April, 2001 : Time in the Abacos

Am I happy to be back on Cinderella ??

The four of us take off for 3 weeks of sailing throughout the Abacos, revisiting the spots we enjoyed 10 years earlier in our first bareboat charter. It's all about sailing from one beautiful anchorage to the next in 2 to 15 feet of crystal clear waters.

After flying via Miami to Marsh Harbour and the taxi ride, there she is, just where and how I left her. Cinderella has been at the marina for almost 3 months now, the first time we leave her for an extended period of time. I wrote up a checklist on how to close the boat (Cinderella Lay-Up) and open the boat (Cinderella Open-up) and have some time to make sure everything is OK before Isabelle arrives with Alex and Vanessa in two days. Engines, batteries, instruments, ... all is OK.

Of course I would forget to change my watch and I get back from grocery shopping and Isabelle and the kids have arrived on the boat looking for me ! Well, everyone is anxious to get out of the marina and go sailing, so off we go.

The Abacos and the Abaco Sea are a wonderful cruising area. The water is shallow (2' to 20') and is well protected by a line of keys and reefs from the Atlantic Ocean. It's almost like sailing on a large lake like Lake Champlain in Vermont, except that the water is warm and turquoise, and the beaches are long and beautiful.

What's different in the Abacos versus the Exumas are the small and quiet settlements on the keys, with lots of character, small shops and restaurants. As you stroll through these settlements on a sunny afternoon, you can't help but just slow down to bahamian time, just enjoying the colorful bougainvilles growing everywhere, the brighlty colored houses, the dogs laying around everywhere, the wind rustling through the palm trees....

New Plymouth on Green Turtle is one of those settlements with alot of history. It's quiet, clean, and just perfect for an afternoon stroll with a stop at the small ice cream shack for homemade ice cream. We stopped there on our way to Manjack Cay. There is some good info on New Plymouth at the Green Turtle Club web site where I got this picture on the right.

We had 10 days before meeting up with Suzanne and Daniel on Terra Nostra. And then we would sail another 2 weeks with Terra Nostra before if was our time to go. Our plan was to sail north and south from Marsh Harbour and re-visit some of the anchorages we had seen 10 years before and beyond.

Baker's Bay

One of our favorite spots is Baker's Bay, a shallow bay (6' of water) surrounded by a long (2-3 miles) crescent of sand. There are beautiful beaches on the ocean side, great snorkeling and it's easy to anchor in 6' over sand.
We have spent many great days here walking the beaches, swimming the coral heads, and exploring the abandoned Robison Crusoe site built by a cruise ship company some 15 years ago.


Around the north end of the island, there are coral reefs that reach 25' from the sandy bottom all the way up to the water surface, and alive with groupers, snappers, angelfishes, trigger fishes ... I've swam with dolphins and come head to head with sharks, one around the coral reef that decided to come and look at who was trespassing and another 7 footer as it passed underneath the boat in 6' of water and I was still in the water !!!!

Climbing the mast

At one of our many stops at Baker's Bay, I finally decided to try to climb the mast to the top. It's something you have to know how to do, and with Daniel at the winch, I went for it. The first 40' was OK (I don't really like heights), but the last 10' was too much. I just hung-on to the mast while Daniel tried to winch up some more, but there was no way I was budging. We all had a good laugh, and maybe next time, I'll make it to the top.
I did manage to get some great shots from up there, including the shot above of Terra Nostra, and with a little bit of Photoshop magic, we have a top down view of Cinderella !