Sunday March 25, 2018 - Man-O-War Cay with day trip to Hope Town

What a great day this has turned out to be!  It started out by weighing anchor early (around 9am) and a nice reach in west 5 to 10 knot winds past the entrance to Man-O-War harbour entrance and on down to Hope Town.  I was a bit disappointed in Hope Town.  It is a VERY busy place - lots of moorings, the entire harbour lined with businesses and homes, and a big marina with huge motor yachts.  I saw a boat I remembered from Rock Sound (Early Out) and stopped by to say hello to my friends Rick and Debbie.  Rick was flying a huge Michigan Flag from his flag halyard and was wearing his Michigan hat.  And I ran aground coming into the fuel dock near the entrance to the harbour.  Fortunately, I was going slow and was able to spin off. 

I left the Hope Town harbour just as they were starting a series of Sunfish and dinghy races.  That was fun.  The wind had picked up to about 12 to 15 and I had a real nice down wind sail back up to Man O War.  This time, I dropped the sails and motored into the narrow south entrance to the harbour.  I motored up through the crowded mooring field and spotted what looked like an empty mooring.  I asked a nearby cruiser what the different colors meant and he advised me to take the one I had spotted.  About an hour later, I dinghied ashore to check out the town.  Everything is closed on Sunday but I ran into David Asbury who asked me about the mooring I was on.  He controls the (pink) moorings. His family runs most of the businesses in the town - mostly boating related.  He ended up giving me a ride in his golf cart to the convenience store that was opens every Sunday night from 5 till 9.  I got there about 10 minutes early and the owners wife was just bringing 10 loaves of freshly baked bread in to sell.  It was still WARM.  On my way back to the boat, I asked the couple who had advised me on the mooring if they wanted some of the fresh bread.  They responded by asking me if I wanted to join them for very fresh conch salad.  They had just gotten the conch today by diving hear Fowl Cay just north of here.  Needless to say, I had an EXCELLENT dinner. 

Then, as I was going back to True Blue, I spotted the boat Chequered Past.  They had been docked on the other side of the dock from Phil and me at the Carolina Beach State Park Marina.  Phil and I had dinner with Paul and his friend Chris. 

Besides meeting nice new people and catching up with old friends, it was a really nice day - warmer with mostly 5 to 10 knot winds with sunny skies.