Busman’s Holiday in the Abacos

My good friend, Tom McHugh and his brother-in-law Mike Dalen flew in to help me move the boat from Fort Myers to Marsh Harbour where Michelle and Tom’s wife, Diane were scheduled to fly in and join us. We sailed/motored hard in order to earn some down time to enjoy the beauty of the Abacos before Mike had to leave and our wives arrived.

We sailed an overnight from Elliot Key, south of Miami and arrived in West End at 11:30 AM. Here we checked in to the Bahamas, grabbed a quick lunch and then headed to the beach. Mike and Tom snorkeled up and headed straight in to the clear Bahamian waters. I took Tug Boat (our mini-schnauzer) for a walk down the beach and found a tiki bar (Yeah), so it was a win for everyone!!

Mike having lunch – we aren’t missing any meals!

Tom watching the fishing lines for our dinner…

Snorkeling at West End. Nice!

After a good meal and a great night’s sleep, we got up early and headed out for another long day of motoring down the Sea of Abaco. 11 hours later we arrived at Powell Cay and celebrated with a steak dinner and cold beers.

Powell is situated at the mouth of the Southern Abacos, just past Spanish Cay and before Manjack Cay. I chose this small, uninhabited cay because the cruising guides all agree that the snorkeling here is spectacular. Even though the visibility was a bit disappointing, we did enjoy our time in the water.

Tom (left) and Mike (right) – ready to get some lobster.

And the beaches didn’t suck either…

Since we had worked hard (sailing a couple of overnights) to earn the right to relax a bit, we spent a night and most of the next day at Powell and then headed on to Green Turtle Cay for a great dinner and comfortable night on a mooring ball in White Sound.

Our last leg was through the “Don’t Rock” passage (where the Don’t stands for “It’s too dang shallow — Don’t go this way”) and in to Marsh Harbour. After Lunch and a few celebratory beers at the Jib Room, we put Mike in a cab to head back to cold weather in the States while Tom and I did laundry and cleaned up the boat in preparation for the arrival of our wives.

Looking for Captain Ron aboard this boat at the entrance to Marsh Harbour.

Synopsis:  Great, fast trip with an old friend and a new friend.