Bahama Breezes

Cancel the alert!! All hands safe at sea. Our Gulf Stream crossing was a benign adventure with light winds and fairly comfortable seas. We left Fort Lauderdale late in the afternoon and sighted land the following morning at dawn. We had to putz around until daylight before we crossed from deep water into the Bahama banks, but then it was smooth sailing in shallow, turquoise waters until after noon. The Gulf Stream was as advertised… a river of water flowing north. In the early hours before dawn we needed to motor sail east lest we miss our landfall, but overall it was a pleasant trip. Our crew (Tom Hanna) and our pilot (Otto, as in autopilot) did most of the heavy lifting while I did most of the sleeping.

The Sea of Abaco comprises the northern most waters in the Bahamas (Eleuthera and the Exumas are to the south) and we were entering the Sea at its northwestern boundary. For three days we sailed to windward with overnight stops at well protected anchorages before reaching Green Turtle Cay where we would check in with Bahamas Customs. This was good sailing, and it was about the only time we sailed to windward on the entire trip.

The Sea of Abaco was possibly the best sailing we have ever experienced over a long period of time. We spent six weeks in the Bahamas (sailing only the northern and southern Sea of Abaco, but putting off the Exumas until next year) and except for a few days of rain we had the sails up the entire time. Most of our destinations were close together so that we could set sail in the morning and still reach a protected anchorage in the early afternoon. Our shallow draft catamaran was ideal for sailing in light winds and in waters that were frequently less than 8’ deep. We seldom had to worry about course or obstacles sailing over sand bottoms covered by clear, clear water, and because we were sailing inside the reefs in the Sea of Abaco the waters were generally calm with few waves. I thought Belize was good, but this was indeed the best extended sailing ever.                                      

You can’t beat the weather either (at least this time of year). Best ever weather for any of our sailing trips, not the hot humid weather we had been used to in the western Caribbean. We have had cool sleeping nights, warm sailing days, plenty of sunshine, and only occasional rains. We had one early sub- tropical storm move through the area with a tremendous amount of rain, but that was a very welcome rain that cleaned the boat and helped us to fill our water tanks. Yes, water is in short supply here

While the Bahamas were ideal for both weather and sailing we were less thrilled with the shore side attractions. I’m not sure that was the Bahamas’ fault. It is more that this area is so different from out previous stops in the Pacific and in the western Caribbean. English is the language here (along with some local patois) so we did not have to try to cope with our busted Spanish, but we did realize that using another language was part of the adventure of foreign travel. Also, because almost everything is imported into the Bahamas the prices were a little steep and bar tabs frequently required at least a couple of $20 bills. Certainly not the $1 rum of Guatemala, $2 beers of Panama or even the inexpensive boat drinks in Belize. Also, the Bahamas have very little history and native culture so this was not the exploring experience that we had found in the Mayan ruins of Mexico and Guatemala and the colorful native markets of Central America. Much of the Bahamas was settled by British Loyalists escaping the US after the revolutionary war and there were few settlers here even into the 1900’s.

There are LOTS of boats here, particularly in the southern Abaco towns of Hopetown and Marsh Harbor. There were many, many more boats than we were used to seeing on our travels. Canadian boats by the hundreds and many boaters from the US east coast flock to the Bahamas for the winter months, and because we are so close to Florida the power boats are more prevalent. We heard the area called “East Florida” more than once. What makes the Bahamas so popular for boaters is that it is “mini-cruising”. It is so easy to get here (a power boat can cross from Miami in 7 to 8 hours), so safe to be here (we never felt we had to lock the boat or worry about where we were walking), many protected anchorages, easy to check into with Customs, safe to drink the water, plenty of fishing (plenty of fish to eat), English spoken, US dollars in use, and great weather.

 
But it is hard to beat the scenery, the sand beaches, the amazingly clear, turquoise waters or the interaction with many very, very friendly Bahamaians. Teenagers saying “Yes, sir” and “thank you, sir” whenever we stopped to talk was surprisingly refreshing. We visited Hopetown and Marsh Harbour in the southern Abacos for a taste of the Bahamas ashore and we stopped at Great Guana and Little Harbor for their bars and barbeques. Nipper’s Sunday BBQ is renowned throughout the islands and Pete’s Pub in Little Harbor is as nice a beach bar as you will ever visit. We found nice snorkeling in several spots and in the northern Abacos the islands were much less crowded.

We did indeed lose track of time and found it hard to believe that six weeks had passed since we left Florida. We had planned to exit the Bahamas sailing south through Eleuthera and the Berrie Islands, but we got lost along the way (actually we got winds from the south) so we altered course and enjoyed several days of downwind sailing to the north before exiting the Bahamas and crossing to Cape Canaveral… but let’s save that for the next blog installment.

Tom and Andrea