14 April 2013 | A sailors paradise.
IMAGE - Patti in Hope Town
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Little Harbour; -
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Hope Town; -
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Marsh Harbour;
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Man-O-War Cay;
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Great Guana Cay;
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Treasure Cay;
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Green Turtle Cay;
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Grand Cay;
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BODY
We were 'stuck' in Spanish Wells for several days waiting for suitable weather to take us north to the Abacos. Finally on Saturday 30th March we left our Spanish Wells/Russell Island anchorage at 7am with James navigating us north through the Devils Backbone reef - careful pilotage and all went well. Once safely clear of the reef we had a good few hours sailing, but sadly the wind dropped off in the afternoon - so we had a 15 mile motor sail to arrive off the ABACOS, in LITTLE HARBOUR by 5pm. Great Abaco and the Little Abaco islands with their surrounding reefs and cays are the northernmost islands of the Bahamas and form one of its most popular cruising grounds. Great Abaco is frequently referred to as the mainland forming the western border of the Sea of Abaco. The eastern border is defined by dozens of cays, reefs, and passes to the Atlantic Ocean. The Sea of Abaco is well protected from the Atlantic Ocean and provides an idyllic, lakelike, cruising area over the Little Bahama Bank. The Bank has an average water depth of only fifteen feet. The Abacos like the Exumas further south are favourite cruising areas in the Bahamas archipelago, and therefore many more yachts than we had been with for some time. We arrived off the well marked, narrow channel entrance into Little Harbour a few hours after low water, thankfully we could lift the keel over the shallowest bit. We were so pleased we could find a good anchoring spot, as the harbour was full of mooring balls at a charge of $20per night. Our closest neighbour - a salty French sailor -rowed over to so say Hi was were putting up our anchor ball and trying off our anchor snubber. This was a nice welcome to this very pretty - aptly named little harbour. On Easter Sunday we celebrated with our usual cooked Sunday breakfast PLUS Hot Cross Buns, and a BBQ dinner -sadly we missed any Easter celebrations - no church services, traditional feast or easter eggs! As the harbour was so small James rowed the dingy ashore and we wandered shoreside for a look around. Little Harbour is home to The Johnstons - a well respected artist family who have a gallery and shop, and being Easter Sunday the gallery was open. The large sealife bronze sculptures were excellent. There are a few holiday homes scattered around the waters edge and Pete's Bar had some life about it. We walked over to Lighthouse beach and on up to the lighthouse ruins to look out over the NorthWest Providence Channel. In the afternoon I took advantage of the settled water in the harbour to clean down the hull and waterline. By Monday 1st April we were keen to move on a explore more of the Abacos, but the morning forecast gave possible squalls and winds coming round to the west. As this is such a safe, well protected anchorage here in Little Harbour at the southern end of the Abacos we decided to put out a 2nd anchor and stay here until this little 'blip' passed through. The morning SSB forecasts make for interesting listening, especially when we can hear yachts in the Leeward and Windward Islands and as far away as the Galapagos Islands calling in for weather forecasts. The stormy weather passed through quickly and we woke on Tuesday 2nd to light north winds - yes and we want to go north! So we motored out of Little Harbour at high tide and had a pleasant slow one engine motor 25miles north to Hope Town on Elbow Cay. The water here is again very, very clear - but now emerald green and light turquoise in colour - really beautiful. Motoring north we passed through the small Land and Sea Park off Pelican Cay, which is maintained and managed by the Bahamas National Trust. We did not stop to snorkel on the reef as there was nowhere suitable to anchor - and buoys had only been laid for small dingys. Obviously we are now in a tourist area, as there were many day tripper and small hire craft out on the water. As we passed Tilloo Cay and Lubbers Quarter we started seeing large resort developments - another world from the Bahamas we have experienced so far. As we were approaching Elbow Cay we spotted the red and white stripped lighthouse in Hope Town, and motored into the harbour there for a look around. We have never seen such a small harbour SO FULL of mooring balls. It all looked far too busy & crowded for us, so we anchored off just outside the main town in 2meters of sand, and enjoyed a very calm and quite night in beautiful surroundings. After listening to the morning SSB weather and the local VHF Cruisers Net on Wednesday 3rd we went ashore to check-out Hope Town. Our first stop was at the prominent lighthouse. The 100 step climb to the top was worth it for the magnificent views down onto Hope Town, out over the Sea of Abacos and the North Atlantic. This red-and-white banded lighthouse is one of the few remaining lighthouses in the Caribbean that is still manually operated. The local yacht club was holding a race day today - so it was a good chance to see the traditional boats and some of the cruising boats all heading out for a days racing on the water - but the wind was very light. Wandering through the streets of Hope Town was a real delight - picture post card stuff with 'dolls house' type cottages all either for rent or For Sale. The local arts and crafts shops were full of good quality paintings, wood and shell crafty items. The small marina here has many US and Canadian live-aboards based here for the season - they run the VHF net in the mornings and many activities are arranged ( adult day care) to keep them occupied. After lunch back onboard we had an afternoon glide in light winds, just the genoa out and the keel up through the very beautiful and shall waters of the Sea of Abaco, for 5 miles across to Marsh Harbour - the main town on the much larger Great Abaco Island. Thankfully we found a protected harbour with plenty of room to anchor for the next few days as the forecast was for strong winds and thunderstorms. We had both anchors down and are with about 50 other yachts. We spoke with Roger and Sasha (Ednbal) tonight on the SSB - they were at sea crossing from Puerto Rico to Dominican Republic- great to chat. On Thursday 4th, with the wind picking up, and a dull and overcast day - with the feeling that something was brewing up there,we went ashore in Marsh Harbour for a look around and to do some fresh food shopping. We found Marsh Harbour shoreside to be uninspiring and really just a commercial centre for the Abacos area, but nevertheless a good stop for yachts for shopping, fuel, water and a good, safe harbour to anchor in. As forecast the rain started about 4am on Friday 5th, and by 6am the thunderstorm passed through - nothing too crazy - but the wind did veer 180degrees.Due to the thunderstorm most of the morning was overcast and dull, but we decided to get off after lunch to find some internet access for a few hours. We ended up in the Curley Tail Bar (after the indigenous little curly tail lizard) - a lovely spot overlooking the Harbour and the Moorings and Sunsail Charter Base in the marina below for poor coffee and slow internet. Sadly they don't have to try too hard for business here. Again we had an early evening thunderstorm, but it really didn't clear the now very humid air -on the positive side the boat got a good fresh water wash down. By Saturday 6th this little blip of weather had now passed through, and we woke up to a much clearer day - so out and about again. We had a short motor into light headwinds from Marsh Harbour to the village on Man-O-War Cay. Man-O-War is known as the boat-building capital of the Bahamas - mostly traditional wooden boats and now also some modern types too - all by the Albury family. We didn't venture right into the little harbour area - as it was full of mooring balls (again), instead anchoring just outside the entrance with about 6 other yachts. Today was Heritage Day for this little island - so 'open house' for visitors. This island has historically been populated by religious white settlers, strongly opposed to alcohol, and is therefore a 'dry' island - and appropriate clothing (not swimwear) is requested to be worn whilst ashore. The word had got around about Heritage Day via the VHF morning net so the dingy dock was full and overcrowded. Ashore there was some planned activity and the locals and visitors were out and about all over the little village in their golf carts. The most interesting exhibition was the wooden boat shed of William Albury and the man himself was talking about his trade, the history of the boat building, and also sadly that the craft was dying out as there was no young people interested to learn the skills. The local ladies had obviously decided that today was the day to make their fortune from their overpriced homemade baked goods, conch salads and handicraft. After an interesting few hours wander about the village we went back to the boat, first exploring the beach and going ashore to the narrow spit where we could clearly see on our right the Atlantic Ocean and the Sea of Abaco on the left - a lovely sight. The temperature is back to what we have been used to - a perfect mid to high 80's day and mid 60's nights and clear blue skies. After our leisurely Sunday morning cooked breakfast we left Man-O-War Cay to head to the next little Cay - just 5 miles north to Great Guana Cay. Great Guana is one of the longest in the Abaco group, with perfect white sand breaches that stretch for miles on both the ocean and bank sides. We went ashore for a walk and to see the famous Nippers Bar on the Atlantic side of the island- where a Sunday afternoon session on in full flow for locals and visitors alike, with a pig roast their main draw card. Apparently this bar is owned and run by an Australian and you can see the crash and burn culture here. Another day and another Cay to explore on Monday 8th - it was Treasure Cay today. Treasure Cay turned out to be a full-on marina, Resort and condo complex - but it was very quite - some parts even had a rundown feel. Obviously the developers had sold it as THE big thing to a load of Americans and Canadians for their winter homes. We had read that the fuel dock on Treasure Cay was a good stop, still expensive at just over US$6 per gallon, but there is no credit card surcharge here, which is the norm for the rest of the Abacos so we stopped off here on our way out to visit Green Turtle Cay on Tuesday 9th. The passage to Green Turtle Cay requires that you pass across the Sea of Abaco and out into the Atlantic Ocean and back into the Sea of Abaco via Whale Cay Cut. Whale Cay cut has a reputation for its hazardous conditions, and should be only attempted in settled weather, and in daylight. We had a safe run through the marked channels with James doing the navigation with a good eye on the chart plotter and me on the helm. Green Turtle Cay has 2 safe anchorages- Black and White sound - the hint is in the nature of the bottom! We were able to lift the keel and safely pass through the narrow and shallow channel into Black Sound, and find a anchoring spot in this very safe little hurricane hole. The main settlement is walking distance from Black Sound so we had a lovely day on Thursday 11th wandering around this part of the island and into the tiny village of New Plymouth and visited the local Historical Society Museum housed in a 150 year-old residence. The nearby Loyalist Memorial Garden had some excellent life-sized sculptures and bronze busts of prominent Bahamian citizens. White Sound was completely different - no local feel here - just two marina complexes - so not much to se of do here on Friday 12th. White Sound is a lovely wide bay with a narrow channel entrance - and we thought we were going to be rundown by a huge and very wide French catamaran on our way in! We were now starting to look into the weather situation for the coming week or so and planning our passage for leaving the Bahamas, by looking into Passage Weather on the internet for indications of the Gulf Stream and adverse current flow along the east coast of the USA. We sailed 10 miles north on Saturday 13th to the pretty little Manjack Cay - but sadly the south wind did not give us the best anchoring position for the long dingy ride ashore - so after a few hours we moved again to tuck-in behind the tiny far north Abaco uninhabited island of Umbrella Cay to anchor for the night. We had such great protection for the wind and the swell here - anchored in the wide open Atlantic open.... amazing. The forecast was for a thundery front to come through - so under overcast and cloudy skies on Saturday 13th we set sail for one of the northern most Abaco islands - the archipelago of Grand Cays. The pilot book indicated good all-round protection, with an intricate and shallow entrance. About 5 miles off the building clouds bought some violet thunderstorms all around us and wind shifts - so we just laid off, turned with the wind and waited a few hours! Finally the wind died off enough to very carefully thread our way very carefully into the main settlement off Grand Cays Harbour. Again James re-reading the Pilot book and studying the chart plotter. Once inside the harbour, we anchored safely with 1 other yacht. We stayed on-board on Sunday 14th in the safe and quiet harbour - with now 3 yachts in this protected harbour, all watching the weather carefully, and planning our journeys north to the USA. The Sports fishing boats in the dock were busy with boats full of men on fishing holiday charters. We went ashore on Monday 15th to find a very basic and poor settlement with smiley, happy and polite people - this is definitely not a white holiday home investment island! We spent the last of our Bahamian dollars with one of the local mums on a few freshly baked loaves of bread. The fishing charter business is all that keeps this little island in income with small guesthouses, basic restaurants and locals working on the Sports fishing boats. Apparently Rosie runs the place, and is definitely the man in the know. He arranges all the services for the fishing charters, runs the main bar and rents out rooms - and arranges for the fuel deliveries. He was very helpful to us in getting internet for our weather info. We upped anchor about midday to begin our 500 mile to the east coast of the USA.
We enjoyed our 6 weeks here in the Bahamas - but just did not see enough - so have left the many more island groups i.e. Berry Island, Bimini and Grand Bahama etc etc to visit ... next time!
Throughout this 700 mile-long archipelago, great pleasure is gained from the extensive chain of islands - called cays (pronounced keys) and their simple descriptive names - truly inductive of their shapes, colour of the seabed and the nature animals of the distinctive areas - i.e. Elbow Cay, White Sound, Green Turtle Cay etc - all really wonderful - oh the joys of the beautiful Bahamas.