Travel: Ready, set . . . sail

[Times photo: Tamara Lush]

When sailors want to go ashore they use a dinghy — or a dink — to motor to the beach.

By TAMARA LUSH, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published December 22, 2002

[Times photo: Tamara Lush]

The Mary Lynn, a 32-foot Hunter, is one of many charter boats available in the Bahamas.

My husband, Nick, was trying to navigate the Mary Lynn out of Hope Town Harbor, which was thick with big, pricey yachts and ominous-looking rocks. He eased the throttle forward.

By the look of the brown, murky water and the churning sand at the stern, we knew we had grounded the boat on a sandbar.

I ran through the worst-case scenarios. A gaping hole in the boat. A stern talking-to from the charter company. The price of repairing a 32-foot Hunter.

As I considered jumping overboard, Nick put the throttle in reverse. The Mary Lynn broke free. With one hand on the throttle and the other on the big wheel, Nick steered the boat toward the Sea of Abaco.

We had envisioned endless days of sailing and snorkeling in impossibly blue waters. Grilling fresh seafood while watching the sunset. Drinking gin and tonics at night as we stared at the stars.

Nick and I first hatched the idea of renting a sailboat in the Caribbean while on our own boat, a 20-foot O'Day Mariner, in the Gulf of Mexico.

I wanted to enjoy sailing with a little more luxury than our boat provides -- namely, a shower, a kitchen and a toilet. Nick wanted the thrill of sailing a larger boat in new territory.

We read endless Web sites and travel books. Martinique sounded exotic, but the airfare was pricey. Ditto for the British Virgin Islands. We decided on the Abacos, a tiny string of islands in the Bahamas, far from the glitz and casinos of Freeport and Nassau. Just an hour's flight from Fort Lauderdale, we could get there easily and spend lots of time on the boat and explore the islands. We chose a small, locally owned business, Abacos Bahamas Charters, and paid our deposit.

We invited another couple with boating experience along, making the cost about $350 per person to rent the boat, not including air fare or food. At the last minute, the couple said they couldn't go on the trip.

But we decided not to cancel our vacation. I had some concerns. I am not as confident of my sailing abilities as Nick and wondered whether two of us would be able to sail the boat without getting a divorce.

The nice woman at Abacos Bahamas Charters assured me that everything would be fine.

Once we got out of Hope Town Harbor, we sailed north, into the Sea of Abaco. It's not really a sea -- it's actually a body of water between several islands.

[Times photo: Tamara Lush]

The beach at Treasure Cay is steps from a large marina and a golf course. Treasure Cay is like a fancy resort that has many fishing tournaments.

We were not allowed to take the Mary Lynn on the open ocean, but it didn't seem like we would need to. There were three tiny islands, or cays, that we wanted to check out -- Man O' War Cay, Guana Cay and Treasure Cay.

Sailing the boat was actually easier than we ever expected -- easier than our own boat even, because the Mary Lynn had winches to hoist the sails, whereas on our boat, you have to hoist them by pulling on ropes.

Nick did most of the sail hoisting. I enjoyed steering the boat. It felt like a giant luxury vehicle, with the wind propelling us north.

We set anchor in a tiny inlet on Man O' War Cay, then plunged into the warm water with our snorkeling gear.

The 300 residents of Man O’War Cay use bicycles and golf carts to get around the island, where cars are prohibited. The village is perched atop a hill, which affords visitors great views of the Atlantic Ocean.

[Times photo: Tamara Lush]

As I swam around looking for fish, Nick struck up a conversation with the other boater who was standing in the water. Kent Bethel lived on Man O'War Cay, and he was taking his wife and children on a Sunday sail.

Kent had caught several conch -- large shellfish native to the Bahamas -- and was delicately pulling them out of their shell. He squeezed some lime juice on one meaty-looking piece and offered it to me.

Absolutely. The meat was a tiny bit tough -- similar to octopus sushi -- but it had a sweet taste that mingled with the lime.

[Times photo: Tamara Lush]

Kent Bethel slices raw conch in preparation for an afternoon snack. Bahamians eat conch in stews, soups and fried.

We hit it off so well with Kent and his family that they invited us to dinner the next night. Kent, who built his own home, lives on one of the island's tiny streets. The Atlantic Ocean is five minutes in one direction, the Sea of Abaco five minutes in another. He and his wife served us an incredible feast of grilled lobster tails.

As it turned out, Kent -- along with most of Man O'War's population -- was the perfect ambassador to the island. He and the other 300 island residents are descendants of British loyalists who left South Carolina during the Revolutionary War. The village is quaint -- think Nantucket with palm trees -- and very sleepy. There is no crime on the island, Kent told us, and that was believable.

Man O'War was once the boat building capital of the Abacos. Kent, a carpenter who has refurbished several boats, explained that for the people of the Abacos, boating is like driving for Americans.

There's a good reason for that -- driving is prohibited on the island. People move around the tiny streets on golf carts.

We sailed around Man O'War for two and a half days, spending one day snorkeling and another wandering around the tiny village. We bought delicious bread that was sold from one woman's home, watched the local artisans sew handmade bags out of sail cloth and shopped for food at the island's only grocery store.

It was easy to tell the locals from the few tourists who had day-tripped to Man O'War from other islands -- the locals all said hello.

Nick and I had the sail-hoisting thing down, and he was happy just buzzing along the water. I cooked in the tiny kitchen, which included a stove, fridge and sink, and lay on the deck reading Islands in the Stream, Hemingway's take on the Bahamas.

We anchored in a shallow bay and took our dinghy -- in boat lingo, it's called "the dink" -- ashore. We walked to the Atlantic Ocean side of the island, to the seven-mile long beach.

We had to walk through the village, or "settlement," as the locals call it. The main drag consisted of two grocery stores, a souvenir shop and a liquor store.

We stopped at the liquor store to buy beer. Like everywhere else in the Bahamas, imported beer is incredibly expensive -- $40 for a case of Budweiser -- so we bought the cheaper local brew, Kalik, which was a relative bargain at only $30 a case.

Unlike Man O'War, there were no day-tripping tourists, only a handful of boaters who had anchored in the bay.

A tiny sign with an arrow and the word "beach" pointed us to a sandy palm tree-lined path.

The path led us to Nipper's, one of the only restaurants open on the island. There are few others on Guana Cay; many are open only during peak tourist season.

There, we ate our first restaurant meal of the vacation. We could have stayed at Nipper's indefinitely.

It sits on a bluff overlooking the white sand beach and the Atlantic Ocean. If you are hot, you can take a dip in the freshwater pool. Those who aren't sleeping aboard their boats can stay at colorful cabins next door.

The burgers are big and relatively cheap, the beer is cold and the frothy drinks are made from real pineapple.

And, as an added bonus, you can walk down a set of steps and snorkel around a giant coral reef.

The reef draws giant angelfish, parrotfish, rays and even sharks. I spotted a nurse shark, unmoving on the ocean floor, half-tucked under a piece of coral. I quickly swam to shore.

On one of the many trips in the dinghy from the Mary Lynn to the island, we met several other sailors.

One boat was a giant steel ketch. The couple on the boat invited us over for a drink. They cleared some plastic toys off a bench and introduced us to their children, Parker and Coltrane.

"How long have you been sailing?" I asked our hosts, Michelle and Christian Pschorr.

"They've never lived on land," said Christian, a jazz musician -- hence the names of their sons.

Christian and Michelle met in New York City, and decided to chuck their hectic lives for sailing.

The family spends the winters sailing the Caribbean. It was May, so they were on their way to Maine to ride out the hurricane season. To make money, Christian teaches sailing in various ports.

Later that night, as Nick and I lay in our cabin, I wondered aloud if we could sail full-time, like Christian and Michelle. We could have children, I said, and raise them on the sea.

After a couple of days, Nick convinced me that we needed to leave Great Guana Cay and Nipper's. We decided that we would sail to Treasure Cay, and spend one night docked at a marina. There, we could replenish our fresh water supplies.

It was the longest sail yet -- five or six hours -- and Nick amused himself with tacking and his GPS.

We thought that we were about to face another test of our sailing abilities when we motored into a channel that led to the marina. Our dock was far into the marina, surrounded by seemingly the largest power boats on the planet. One 100-foot boat even had its own crane to hoist aboard water scooters, motorcycles and maybe even cars.

Fortunately, we had no problem motoring into the slip. As we had discovered, handling the Mary Lynn was easy with just two people aboard. It wasn't exactly the relaxing sail we initially had envisioned, but it was exciting -- something different every day. A chartering vacation may not be for everyone, and certainly not for people who want a cruise-ship type of atmosphere.

We spent the afternoon walking the gorgeous, white-sand beach. It was nearly deserted, with tourist season a few months gone.

Treasure Cay doesn't have a village. It's mostly a pricey resort area, with a golf course and many fishing tournaments.

Although the island lacked the quaintness of the other islands, we did enjoy taking really hot showers and stocking up on several gallons of water. The marina bar is quite nice as well, with sailors and boaters from all over swapping fish stories over reasonably priced beers.

As we left the marina, we headed back to Hope Town. It was our last day on the boat.

Together, we hoisted the sails. I took the wheel as Nick charted our course back to Hope Town and the charter company. We were getting pretty good at working as a team.

"Maybe the British Virgin Islands would be a good idea for next year," I said to Nick.

If you go

GETTING THERE: Flights from the United States to Marsh Harbor in the Abacos Islands leave from Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Orlando and take about an hour, longer if you have to stop over in Nassau. Bahamasair is one of a few of the carriers that offers direct service from Fort Lauderdale to Marsh Harbor. To get to the other Abacos Islands, you must take a ferry.

WHEN TO GO: The Abacos has year-round warm, tropical weather. Hurricane season is the same as in Florida, from June 1 to Nov. 30.

CHARTERING A SAILBOAT: There are several companies that offer sailboat and power boat charter service. Among them are: Abacos Bahamas Charters, 1-800-626-5690, or www.abacocharters.com; the Moorings Bareboat Yacht Charters (242) 367-4000. Expect to spend at least $1,200 to rent the boat for a week, more if you are renting a larger sailboat or if you buy the provisioning (food) package. Chartering is more expensive during the high tourist season, from December to April. Many charterers either take food with them and/or buy provisions at local grocery stores.

All charter companies require a sailing resume and an insurance deposit to rent a boat.

WHAT TO SEE: Depending on the length of your charter, sightseeing opportunities are unlimited. There are several stunning snorkeling reefs around the Abacos. In Man O'War Cay, stroll through a quaint, New Englandlike village and watch locals build boats by hand. On Great Guana Cay, stretch out at a gorgeous beach. On Treasure Cay, ask about the latest sportfishing tournament or play golf.

PAYING THERE: The Bahamas is expensive. Don't forget to pack basics such as sunglasses and medication.

The currency is the Bahamian dollar, equivalent to the U.S. dollar. U.S. currency is accepted everywhere.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: The official tourism Web site is www.go-abacos.com/. This includes lists of hotels, charter companies and dive operators.

Ready, set . . . sail

One couple's decision to charter a sailboat for a vacation in the Bahamas, put them right on course for a fun adventure. For other do-it-yourselfers, there's a port with your name on it.

If you go