Nassau to the Abacos - January 13 - 23, 2001

Nassau, January 13, 2000

It's 6:01 PM and Pierre's taxi arrives at the Poop Deck (Nassau's Yatch Haven Marina) just after Isabelle and the kids left for the airport. This would be Pierre's first "cruise" in the Caribbean and I can see the anticipation in his eyes as we meet. The two brothers are going to conquer the ocean ! (reminds me of when we were real young and we went out conquering the neighbourhood on our bicycles)

After a wonderful grouper supper at the Poop Deck, we share desert and coffee with the Terra Nostra team (Suzanne and Daniel) and review our options. The winds are forecasted NorthEast the next 2 days, right in our face if we want to get to the Abacos. Pierre figures we can just tack upwind the 70 or so miles just like when you're sailing on Lake Champlain ! True but as they say "Gentlemen never sail to weather". We'll sail with Terra Nostra southeast to Ship Channel Cay in the Exumas, where we can try again our luck at fishing for langouste and when the winds shift to the east, we'll be in a great position to sail north to the Abacos. (essentially a 40 mile tack southeast followed by a 70 mile tack north, tacking but alot more fun)

Nassau Harbour Google Map

Allan's Cay Google Map

Ship Channel Google Map

Nassau, January 14, 2000 - across Yellow Bank

By 9:00 AM the next day, we set off for Allan's Cay. A beautiful sunny day, 15 knots of northeast winds, just perfect for our crossing across the Yellow Bank. We motor out of Nassau and raise the sails slowly while I give Pierre a crash course on the boat, the manoeuvers, the safety precautions and devices, and what we can expect during the crossing.

Yes ! First fish caught on a crossing ! According to my little fish book, it's a Blue Runner jack, the best jack for eating ! After a little rum through its gills to knock it out, I quickly filet it from the stern steps as we ghost along at 2-3 knots. The wind has all but died, so we motorsail the rest of the way to Allen's Cay.
My 2nd visit to Allan's Cay, but the entrance to the anchorage is still tricky and we slowly motor in, and anchor over the sand bank in the middle with many sailboats cluttered along the deeper channel to the side.
After the must visit to the beach with the iguanas, we sit back and enjoy a supper of fresh fillet grilled on the BBQ, while a 8' shark patrols around the boats at anchor looking for handouts (or maybe stray swimmers !). The stars are out in force, and with the backdrop of sound from the water splashing on the shore combined with the murmur of thousands of birds on the cays, we turn in for our first night at anchor.

January 15

Up early, we motor north along the cays following Terra Nostra up to Ship Channel Cay and anchor alongside Caline in 15' of clear water, protected from the north east winds. Denis, Daniel, Pierre and myself jump into the dinghys and quickly make our way to the ocean side in search of coral heads where, maybe, we'll uncover those elusive langoustes (lobsters) and groupers.

Success at last. After 4 hours of fishing in 10-20' of water and 3-4' waves, we all come back with langouste : Caline - 2, Cinderella - 2, and Terra Nostra - 4. Twice we found the langouste in pairs and with Daniel's expert technique, we were able to catch all that we saw. Alot of work, but well worth it.
It was Surf and Turf that night with Pierre and I sharing one langouste (too big) with BBQ'd steaks and basil and tomato rice. Sailing can be tough at times, but it can also be luxury. (sorry Pierre for cutting off your head)
Coffee and cake (and some Nassau Royal) was on Terra Nostra. This was the last nite with Terra Nostra and Caline, and it's with a little sadness that we said our goodbyes, but we knew we would sail together again.