Kicking Off "Bahamas 2025"" in The Abacos!
A few days after my return from Baltimore - on Super Bowl Sunday - our friends Jan and Mark met us Telemar Bay Marina to make the Bahamas crossing and share the first leg of this season's adventure. As I mentioned in my last post, the primary objective was lobster.
We planned to leave Florida from either Stuart or Palm Beach depending on the wind direction, so we started heading south via Intracoastal Waterway the day after their arrival even though the wind conditions weren't favorable. It took us three days to make it to West Palm Beach, stopping at anchorages in Vero Beach and Jensen Beach along the way.
Our timing was good, though, and the weather the next morning was perfect for our trip to the northern Abacos. We had beautiful sailing conditions all day and arrived on Little Bahama Bank at dusk. We tried something new this time and anchored on the bank overnight since it was predicted to be super-calm. The Little Bahama Bank is a shallow area between the island of Grand Bahama and the chain of islands that comprise the Abacos. The depth is typically less than 20 feet and shallower as you approach land. The picture below is a satellite view, and the shallow bank is distinguishable by its turquoise color.
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| Path from West Palm Beach to Grand Cay Bahamas |
There was still plenty of daylight after we were anchored and our crew of enthusiastic lobster hunters were ready to see what the western end of the Abacos had to offer.
Within five hours of clearing into the Bahamas, Jan nabbed her first lobster! Objective achieved!!
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| First Lobster of the 2025 Bahamas Season |
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| Jan is Off to a Good Start! |
The next day, in a pattern that would continue for much of our first three weeks, the wind shifted and we needed to move to an anchorage that would offer protection from the new wind direction. We didn't have to move far, though, and went to Wells Bay which is at the west end of Grand Cay. The next morning, during breakfast our anchor alarm sounded, indicating that Starry Night had moved outside the radius of the anchor chain, i.e. the anchor was dragging. The anchor alarm is a cell phone app and uses GPS technology to determine if our boat's position has changed.
We weighed anchor and I found what looked like a piece of seagrass sod sitting on top of the anchor. The seagrass wasn't really dense but had a thick mesh of roots which had prevented the anchor from setting well. When the wind speed picked up the anchor tore through the roots, leaving us unmoored.
After a bit of reconnaissance in Well's Bay, we decided to move to a new location on the south side of Grand Cay where we hoped to find sand without grass but found to it be too choppy. From there we motored to Great Sale Cay, one of the few places that offered protection from south. The high winds while we were there and the short duration of our stay didn't allow for an opportunity to get into the water there but it was a worthwhile stop nonetheless.
We were pleasantly surprised by this anchorage but could only stay one night since the wind, once again, shifted directions. From there, we motored - again against a stiff wind - to Strangers Cay. We were able to stay at Strangers for 2 days and netted 5 lobster and a conch. Good eatin'!
Up until now, the weather had been cool and a bit breezy but not bad enough to deter the hard-core lobsterers from their work. (Those of us who prefer to just snorkel and look at pretty stuff mostly stayed in the dinghy, choosing to wait for sunnier, warmer days. 🤓) On February 19th, the wind shifted again, this time coming from the south and was predicted to be quite a bit gustier. We moved to an anchorage on the western end of Little Abaco Island at Fox Town to ride out the front. We did manage to get to shore before the heavier wind arrived and took a trip to the post office and the local restaurant which is renowned amongst the cruising community for its cracked conch. We were not disappointed, although I ordered the Grouper Fingers, and we all agreed that they were even better than the Cracked Conch!
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| Laura Surveying the Anchorage at Fox Town |
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| Da Valley Restaurant in Fox Town, Home of the Bahamas Best Cracked Conch |
The rest of our stay at Fox Town was uneventful and on the 22nd we motored to Allans/Pensacola Cay. We spent the afternoon exploring and snorkeling and checking out the island. Jan and Mark caught two more lobster and we feasted on Lobster Mac and Cheese for my birthday! Steve also surprised me with a banana bread "cake" that he bought surreptitiously during our excursion to Fox Town.
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| Crystalline Waters of the Northern Abacos |
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| Perfection Around Every Corner |
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| View of the Atlantic from Allans-Pensacola |
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| Rugged Terrain on the Island |
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| Mark and Steve on a Mission to Find Snapper |
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| Happy Birthday!! |
After one day and two nights at Allans/Pensacola, we motored to Manjack Cay. We took the Atlantic route and trolled for mahi. We haven't typically had luck with mahi this early in the season, but got lucky this time :-)
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| Mark Reels in the First Mahi of the Season |
The water was too bumpy for snorkeling at Manjack, but Jan and I took the dinghy through the mangroves to find turtles.
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| Navigating to the Turtle Hangout in the Mangroves |
From Manjack Cay, we took an unplanned detour to Marsh Harbour. The siren song of the grandbaby was calling, and I took a week to travel with Jessie and Will on an interview trip to help out with Oscar since they were both in meetings all day for several days. Adopting a baby offers special challenges since the new parents often have to manage previous commitments without the typical nine months to make arrangements. I felt very fortunate to be able to travel on short-notice and was especially thankful that Mark and Jan were there so that Steve could continue the Abacos exploration in my absence.
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| Happy Gramma on Her Way to Oscar |
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| Unusual View: My First Flight from the Bahamas |
I flew into Baltimore on Thursday, and on Saturday the four of us started on a road trip to New Hampshire. Talk about a change in scenery!! Quite a departure from the norm in a blog about the Bahamas!
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| A Different Kind of Beauty |
Meanwhile, back in the Bahamas, Steve and his crew continued lobstering and fishing near Man o' War Cay and at Great Guana Cay, where they caught five more lobster.
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| The Lobster Keep Getting Bigger and Bigger |
They also took the opportunity to go to Hope Town on Elbow Cay for a lunch out with some of Jan's family.
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| An Afternoon in Hope Town |
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| It's a Small World After All - Meeting Jan's Sister for Lunch in Hope Town |
After the day in Hope Town, the crew brought Starry Night back to the protected anchorage at Marsh Harbour in anticipation of higher winds (again!) and to await my return.
After three event-packed days in New Hampshire - ending with a happy hour that lasted until 7:30 pm - we left and drove all night back to Baltimore so that Will could be back to teach his Wednesday class and so that I could make my 8 am flight. There was an issue with checking in on-line, and I was instructed to arrive at the airport three hours ahead of my flight. We arrived at Jessie and Will's house at 3:30 am and left to go to the airport 45 minutes later. When I arrived at the ticket counter, I was informed that they couldn't check me in since I didn't have a return ticket from the Bahamas. I explained that I had flown from the Bahamas and was returning now, and that I would return to the US on our private boat. Not good enough. Needless to say, I was little bit cranky after having driven all night, but the ticket agent said that I could buy a fully refundable return ticket and then cancel it after I arrived in the Bahamas. It seemed pretty silly but at least there was a work-around.
I arrived in Marsh Harbour without further issue that afternoon, and spent the day with Mark, Jan and Steve. Mark and Jan would be leaving the next day. We enjoyed dinner out at one of the marina restaurants in Marsh Harbour.
The next morning the wind had picked up significantly so, even in the well-protected anchorage at Marsh Harbour, Steve, Mark and Jan had a very slow, bumpy dinghy ride to the government dock where they would meet their taxi. When they got to the dock, they were surprised to find two-foot waves and two swamped boats that had not been there the day before! Apparently, the wave action had been enough to fill the boats and partially sink them. It was also quite challenging to get Mark and Jan and their luggage off the dinghy and onto the dock safely. The dock is a fixed dock about 7 or 8 feet above water level with ladders. Thankfully, the taxi driver was there early (as has always been our experience here in the Bahamas) and he came over to give them a hand.
Before Jan and Mark left, I asked Jan which of the three seasons they have spent with us had been her favorite. I had been a little disappointed in the places we went in the Abacos compared to some of places we had been in the Exumas. Don't get me wrong, the Abacos are beautiful and I enjoyed our time there, but the stunning aquas and blues of the water, the colorful coral and plentiful tropical fish in the Exumas make it my favorite, and I was wondering if she felt the same. To my surprise, she did not, and this season had been her favorite. She, of course, loved searching for and catching lobster but she also really liked how remote we were. In most of the anchorages we were the only boat there, so it was quite peaceful and provided a different experience. I always find it interesting to see things from a different perspective.
Steve loved the remoteness of the Northern Abacos, but wished the wind had allowed them to explore more of the islands and spend much more time at each. We will need to explore the Northen Abacos later in the season or find a way to explore them in the summer.
For my part, I was thrilled that we were able to explore parts of the Abacos that we had never been to and that our crew netted 13 lobster and a mahi.
We would meet our next guests in a little over a week's time in Nassau, so we restocked, took care of laundry and other mundane business and waited for the next good weather window.
Up next: Nassau and the Exumas....
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| Abacos Exploration Route |
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