The barrier reef that protects the Bahamas is the third largest in the world Leroy Grant our pilot told us. We were 2000 feet up, flying in a twin-engine nine-passenger Britten-Norman Islander aircraft, below us, the islands in the outer chain of the Abacos sparkled in their turquoise sea like gemstones in a necklace of a necklace worn around the neck of Great Abaco, the main island.
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What better introduction could you get to your new cruising ground than a flight right over the top of it? We had flown into Nassau International airport were we transferred to Millionaire the small private executive terminal on the other side of the airfield used by private and charter aircraft. Our small airplane was operated by Abaco Air Ltd. (www.abacoaviationcentre.com ) who run a scheduled air taxi flight to the country’s capital from Marsh Harbour their base on Great Abaco. |
Our touch down was a smooth as our flight and our transfer to the
Nautic Blue (Moorings Power) base was equally well handled. Once there we were acquainted with our yacht that was to be our home for the next week. The 37 foot Fountaine Pajot trawler yacht uses catamaran hulls each housing a double sleeping cabin and heads and of courses an engine in this case a 125hp Yanmar. Up one deck is a saloon home to the galley seating area and indoor wheelhouse and sliding glass doors to the aft deck where a stair leads to a spacious sun deck with fly bridge controls. The yacht is clean tidy and extremely well equipped having everything you need for the voyage including a GPS and Chart plotter mounted on the fly bridge. For those who like doing it the old fashioned way down below are charts, table rules and dividers, these guys have thought of everything. Nautic Blue (Moorings Power) are part of the Moorings Group and share their base in Marsh Harbour and it is here in their briefing room that we are given the low down on our cruising ground and given all the tips and local advice by George who as Dockmaster in chief seems to know and do a great many different things.
The next morning after a very efficient explanation of everything we needed to know about the boat we set off towards Elbow Cay. The depth of water throughout the area is relatively shallow and therefore the tidal range of 3 foot can be significant. Elbow Cay is just 7 miles away once clear of Marsh Harbour but the course to be steered involves a dogleg to avoid the shallows in the final approaches to the island. Fortunately the excellent pilot book The Cruising Guide to Abaco written by Steve Dodge has all the courses and way pints marked on the chartlets included and rather helpfully Nautic Blue (Moorings Power) have transferred all of these to the chart plotter located on the fly bridge. Navigation is therefore not difficult. Knowing that the sea is shallow and reef infested calls for a vigilant eye when navigating and the task is made a great deal easier if the helmsman wears a good pair of Polaroid sunglasses which not only reduces the glare from the surface but also has the added advantage of making reefs below the surface appear more clearly something not achieved by ordinary lenses. The approach to Hopetown Harbour puts all these cautions to the test and it is important to remember that in this part of the world the buoyage uses the IALA System B which has the colours found in the UK reversed and where red right returning means red buoys are kept to starboard when entering. Get it wrong and you are hard aground in this narrow entrance.
Hopetown is one of the most picturesque settlements in the Abacos, a quaint town of pastel coloured weatherboard houses many of them beautifully restored that surround the large expanse of harbour that opens up after the narrow channel. Founded by loyalists who fled the emerging American Republic and declared allegiance to the British Crown the towns history is told in the Wyannie Malone Historical Museum, which has many interesting artefacts documents and photographs. There are three marinas and a selection of mooring buoys that offer safe haven of which the Lighthouse Marina proved to be the most suitable for us. We docked there over night and used its proximity to the lighthouse to undertake a visit climbing the spiral stairs to the top at sunset to watch the lighthouse keeper wind the clockwork mechanism and light the kerosene lamp still in use today as it was when first erected by the British Imperial Lighthouse Service. We dined at the Hopetown Lodge on the other side of the harbour getting there using our tender and mooring up to the hotels jetty, eating freshly made Conch Chowder followed by Blackened Wahoo with rice and peas.
Leaving Elbow Cay next morning we headed north towards Man of War Cay a small island very different to others in the chain. Here live God fearing folk who prohibit the sale of alcohol and the opening of shops on Sunday. The all white population een insist that black workers who arrive each morning by ferry to toil in the boat building shops leave the island before sun down each day. Everyone here seems to have Albury as a surname and the Albury Bothers boat yard is famous for its line of Albery boats it produces the 29 foot half decked boat is built by hand and powered by an outboard motor but some strong is the brand that there are boats built by Albury all over the world. Further along the street is Alburys Sail Shop were a group of five ladies all called Albury create canvas ditty bags and all manner of other canvas made goods that snapped up by visitors. You will not be surprised to learn the supermarket is called Albury Stores and the Man of War Marina is run by a pair of brothers by the name of …. you guessed it.
Heading North West we pass Scotland Cay and on up to Great Guana Cay. Now if Hopetown is peopled by friendly folk and Man of War by slightly strange then Great Guana is home to a host of Hostile folk. The 95 inhabitants of this settlement have become that way to strangers because they fear what outsiders are doing to their island sanctuary with the building of a huge village resort of holiday homes and a golf course. Clearly it will change the island but feelings are very much divided as to how that change will ultimately affect the island. We spent the night on a mooring buoy leased out for the nightly fee of $15 by the local scuba dive shop. The marina has recently been enlarged to offer 66 slips and is owned by a family called, can you believe it? Albury! Great Guana boast miles of unsoiled beach that runs its entire five and half mile eastern shore and perched high above it on top of a huge sand dune is Nippers a beach bar constructed from what appears to be brightly painted driftwood. This is the place to sip cocktails at sunset, stay for a bar dinner of freshly caught fish and boogie well into the night to live music brought to you by local artists and reggae bands. It's a favourite hangout of the Barefoot Mon whose CDs can be purchased there.
Getting to Green Turtle Cay involves passing through the only stretch of water that demands that permission be sought from the base before attempting it. The Whale Cay passage is one of the few passages not protected from the wrath of the Atlantic by a reef and can, as a result, be subject to bad weather. During the winter months the pass can be a little uncomfortable and in severe conditions is closed to charter boats by Nautic Blue (Moorings Power) who ask each boat to check in by VHF before making the trip. Abaco Yacht Services on Green Turtle Cay monitor the stretch of water and can be contacted using VHF channel 16 for a situation report.
White Sound is an almost totally enclosed lagoon in the north of Green Turtle Cay whilst Black sound is its almost mirror image in the south their entrances are just one mile apart. Either makes a superb over night stop or a base from which to explore this pretty island and hiring a golf cart. There is enough to see and do here to make it worthwhile but ensure a member of crew is allotted the task of dedicated driver because deceptive though they may sound the Goomsbay Punches made at Miss Ellie's Blue Bay Bar are as lethal as they come but very moorish! To the north and west lie Manjack Cay and the Crab Cays, which make a great anchorage in which to spend a day just enjoying the beach, swimming off the boat and snorkelling on the reefs. It gets fairly shallow around the land and calls for what are the gunk-holing instincts that lie in every cruiser.
This probably marks the most northerly point of a week long charter and the only way back is using the Whale cay passage where south bound the rules remain the same. At this point we chose to head towards Great Abaco Island and home to the Treasure Cay Resort. It started out some years ago as a small upmarket resort hotel and marina and has grown without loosing its charm into a medium sized holiday community with many homes occupied by Europeans wintering out their retirement. The main attraction here is a stunning beach three miles long and selected by the National Geographic Magazine as one of the top ten beaches of the world. The marina is well staffed by cheerful and helpful dock masters who cannot do enough to help visitors the tipsy seagull bar is a great way to start or even finish an evening and the resorts many different restaurants offer a selection of cuisines to suit every taste and pocket. A well stocked super market allows you a refuelling stop for the galley and a trip to the bakery will put inches on your waistline just looking at the cakes. It takes a lot of will power to turn down her carrot cake and I am so glad I lack what it takes to do so.
Marsh Harbour is just an hour and half away from you at this point so you can afford to dawdle in this well run resort and if Golf is your bag then the course is not one you can afford to miss.
Heading back is always the sad part of any cruising holiday but turning south at this point does not necessarily mean the end of the voyage. Beyond and to the south of Marsh Harbour are more enchanting anchorages and island retreats to visit yet more beach bars to prop up and more fish suppers to enjoy. Snake Cay, Little Harbour, Cherokee Sound and Schooner Bay are just a few of the evocative names that lie in wait for those who have more time. For us it was time to tie up in Marsh Harbour and to thank the Mooring Base Commander Samantha Cornish and her staff for making our cruise around the Abacos such a memorable one.
Written By Michael Howorth
Photographs by: Frances Howorth
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