C class boats race in the Bahamas.

The clear, shallow waters and crowd-free anchorages of the Bahamas, only a short hop by plane from Florida, are a favorite charter destination. According to Wikipedia, the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, (which declared its independence from England in 1973, but remains a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, which is made up of former member states of the British Empire), consists of 29 islands, 661 cays, and 2,387 islets.

132 companies offering charters in the Bahamas. Many of the islands are within a couple hundred miles of the Florida coast, so it’s an easy destination to get to by air. And while many regard the Gulf Stream as an insurmountable barrier between their Florida-based boat and the gin-clear waters of the Bahamas, in as few as 45 miles you can be enjoying conch fritters while safely tucked away in a cozy marina.

Weather-wise, the Bahamas, especially the northern portion, can be more challenging and changeable than the Caribbean. Blue Northers (cold fronts sweeping down from Canada and across the Gulf Stream) can send temperatures plummeting and winds howling, especially in the Abacos, the island chain that runs along the Florida coast from Palm Beach down to Hispaniola.

But temperatures are relative; when it’s 10 degrees in New York City, even the coldest temperature ever reported in the Abacos (46 degrees) sounds pretty good. And down here fronts pass through so quickly that even colder temperatures will soon move back up toward average, which in February is in the seventies.

If you choose to head to the Bahamas in summertime, hurricanes are a concern. Since 1999, four major hurricanes (Dennis, Floyd, Frances, and Jeanne), and many more tropical storms have rolled over the Bahamas, causing millions of dollars in damage. Monitoring the excellent hurricane forecasts from the National Hurricane Service will help you avoid danger.

The shallow, reef-laden waters of the Bahamas can be tricky, rewarding the careful navigator and punishing the foolhardy. Oft-used harbor entrances are well marked and buoyed, but most everywhere else requires careful planning, use of the several excellent private charts and cruising guides that are available, and a strict, daylight-only navigation rule. The water visibility is outstanding most of the time, which allows for sight navigation especially when the sun is high in the sky.

The shallower draft your vessel has, the better off you’ll be, which is one of the reasons that catamarans are a popular choice for charter companies and charterers. Any vessel that draws over 5 feet will prove a challenge, and its navigator will have to pay close attention to the 3-foot tidal range.

Bareboat charter fleets are available in the northern group of islands called the Abacos, but crewed yacht charters may extend throughout the archipelago, dependent only on the length of your charter vacation. Besides offering excellent bonefishing, the Bahamas offer deep-sea fishing charters as well.

Nassau is renowned for plush resorts with golf courses, giant pools, spas and Vegas-type entertainment. But that’s just Nassau, located on the island of New Providence and one of 700 islands that make up the island nation known as the Bahamas. Only a handful of the islands are inhabited and most of its renowned reefs are pristine and untouched. Mostly flat and sandy, the outer islands are laid back and unhurried, where you can meet friendly local people, retired captains and sailors, old fishermen, and the artist seeking inspiration in incredible sunsets.

Read about a charter in the Exumas

Last October, Susanne, Georgina (age 9) and I first saw our charter boat Blue Moon off Paradise Island, Nassau, the largest of the Bahamian island chain. The 2006 Hunter 41 was painted in my favourite Captain’s Navy. I’d never come across on-board air conditioning or electric heads before, and best of all everything worked very well. And the boat was so clean I was almost tempted to eat my lunch from the engine rocker cover, though perhaps I’d draw the line at the bilges.

Blue Moon, a Hunter 41, provided an excellent charter platform for the author.

We were a little surprised to see a front loading fridge and freezer, which aren’t especially practical for sailing. Also the electronic chart plotter above the wheel with instruments below was great for motoring but useless for sailing, where the steering position is to the port or starboard side depending on the boat’s tack. Other than this, Blue Moon was perfect for our two weeks of cruising.

Enjoying the pleasant October sunshine on a reach between Eluthera and Davis Harbour

After provisioning and a good (air conditioned) night’s sleep aboard, we set sail for Highborne Cay at the north end of the Exuma Island chain, some 38 nautical miles away. The Exumas form a national park and all are very beautiful and clean. En route, the depth over Yellow Bank was something to keep an eye on but no issue. Wind was an interesting 25kts and we made 7.5 to 8 knots over the ground.

We anchored in a secluded bay on Highbourne, filled the dinghy up with fuel, found our first of many conch shells and had our first taste of sunshine. October is supposed to be low season with rain, wind and cold weather, and maybe it was for the locals. To us it was shorts and bikinis for the duration, with the occasional rain providing a respite from the heat and occasionally, an opportunity to shower! We capped off the day with an amazing sunset.

An amazing sunset capped off our day in the secluded bay of Highbourne.

If you are looking for busy shops, restaurants and crowded bars, don’t go to the Northern Exumas. But if you’d like to see all sorts of wildlife in its natural habitat, this is the place. Rays, turtles, dolphins, sharks, bonefish, flying fish, and hundreds of conch – which I prefer alive but if you like to eat them, I understand they are very good!

Monday we took a short hop to Normans Cay to anchor for more swimming, sunning and relaxing, again alone and secluded. Tuesday we sailed to Warderick Wells, home of the park warden and a small gift shop. Picking up a buoy behind Emerald rock gave us a great base for walking and snorkelling the reefs.

A short dinghy ride from Staniel Cay takes you to the famous swimming pigs.

On Wednesday we headed to Cambridge Cay, and then to Staniel on Thursday. Staniel has great services and a particularly nice restaurant / bar at the Yacht Club – it’s essential that you buy the t-shirt! A quick ride in the dinghy takes you to “Thunderball Cave” (of James Bond fame). This is only accessible at low water slack but absolutely amazing, you swim under a sill in the water that opens out into a large cave about the size of a small house. The roof at some point has collapsed so there’s a natural skylight that lets the sun shine light the pool. This pool is teaming with so many varieties of tropical fish it’s impossible to count. A short dinghy ride in the direction of Fowl Cay takes you to the famous swimming pigs.

Feeding the tame sharks on Compass Cay

Compass Cay has a tiny marina with very little in the way of stores, but it is still an amazing place to visit. Here we swam with and fed the sharks who’ve been tamed by the owner of the island, a very pleasant Bahamian who made us very welcome. On the windward side of the island was an amazing beach where we were all alone. Not so in the small marina though, where feeding sharks was the order of the day (they like cold turkey the best).

By Saturday we were in need of water and decided to take the windward side route to Rock Sound on Eluthera, about 35NM to the North East. Everywhere in the Exumas, water costs about $0.45 to $0.50 per gallon. Davis Harbour charge $6 to $12 per day to connect your hose, well worth knowing if you want to wash down the boat as well as filling your tanks! Mooring fees there are also less than half of elsewhere. We arrived in Davis Harbour Marina late on in the afternoon and found all we needed including a short taxi ride to a very large supermarket and hardware store. The sail across and back were both great with pleasant sea and wind conditions for an easy reach both ways.

Now it has to be said that there are two tricky parts about sailing in the Exumas. On the lee side of the island chain there is a great deal of very shallow water over sand bars and occasional coral. This is easy to deal with using the pilot book, charts and some common sense. All the advice to use “visual pilotage” is correct and must be supported by a good depth sounder and knowledge of your position.

The other tricky part is getting from the leeward to windward side of the chain. Between most of the islands there is a passage where the current can flow strongly and waves can be high. On more than one occasion we found it necessary to pass through at slack or close to slack water. It’s not a problem, just something to be aware of.

On Monday we set sail for Little Farmers Cay and had an outstanding welcome! An interesting island almost entirely populated by the descendents of one family who settled there some years ago. The services are limited but they have everything you need. If you’re lucky, you’ll meet Terry Bain who owns Ocean Cabin. Terry will tell you everything you need to know about the Exumas and even sing you a song!

Tuesday was our last night of solitude, in a tiny bay in the private island Rudder Cut. There are “private” signs on some of the islands but we were assured that this applies only above the high water mark, so it’s fine to swim and sunbathe on the beach.

We had most of the beaches all to ourselves, including this one on the windward side of Compass Cay.

Wednesday was a fairly long sail down the “outside” of the south Exumas. We braved the passage from the leeward to windward side of the islands through the passage between Rudder Cut and Little Darby, a short exhilarating blast out to sea like a champagne cork from its bottle. A few hours on the wind until we got to Channel Cay, where once again we were in the lee of the islands heading for Georgetown.

We found the marina at Georgetown to be a bit choppy so headed over to Hurricane Hole on Lee Stocking Island. This was such a good spot that we stayed for the balance of the holiday. There is an amazing beach just off the Chat-n-Chill Restaurant where again, buying a t-shirt is mandatory. In the bay we saw turtles and also paddled with six foot rays, all swimming along the shore looking for conch scraps from the bar next to Chat-n-Chill.

It’s about 1 mile by dinghy over to Georgetown where you’ll find all sorts of supplies, souvenirs and a post office in case you need one. There’s also an interesting lake that you can motor straight into.

When it was time to go home on Saturday, the hand over back to 360 Yachting was smooth and straight forward. All in all, we’d recommend the company and the destination, but not for novices!

Editor’s Note: Find a charter yacht in the Bahamas. Read more about the Exumas (including a list of highlights) on the 360 Yachting site.

Albany Marina's megayacht slips are now open for business on New Providence island.

On the day in 2007 when I met Capt. Herb Magney, he was sporting a green feather headdress, a gold chest plate, and a peacock-feather quilt whose hemline rested about halfway up his bare white thighs. He looked at me through the red and blue war paint on his face, held out a tray of canapés, and asked, “Are we having fun yet?”

The festive cocktail party was aboard the 125-foot Palmer Johnson Milk and Honey, which Magney captained before taking command of the 145-foot Heesen At Last in April 2010. When I bumped into him last month in Fort Lauderdale, where he was promoting At Last to charter brokers, his boring, dark sport coat almost made me cry. Thank goodness I saw a little twinkle in his eye. I hoped that he literally had something up his sleeve.

“I’ve found a great new option in the Bahamas,” he said, and then launched into a practical campaign for Albany Marina, an under-construction luxury development whose core amenities, including restaurants and a megayacht marina, are now open for business on New Providence island. “It’s even easier to get to this place than to Atlantis from the airport in Nassau,” Magney said. “We’re on the yacht, and we’re gone. Within 30 minutes of the guests’ airplane landing, we’re off.”

He had no war paint this time, but he was on a mission nonetheless, to explain that where you begin a cruise in any destination makes a huge difference in how quickly you get to relax. What Atlantis is to casino games and water slides (nothing wrong with that, of course), Albany Marina is to luxury golf and adult pool bars.

That’s a great match for the types of clients who might choose a yacht such as At Last, whose weekly base rate is $110,000. It’s also a superb place to immerse yourself in some atmosphere before starting a cruise through the Exumas, which are, in his words, “pure serenity. This is off the beaten path. This is where you go when you don’t want to answer the phone.”

They’re answering the phones at Albany Marina, of course, with a good number of large yachts bringing their business to the new facility. More will likely arrive in early 2011 along with newly constructed buildings that will include everything from two-room suites to five-bedroom penthouses with private swimming pools.

Yes, I could see spending a few days there before turning the whole of the Exumas into your own private swimming pool—especially if you could get Magney to serve some poolside canapés in his favorite outfit.

Editor’s Note: Learn more about the area by visiting the YachtWorldCharters.com Bahamas page.

Kim Kavin is an award-winning writer, editor and photographer who specializes in marine travel. She is the author of six books including Dream Cruises: The Insider’s Guide to Private Yacht Vacations, is editor of the online yacht vacation magazine www.CharterWave.com, and writes the blog at www.BrokerageBoss.com.

No matter how big or fancy, a charter vacation will give you the ultimate in luxury - a choice of destinations.

And a charter vacation offers something more – the ability to cruise from one place to another at your leisure and discretion. Whether it is a decision about where to go, or stay, or about which wines and meals you take, the choice is completely up to you.

The first choice to make is where to go. Here’s a sampling of some destinations to consider, depending on the season you plan to travel and the cruising area you would like to visit.

Alaska/Pacific Northwest
From Vancouver up to the Glacier Bay National Park lies the Inside Passage, this is the most popular cruising destination in Alaska. Here you’ll find idyllic scenery and incredible wildlife, including whales, eagles and bears. For the more adventurous, head out into the North Pacific to visit Icy Bay before moving up to Prince William Sound and witnessing the huge ice face of the Columbia glacier calving enormous bergs of ice. High season: June-August.

Find a charter yacht in the Pacific Northwest

Galapagos Islands
Out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, the Galapagos are a living laboratory of evolution where birds and animals have no fear of man. There is nothing else quite like these islands in the world. To quote their most famous visitor, Charles Darwin: “The natural history of this archipelago is very remarkable: it seems to be a little world within itself; the greater number of its inhabitants, both vegetable and animal, being found nowhere else.”

The ultimate way to enjoy the archipelago is by private yacht. Anchor in remote bays and, with a terrestrial and diving guide, explore the geology and wildlife on foot or the fascinating depths. Swim with the hammerheads, the marine iguanas and the penguins. High season: January to April.

View the Yachtworldcharters.com South America page

Bahamas
The Bahamas are renowned for rum punches and sparkling, turquoise water; plush resorts with golf courses, giant pools, spas and Vegas-type entertainment. But that’s just Nassau, only one of 700 islands that make up this island nation. The outer islands are laid back and unhurried, home to friendly locals, retired captains and sailors, old fishermen, and the artist seeking inspiration in incredible sunsets. High season: January-April.

Find a charter yacht in the Bahamas

A choice of wines and when and where to eat are completely up to you on a charter vacation.

Caribbean
The Caribbean island chain runs from the Grenadines in the south to the Windward and Leeward Islands (the northernmost of which is Anguilla), then west to the U.S. and British Virgin islands. The entire region is well known as a charter mecca thanks to crystal clear waters, white sand beaches, secluded rocky coves and lush green mountains. However, each island is subtly different. Small hops between islands allow a quick culture change between wild full moon parties and the sophistication of the exclusive resorts. High season: December – April

View the Yachtworldcharters.com Caribbean page

West Mediterranean
Legendary opulence and decadence are what this region is known for, but there are also secluded anchorages in which to escape the hustle and bustle. Monte-Carlo to Sicily, the Costa Esmeralda and Puerto Banus, south to the Amalfi coastline, the Western Mediterranean is unparalleled.

East Mediterranean
The world’s premier archipelago for cruising runs from Venice, the crown of the Adriatic, through the Croatian isles to the Grecian and Turkish Aegean archipelago, and on down the Turkish Dalaman coastline. An exotic mix of east meets west. High season: June – September

Find a charter yacht in the Mediterranean

Seychelles
Off the coast of Africa, the Seychelles are only truly appreciated when visited in the ultimate luxury of a yacht. A glorious tropical climate and warm turquoise waters caress the 115 diverse and tranquil islands, while a kaleidoscopic array of untouched forests, bird sanctuaries, exotic hideaways, virgin fishing grounds and spectacular diving sites entice all who visit. High season: June – August, but great weather year round.

Find a charter yacht in the Seychelles

Islands are only truly appreciated when viewed from the ultimate luxury of a yacht.

Mauritius – Rodriguez – Reunion
Uninhabited until the seventeenth century, the varied scenery of Mauritius belies its small area. Lofty forested mountain peaks overlook undulating fields of sugar cane, all encompassed by fantastic coastal scenery of powdery white sand beaches and spectacular blue lagoons.

A full day’s steaming east of Mauritius is the island of Rodrigues. The white sand beaches, little turquoise blue creeks and small islands dotted around seem to spring from the Robinson Crusoe story. With over 100 square miles of lagoon, littered with small islets and a rich Creole culture, Rodrigues remains curiously unknown.
The largest of the island group, Reunion is also rich in French Creole culture, although there are relatively few beaches and no fringe reef or lagoon. The island offers spectacular sights for the more adventurous: breathtaking scenery, sometimes likened to the Himalayas in the tropics, harbours the most active volcano in the Indian Ocean. High season: November till April, but good weather year round.

Find a charter yacht in Mauritius

Thailand
Ruins, temples and deserted cities, idyllic islands and palm-fringed beaches are Thailand’s stock in trade. The most popular islands are Phuket, Ko Samui (off southeastern Thailand), and Phi Phi. Perhaps first among the boating attractions of the Andaman Sea, however, is Phang Nga Bay, famed for the stunning sea-mountains that rise vertically out of calm, turquoise waters. This staggeringly beautiful scenery continues around the coastline to Krabi where some of the most attractive beaches in the world can be found. High season: November-April

Find a charter yacht in Thailand

With a huge array of water toys at your disposal, a charter vacation can be fun for the whole family.

Australia
The underwater paradise of the Great Barrier Reef stretches 1,500km of atolls, barrier and ribbon reefs from Bundaberg in Queensland to Papua New Guinea. Most charters are based at the Marlin Marina in Cairns, or further south at Hamilton Island in the Whitsundays. Snorkelling, scuba diving and fishing are prime pastimes in the October-December season, as well as angling local rivers for succulent barramundi.

The Kimberley Coast of northwest Australia offers huge red canyons and rock paintings dating back 50,000 years. Other popular charter locations include Sydney’s Gold Coast, the “apple isle” of Tasmania, offshore Norfolk Island, and spectacular New Zealand across the Tasman Sea. High season: April – October

Find a charter yacht in Australia

French Polynesia
From the remote ruggedness of the Marquesa Islands to the cosmopolitan society Islands of Tahiti, Moorea, Bora Bora and Raiatea, French Polynesia has something for everyone. The low coral atolls of Rangiroa, Toau and Apataki in the Touamotu Islands offer spectacular diving and snorkelling. Tranquility and hospitality are found all across these islands, which are called the Friendly Islands. High season: September to January

More information about charter in French Polynesia can be found on the Yachtworldcharters.com Oceania page.

Sexsea Lady is a vintage Hatteras that has been refitted into a comfortably luxurious motoryacht.

The bad news came when the two couples had to cancel because of family illness. The good news was that we now had the yacht to ourselves. Tee hee.

It would be hard to find a better yacht than Sexsea Lady on which to explore the Bahamas, because she is comfortably luxurious and the crew is both competent and charming. Priced at a rate that is not too far above what you might pay for a much smaller bareboat motoryacht, she is a perfect choice for anyone dipping their toes into the world of crewed charters.

Sexsea Lady is a vintage Hatteras with that distinctive Jack Hargrave sheer line that makes her a timeless classic. Originally built as Lauderdale Lady for the Fort Lauderdale Boatshow, she had an interior that can best be described as Vegas Sixties – all mauve and pink and formica. Happily, that is no more.

Her current owner, in a deep pockets refit, removed every trace of her gaudy décor and replaced it with a muted Tommy Bahama look that is at once comfortable and elegant. The tacky mirrored bulkheads of the master suite became teak and fabric, and the saloon was softened with loose chairs and couches that fairly beg for a good sprawl with a trashy novel.

the saloon's loose chairs and couches fairly beg for a good sprawl with a trashy novel.

We joined Sexsea Lady in Nassau and were greeted with an “Island Bloody Mary” (spicy and made with rum) as well as a tray of sliced fruit. Each afternoon that followed, the mate would surprise us with a new frozen concoction, but our favourite quickly became the yacht’s own Sexsea Lady.

Our charter destination was Harbour Island at the northern tip of Eleuthera which is reachable in one day from Nassau, but we were in no hurry and planned to anchor out the first night. Besides, the morning of our departure brought a solid 25 knots out of the south, so we decided not to push too hard.

It was here that the captain’s competence became evident because, rather than simply setting a rhumb line course, he took Sexsea Lady on a gently curving route that kept us tucked in the lee of the many little islets along the way. He didn’t know whether his guests might have queasy tummies and his choice would have made a world of difference to anyone affected by lumpy seas.

His thoughtfulness made it so smooth (Sexsea Lady’s stabilisers also keep her rock steady) that the chef served lunch en route, and it was a prelude for meals to come. A whole lobster tail was presented on a bed of tossed romaine and accented with crumbled bleu cheese, bacon and a zesty mustard vinaigrette. Washed down with a lovely Pinot Grigio, it made the saloon sofa very inviting for an afternoon nap.A

We tucked into the protected harbour at Royal Island for the first night, with the ruins of a once proud mansion peeking through the overgrowth. The afternoon was leisurely, as crenellated castles of clouds with slanting rain squalls grew and passed, and we enjoyed our first frosty Sexsea Lady along with hors d’oeuvres of Kielbasa sausage sautéed with garlic and onions, served with green olives stuffed with Chipotle chili.

The teak and fabric master suite

Sexsea Lady has a full array of water toys including a jet ski and Robalo tender, but our choice was to simply relax in the cool saloon. With the clouds turning pink at dusk, dinner was served on the after deck that can either be open or enclosed, where we enjoyed a juicy beefsteak, young asparagus in Parmesan cheese, and roasted potatoes. Unlike many charter yachts where the chefs are so dedicated to some nouvelle fusion cuisine that the helpings are sized for parakeets, the chef provided hearty meals for appetites whetted by salt air.

The next day, we cruised into Spanish Wells to pick up our pilot for the big adventure of the region: running the treacherous Devil’s Backbone into Harbour Island. Our pilot would be A-1 Broadshad, a lifetime resident of Spanish Wells who gave us a spin around the village in his golf cart. A-1 is an irrepressible character of undetermined age with an endless supply of jokes and patter, who is also a fishing guide and real estate agent (his card states “Read My Lips No Fish No Pay!”). His pride in Spanish Wells, where treasure galleons once filled water casks, is well deserved and the town is absolutely pristine, with brightly painted cottages and a fishing industry that uses a fleet of what A-1 calls “coon-ass boats” from Louisiana.

Once safely through the Backbone, we tucked into the Harbour Island Club marina, choosing it over Valentine’s Marina which is often noisier with its party atmosphere. We had breakfasted on freshly baked croissants and a divine omelet, while lunch was ham and grilled onion sandwiches on soft slices of Spanish Wells bread that A-1 had brought with him.

Our captain had thoughtfully arranged to have a golf cart waiting for us at the marina, so we took the afternoon to explore what appears on charts as Dunmore Town, but which locals call “Briland”, a slurred contraction of Harbour Island.

Harbour Island is a charming antidote to the tourist-trap of Nassau, with a few shops along the waterfront on Bay Street selling straw goods and shells, winding lanes lined by colorful homes covered with bright bougainvillea, and a long beach of pinkish sand.

The Bahamas glass window bridge

We gave the chef an evening off and dined at the Rock House restaurant in town, with our foursome sampling superb grouper, pork and beef. Insider tip: you need reservations, and be sure you insist on a view table overlooking the water or they’ll try to tuck you into an airless corner against the wall.

The next day brought the high point of the entire charter, as the crew loaded up the Robalo and we sped off for a picnic on a deserted beach. This wasn’t any sand-on-the-blanket picnic, though, because the Sexsea Lady crew brought table, chairs, barbecue and cooler laden with icy drinks. We dined on grilled chicken with a mustard glaze, shrimp and veggie kebabs, and a freshly-made coleslaw served overlooking aquamarine waters.

Mom always said don’t swim after eating, but the offshore coral heads were too inviting, and we spent the afternoon floating face down over brilliant reefs and some of the largest angelfish I’ve ever seen.

As if challenged by our dining ashore, the chef finished our day with a sunset meal on the after deck of tender medallions of pork, baked sweet potatoes with honey glaze (that South African sweettooth!) and stuffed Portobello mushrooms to die for. We spent a quiet evening aboard after strolling the docks to check out the catches on nearby sportfishers, took leisurely hot showers (the master suite also has a tub), and drifted off into angelfish dreams.

The cool quiet of Sexsea Lady's stern deck

Our last day dawned hot, humid and calm, with A-1 once again tiptoeing us through the reefs before zipping back in his skiff to Spanish Wells. On a sea as smooth as molten metal, we slid easily back toward Nassau, past throngs on the daytripper beaches and sunburnt tourists on speedboats. Cosseted in the cool quiet of Sexsea Lady, it seemed only minutes before we were in our slip at the Nassau Harbour Club.

As the Chalk’s seaplane lifted off the water for our return trip to Florida, I caught a glimpse of Sexsea Lady and marvelled at the sheer delight of our charter. Glancing across at my wife, I knew that she was thinking the same, and I also knew that our decompression from the elegant comfort and gracious service of Sexsea Lady wasn’t going to be a pretty sight.

For his writing in Sailing magazine, Chris Caswell won the 2009 Boating Writers International top prize in the Boating Columns category.

To find charter yachts in the same area, visit the Yachtworldcharters.com Bahamas page.

Our Moorings 372 powercat had room for two couples plus children.

Wherever you are – as you read this – is probably cold, perhaps with snow or at least slush on the ground. When you left your warm home or office today, you bundled up from galoshes to gloves.

As I write this, I am not cold. In fact, it’s in the 80s, the sun is shining at SPF40 level, and I’m wearing shorts and a t-shirt. When I finish this paragraph, my wife and I plan to take the dinghy ashore for a picnic lunch on a pristine crescent of white sand, where we will put the first footprints of the day. When we land on the beach, we’ll step into gin-clear water that is as warm as a baby’s bathwater, and the sugary sand will be soft on our bare feet. With not too much luck, we’ll find another scarlet-rimmed conch shell to add to our growing collection.

The brochure had been intriguing. An announcement that The Moorings, the largest charter boat company in the world, had formed a division devoted not to the sailboats that are the usual Caribbean charter fare, but to powerboats. An opportunity had been created for non-sailors to enjoy the delights of chartering, and it wasn’t long before we were on a Continental Express flight from Fort Lauderdale to Marsh Harbor, the social centre of the Abacos islands that stretch along the north side of the Bahamas.

“Town” can be just a collection of cheerfully painted houses plus a good grocery store.

After cursory customs, we were soon climbing aboard Goodnight Moon, our 37-ft, twin-hulled home for the next week. Our charter started the next morning, but we’d arranged to stay aboard that night to give ourselves a chance to stow our gear and get used to the boat. Sam, an ebulliently cheerful Moorings employee, arrived with her annotated copy of Cruising Guide to the Abacos and gave us a thorough check-out on the Abacos. She provided an invaluable insider’s advice on the best snorkelling, the best anchorages, and the best food.

Our Moorings 372 was built to Moorings spec by French builder Fountaine Pajot, and the thoughtful design provides comfortable accommodation for two couples, plus a couple of kids. Each hull is an identical private cabin with large double berths, private heads and stall showers. The salon joining the hulls has an inside helm, a big convertible dinette, and a galley with everything from microwave to refrigerator/freezer. Best of all, the 372 has a generator that not only keeps the microwave popping popcorn and the blender making slushy drinks, but powers dual air conditioning systems that keep the salon and cabins comfortably cool even on the hottest days. Up a curving flight of stairs is the bridge, with a helm shaded by a bimini top and a bench seat.

Standard equipment is very comprehensive, including a rigid-bottomed inflatable dinghy with outboard, barbecue grill, stereo with CD, snorkelling gear, more than ample linens and towels, and full electronics from chartplotter/GPS to VHF radio. In the Abacos, the depthsounder is essential but a little frightening until you get used to the fact that the water is so shallow that much of your cruising is in 10-12 feet. Don’t worry, though, because the 372 draws just 3’6” of water and the props are protected by twin skegs against occasional groundings.

Unlike Moorings’ sailboat charters where prospective charterers need to document sailing experience that would daunt Horatio Hornblower, the power charters are available to anyone with basic powerboat experience. And, if you aren’t comfortable at first with twin engines and a boat of this size, The Moorings can provide a skipper for a day or two to hone your boat handling and anchoring skills.

The disctinctive red-and-white striped lighthouse of Hope Town.

After stocking up with provisions at a local market (we chose to do our own provisioning rather than use the Moorings plan), we cast off to explore the Sea of Abaco. Our first stop was Fowl Cay, a Sam-recommended snorkelling and shelling spot where we anchored in 9ft of water and dinghied onto the beach that provided the first of many conch shells. Later, after a pleasant lunch in the air conditioned cabin where we enjoyed the rock-solid stability that the nearly 17ft beam provided, we upped anchor and cruised past Scotland Cay and along Great Guana Cay.

We decided to spend our first night at Orchid Bay Marina in Great Guana’s Settlement Harbour, a spotlessly maintained facility where we hooked up to shore power, took hot showers, barbecued steaks and made the first of the rum drinks we later dubbed “No Brainers” for their end result.

The next day, we listened in to the local cruiser’s VHF radio net, where boaters trade information on weather and sea conditions around the Abacos, as well as tips on marina deals, restaurant specials and even local flea markets. We’d planned to head for Green Turtle Cay, but our plans were changed by a local condition called “rage sea”. The wind and swells sometimes create breaking seas in the passages between the Sea of Abaco and the Atlantic, making them impassable. In our case, the remains of a storm far to the north had created huge surf in Whale Cay Passage and we would have to wait for another day to reach Green Turtle. In the Abacos, that’s “No problem, mon”.

Instead, we walked into “town”, which is mostly a collection of cheerfully painted houses plus a good grocery that provided a few items we’d forgotten. A local conch vendor had a table arrayed with his wares, but we were delighted with our own finds and knew we’d discover more.

We used the afternoon to venture up to Baker’s Bay at the end of Great Guana, where we could clearly see massive breakers rolling through the passage in the distance. We anchored in water so clear we worried that our anchor would knock a starfish that we could easily see on the bottom, and again we explored the beach, discovering several additional conchs.

We had heard about nearby Treasure Island, a huge facility that once provided cruise ship passengers with a Disney-like atmosphere in a tropical setting of restaurants, beaches, water activities and bars until it was suddenly abandoned a decade ago. We tied up to the rundown pier and walked up the weedy path into the facility that is overgrown and eerie. Feeling like we’d discovered Jungleland after a nuclear holocaust, we explored the vine-covered amphitheatre and restaurants with palms growing through their floors until multi-engined mosquitos drove us back to the beach.

The rage continued the next day, so we opted to visit Treasure Cay, a resort marina on Great Abaco. En route, I let the autopilot steer while we enjoyed quesadillas and icy beers. Finding the entry was a bit tricky because it’s invisible until you’re close but, once inside, we picked up a transient dock right in front of the swimming pool. Shorepower and water were inexpensive, so I hosed down the boat to get rid of salt and sand, and we tucked in for the evening with the air conditioning keeping us pleasantly cool. The next morning, we explored the Treasure Cay area, which lays claim to one of the best beaches in the world. That night, we dined ashore at the Tipsy Bar (aptly named if you sample their Goombay Smashes) and enjoyed lobster with Caesar salads.

A brilliant sunset over the low-lying islands caps another perfect day.

The next day, we headed for Elbow Cay and the harbour of Hopetown. Even with charts and GPS, the entrance is twisty and we got down to 5ft of water before we slid into the pretty harbour marked by the candy-cane red-and-white striped lighthouse. Opting for shorepower dockside rather than the generator at anchor, we chose the Hope Town Marina, where the friendly dockmaster warped us into a slip with a view of the lighthouse. We shared hors d’oeuvres with a couple honeymooning on a Sea Ray at the next pier and, later, the steady sweep of the 138-year-old kerosene light (seen on everything from postage stamps to Bahamas currency) hypnotised us into a deep sleep.

We explored Hopetown by dinghy and foot the next day, marvelling at the brilliantly painted houses that somehow managed to survive Hurricane Floyd’s 229-mph winds and then topped off our provisions (and rum) before heading for Man O’War Cay nearby.

Over incredibly blue-green water, we cruised through Man O’War’s harbour but decided not to pay to tie up temporarily to explore ashore, knowing that we would also be saving money we would have spent at Albury’s canvas shop to buy bags and gifts. Besides, Man O’War is a dry island (no alcohol sold or, theoretically, consumed), so we couldn’t even enjoy a pub. We anchored in the eastern harbour for lunch, and decided to return to the Moorings base that night, since our charter ended the next morning and we had an early flight home.
It had been a relaxing charter, with none of the muscle needed to handle the lines on sailing charters (even our anchor windlass was electric!), the comfortably protected Sea of Abaco hadn’t challenged our skills, and we could recommend it to novice charterers wholeheartedly.

Moorings offers three powerboats: our 372 catamaran, the 341 which is a charter version of the nifty Luhrs lobsterboat-styled express cruiser that is perfect for a couple, and the 454, a larger catamaran with four staterooms, each with private heads and showers. In addition to the Abacos base at Marsh Harbour, The Moorings has a new base in St Thomas, where charterers can explore the US and British Virgin Islands, which are a bit more demanding of boating skills than the Bahamas.
Whether your interests lie in snorkelling through crystal clear waters among squadrons of brilliant tropical fish, hunting conch shells on beaches where yours are the first footprints, or simply relaxing at anchor with a trashy paperback, The Moorings and the Abacos have just what you want. We’ll be back soon.

Chartering Tips

How To Get There: Several airlines fly from Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and Palm Beach airports direct to Marsh Harbour in the Bahamas.

Cost: The season is the key, with the most expensive season during the Christmas holidays and from late February to July, while the low season is mid-August to mid-October. In the prime season, our 372 is $760 a day, dropping to $610 for the mid season and $540 for the low. A good way to save is to book immediately before or after a more expensive season, when you’ll get the same weather at a discount. Add in provisioning, either at a store or through the Moorings plans that provide several choices ranging from $20 to $45 per day depending on the number of meals. You should probably take insurance at $35 a day, and our fuel cost for the week was less than $75. If you want to tie up to a mooring buoy or in a marina rather than anchoring, expect to pay from $10 to $40 per night plus electricity and water.

How To Save $$: In addition to chartering in the off season, we save by taking a lot of our own food. We stock up on steaks, chicken, fish and shrimp at discount stores, freeze them hard, and ship them in an ice chest to save on the often exorbitant island prices. Enjoy happy hour on your boat, because rum is dirt cheap but prices can be $6 to $10 per drink in a shoreside pub. Besides, you’ve got a better view on your own boat. Shop airfares for discounts, or use frequent flier miles to keep travel costs down.

What To Take: Everyone takes too much, so pare down. In a soft-sided easy-to-store duffel, pack a couple of swimsuits (so one can dry), t-shirts, deck shoes, beach sandals, and a light jacket for cool days in the off season. In the Abacos, you’ll live in a swimsuit, but bring a nice shirt and shorts if you want to dine ashore. You’ll need a good hat, polarized sunglasses to see into the water, and strong sunscreen to prevent burns. Take tons of film and/or batteries for the camera, some CDs for the stereo, and a canvas tote to carry cameras or gear ashore (and conchs back).

Must Read: Let me immodestly suggest Chartering A Boat, written by yours truly, Chris Caswell, and published by Sheridan House, at bookstores everywhere.

Editor’s note: For more information about charters in the Abacos, visit our Bahamas page.

And the pirates moved in.

An overview of the areas covered by Explorer Charts.

The fine harbor on the north side of New Providence Island was ideally situated, and it still is today, only not for pirates; for bareboat and crewed charters that convey sailors and powerboaters to the remote islands a short distance away. Nassau is in the heart of the Bahamas, with Eleuthera to the east, the Exumas to the south, Andros Island to the west, and Grand Bahama Island and the Abacos to the north. The Abacos in particular are a major charter destination, popular because of the beauty and laid-back, off-the-beaten track feel of the place. Isolated cays fringed with coral reefs, quaint little towns, white-sand beaches, and some of the best fishing in the Bahamas make the Abacos a charter adventure far removed from the glitz and glitter of present-day Nassau.

A beach cabana on Compass Cay, Exumas

Three centuries ago, the central location of Nassau was key to the pirates. Spanish galleons laden with South American gold and silver typically passed through the Bahamas and the Florida Straits. Although heavily armed and often traveling in fleets, the galleons were slow and prime targets. The pirates roamed the sea, hiding behind cays until a hapless vessel happened by. It’s easy to imagine the swashbucklers, the Jolly Roger flying, when chartering in the Bahamas.
Although the Spanish ships were a favorite, any merchant vessel sailing near or in the Bahamas was easy pickings for the most infamous pirates of the Caribbean, most of them based in Nassau – Edward Teach (Blackbeard), Charles Vane, Samuel (Black Sam) Bellamy, and Calico Jack Rackham, who is said to have invented the flag bearing the image of the feared skull and crossbones. Anne Bonny and Mary Read both served with Calico Jack, earning them the dubious honor of being considered among history’s most bloodthirsty female buccaneers. (Anne Bonny was actually Calico Jack’s lover, but she fought along with him and his crew too.)

Nassau had other advantages as a pirate haven besides its proximity to trade routes. The harbor was relatively shallow. British, French, and Spanish warships couldn’t enter, and the entrances were fortified. Blackbeard established a “Privateering Republic” and took up residence in Fort Nassau, lording over his less influential pirate brethren. Tent cities made from old sails lined the shores. The debauchery and violence of the harbor was legendary, and by 1715 about 2,000 pirates called Nassau home.

The Golden Age of Piracy in the Caribbean lasted for roughly 30 years, starting in earnest at about 1690 as pirates, many of them British, preyed upon any vessel with loot. The Spanish were hit hard, but so were British merchants, and the hue and cry in London became intense as losses mounted and trade declined. In 1718, Britain appointed a former privateer captain, Woodes Rogers, as the first royal governor of New Providence. His mandate was to turn chaos at Nassau into order.

C-Class sloops race in turquoise Bahamian waters.

Rogers came armed with the authority of King George to grant pardons to any pirate who surrendered and promised to stop pillaging. Many took him up on his offer. Some of these former swashbucklers were hired as pirate hunters, and they were good at their jobs, running to ground many of the most famous pirates who tried to escape. British warships, soldiers, sailors, and marines participated. By 1720, Nassau was once again a peaceful British port and the Caribbean Sea was much safer for trade. Rogers had a favorite slogan, which he evidently used often after his victory over the pirates of Nassau: “Piracy expelled, commerce restored.”

The history of the Bahamian-based pirates is kept alive today at the Pirates of Nassau Museum located in downtown Nassau, New Providence (www.pirates-of-nassau.com). Exhibits include a replica pirate ship and interactive displays. Docents dressed as pirates offer tours and brief educational presentations.

Editor’s Note: David W. Shaw is the author of seven nonfiction books, including a historical account of Flying Cloud, America’s most famous clipper ship.  For charter boats, view the Bahamas listings.  Photos and chart courtesy of Explorer Charts.

The master cabin, before the upgrade

Master cabin, after upgrade.

Designer Claudette Bonville, who is well known in yachting circles, consulted on the interior refit.  It involved gutting large sections of the yacht right back to the original aluminum framing, and then making improvements such as replacing the white laquered walls with anigre, maple, and walnut woodwork.

What were once his-and-her baths in the master stateroom are now a single, large master bath, and the entrance to the master is now through a newly built corridor that allows for more privacy than the previous access point.

The old wheelhouse.

Wheelhouse after upgrade.

In other parts of the yacht, refit work included transforming the onboard gymnasium into a VIP stateroom, adding a bunk-style Pullman berth to one of the guest cabins so that At Last can now take 11 instead of 10 guests, and adding a day head in the sky lounge.

The exterior profile of At Last is also dramatically different, thanks to a complete rebuild of the pilothouse.

At Last is part of the International Yacht Collection charter fleet. Her weekly base rate is $150,000 for charters this winter in the Bahamas and Caribbean.