Exumas to Abaco - starting homeward.

After blowing from the NE at over 20 kts for almost 3 straight weeks beggining in early March, the winds finally started to abate enough for us to consider heading up to the Abacos. Since leaving Florida our exploration of the Bahamas was concentrated in the Exumas, the sparsely populated chain of islands stretching southward roughly 120 miles from about 25 miles south of Nassau down to Great Exuma Island where George Town is located.
The Exuma Islands and surrounding waters are pristine and beautiful with the shallow (6-20 ft) Banks stretching to the west and the 2000-3000 ft deep Exuma Sound to the east.
The Banks side offers great snorkeling on coral reefs and small, beautiful, uninhabited beaches to relax in the day and enjoy campfires at night. The Sound side offers beautiful open water sailing in deep indigo blue water with easy, straight line navigation & no hazards once through the cuts. The Sound is also said to be home to large numbers of Mahi Mahi, Wahoo and other great eating fish but these rumours remain unsubstantiated (at least by us).
Sadly it was time to leave this gorgeous cruising ground & start making our way northward.

We worked our way up the Banks side from George Town while the wind blew but had to wait at the top of the chain for the wind to subside before we could move northward from the Exumas to Eleuthera, then on to the Abacos. Finally, Thursday March 29th we set out on the 55 mile sail from Highbourne Cay in the northern Exumas to Royal Island near Eleuthera. It still blew a steady 18 kts from just ahead of the beam so we had a terrific, fast sail. That portion of the trip is still on the Banks with some shelter from distant Eleuthera so the waves were minimal but there is a 15 mile segment that is littered with coral heads just below the surface. These heads are pretty easy to spot as the water is so clear but Darlene still had to stand a three hour watch on the foredeck directing us through while trying not to get totally drenched from spray. She was successful in one of her two objectives and fortunately it was the more critical one.

We were hoping to stay a couple days in Eleuthera and explore Spanish Wells and Harbour Island but in a dramatic turnaround the wind was forecast to die off completely for almost a week starting on the 31st. We didn’t want to have to motor the remaining 50 miles to the Abacos so we decided we would have to miss exploring Eleuthera and carry on the next morning while we had good wind.
We made great time averaging over 6 kts with a double reefed main & the genny anywhere from all the way out to half furled in 15-20 kts of wind. The leftover swell from the strong N.E winds was still running 5-6ft with occasional 8-10 footers thrown in which was easliy the largest swells we have ever seen. Fortunately they were quite long period (far apart) & on the beam so the motion was really fairly comfortable. Just up one side & down the other – and no sick crew members! Overall it was a great ride & we even finally hooked our first Mahi. Sadly he spit the hook about 30 feet from the boat. Our line was then hit hard again but went slack right away. When we pulled the line in later the hook, leader & all, was completely gone. Whatever hit snapped our 80lb test line cleanly so we weren’t overly disappointed that one didn’t stay on the line.

Once into the Abacos we anchored at Lynyard Cay then went into Little Harbour the next day to explore. Unfortunately Darlene was laid out with a nasty stomach flu & basically bed ridden for a day & half so she didn’t get as much enjoyment from the amazing sculptures done by the 3 generations of Johnstons at Pete’s Pub & foundry. She also missed out on the $13 burgers.

We are finding the Abacos are a different cruising ground from the Exumas with many more all- weather anchorages in close proximity as well as a lot more small towns, people, stores and services around. It is also much more protected with 80% of the places to see within about 20 miles & all inside the Sea of Abaco, sheltered from the open Atlantic by reefs and islands. It’s been a nice change from the Exumas, certainly a bit more relaxing & easier cruising, but I think overall, the popular consensus with the crew is that the Exumas were prettier, more pristine, and a little closer to how we pictured & hoped the Bahamas would be. Nonetheless, the Abacos are beautiful and still an amazing place to cruise & we are really enjoying our time here. Our two remaining critical objectives before leaving are to spear dinner on one of the reefs & to hook a Mahi or Wahoo, either in one of the cuts or on the way back. We can’t go home skunked!

Below are some pictures of our first two weeks in the Abacos including the great Nippers Easter Egg hunt on the reef.

Abaco Easter

The start of the egg hunt at Nippers beach bar. They hide eggs in the sand on the beach for kids up to age 10 & put a bunch more in the ocean out to the reef for all ages to hunt. They are plastic eggs (the ones in the ocean are filled with rocks to sink) and have numbers corresponding to prizes like hats, t-shirts, cash etc. Steve found at least a dozen in the sand but he and I went o'fer in the ocean while Danielle pulled one up from about 15 ft & Darlene found one in the shallows.
The snorkelling egg hunters in action. There were at least 100 people out looking and last count I heard 900 of 1400 eggs had been found after about 4 hours. The bar also had a pig roast buffet for Easter dinner.
The kids pool at the back of Nippers beach bar.
We also dyed our own eggs (with kool-aid!) & E.B. hid them on the boat. All were found so everyone got Easter dinner & we disposed of the eggs the next day in the Sea of Abaco using Steve's new slingshot. Our belated apologies to the fellow in the big power boat that happened to roar by at such an inopportune time.

!st week in Abaco

Pete's Pub in Little Harbour. It's run by Pete Johnston, son of a famous sculptor, Randy Johston, who brought his family here from Alberta in the 40's. Randy established a foundry & began creating bronze sculptures that have since become world reknown.
Although I have not actively been seeking employment I discovered what appears to be a perfect fit in Guana Cay & had to submit a resume. Being the Bahamas I expect to hear back in 3-4 months.
The pool at Treasure Cay Marina. They have a great deal where you can anchor in the sheltered harbour for $10 a night and get full use of their facilities.
This is the beach at the Treasure Cay Resort, advertised as the 3rd most beautiful beach in the world'. I'm not sure who the judges are but it's definitely a pretty fine beach, good bikini watching to boot.

Northbound from Exumas to The Abacos

The kids body surfing in Exuma Sound in George Town. A group of about 10 kids hooked up and they showed our guys this great spot for body surfing.
The crew hard at work during the passage from George Town back up to Staniel Cay. There was a brief 1 day break in the steady 20+kt winds from the East so we took advantage & headed out of George Town back up the Exumas, along with another 30-40 boats. We had hoped to head to Conception, Cat & the other out islands on our way back but the forecast was for another 10-14 days of stong easterlies so we decided to get back on the banks so we could continue moving north.
We made it to Staniel, mainly under power on this trip, & when we anchored at Staniel that night we were hit by a squall at 2:00 in the morning. The squall came from the unprotected west & brought 3-4 ft white caps, horizontal rain & 40+kts winds. It was ugly but manageable until a 140 ft mega yacht pulled loose & dragged sideways through the anchorage. There were over 40 boats there & he went right between 6 of us missing a few by as little as 10 feet while they powered over on their rodes to get out of the way. Much yelling, flashing of spotlights & possibly even some foul language ensued but they miraculously managed not to hit anybody. They finally got their anchored pulled & under power when they were about 40 ft off our starboard quarter and within 15 ft of shore but they made it safely out to the outside of the anchorage where they powered back & forth for the rest of the night.
They didn't have many friends in the anchorage when the following day they didn't bother to come and see if everyone was o.k and perhaps apologize for the half dozen coronaries they precipitated.

Green beer day at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club. St Pattie's was the night after the squall hit so the green beers were medicinal as well as tasty & colourful.
Warderick Wells. Despite the howling winds we managed to work our way back up the Exumas
to get ready for our jump north to the Abacos, if & when the winds ever abated. This is a picture of the kids buzzing around the anchorage on the park's waterbike. The boat in the background is our new freinds, Tembo. They are a Canadian boat from B.C we have been cruising with for a bit. They have kids the same age as Danielle & Steve & are on their way back home after 3 years of cruising the Carribean.