Family islands are ready for the summer season with new spots to dock and dine. 

By Sara Lewis

 

The Abacos

The season seems to be off to a good start with many cruising yachts and charter vessels anchored and moored in the traditional spots and moving around the Sea of Abaco.

-Spanish Cay- Off-season dockage is currently $1/ft. The cay’s new manager is gracious and helpful with all needs.

-Green Turtle Cay- In the New Plymouth settlement, there is a new bakery and restaurant, Crazy Love. That somewhat offsets the unfortunate closing of a long-time source of good food, Laura’s Kitchen and the New Plymouth Inn. The dinghy landing at the government freight boat dock was destroyed by Hurricane Irene and has not been rebuilt. Landing is possible inside the settlement harbour at the ferry boat dock.

-Great Guana Cay- At the government dock in the harbour, a new restaurant, Bambi Café, has opened. Opening soon for the season is Pirates Cove (formerly Seashore Villas), but their laundry is no longer operational. In the harbour, laundry is open only to guests at Orchid Bay Marina. Moorings in Fishers Bay from Dive Guana are now $20/night. Since trash is not being picked up regularly in the settlement, it would be courteous to take your trash to an island that does have a provision for dealing with it.

-Man O’ War Cay- The former Hibiscus Café has reopened as Bradleys. The Marina Dive Shop has limited hours of operation. Ask for them at the marina office.

-Hope Town, Elbow Cay- The new docks are open with full services at Hope Town Marina (formerly Club Soleil) and the restaurant is in its final stages of construction.

-Treasure Cay- Only four moorings remain in the harbour after Hurricane Irene. They are still $12/night and the fee for anchoring is $10/night, paid at Treasure Cay Marina. In peak times, it may be difficult to find a mooring or a place to anchor. Just north of Treasure Cay, the proposed Sandbank Marina, slated to open in spring of 2012, is still in the first phases of construction and not likely to be in operation soon.

-Marsh Harbour- With multiple fishing tournaments approaching, Abaco Beach Resort offers fishermen special dockage rates as low as $1.95 per foot/day when they sign up for any two tournaments in 2012 (with one being a Round-Up Series event). Fishing-friendly families also get their catch of fun from all the activities included in an Ultimate Family Getaway Package, available all season including the summer holidays. abacobeachresort.com

-Lubbers Quarter- Lubbers Landing on the southeast shore of Lubbers Quarter offers a waterside restaurant with a healthy menu and environmentally considerate cottages for rent.

-Little Harbour- The harbour and Pete’s Pub & Gallery remain charming and quaint. It’s always worth a visit.

Acklins/Crooked

-Salina  Point- The convenience store (with very limited supplies) and the Ocean View Guest House and Restaurant are open on the main road from the dock. The five rooms are adequate and clean, nothing fancy, but they do have television. The restaurant and bar are pleasant, however supplies arrive sporadically at Spring Point, so at times, food and drinks are minimal. Hurricane Irene impacted Delectable Bay and Spring Point more than Salina Point.

-Spring Point- The BTC office now has a high-speed ethernet connection for the yachtman’s laptop in the office and they are currently working on the 4G equipment. There was a good deal of damage ashore; clearly the north was hit the worst with many roofs damaged. The Chief Counselor on the Island said the government has approved the building of 18 homes for families whose homes were damaged beyond repair. The new island doctor said his residence still has a blue tarp, though the clinic has been repaired. Club Rolex’s roof was very heavily damaged and the restaurant/bar has moved across the street until repairs can be made.

-Crooked Island- Many large casuarina trees are uprooted and lying on the beach. The west side of the island had 140-mph winds and the beach erosion is noticeable.

Provisioning note: 

With escalating fuel costs and the state of the economy, most of the government mail boats have gone to a schedule of three times per month rather than a weekly visit to the Out Islands for the delivery of supplies. With that in mind, many of the small grocers will be a bit more limited in what they have to offer, especially with their fresh produce and meats. The larger stores that often get things weekly by plane are not as noticeably affected such as those in Marsh Harbour, Nassau, Spanish Wells, North Eleuthera, George Town and Salt Pond, Long Island. Also, availability of supplies is affected by whether it is considered off-season or in-season. For instance, in the Abacos, the peak season is May through June, whereas in the Exumas and farther south, it encompasses the winter months. Fishing tournaments and large harbors, which draw large numbers of yachts, also impact the products you can find. As you provision for your Bahamas cruise, plan to stock up on as much fresh garden items as you can. While in the islands, ask locally for people who have small farms and hydroponic gardens. You may be surprised to find some patches of green loaded with veggies in unexpected places, or where applicable, check out the government packing house the day before the mail boat comes.

Calling all Scullers

Sands Beer and Bahamian boatbuilder, Mr. Sheldon Gibson, have joined forces to revive the old Bahamian tradition and sport of sculling with the construction of four boats, each of which sports the name of one of Sands Beer brands: Sands, Sands Light, High Rock and Strong Back. The boats, according to President James Sands, were completed in February 2012 and will be used to revitalize the art of sculling—a hallmark of the mail boats taking items to various islands—including a June race during the Long Island Regatta in Salt Pond, Long Island.

Navigational update:

-The light at Little Harbour Abaco is not working. The channel going in to Little Harbour was deeper in March than in previous hydrographic surveys.

-The Don’t Rock passage off Treasure Cay was also deeper than our last survey, yet the fluid sand in the area constantly changes.

-We discovered a new 1.4-meter small coral head/rock just off the route from Mangrove Cay to Sale South waypoint. It is located approximately at 26° 55.014’ N/ 78° 26.763’ W and worth plotting on your chart.

Bimini Big Game Club

There have been several recent developments at the Bimini Big Game Club Guy Harvey Outpost & Marina. Neal Watson’s Dive Bimini is in full operation with a new 60-foot dive boat, Bimini Blue. There’s also a new Hemingway game room and bar—open on select nights—a new 40x 70 tent for outdoor functions, and a new water sports program at the club. biminiwatersports.com