ocean. Coming into the Loggerhead Channel was calm and easy. We were on the other side!!

The day was gorgeous, sunny and near 80 degrees. We could only think of getting to Man-O-War, picking up the sailslide, taking showers, and possibly getting on the net.

The channel into Man-O-War reminds me of some of the entrances in the North Channel where someone stands on the bow directing the helmsperson to avoid rocks. Ken directed us in and we slowly made our way into the moorings to pick up a white one with a blue stripe, Man-O-War Marina’s moorings. There were 2 available, one by a wide catamaran, and another close to the stern of a sailboat. We chose the one by the catamaran thinking we’d have more room, although all the moorings seem like they are measured to the inch. We all dance around almost, but not quite, touching.

The other mooring ball was behind Windrose, we noticed after we were situated. We met them in the Sassafras River in the Chesapeake and Steve came over to say hi. The cruising world is a small world.

We went in to pay for the mooring, $17/day, which didn’t include showers, $5/each, which we were glad to pay…needed to pay!! Did they feel good!! Ken dinghied to the sailmaker on Dickies Cay and picked up the sailslide, plus a couple of extra.

We have internet on the boat and we did some much needed business and catching up.