Mandalay - Marsh Harbour in the Abacos to Nassau 25.04.49 N 77.18.77 W

Marsh Harbour in the Abacos to Nassau 25.04.49 N 77.18.77 W

Mandalay

Robin & Jenny Martin

Mon 16 Jan 2012 20:13

The Bahamas is not an easy place to sail so to make landfall is always a complicated assessment of the tides and the depth of water. The tidal range is not great but we've found that a foot can make all the difference. Entering Marsh Harbour was just that, little water under the keel, tons of boats at anchor and no obvious channel. The problem about going where the other boats are is that you don't know the depth of their keels. More often than not they are American boats with shoal drafts of under 5'. We are 6'6" so have to be careful.

Whilst we were manoeuvring in about a foot under the keel we hit something hard which was probably an old mooring because the bottom is all sand. The poor old keel took another hammering which on inspection was another gauge but nothing serious. The good thing is our Bruce anchor loves the clingy sand and has not let us down in some of the blows.

Marsh Harbour is the third largest town in the Bahamas with a good supermarket and very friendly people.

On our arrival we were pleased to catch up with Kevin and Jean from Amorcora and they had already organised the BBQ of cray fish tails for supper.

A couple of days later Debbie and Jules arrived from the UK and you will be reading Jules account[ remember 'love me tender' from the Caribbean] in a future blog.

Their arrival coincided with one of the blows in the harbour so not the most auspicious start, see the photo.

On to Hope Town which was very different, a quaint village setting around a beautiful harbour and overlooked by the famous Hope Town Lighthouse. Still kerosene driven British built from 1864.

Then down to Little Harbour which was too shallow for us so anchored off Lynyard Cay with a fantastic white beach.

Out to sea the next day and onto the Eleuthera Islands and first stop was Royale Island owned by Jack Nicklaus but unfortunately no development or golf course yet. Still going through the courts we were told!

The Eleuthera Islands are very different with the dry Spanish Wells and the rich and famous concentrating on Harbour Island. To get there we had a nice ride through Current Cut [not named without reason] and a hire car because of the difficult passages. We decided not to hire a pilot to navigate around Harbour Island [ Robbie would never live it down!]

Then a couple of nights in out of the way anchorages on route for Nassau and the Cruise Ship capital of the West. Not a pretty sight but big bucks for the Bahamas.

Back in a Marina to fuel and water and to give Debs and Jules some luxury before heading home. It was great to see them and grateful for their help on board.

Off tomorrow for the Exumas.