Cruising in the Bahamas
One benefit to bringing a boat to the Bahamas is that it allows you to cruise on your own schedule to all the beautiful islands, reefs, and quaint settlements that exist in this picturesque area. With a break in the weather this past week, we got our sailboat “Odyssey” out of the harbor and cruised to several popular anchorages of the Abaco.
On this trip we buddy boated with “Bella Mare” a very nice 45-foot Hunter sailboat owned by Bill and Kate who also reside in our marina. We left Hopetown Harbour on a very calm day and motored about 2 hours to Great Guana Cay where we anchored in Fisher’s Bay with about a dozen other boats.
Odyssey sailing in the Sea of Abaco
Every Sunday afternoon Nipper’s (a very famous bar in the Abaco) has a pig-roast, so Guana cay was full of people. We “beached” our dinghies on Grabbers Seaside Resort beach with the intention of going to Nipper’s. However, we ran into many people we knew at Grabbers and never made it to Nippers. So we watched the first NFL playoff game at Grabber’s on a giant outside flat screen TV. In the evening we dinghied back to the anchorage to watch the 2ndplayoff game on Bella Mare which is equipped with a satellite TV system.
Passing wildlife while on the way to Grabbers Beach
The next day was calm again so we motored about 3 hours to Treasure Cay with Bella Mare. Treasure Cay is an older resort area just off the main Abaco Island and is one of the few areas that have condominium and townhouse developments similar to something you would find in Florida. It has a well-protected harbor, a well-stocked grocery store, and one of the most beautiful sandy beaches in the Bahamas. The weather picked up there for a couple days so we stayed in Treasure Cay Harbour for 3 nights. We walked the beautiful Treasure Cay beach, stocked up on provisions, and took care of some engine issues.
Our next stop was to the capital of the Abaco islands, Marsh Harbour. Marsh Harbour is about 14 miles away from Treasure Cay. The wind was 5 to 10 knots out of the Northeast so we had a perfect 3 hour sail on a beam-reach to Marsh Harbour. In Marsh Harbour we visited with friends that we met in Vero Beach, FL who are from Annapolis, MD. Our friend’s marina was having a cruiser’s “appetizer pot-luck” gathering that night and they invited us to join their group.
Bill & Kate alongside Odyssey in Treasure Cay Harbour
The next night we went out to dinner to a place in Marsh Harbour called Snappa’s. There we met a couple who have been cruising for several years on a very large Catamaran named “Felix the Cat.” It turns out we had met this couple several years before. They lived in our old neighborhood in Annapolis, MD while we lived there. It seems like we meet people from Maryland every day in the Bahamas.
We left Marsh Harbour and sailed about half a day over to Lubbers Quarters which is a very sparsely populated island about a quarter mile off the southwest side of Elbow Cay. We anchored off of Baker’s Rock near Tahiti Beach (Tahiti Beach is the southern end of Elbow Cay) and “beached” our dinghy ashore on Tahiti Beach at low tide. This area is so shallow that at low tide Tahiti beach increases in size by about 100 yards compared to high tide. We walked the beautiful beach and Dena collected some interesting shells. I went swimming off the beach. The water here is very warm, clear, and clean.
Odyssey anchored off Tahiti Beach
The reason we anchored at Tahiti Beach is that every month on the night of the full moon, a local establishment on Lubbers Quarters called Cracker P’s has a “Full Moon” party where they offer a buffet style dinner, discounted drinks, and DJ music for dancing. We motored our dinghy about 400 yards or so across the Sea of Abaco to Cracker P’s dock to attend this party. For people who do not want to take their own boat or who reside on land, there are private ferries from Marsh Harbour and Hopetown that take people to the monthly Cracker P’s event. At this event we met many more interesting people at this gathering, several of which were from Maryland.
Entrance to Cracker Ps on Lubbers Quarters
After seven days of being out on the hook, the weather forecast finally took a turn for the worse. A “Northerly” weather system was expected to reach the Bahamas in a couple days. We decided to head back to Hopetown ahead of the bad weather. It is a good thing we did. As I write this post, the wind is blowing about 20 knots right here in the harbor.
Pictures best portray the cruising experience. Remember to click on the pictures to enlarge.
Dena at Sunset off Lubbers Quarters
Hanging out with friends at Grabbers
January Full Moon from Lubbers Quarters
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