THE ABACOS
What can I say. If there is a place that actualizes paradise on earth, it’s The Abacos. It is a 120 mile long island chain of separate jewels that sit on the calm Sea of Abaco in northern Bahamas . The sea of Abaco is like a lake, with shallow water that is clear as crystal and typically calm. As you sail over it and cross from island to island you can look down at 10 to 20 feet typically and see the sand and bottom as you pass over it. It is like sailing nowhere else.
The islands or Cays as they are called all have their different shapes and bays and provide shelter from different winds. This year was particularly challenging, (of course we pick this year to head there) as it was an El Nino year causing much stronger weather than normally experienced. We found that we spent a lot of time making decisions as to which Cay to head to to be most protected from the next front. What complicates things in The Abacos is that the winds change 360 degrees often in the same day and it is rare to find a place that can protect you from every direction. So far Treasure Cay and Green Turtle are 2 that offer that type of protection. Marsh Harbour is open from the East so doesn’t cover all sides although it has superb holding (the stickyness of the bottom in relation to anchoring) so even if the wind shifts to the East the boat will usually stay put.
It was so nice to be able to sit in the bow seat while Otto , our wonderful auto-pilot helmed for us. Otto is a game-changer and opens up off-shore sailing for us. We were hand tillering until we crossed to the Bahamas . I can’t believe how much easier it is not having to steer and focus on the course constantly. We just have to stay alert for shallow spots and other boats. We arrived at Little Bahamas Banks (basically shallow water) and spent a night there resting after a rough crossing and the next morning we set sail to our first Cay – Great Sale. This is a super sailor’s saviour place, it offers almost all around protection with great holding. We met some friends that we later buddy boated with on other islands – High Hopes ( a beautiful Island Packet) with Joe and Meg and their dog Tug.
There are so many islands to discover , I’ll continue with our favourite (Powell Cay that we were able to hike in on the way out of the Abacos) Marsh Harbour, the provision and big winds protection place and of course Man-O-War in the next chapter.