Abacos Bound

[barqueinc]

Can anyone give me any advise or suggestions as to the best places to go in the Abacos. We are there for a week, sailing out of Marsh Harbour. We only have 7 days and want to make the most of it

Thx

[S/V Antares]

With the wind outof the north or east go to Fishers Bay in Guana and pick up a mooring or anchor on Sunday. go to Nippers for the pig roast. Much fun.

Hopetown in Elbow cay is nice but can be quiet. Great beaches. Also Tahiti Beach anchorage.

If you can get to Little Harbor Petes pub and Art Foundry is a must see.

Do not try for Green Turtle unless you know "The Whale" cut and have a few days window. If you do go get to Manjack and dingy in the Mangroves.

Tell us how you like it all when you leave.

[camaraderie]

I agree with Antares and would add a trip to Little Harbor.
Little Harbour, Abaco, Bahamas

Also...if you go to Nippers on Guana and enjoy snorkeling on the reefs...walk down the beach to your right 1/2 mile to high rocks point. You will see some great stuff!

Enjoy...my FAVORITE place of all.

[Hud3]

Don't make the mistake that we made and show up at Nippers for the pig roast at dinner time. The pig didn't make it to dinner--he was a lunchtime attraction. The Bluff House on Green Turtle serves a really nice dinner, and the Jolly Roger bar there can be fun when the Gully Roosters are playing. Steak Night at the Jib Room in Marsh Harbour is fun, too.

[Hudson Force]

No alcohol, cigarettes or skimpy clothing on Man-o-war, but if you're not depending on that, there is a unique, although conservative, ambience there that can be a joy. 'take care, Aythya crew

[Agur's Wish]

Pig Roast Sunday at Nippers on Guana, Bingo at Captain Jack's on Monday in Hope Town, Tuesday anchor off of Baker's Bay and go shelling on Shell Island (can you still land there?) and collect tiny little shells until your back hurts, Wednesday Potluck at Grabbers back on Guana, Thursday Happy Hour/Potluck at the Jib Room in Marsh Harbour, Friday just hangout and snorkel off Snake Cay or go down to Pete's. This is all dependent on the weather. Of course, it took us months to hit all these places but back when we used to charter we managed to get around a lot faster.

[nautical62]

I just returned from the Abacos today which is about my 7th trip there. Where you should go all depends on what you are looking for.

I enjoy the less inhabited islands and usually head for Powel, Manjack, No Name, Spoil Cay, Whale, Pelican Cays, Snake Cay, etc.

For towns I prefer Hope Town and Green Turtle, but do as much of your provisioning as you can in Marsh Harbour.

Good snorkeling spots include the reef just off of the top of Great Guana (dinghy moorings) and Fowl Cay and the reefs just north of Elbow. I find the Sandy Cay spot is often open to swell.

You can get wifi for free if you are a customer at Sapodillys at the Conch Inn Marina and at the coffee shop in Hope Town.

I don't eat out a lot but a few of my favorite, affordable places include Captain Jack's on the pier in Hope Town and Pineapples, also with their own pier in Green Turtle.

The dinghy ride throught the "creek" behind Deep Sea Cay is fun on a rising tide of half tide or more.

Doing a tour of the foundry in Little Harour when they are casting is one of those things I'm really glad I've done.

Cold fronts are common this time of the year, and on a short cruise, I prefer to use them to my advantage rather than sit them out. For example, on my last cruise, we rode the last day of SE wind from Marsh Harbour up to Powell, then worked our way back south on a NW wind, rounding Whale Cay before it swtched to the NE and used the NE wind to head south towards Little Harbour, then used the returning southerlies to head back to Marsh.

Often when it feels cold on the boat, a sheltered beach in the sun is warm enough for swimming.

You can see some photos from my last two Abacos trips at:

www.artphotosforsale.com/abacos

[O2addict]

Originally Posted by CaptForce

No alcohol, cigarettes or skimpy clothing on Man-o-war, but if you're not depending on that, there is a unique, although conservative, ambience there that can be a joy. 'take care, Aythya crew

You can't buy it there, but lots are consumed there!

[Bill_E]

We'll be headed in that direction in about 6 weeks. Green Turtle was highly recommended by a friend so I'm curious about the warning about trying to make it into Green Turtle unless you know The Whale Cut. We will have some time. We'll probably cross from Fla to the West End and then work our way from there.

Bill

[camaraderie]

Bill...coming from West End...you need to worry about "the Whale" AFTER you go to Green Turtle...not before. Indeed...I recommend you bypass West End entirely and anchor at Great Sale Cay...then go on the next day to Green Turtle for check in and customs.
When you want to go to the more populated areas of the Abacos discussed above, you need to go out into the ocean around Whale Cay to get to the other side of the Abacos cruising grounds. Sometimes even in very nice weather...the "Whale" is closed to to a Rage Sea from storms far away. Usually there is no problem but that is why charter boats need to be very careful if they go through the Whale to Green Turtle...there may be a rage running when they NEED to get back. Charter boats should visit Green Turtle EARLY in their week.
To know if there are good Whale conditions...listen to the Cruisers Net daily on channel 68 at 8:15AM for the Whale report.

[Agur's Wish]

nautical62,
Sapodilly's (or as we called it, Slapmesillies) burned down a couple of years ago and you were probably at Curly Tails at the Conch Inn. Don't want to be a know it all but just don't want people wandering around looking for it. We keep bugging Brenda ( the owner )to rebuild. We started many a Friday night at Saps and then did the Conch Crawl on restaurant row.

[Agur's Wish]

Hey Nautical 62,
Just noticed you were from Aurora. We are right down 285 and then take 9 at Fairplay up right before Alma and head up Mosquito Pass. Of course, we're not there right now. The A-frame on Mosquito Pass came after two summers down here in the Abacos.

[Agur's Wish]

Oops! Sorry Nautical62, just saw that you are from Iowa and your boat's name is Aurora. So you are not from a Denver suburb. But what the Hell, I'm from Kansas and I'd love to hear how you, from Iowa, ended up in the Bahamas. I don't know how the Hell I got here.

[Palarran]

Green Turtle is my families favorite vacation spot - ever. I'm looking at getting a charter boat and keeping it in Hopetown. The water and reefs in the Abacos outstanding. We rented a 26' center console and didn't have to go through the whale as our draft was shallow enough. You may want to check the charts as I thought there was 10' of water from Green Turtle to Marsh Harbor.

[nautical62]

Originally Posted by Agur's Wish

nautical62,
Sapodilly's (or as we called it, Slapmesillies) burned down a couple of years ago and you were probably at Curly Tails at the Conch Inn. ...

Thanks for picking up on that - Yes I meant Curly Tails.

I'll send you a PM about how an Iowa Boy ended up sailing in the Bahamas so as not to get off topic.