In the Heart of Abacos
16 December 2013 | Abaco Bight
Captain - Beautiful
If you can imagine the whole of the Bahamas Banks as an over five thousand square mile flat rock that lies in an average of fifteen feet below the surface of the ocean. On that very large flat rock there are bumps, better known as cays (pronounced "keys"), which to us are known as islands where people live, work and go about their business every day. Only a few of the cays are more than sparsely populated and some are privately owned. It makes one of the world's prime cruising areas as there are lots of places to get lost and be alone, yet civilization is never too far away.
In the Sea of Abaco, between Whale Cay and Treasure Cay on the Great Abaco Island, there is a barrier of shallow water which you cannot cross in a sailboat. The passage from the Sea of Abaco to the southerly Bight of Abaco takes you around Whale Cay and through the Whale Cay passage; an inlet from the Atlantic which is well known by cruisers. The passage can only be negotiated securely on times of the day when the wind, tide, current and ocean swell cooperate. This narrow channel is well marked on the charts but is only conspicuous by a stick on a point of the island. There are no marks on the water, but one can easily tell when you are passing from the sea to the ocean. The ocean kicks up in rough weather as it enters on to the shallow water of the Banks where the two meet in the channel, which in turn would make it next to impossible to get through if the tide (current) are not in your favor.
The problem can be, not only do you have to go out into the ocean through the Whale Cay Passage on the north side but you have to come back in on the south side to the Bight of Abaco to pass from the two original Loyalist settlements of Providence on Green Turtle Cay to Hopetown on Elbow Cay. For instance, if the tide is going out in the Sea of Abaco on the north end of Whale Cay and the wind is with you get a "lift" from the out-going current but can run headlong into the ocean swells coming in to meet that tide.
On the day we chose to pass through the Cut, the ocean rollers could be felt on the Banks a mile before we turned the corner to steer for the Passage. Only a small bit imitated from the stories I had heard over the years, we paid a lot of attention to the Chart-plotter and the depth sounder. It proved to be an experience that wasn't all that bad and made some easy sailing once we reached the ocean then had our backs to the wind as we headed down to enter behind the island.
Inside the Bight, we headed across the Banks to Marsh Harbour where we spent three days anchored outside the supply city to the Abacos. It is a fairly large bustling city with all the flavor of a city; grocery and liquor stores, Laundromats and cell phone stores, car washes and banks. All the things you need for provisioning but everything you want to get away from. For the time we were anchored there we spent most of the time working; IE doing laundry, re-provisioning, getting phones and propane tank uploaded. The place is a necessity but non-distinct. It did have a KFC in which I had the very worst leg of a chicken that I ever tasted. A lot of boats were anchored in the sheltered bay where we were doing the exact thing.
Once we cleared out of Marsh Harbour, we sailed over water as clear as gin, steering the boat toward an entrance to a candy-striped lighthouse, which is famous around the Bahama Islands. Hopetown is a small settlement inside a narrow Cut that opens up into a almost circular small bay, which is partially surrounded by a settlement and fronted on one side by a couple of marinas. If there was ever a definition of a "hurricane Hole" where a boat could hide from a fierce storm this would be it. Completely surrounded by land, the entrance is at right angles so that any wind could not send a sea inside. There is no anchoring as the whole bay is arranged with approximately 50 mooring balls. Some are owned by marinas and others are owned by individuals. The color of the ball designates who owns the ball. When you tie up no one ever comes to claim the money. You are expected to find out who owns it and give the money to them. That is how it works here. Somebody will tell you at some point who owns what and where to find them. Don't worry about leaving without paying. After I had paid and was leaving, I was approached by a local in a beat up boat who wanted to know what color of mooring I was on. When I told him it was blue and I had paid the marina he gave me a big, wide, toothless grin and a thumbs up. I guess he owned another color or he checks out everyone!
The village has a plaque by a very small beach, on the inside of the very small bay, which marks the supposedly landing of the very first Loyalists to the Bahamas from New York in late 1700's. Originally called Carleton they chose the perfect location for a settlement. All the homes are snugly built close together around the side of the bay on a narrow strip of land which is closest to the ocean. I can imagine if when you go to bed the only sound you would hear is the unceasing, peaceful, breath of the ocean. Unless a hurricane was snoring it's way along the coast! The streets between the brightly painted homes are not more than concrete walkways and not much wider than a sidewalk at home. Again golf carts are the main vehicle and there are only a few of those. The whole settlement has almost been entirely converted to a bed and breakfast or small resort area catering to people from all over the world, but mainly from the British Isles, France, Italy and Spain. There are stores that sell mostly crafts, some homemade but mainly imported. I tried buying something made locally but was told that anyone who tried such a thing "died of starvation a long time ago". It is another one of those magical places that exist on earth.
We sailed over to Treasure Cay only to set stage for going back to Green Turtle Cay, although we considered going to Man'O'War Cay instead. It appeared we wouldn't get the protection we would need for a predicted blow we kind of expected. However, Treasure Cay is just a bit more than an oversupply of condos and other rentable resort structures which are next to the "ninth most beautiful beach in the world". Where it actually ranks, other than how it is promoted, I don't really know but it is one beautiful beach, with sand both the color and feel of baby powder. A cold front was coming through the couple of days we were there so other than a walk-around, most of the time was spent in the bar area.
We have reached the furthest point out into the Abacos and now will retrace our path back to Florida through this; another paradise.
Be sure to check out the pictures in the Gallery on the main Blog page.