
[Shane – Below is my May submission for my All At Sea – South Florida monthly article. I love sharing my articles with my readers and would like to know…
The Bahamas is a group of over 2000 islands, cays, and rocks (although only 20 something are inhabited) in the Atlantic Ocean starting east of Florida. The name has Spanish origins meaning “shallow water”, due to the several 100+ mile long sand banks. On these banks the water is between 1-20 feet deep, giving a multitude of different water colors. Once you sail off the banks the water depth can drop thousands of feet within boat lengths. The islands themselves are all low limestone coral with fantastic beaches. In fact, the highest point in the country is only around 206 feet.
When Christopher Columbus made his historic voyage his first step in the New World took place on San Salvador Island. Unfortunately, the native Arawak population was enslaved and shipped to Hispaniola (Dominican Republic and Haiti) leaving the islands depopulated for over a hundred years. In the mid 1600’s pirates were living among the islands and British settlements were popping up. It became an official colony of Britain in 1783 and gained independence in 1973.
On Christmas Day 2010 I crossed from the Florida Keys to Bimini in my boat. A northerner holed me up for three days, which I took to explore north and south Bimini Island. I then went to Nassau for the Junkanoo festival, which started in the wee hours of the New Year.
From there I worked my boat down the Exumas and Jumentos. I then sailed out to Hogsty Reef, back up to the Acklins Island Group, and over to Long Island.
After exploring Rum, Conception, and San Salvador I worked my way up Cat and Eleuthera Islands. Next I sailed to the southern part of Andros Island and worked my way north through the Berry Islands and over to Grand Bahama Island. At this point my 6-month visa was ending and hurricane season was beginning, so I headed back to the USA.
By mid-November I was ready to go back, so I explored the Abacos for three weeks and then day hopped down to Mayaguana. After a week, I explored the Turks & Caicos islands for two weeks and then sailed to the US Virgin Islands.
If I ever hear someone say they do not like the Bahamas, I know that they simply visited Nassau on a cruise ship. Because once you leave the capital, the out islands are secluded and the people will take you in as if you are part of the settlement.
I loved cruising through the Bahamas on my boat for seven months, because each island has something unique to offer. My personal highlights were visiting Hogsty Reef, Junkanoo in Nassau, the cruising friends I made, visiting Christopher Columbus’s landing site in the New World (at San Salvador), The Hermitage on Cat Island, and the northern part of Eleuthera Island.
To be honest I do not have any dislikes, except that I was not able to visit Great and Little Inagua Islands. Otherwise I saw every island and set foot on most of them. I do think too many cruisers make the Exumas out to be the end-all-be-all. Many of them return to the Bahamas every year, but never explore outside of this one island group. The problem with this is that they are missing out on so much!
A couple recommendations I have for you is make sure you have the Explorer Charts (this will be your charts and guide), when you check into the country get your free fishing license, and stay updated on the weather (northerners in the winter and hurricanes in the summer) with harbors picked out to provide the right protection.
Below you can get even more helpful hints by watching the travel videos I made for the Bahamas. Also, you can read what all I did there in my blog posts located below the video.
[Shane – Below is my May submission for my All At Sea – South Florida monthly article. I love sharing my articles with my readers and would like to know…
[Shane – Below is the article I wrote for the April issue of All At Sea – South Florida edition that is coming out soon. I hope you enjoy it]…
[Shane – Below is an the article I wrote for my monthly column on the Bahamas that is found in All At Sea: South Florida edition and should now be…
[Shane – below is my lastest submission for the monthly article I write for the South Florida edition of All At Sea] Would you believe just 10 miles south of…
[Shane – Below is an article I just wrote for an upcoming issue of All At Sea – South Florida. I thought you might find it entertaining, before I start…
On Thursday I shared the latest article I wrote for the South Florida edition of the All at Sea magazine where I have a monthly column. It was about the…
[Shane – As many of you know I write a monthly article in All At Sea (South Florida edition) and this month’s article was about a super cool mermaid sculpture…
[Shane – as many of you know I write a monthly article in All At Sea for the South Florida edition about the Bahamas. I just finished writing the article…
[Shane – I write a monthly article for All At Sea – South Florida and this month I wrote about Hogsty Reef. I think this is such a cool place…
It is harder to find because it is published in All At Sea Caribbean, but only in the South Florida supplement found in the center of the copies for the Florida…
So you are planing a vacation to the warmth and relaxing Caribbean? In fact you choose to visit the Virgin Islands. Now regardless of whether you came on a cruise…
During my time in The Bahamas I had the honor of flying a flag which flew over the Maryland State Capital and was presented to a past crewmate as a…
I left Rum Cay on Sunday at 8pm with the idea to sail a close reach in 10-15 knot ENE wind to Samana Cay and arrive at 10am-noon and have…
Because she might worry about Monday when I left Abacos and headed south. The forecast called for 15-20 knots of wind, so I got up, put a reef in the…
Every Sunday Nipper’s, on Great Guana Cay, has become famous for their pig roast and I wanted to try it. The only problem was I in Green Turtle Cay still…
Thanksgiving in the Bahamas! Do they celebrate it here? The answer is no….and yes. It is not a Bahamas holiday, but the Americans still celebrate it and I had a…
The air is more fragrant, the water is clearer, and the sand is brighter…I must be back in the Bahamas!!!! But how did I get here? Since the Gulf Stream…
This week started with me in the Bahamas and ending with me in the United States. On Sunday Paul, Nancy, & I hung out at the fantastic Old Bahama Bay…
This week started with Paul and I reattaching my galley sink, which had come loose. Once this project was completed we moved to Slaughter Harbor (nice weather anchorage only) between…
We spent this week relaxing in the Berry Islands. As you read at the end of last week we spent a couple of days anchored off of Chub Cay. This…
This week was spent exploring Andros, which is the largest Bahamian island and one of the least populated. We started off by sailing 40 miles south southwest from New Providence…
This week’s blog written by Nancy Williams. Paul & I arrived on the S/V Guiding Light in the Atlantis Marina late in the afternoon. Shane was not onboard. He was…
This week started with us at Harbor Island. The island is a very popular tourist spot and I pulled the bikes out so Michael and I could follow a map…
Traveling the day before wiped Michael out, so he slept in on Sunday. By 10am I got antsy, so I pulled up the anchor and set the jib without using…
I started this week in Rock Sound, Eleuthera waiting for some unsettled, rainy weather to pass, so I removed the temporary boost pump I installed on the water maker. I…
The highlight of this week was seeing the third item I put on my “must see” list before I left on this trip…The Hermitage on Cat Island. Father Jerome (1876-1956)…
If you remember from last week my dinghy broke down at the Rum Cay salt pond entrance (3 miles away from my anchorage at Port Nelson), so after church Ted…
I am very excited to let everyone know I uploaded the first two episodes of “Aboard the Guiding Light”. These are 4-7 minute travel videos I will be releasing every…
Hi, my name is Michael, and I live in Loveland Colorado. I boarded Guiding Light on April 8 and Shane offered to let me write the week’s worth of our…
This week Michael and I toured the Jumentos and Ragged Island chain. We did not leave until Tuesday, because of the front I mentioned last week. Before we left we…
This week was a slow week waiting for my new Honda 2000 generator. It has taken longer than expected to get it, but as of Friday it is now on…
Last week I left you knowing Eric, Marilyn, and I sailed to Long Island. It turned out to be my favorite island so far, because of all the sights. On…
I spent most of this week in George Town. This is the hub of cruising in the lower Bahamas. Right now there are between 275 and 350 boat in the…
Ok everyone, this week was about hanging out in the best community in the Bahamas (in my limited opinion), BLACK POINT. As I said last week the Texas Navy moved…
Rusty and Linda wanted to watch the Super Bowl at Staniel Cay since they had friends on two boats that were going to be there from the north. It turns…
Have I got an ending to this week for you, but you have to hear the early part of the week first. Rusty & Linda, still from Sea Yawl Later,…
After the front came through last Sunday I picked up anchor and high tailed it to Black Point in order to attend church there. It was quite enjoyable and I…
Well here we are at the end of another week. I am anchored in between Big and Little Major Spot waiting for a front to pass tonight. This anchorage is…
This was a great week. To finish off my visit of Normans I snorkeled the plane and went to a small cave, which was littered with conch shells. I headed…
On Sunday the Fosters and I hung out at Rose Island and went to the beach, snorkeled the reefs, and explored with the dinghy. We headed back to Nassau around…
This week Rachel (the 14 year old daughter of Jim & Bluie) has agreed, with a bit of persuading :), to write the weekly blog. I will add comments as…
This week I thought I would let Bluie Foster (the mom of the family who is sailing with me this week and next) provide a recap of our activities. Hey! …