With a Havana in his hand, Ernie looks out over the Atlantic. The surf on the reef is the farewell greeting from the last hurricane of the season. The storm crossed the Bahamas just a few days ago. Ernie returned yesterday. His real name is Dwight and he lives in Austin. But his nickname comes from here. He got it from his friends at one of the legendary parties on this island. That was at the end of the nineties: "They thought I looked like Hemingway." And indeed: the high eyebrows, the full, now silvery beard, the cigar. "Do you write too?" I ask. "For heaven's sake," he replies with a grin and taps on his smartphone: "Just photos." I understand: the old man, Instagram and the sea.
Ernie is not the only one who is always drawn to Nipper's Beach Bar & Grill when he is in the north of the Bahamas. The location high up on the dunes of Great Guana Cay is known far beyond the island. All the colours of the Caribbean shine brightly here, not least the tropical yellow in the glasses: Nipper Juice, so popular that guests bring thermos flasks to have them filled to the brim with this "juice" in the best pirate style. It really packs a punch. After all, nobody wants to run dry when they get back on board after the party.
We're not that prepared - but that's a good thing. After all, we still have a lot planned. Our landfall here is at the very beginning of our charter cruise through the Abacos, the islands in the north of the Bahamas, which also include Great Guana Cay. Shall we have a sip anyway? "Don't worry about a thing", Bob Marley whistles from the bar. Well, if that's the case: Cheers!
Six hours earlier: We are underway! The flat silhouette of Great Abaco Island still accompanies us on our port side. It is actually a narrow peninsula on which Marsh Harbour lies. The town serves as a transport hub for the archipelago, which comprises dozens of small to tiny islets in addition to the main island, which is around one hundred kilometres long. We landed here by jet from Atlanta, and this is where The Moorings charter base is located, where we picked up our motor catamaran: a 433 PC. This floating holiday platform on two hulls leaves nothing to be desired.
All the colours of the Caribbean shine in this place
Our course follows the recommended lines marked in our "Explorer Chartbook Near Bahamas", south around Sugar Loaf Cay and then north to Point Set Rock before heading north-west. The area for the next few days is the shallow Sea of Abaco. It covers part of the Little Bahama Bank, a plateau lying just below the surface. To the east, this lagoon, which is usually only three to four metres deep, is separated by a chain of elongated cays (pronounced "kiehs") from the open Atlantic. Its clear water shines azure blue to turquoise, brighter towards the shore, and is repeatedly interspersed with dark areas.
The ground reading, so the manual even devotes a whole double page to "reading the seabed". As sands are changeable, a tidal difference of one metre may well depend on the correct interpretation. Dark blue-green means vegetation, only the rare blue holes, which are of a strong indigo colour, indicate really deep funnels.
The panorama is repeatedly interrupted by the rocky outlines of the cays, where everything from small huts to stately estates can be found. How many islands here are privately owned? In the east, there are always openings to the Atlantic, but not all of these are private. channels are navigable. White breakers indicate where the barrier of the offshore reefs runs far out. Beyond, the bottom drops away to a depth of a thousand metres within a few miles. At these passages, we also feel more swell and current inside.
We hardly see any other boats, a sailor from Canada heading in the opposite direction, a few sports anglers making big waves with three or more outboards. The season hasn't started yet. In three and a half metres of water, our anchor finally drops in Fisher's Bay on the inside of Great Guana Cay. Engine off, swim ladder down! The diving goggles make it easy to follow the chain on the slightly overgrown sandy bottom. The hook has dug itself in perfectly.
A little later, we pull our dinghy onto the warm sand and have finally arrived in the Bahamas: Palm trees, wild greenery, wooden flotsam. Golf carts park on the beach. We follow the narrow road of concrete slabs to the harbour, which is almost empty, and then a hand-painted signpost into the bush. After all, we want to get to Nipper's, the bar from the beginning of this story. Further wooden arrows on the short stretch could be translated as follows: "Time goes by here rum like in flight" or "Why did the dinosaurs die out? They had nothing to drink." We are on the right track.
We follow a hand-painted signpost into the bush
To wake up the next morning, we jump overboard. Then we head south-east towards Man-O-War Cay, which soon comes into view. We head for Low Place, a small bay between Corn Bay in the north and Scopley Rock. Once again, we drop anchor in just under four metres of water. As there is now virtually no wind, we can see right down to the bottom - and that our chain is crossing a data cable that runs across the slightly overgrown bottom. It is not marked on the map. The islanders almost had to do without Netflix today. We launch the dinghy again. The western approach to the natural harbour of Man-O-War (the term means sailing warship) appears to be very shallow. Nils takes a sounding with the paddle: barely a metre of water in the fairway at half tide. You can clearly see the furrows that one or two keels have left in the sand of the bar.
Behind them, unmasted sailing yachts emerge, their murings seemingly forgotten. They are reminiscent of Hurricane Dorian: in late summer 2019, the eye of this monster storm hit the Abacos. With wind speeds of up to 296 kilometres per hour, a seven-metre-high tidal wave and a metre of rain, it created a path of utter devastation. At least 74 people died and hundreds are still missing today. The destruction is barely visible. Here, too, new roofs are rising from the vegetation everywhere.
What we already know about Man-O-War: In contrast to its neighbour Great Guana, this island is dry, so "dry". There is no alcohol here. This may be due to the fact that their community was once founded by God-fearing Loyalists, supporters of the British crown who sought refuge after the American Revolution and found it not so far away in the Bahamas. We make the public dock and climb ashore. We will soon be able to recite the names of these families: Albury, Sweeting, Sands, Weatherford. You come across them everywhere here, the first right at the jetty: the Alburys, or rather the Albury Brothers, also founded the first boatyard in the Bahamas. Three workshops on the waterfront These include open sports boats between 18 and 25 feet, robust runabouts with classic downeaster lines.
The place also makes a completely different impression to Great Guana Cay. If it weren't for the golf carts, you'd think you were in a nineteenth-century colonial settlement, with white facades in neat rows and well-tended gardens in front. The Heritage Centre on Queen's Highway is a perfect match: the island museum is housed in a historic wooden building that miraculously withstood the hurricane. Its café, the only one on the island, is extremely inviting. We treat ourselves lemon cake and iced latte for breakfast.
Even the Queen has visited here
The exhibition is a veritable smorgasbord of life on Man-O-War over the decades: yellowed books and pictures (even the Queen has visited here), plus everyday objects from scales to typewriters. Many of them are as rusty as if they had been lying at the bottom of the lagoon for years. But this is only a result of the humid, salty air. Others look as good as new. The gold Rolex, for example, which froze forever when Dorian stopped time.
We cross the island and come across the cemetery close to the Atlantic side. Fresh flower wreaths and gravestones in the dune sand, an unusual sight. Behind them is the unspoilt beach, bordered by bushes and palm trees. You sink into the soft surf up to your ankles, the spray foams around your knees again and again, and it seems as if it wants to pull out what it has once got hold of. It's our Robinson moment. After a few hundred metres, the path ends at sharp-edged rocks. A glance at the horizon, behind which lie more than three thousand nautical miles, then we turn back. Our tracks have long since been taken by the sea.
Service
Cruising stages
S Marsh Harbour - Great Guana Cay: 12.5 nm
- Great Guana Cay - Man-O-War Cay: 7.5 nm
- Man-O-War Cay - Elbow Cay: 6.5 nm
- Elbow Cay - Little Harbour: 19.5 nm
- Little Harbour - Marsh Harbour: 15.5 nm
Z Marsh Harbour
Total distance: 61.5 nm
Literature
Precinct manual The Cruising Guide to Abaco 2022" (published annually, available on board) by Steve, Jon and Jeff Dodge. White Sound Press; 176 p., 84 charts and detailed plans, 88 photos, area and background information, tide table, waypoints, format 28 x 22.5 cm, spiralbound; € 45.60. Order via: www.hansenautic.de
Sport boat charts NV Atlas Bahamas 9.1 Northwest" (2022/23) by NV Charts; 26 p., 7 over-sailors, 16 area charts, format A3, stapled, with marina guide (50 p., A4); 69,80 €. www.nvcharts.com
OUR BOAT: Moorings 433 PC (motor catamaran) - Length: 13 m - Width: 6.72 m - Draft: 1.00 m - Cruising speed: 8 kn - Engine: 2x 320 hp (diesel) - Plotter - Dinghy in davits - Generator - Wetbar/grill - Cabins: 3 (3 double berths) - Shower/WC: 2 - Price examples for a charter week: from 8644 euros (start: 1 November 2023), from 11,774 euros (start: 1 April 2024)
CHARTER: The Marsh Harbour base on Great Abaco in the Abacos is part of The Moorings' global charter offering. The company has a second base in Nassau in the Bahamas (in the Exumas) and five more in the Caribbean. Information: The Moorings, Theodor-Heuss-Str. 53-63, Entrance B, 61118 Bad Vilbel, Tel. 06101-55 79 15 22. www.moorings.de
Nautical information
The precinct: The Sea of Abaco stretches for almost 100 kilometres off the east coast of the island of Great Abaco. To the east, the saltwater lagoon is separated from the open North Atlantic by a chain of elongated cays. On the seaward side, there are coral reefs. The Sea of Abaco is mostly shallow (two to four metres) with an even bottom profile, which makes navigation easier, but also requires special care when navigating due to the average tidal range of around one metre, not only in very shallow areas. Fairways are marked on the chart, but there is hardly any buoyage. All skippers require an appropriate nautical licence from their home country.
