3 Months in the Bahamas, but Where?

brimanst

brimanst

Member
Dec 20, 2006
219
Mt. Pleasant, SC
Boat Info
1998 Sedan Bridge 480DB
Engines
Twin CAT 3196's 660HP
OK, Here is the story. The summer is over and we spent it Rv'ing and biking (chopper) in Sturgis and elswhere, so now is the time to plan our winter trip. We spent 8 weeks in the Bahamas earlier this year and want to spend 12 weeks away this year. There are a few differences:

1. Experience - we have now done this before so the anxiety level is lower.
2. Bigger - I traded the 340DA for a 480DB - Sweeeeet!
3. Diesel - Much cheaper than gasoline in the Bahamas
4. Pets - We are bringing the dog this year who is a 75lb Female Loveable Rotty.
5. Heads - We have seperate showers so the nasty marinas do not affect us anymore.

Our favorite cluster of Islands last year was the Abacos. We plan on spending our last month there, probably in March of 08. Harbour Island was snooty, but we will stop there one more time. Atlantis is a must, but just a couple of days to get our "city life" out of the way. And we loved Bimini. So here is the question (you thought I would never get to it):

If we leave around Christmas, how far south can I reasonably get and still work my way up to the Abacos by March? We like spending several days at each island, and if they are close together, we decied to make a day of it by cruising 10knots and enjoying the ride as opposed to last year where we raced to each island only to discover it was only lunch time. This should also cut down on the fuel costs. WiFi would really be helpful, since I work onboard. Is Cat Cay too far south? What are your favorite stops? Who should we meet? We want to be in warm weather in January this year. Any help, knowledge and/or suggestions would be helpful.
 
Georgetown, Exumas is a great, centrally located jumping off point to many great islands / getaways. We ventured past and on to the Turks and Caicos, but it was a JUMP. We're going to settle in Georgetown this winter and do trips from there.

There are some beautiful beaches you will have ALMOST all to yourself as you will see in the pics below.

Picture463.jpg


Picture460.jpg


Thunderball Cave
Picture595.jpg


Go see Lincoln in the Abacos. Ask for him anywhere around Marsh Harbor. He can take you fishing, diving, sightseeing, anything. GREAT entertainment.
 
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NICE!!!.. I always heard the babes were awesome down there. Looks like the water was cold though.
 
When in the Abaco area, I would highly recommend Green Turtle Cay. The Green Turtle Club offers a great winter special - you get daily food and beverage credits in the restaurants/bar equal to your daily slip fee.

And PIRATE - Lincoln is a legend in Green Turtle. Some friends do his lobster dive/lunch excursion everytime they are there.
 
And we also have another 480 DB owner on the board...

What year did you get?
 
I guess the trauma of seeing "CAT" and those pig nipples made my brain block it out....
 
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OK, so here is an update: I researched more and came up with a loose itinerary. I am not sure where I will be staying at each Island, but I have some filled in. If there are any other suggestions, please feel free to comment. I have not been to the places with an "*" before.

  1. Bimini
  2. Andros*
  3. Exumas*
  4. Long Island*
  5. San Salvador* (possible stop in Rum Cay*)
  6. Eleuthra* or Cat Cay*
  7. Nassau (Atlantis)
  8. Eleuthra (Harbor Island)
  9. Abacos (Pete's, Elbow Cay, Marsh harbor, Nippers, GTC)
  10. Grand Bahamas (West End)
The entire trip will be 3 months starting and ending in Charleston, SC. I want to spend at least 3 weeks in the Abacos, and I am think 1 week in San Salvador (the diving sounds great), a few days in Atlantis, a couple of days in harbour Island (did not really care for it last year). I am planning on leaving before Xmas so I should be somewhere down there for New Years. Most of the Junkanoo parades seem to take place in the Northern Bahamas, but I will be in the southern Bahamas for Jan 1. If anyone knows of some Junkanoo parades in the south, let me know.

Thanks again.

briman
 
Hi Briman:

As you by now know, these deep winter months can be lovely, but will always have strong winds. Your timing would cause me to recommend you do your Southing first using the lee of the Eluthera and Exumas for protection. If you go to the Abacos from the north, you can get stuck at GTC for a month waiting for a window to get around Whale Cay which is as treacherous a place as I've ever seen when the seas are in a Rage.

So from South Carolina consider working south to Lauderdale to wait for weather for a crossing of the Gulf Stream to Bimini, then on to Chubb Cay, Then to Nassau for New Years Eve and the PARTAY. Then Southeast to Eluthera and from southern Elutheras to wait for crossing weather to make the open water run out to San Salvador and Rum Cay. Then back west taking the Exumas north, you'll never want to leave.

As you leave the Exumas you'll need to decide to run north to Eluthera again or to Nassau to wait for weather to either run north in the open Atlantic to enter the Sea of Abaco at Harbor Town and Pete's, or if the Atlantic is foreboding to West End. If you enter the Abaco's fro the south you can at least make it north to Marsh and Orchid Bay and Nippers. But consider that being in the Abacos south of Whale Cay with the seas raging means your only way out will be back south in to the Atlantic and around Hole-In-The-Wall which is a long run south in open Atlantic waters to get around Great Abaco. So if you can't get north around Whale, you can still get out at Either Man O War or or Harbor Town as those cuts are rough but possible in seas that make the Whale unpassable. The decision you make leaving Nassua or Eluthera for the Abaco's will be very weather dependant.

Before committing to lay for Abaco from the south you'll have the chance to decide to enter the Abacos from the north instead. If the weather is persistently prohibiting you open water work to the east, burn some diesel and cross the Tongue to Freeport and Lucaya, you could take in a stop in the Berry Islands on the way too! If you go west to get east then from a hot time in Lucaya on westard to West End and Old Bahama Bay to take the North Abacos across the Little Bahama Bank from the west. From there you could get down to GTC from the north and not risk the Whale.

Weather will have way to much to say about where you can get to safely at this time of year.

You have lots of time and a great opportunity to explore the southern Bahamas. I'd not get all excited about Andros. The island is largely marsh and mangrove swamp and all that goes with it, take a gallon of DEET. The local Andros waters are shallow and good for bone fishing but much else ... nada in my book.

In a perfect scenario it would be great to leave the Bahamas from West End in good seas so you could ride the gulf stream north to Ft Pierce or Vero Inlet, or in great weather maybe even Sebastian at high tide. You'd paid for the right to use that current to your advantage so take if it works.

Have a great trip!
 
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I'll second skipping Andros. My wife and I were there for a Scuba trip a few years back. We rented a guest house near town which was OK. The harbor area was alright but the rest of the island was mostly a dump. Only real highlight was Small Hope Bay Lodge Scuba resort. A funky resort on the beach that hasn't changed much since the 60's. It was, I think, THE first Scuba resort in the Bahamas.

I have an Exumas cruising guide from a trip there 2 years ago. We rented a houseboat in Elizabeth Harbor. You would get far more use out of it than we did. Ten bucks plus media mail if you're interested. Also recommended reading is Staniel Cay, a book written by 2 young guys who sailed the area during the late 40's or early 50's, surprisingly entertaining. An Embarrassment of Mangoes was interesting reading, if you can get past all the recipes, about sailing to the eastern carribean that time of year.

Eddie Zuskin
 
Brimanst, are you saying you did the Bahamas the first time in a 340? How was the Atlantic crossing? Yikes!
 
New2SeaRay said:
Brimanst, are you saying you did the Bahamas the first time in a 340? How was the Atlantic crossing? Yikes!
Click to expand...

Gulf Stream crossing on 340 can be fine with the right weather. Atlantic crossing... out of the question without Dockwise.

I had a 2000 340DA that we used extensively in the FL Keys and Bahamas. Great boat.
 
Chad,

Sounds like you can be a consultant on Bahama trips. Might be doing some FL boating and looked at boats in both FTL and Ft Myers. Leaning on a Ft Myers boat and admiral is not too thrilled with going over to the Bahamas while I am learning the new to me boat.

Question that could be considered a mini thread jack would be boating on the West coast and what you thought of Key West and points north?

I understand the Bahamas are the ultimate but many think, or should i say the broker is telling me how great the gulf can be in the winter and then head for the Bahamas in the summer when the water is much calmer.

Just came back from Fl yesterday and P66 and Bahia mar were something else, but as i posted in the GL forum just now, this was not nice::::::

FtLuaderdaleDec07039.jpg
 
I agree. Wow, Chad really knows his Bahamas. A great writeup that I've already saved off for future, if I get brave.

Can anyone ballpark what Dockwise charges to and from Bahamas from Lauderdale? Just curious. Don't mean to hijack thread.
 
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Yes, I did cross in a 340 last January. Not the first attempt, but the second. The first time out of Stuart was horrible. First, I had never done it before, so I had all the necessary anxiety to keep me safe. The inlet was so rough, we did not even get out of it before we decided to do a 180 and go further south in the waterway. We then layed up in W Palm for a few days waiting for the next weather window. I stayed on the fuel dock the night before, so I could get up and go at the break of dawn. We hit the inlet around 7:00AM and were clearng customs by 9:30AM, only because of a 30 minute stop by our friendly homeland security. It was over so fast, it was a little anti-climatic. Here we were in the West End, checked in by 10:00AM. We thought about fueling up and continuing on, but since we were safe and the anxiety was over, we opted to tie up and have a slushy drink (that was around 11:00AM). The rest is history at http://brianandbj.blogspot.com if you would like to read about our trip and see them people we met.

I am leaving Charleston next week (I hope) to do it all over again, just going further south and staying a little longer this year.
 
Thanks for the link to your blog. I just read it cover to cover. Felt like I was there. Sounds like it got rough a few times in your 340. Glad you have a larger boat now.
 
brimanst said:
OK, Here is the story. The summer is over and we spent it Rv'ing and biking (chopper) in Sturgis and elswhere, so now is the time to plan our winter trip. We spent 8 weeks in the Bahamas earlier this year and want to spend 12 weeks away this year. There are a few differences:

1. Experience - we have now done this before so the anxiety level is lower.
2. Bigger - I traded the 340DA for a 480DB - Sweeeeet!
3. Diesel - Much cheaper than gasoline in the Bahamas
4. Pets - We are bringing the dog this year who is a 75lb Female Loveable Rotty.
5. Heads - We have seperate showers so the nasty marinas do not affect us anymore.

Our favorite cluster of Islands last year was the Abacos. We plan on spending our last month there, probably in March of 08. Harbour Island was snooty, but we will stop there one more time. Atlantis is a must, but just a couple of days to get our "city life" out of the way. And we loved Bimini. So here is the question (you thought I would never get to it):

If we leave around Christmas, how far south can I reasonably get and still work my way up to the Abacos by March? We like spending several days at each island, and if they are close together, we decied to make a day of it by cruising 10knots and enjoying the ride as opposed to last year where we raced to each island only to discover it was only lunch time. This should also cut down on the fuel costs. WiFi would really be helpful, since I work onboard. Is Cat Cay too far south? What are your favorite stops? Who should we meet? We want to be in warm weather in January this year. Any help, knowledge and/or suggestions would be helpful.
Click to expand...


I'm jealous...we are planning a shorter trip for late spring early summer in 2010!
 
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