This is about a charter voyage we did about 10 years ago, but I think it’s still pretty relevant! Lemme know if you agree?
We arrived at the Dream Yacht Charter Base about 8pm, after 5 flights and two days traveling. On the door was a note; “Your boat is ready for you, fifth on the right. Left the lights on.
No matter how you translate that, it means you are with family. It was great to be able to board the boat straight from the plane, so we didn’t have to pack and un-pack in a hotel.
Once aboard our Jeanneau 42, aptly named Lil’ Darling, (which we immediately changed to “The Bob Boat!” we stashed our belongings and jumped into the dinghy that was tied up behind the boat. We headed across the bay to Snapper’s. We were half-starved from our flight and needed some sustenance. As it turned out, they were having their Halloween Party that night, so we had some great entertainment. We even ran into some old friends from Cruise Abaco, and had way too much fun!.
I’ll tell ya one thing. Those islanders know how to party, and how to put together a costume. I am still not sure which was funnier, the couple dressed as Flo from Progressive’s TV ads and her “Geico” gecko partner, or the couple dressed as Fred & Wilma Flintstone. In any case, after a couple cheeseburgers in paradise and few coldie’s, it didn’t really matter.
Captain Woody had one of his Adventure Voyaging events at the same time, and they would be boarding their boats the next day.
Before noon I had met with Terrance, who runs the Dream Yacht Charter Base, and he checked me out on our Jeanneau 42 mono-hull (the only one in the fleet) and helped us out of the harbor. The man was probably the most accommodating man I have ever dealt with at a charter company. Every question was answered with a smile, and by the time we headed out I knew we had someone we could count on no matter what. He had a great attitude!
Our first stop was to be on Guana Cay, only about 9 miles across the channel.
Now, I gotta tell ya. Getting used to skinny water is not any easy thing for a Pacific trained sailor. Seeing consistent 7 & 8 foot depth can put the fear of God into a skipper who has sailed a boat with an 8’ draft all over the world. But eventually we got used to it. A lot of the boats would wait until we left a harbor, as we were on a mono-hull, and drew almost 6’. The other boats, being catamarans, knew if we made it, they could. Guess we were the guinea pigs. Soon we pulled into Settlement Bay on Great Guana Cay.
We took a quick walk across the Cay heading to Nipper’s, home of great music, a fantastic white-sand beach and even a couple swimming pools. All afternoon people kept filing in, and it turned into a great afternoon of fun on the beach.
The anchorage was calm, and even with winds whipping up to 30 knots, it was a calm evening.
In the morning the group decided to head south to Hope Town. Hope Town is one of the most picturesque settlements in the Bahamas and the site of a lighthouse that was built in 1863 and still uses a small kerosene-fueled mantle and a huge rotating glass Fresnel lens to intensify the light.
People scattered during the day sightseeing up and down the island, and then met at Cap’n Jack’s Pub in the afternoon to compare notes. Hope town was a great place to stop. It was so nice we decided it ranked a two-day visit, so it was decided we’d stay another night.
In the morning I got to play “Driving Miss Dorothy” on a Golf-cart, as Jody, Tabitha, Tania and Zuzana were going to take a Jody Walk. For those of you not familiar with a Jody walk, it’s where you start walking and don’t slow down or stop until you run out of land. I opted for a leisurely exploration in a golf-cart!
The girls of the “Jody Walk” ended up where we’d stopped for some Conch Salad on the far end of the island. They “borrowed” our golf cart and finished their trek to Tahiti Beach. Afterward, they joined us for some conch salad and cocktails before Jody, Tania and Tabitha walked all the way back.
As we had a lot of area to cover in our week long cruise, at high tide the next morning we headed out and south for Little Harbour. This is a very well protected anchorage. Getting there was fun, as there are dozens of very shallow reefs in the bay, and we would squeeze between 3 & 4 foot depths with our 5’5” draft, praying not to hit bottom.
The real test came as we had to hit the entrance to Little Harbor. You see, it’s only 3’4” depth at the entrance. That means we had to go in at high-tide. Fortunately we did manage to get there right on high tide, and cruised in to the 12 foot interior harbor without as much as a bump. The catamarans, of course, simply drifted in with their shallow drafts.
An impromptu party was formed on the Woody Boat, and the group from the Neal Boat showed up wearing toga’s and wreaths on their heads, celebrating Emperor Neal. They came dressed in full on toga outfits complete with fans made from palm trees and a lingering question of who was wearing underwear and who wasn’t. It was a great group of people to explore with and dinner time was right around the corner.
On the Woody boat they had Fresh conch salad whipped up by two local guys, baked brie, crudites, fresh coconut, tasty beverages, and all kinds of other yummies from Team Melissa that made dinner ashore just that much more food to work off swimming the next day.
The season was just coming to a start, so Pete’s Pub was closed, but a quick tally of how many people we had with us and we convinced them to open a day early. That night we had a great party on the beach at Pete’s Pub. They even opened the museum that evening, so people could pick up souvenirs of bronze castings that the harbor is famous for.
High tide came the next day at 10:30 am, so “The Bob Boat” headed out the pass with depth to spare, and we all set sail for Man O’ War Cay about 15 miles to the north. The day was squally, so we decided to break our sail at Matt Lowe’s Cay, which is a great little sand covered island just a couple miles from the entrance to Man O’ War.
Entering Man O’ War was another white knuckle ride. We were at about ½ tide, and the entrance said 6’. As we entered every alarm in the boat started sounding, and the depth sounder was reading 4’3”. As we didn’t hit bottom, I figure Dream Yacht Charters probably sets the depth alarm below the actual keel. We slid into the deeper water (9’!) and picked up a mooring. The moorings were so close together, as the boats twisted in the light breeze of the evenings we came within inches of each other, but no one hit, so all was well.
To avoid mooring the Neil Boat secured a dock slip with electricity. Ten bucks a night is probably the best deal in all of the Caribbean.
Man O’ War Cay is a great place to visit. They have a sail-shop where they hand make bags from canvas that have become well known all over the world. There were gift shops, but the best thing to visit was the boat yard. Here they have been building beautiful wooden boats for decades, and they have a reputation for building some of the finest wooden boats available.
Oh, did I mention that Man O’ War is a dry Cay? Yup! You cannot buy a drink on the Cay. You can, if you wish, bring in a bottle of wine to enjoy with dinner, but you can’t buy it there!
However they are civilized enough to allow you to bring in your own wine for dinner.
Another Jody-Walk ensued and the ladies spent the morning admiring the homes and specifically, the way each entrance had a brass or silver bell for guests to ring, engraved with the house or owner’s name. Once again I played “driving Miss Dorothy. This time, the destination was a gazebo perched on a thin slice of rock connecting two parts of the cay. To one side, the Atlantic Ocean crashed and frothed on the reef, on the other side, we swam in the calm and turquoise Sea of Abaco.
The next day was the most perfect sail of the trip. We sailed from Man ‘O War to Bakers Cay on the end of Great Guana Cay. It was only a 12 mile sail, but the sun was out, the winds were 18-20 knots right on the beam, and being inside the reefs the seas were only 2-3 feet. Perfect.
And once we got to Baker’s Cay, it was even more perfect (Well, it could’a been a little deeper!) The beach was a perfect white crescent about one mile long, and the water was crisp and clear.
Of course the fact that it was only about 6’ deep kept us nervous as a cat in a roomful of rocking chairs, but that was just our crew on the mono-hull. The catamarans seemed happy as clams.
Woody Comment … We had been parking off harbor towns so that we had shore activities to entertain the group. But they were ready for some perfection – clear water lapping a long crescent-shaped palm-lined beach. Knee boarding, dinghy drifting, swimming and beach combing ensued.
Neil had some trouble with his dinghy and when he told the Dream Yacht Charter base, they traded him one with a 15hp Yamaha featuring electric start and tilt, it was the best one ever provided by a charter company. He took advantage of this and enjoyed a little wake boarding through the anchorage. Life was good (at least for the lighter crewmembers).
In the morning we did a day sail to a small Cay just outside of Marsh Harbour, where we would return the boats. We had a great lunch stop, and then headed into the marina.
You see, Capt. Woody had a great idea. The last night of the flotilla, instead of hanging outside, and then rushing in the morning to catch flights, we all sailed in, and had a “pot-luck” right there in the marina. There was a local band he brought in, and it was a perfect night for a dock-party.
Dream Yacht Charters and their crew, especially Terrance, made this a great week for us all, and I know many will be back to sail those skinny waters again!
