We got up early as we wanted to snorkel at Sandy Cay before proceeding to Marsh Harbour and we had to go into Marsh Harbour near high tide as it is a little shallow in the back of the harbour where the marina is.
It was a calm morning as we traveled north. We went behind Sandy Cay and anchored easily. Some swells were coming in the cut to the east so we were slightly worried about snorkeling but decided to try it. Fat Tuesday made the journey to the dinghy moorings without a problem and we tied up. There was one other boat there which was reassuring in that spot.
I got in and immediately spotted an eagle ray. I did not yet have the camera and hoped he would stick around for David to see. David followed them for a bit. We could not see their colors as well as last year but they were beautiful. The deeper water was a little murky from the swells but he got some footage.
We continued around the reef together. There was current going south to north so we swam south first. On the Southern end is the elk horn coral which is so rare to see now. It was living and beautiful but sadly, parts looked a little less healthy than last year. It was still the most amazing coral garden.
We saw several turtles on the reef and I swam with them. I never want to leave that reef but we had to move on.
The trip to Marsh Harbour is deceiving because when you see it and it looks so close, you forget that you have to go around the back side to enter. That takes about 2 hours. The only marina on the outside is the Abaco Beach Club. The Moorings rents catamarans from there. The other marinas are in the harbour.
We looked at familiar landmarks on the way. There seems to be a lot of progress on building and rebuilding in Marsh Harbour. We got to the marina around 2 pm, We had 2.5 feet of water under our keel at high tide at one point coming in. The water at the marina slip was about 11 feet. Charles and Desmond helped us in.
We got docked and got to work on some of our chores. David wanted to take care of getting fuel. The fuel dock was at another marina so we launched Fat Tuesday and packed up our diesel jugs. It was a short ride to the Conch Inn fuel dock. The hose could reach down to our dinghy and it was easy to fill the three jugs. David then filled the boat tank from the jugs and we went back for another refill. We were refueled and had our 15 gallons of reserve on board. After closing the fuel port, David gave Josie a fresh water rinse.
I swam at the little pool and then we gave ourselves a fresh water washing and ate at the marina restaurant. More boat chores tomorrow.
