Adventure in the Bahamas

For those of you who have not heard from us since we left for the Abacos, I should begin this by assuring you that we returned safely prior to Arthur's arrival in the Bahamas and south Florida. We actually arrived in Florida on Sunday, June 29^th, a day before tropical depression #1 started causing trouble for the Abacos and the Gulf Stream. While not planned that way because we knew nothing of the developing tropical depression, we were fortunate to travel back with flat seas and no storms.

This near miss with the storm was actually a sample of the weather we missed during our two week stay. We missed the worst of the thunderstorms that were showing up over there on a regular basis beginning with the evening we arrived on the Little Bahama Bank. We enjoyed lots of sun, and only a couple of storms caught up with us. The weather was pretty warm. In fact we never saw anything lower than 80 degrees during our entire stay. Most days were in the mid to upper 80s with intense sunshine. The shady spots were quite pleasant. The water was warm as well. While we never got a water temperature report while we were over there, we did see from the Weather Channel upon our return that the water temperature on the Bank was 88 degrees. We found water warmer and cooler than that during our stay, but we never had a problem adjusting to the water...just pop right in anytime. In fact, we did that a lot to cool off, but this only helped a bit, since it was so warm. We also did a bit of snorkeling and saw lots of interesting critters under the surface from the normal reef fish to more unusual including a moray eel, sea turtles, rays, large sea stars, live conchs and several barracudas up to four feet in length. In spite of warnings about sharks, we never saw one.

The beaches there were beautiful, as you might expect, but also generally rather uncrowded even though this

is supposed to be their busy season. The beach sand was remarkably fine grained which added to the quality of the beach settings. The water clarity was always good. Sometimes offering visibility in the 40+ ft range and other times only in the 25 ft range. This isn't up to what one would expect in the Exumas, but the Abacos are much more heavily populated with people and boats. It's always a bit surprising to be traveling along out of sight of any land and yet be able to look over the side and clearly see the bottom slide by. That's what it's like on the Little Bahama Bank.

So that's the overview of the trip. Below I've provided something closer to a daily update to let all know where we spent time.

We (that is Sandra and Maddie and me along with our daughter Jennifer and her dog Kaya) left Vero Beach on June 11th and headed south on the ICW to Peck Lake, merely a wide spot in the ICW adjacent to a state park and beach. The area is shallow, but there is a channel that gets us into an anchorage with no issues. The day was full of thunderstorms around us, but we managed to be lucky enough to miss any real storms.

Here I learned that our anchor windlass wouldn't work. Not sure what the deal is, but I'll be pulling the anchor up by hand for the foreseeable future till I am in one spot long enough to deal with it.

The next day we continued our travel to the Lake Worth Inlet by Palm Beach and Peanut Island. We arrived early enough to get the dogs over to Peanut Island for some exercise and then returned without them for a bit of snorkeling. At the park on Peanut Island an artificial reef has been developed to attract fish. It makes for some pretty good snorkeling in clear water.

The weather and seas forecast for the next day looked appealing, so we awoke and headed out toward the

This may be the best way to deal with a long trip.

east the next morning. Our plan, after some debate, was to head straight over to the Abacos and check in at Green Turtle Cay. This would require an overnight sail across the Little Bahama Bank. All went well across the Gulf Stream with little wave action. Approaching the Banks, we were treated to an amazing view. The water turns from a deep purplish blue to bright turquoise in a matter of a few feet. The depth there rises very quickly from more than a thousand feet to about 30 feet. Thanks to a bit of a boost from the Gulf Stream, we managed this portion of the trip in 2 hours less than we'd planned.

This sunrise greeted us as we arrived in the Abacos.

By evening the clouds began to build and a storm approached. We tried to outmaneuver the weather by heading south some to Mangrove Cay where we could anchor if the weather really turned nasty. However, it just seemed to dissipate over time, so we changed course once again to regain our earlier course. The rest of the night went quietly and we enjoyed a pretty sunrise over the northern Abacos. We dropped the anchor at Green Turtle Cay by 9:30 that morning, and I went ashore to locate the customs office. The process went smoothly and provided my first of many pleasant experiences with locals of the Bahamas. They are a friendly people. For those wondering, the entry fee for boats over 30 feet is still $300. We'd heard rumors of a change, but they proved false.

After getting the dogs ashore and we explored a little. We were looking for a beach with little success until we came upon a resident in a golf cart. (This is common transportation on many of the smaller cays.) He gave us a ride to a beach, but it turned out to be much farther away than we were prepared to walk back from. In the end we rented a cart for the afternoon and explored much of the island. While there were cute shops and friendly people, this was not our favorite cay. From there we moved on south to Great Guana Cay. The beach is great; the people seem friendly; and the atmosphere is laid back. This was one of our favorite stops – enough that we stopped here a second time as we passed by late in our visit. From there we made a brief stop at a small island known for good shells then is was on to Marsh Harbor. This is the third largest town in the Bahamas (but only 6,000 residents) and the hub of the Abacos with respect to supplies. We visited a big grocery store sort of like what we'd find back here. The food is more expensive, but lots of

A landmark at Hope Town

Hope Town and the harbor from the top of the lighthouse.

stuff was available. We also did some laundry while we were here and bought some local rum before moving on to Hope Town. This is one of the more popular tourist stops in the Abacos with lots of cute houses to rent, restaurants to enjoy and a lighthouse that attracts lots of photos.

Tahiti Beach

Then it was off to Tahiti Beach, a beautiful one that is aptly named. We did a bit of snorkeling here, enjoying especially clear water and lots of fish. We continued south to Little Harbor. This is at the southern end of the Abacos. It's a cute harbor with little there but a bar and sculpture studio. The water was quite clear here, but the anchorage was rolly due to its proximity to the ocean inlet.

This was as far south as we traveled before heading back up the way we'd come. As we headed back up, we spent a night at Man-O-War Cay. This was a cute town that wasn't as geared to tourists as Hope Town, but similar in other ways. The settlers here came over from the colonies after the revolution, apparently loyal to Mother England. Lots of churches here for a very small community.

Our next stop was Treasure Cay. This is a resort community developed from nothing. Most of the people

Treasure Cay beach with a bit of weather in the distance

who work here live in Marsh Harbor, more than a half hour's drive. There is no real town beyond the stores and restaurants established to support the vacation homes, condos and rentals that have been built. The highlight of this stop had to be the beach. It's promoted as one of the ten best beaches in the world. I can't confirm that view, but only because I haven't seen much of the world. But it was a beautiful beach with fine sand and clear water. Again, not crowded like US beaches. We got water and fuel here and did some laundry. Or to be more accurate, we had some laundry

Jenn in the pool at Treasure Cay

done here. We hand over a bundle and get it back clean and nicely folded for $8 a load. (This isn't a lot more than we spend to do it ourselves in Marathon.)

We left Treasure Cay with a general plan for final stops before our return to the States. Although we'd spent less than two weeks here, we'd managed to see and do quite a bit. One reason for this is that the islands are so close together. Some were only 5 or 6 miles apart and a long sail would be perhaps 20 miles. So even on travel days, most of our time was spent exploring one island or another – not traveling between them.

We really liked Great Guana Cay, so we decided to stop there for one more day before heading out. We wanted to go to the beach there and stop by a bar/resort called Nipper's. This is an outside hangout with a bar two small pools, a gift shop and restaurant in addition to some cabins. From there you walk down a sand dune to another beautiful beach. The place is laid back. For example, the pool use doesn't require that you buy some food or drink. As you get to the beach, you'll find a stack of beach umbrellas next to a sign. The sign tells you the beach umbrellas are for your use. They just ask that you return it when done. There are also beach chairs available. At other places, we'd have to pay for these. For example two chairs and an umbrella at Treasure Cay costs $30 per day.

From Great Guana Cay, we began our trek back...at a relaxed pace. We stopped at an uninhabited Cay for

One of the many critters we saw...the sea star, that is

our first night out - Powell Cay. We explored the shoreline on both the bay side and the ocean side and collected a few shells. Then it was off to Double Breasted Cay. This was as far as we traveled north in the Abacos. We were told there are more sharks around here, but we didn't see any. We did see a few swirls in the water that appeared to have been caused by large fish, but we didn't see what caused them. Up here in the north where there are fewer inhabitants and few visitors, we found a number of living conchs and several shells that people had already cleaned out to eat the animal. Conchs are quite popular here, sort of like lobsters are in Maine.

Sandra & Jenn on a sandbar at Double Breasted Cay

The weather forecast for the next day looked good for a Gulf Stream crossing, so we decided to take advantage of it. Our plan was to sail across the Little Bahama Banks during the day and then do a night crossing of the ocean, coming in to Ft. Pierce Inlet after sunrise and then up the ICW to Vero Beach where we began this little adventure. All went well. We had some threats of stormy weather, but nothing materialized. The ocean was relatively calm, but we had to watch out for the several cruise ships which passed fairly close by. It wasn't till we go in to Florida that we first heard about a developing tropical low pressure that had a chance at developing into something more serious. If we'd stayed in the Bahamas another day or two, I'd be writing this now from over there instead of here. We feel quite fortunate that we made the trip when we did.

More beautiful water

It's not all beautiful sand beaches, however.

A small town church, typical of the island communities

So now we are back and getting our lives organized for the next adventures and resting up a bit as well. We will stay here for another week before heading out by car to visit family and friends up north for a month and a half. So our next boat travel will come in the fall sometime. I'll plan to provide an update as we approach that time.

In the meantime, enjoy the summer.

Captain Bob

Carpe Diem