Back in the Abacos: Man-o-War & Matt Lowe’s Cay Redux

We left Harbor Island in the same fashion that left Little Harbour, right before sunset so that we could sail through the night, arriving at our destination around sunrise. On the return journey, however, we had significantly more wind. Our sail from Little Harbour to Harbour Island had been a calm, slow motor-sail. We never made more than 5 or six knots. On the way back we averaged 10 knots under sail alone and reached occasional top speeds of around 15 knots. The strong wind also made our exit through the cut a bit exciting. We were never in any danger but we all got a little wet when a wave splashed over the bow of the boat before any of us had remembered to lower the front windows.

It was peaceful to just sail for hours without the sound of the engines but we were actually going much faster than we had planned. My dad had calculated our leave time based on an average speed of 6 knots. So, of course, we arrived hours before sunrise and had to kill a bit of time before going through the cut at Little Harbour. Oh well, my dad and I had finished our 4 hour watch by then, which meant it was the perfect time for a nap.

Mom and Brandon took over and were kind enough to let me sleep a little extra. We were pulling up to the dock at Man-O-War Marina when I awoke. Still a little groggy, I decided to go for a walk around Man-O-War to try to perk up. (Four on/Four off is not really my optimum sleep schedule.) I didn’t spend nearly enough time exploring the town when we were here last and I’m so glad I took the time on the second go around. This place is picture perfect! 

This old boat was propped up behind the Man-O-War Boat Building Museum, which was unfortunately closed that day.

Lover’s Lane! How cute!

I was all by myself, but isn’t this street just perfect for a stroll with your sweetie?

These flowers were blooming all over the islands but I don’t know what they are called. Any of my readers happen to be gardeners/flower aficionados?

Lovely, large well-manicured lot for sale! Any takers? It has beach access!

I have this innate talent for befriending local cats. They find me everywhere we go — campgrounds, marinas, random residential neighborhoods. I swear it has nothing to do with the fact that I often have food in my purse.

Of all our island destinations, Man-O-War had some of the best maintained roads. This may be an odd thing to notice but I think it shows how much they care about their community.

I wonder if parents in the islands tell their children a different version of Santa Clause, one where Santa arrives by boat. You certainly won’t find any chimneys for Santa here.

Notice that the High School wasn’t even founded until 2007. I suppose the older generations had to commute to school on the bigger islands by boat.

It was Christmas break so the school must have just left the hurricane boards up until school was back in session.

There was no information about this old structure but I suspect it has been left standing for some historical reason. It was the only building in this condition I saw on my walk. I found the matching wave of the roof and floor interesting. You can see how they are sinking under their own weight.

When I returned from my walk-about everyone was still trying to diagnose our generator problem. Our appointment with local mechanic Chad Albury was the reason we had returned to Man-O-War in the first place. There were tools on all the tables and all the mechanical cabinets open for access. Unfortunately, the cause of the problem still appeared to be a mystery. Sensing that we were more in the way than useful, Mom and I left to grab lunch at the Dock and Dine marina restaurant.

It was a simple looking place so we weren’t expecting more than the typical island fare of various types of fried seafood, but we were pleasantly surprised! I ordered the most decadently cheesy mushroom pizza and ate way more than one person should eat in one sitting. My mom ordered the tamarind shrimp, which were so good that she’s still talking about them. We didn’t want the guys to feel left out of our surprise culinary find, so we ordered them some conch wontons to go.

When we returned they guys still hadn’t fixed the generator but they had a few ideas, all of which involved ordering parts, something that takes much longer here in the islands. It was looking like the generator fix would have to be left up to Captain Ron to complete after we left. Thankfully, the weather was cooling off a bit. We just might “survive” yet another night in paradise without air conditioning.

Giving up on fixing the generator, we made our way over to the anchorage at Matt Lowe’s Cay. Literal paradise.

Because Matt Lowe is entirely private property you can’t go ashore, but that doesn’t mean you can’t go on a sunset dingy ride along the shore!

We were hoping to spot some interesting sea creatures lurking in the clear shallow water but we found it to be pretty desolate, just the usual grass and sand. Maybe we scared them all away. Oh well, the sunset was gorgeous.

At this point in the trip we could see the end of our sailing adventure nearing, which makes moments like these all the more special.