A Bahamas guide

We went to the Bahamas for four months in 2000, for two months in 2001 on our way to the Caribbean, and for three months in 2005. If you are thinking about going to the Bahamas too, here are the things we wish we knew before going, were happy to have known before going, and all that stuff.

Disclaimer:  we didn't go to every single island, and we didn't go to every single place on those islands that we did go to. See our logs for a complete list of where we went. Our bias is toward places with clear water, lots of sea life, little development, and few other cruisers.

Crossing

If you have a sailboat, you will probably want to leave from fairly far south in order to avoid a major fight with the Gulf Stream. On our first crossing, we left from Ft. Lauderdale; other friends left from the Key Biscayne area. Some left from Lake Worth Inlet (the West Palm Beach area) but if you do that, you are essentially bound for the Abacos as that inlet is pretty far north. On our second and third crossings, we left from Miami. We did the Explorer Charts' recommended "Z-crossing" by heading southeast immediately, letting the Gulf Stream sweep us north as we went east, and then angling back southeast. The Gulf Stream starts pretty close to the Florida coast so we didn't do much z-ing on the first leg.

Most people leave at dusk to make landfall in the early morning. On our first crossing, we left in the early morning and crossed onto the Great Bahama Bank an hour or so before sunset, continued until around midnight and anchored on the Bank and then continued to Chub Cay to make landfall in mid-afternoon. You can easily just go all night on the Bank and arrive early morning. For our second crossing, we left at dawn from Miami and arrived at Bimini mid-afternoon. (To cross the Banks from Bimini with a typical sailboat it's still necessary to anchor out there or go overnight.) Try to time your arrival with good light for reading the water. You absolutely don't want to enter any Bahamian harbor (except maybe Nassau, although I personally wouldn't even do that) after dark.  On our third crossing we did about the same thing as on our first, checking in at Chub Cay.

Checking in

The guidebooks all list the approved ports of entry. In most of these ports you will need to tie up at a marina to clear customs. The fee is now $150 for boats up to 35 ft and $300 for boats over 35 feet, which includes a fishing license. There's a small amount of paperwork, but it's pretty easy. US citizens can use a driver's license plus voter registration card or birth certificate, instead of a passport (we have passports).  The customs and immigration people did not board our boat any of the times we checked in.

The Bahamian courtesy flag is not the same as the Bahamian flag, which confused us a little when we went to buy one. The proper courtesy flag looks like the red and white British flag with the black, blue, and gold Bahamian flag in the corner. I don't imagine it's a big deal though if you fly the Bahamian flag as a courtesy flag. Remember to have your yellow Q flag on the starboard flag halyard until you've cleared customs, then replace it with the courtesy flag.

Destinations

Where you go depends on what you are after for your Bahamas experience.

Most islands have beautiful beaches, historic ruins, and friendly people. Also note that the Abacos are fairly far north and get more wintry weather than the rest of the Bahamas, although it doesn't actually resemble what anyone from north of about Georgia would call "winter". The winter temperature there is about the same as it is in Florida from St. Augustine to West Palm Beach, which means that it gets kind of chilly when a cold front comes through. (See weather section for more on cold fronts.) Most cruisers go south first and hit the Abacos in the spring.

Anchoring

Most of the time we anchored in shallow, clear water over perfect sand, which makes anchoring trivial. Some anchorages are thin sand over a hard bottom, so check your anchor set with a look bucket or by snorkeling. Most Abacos anchorages have grassy bottoms, and setting an anchor is tough. Danforth-types don't do too well in grass, CQR-types do ok if you can get the point down. Bimini and Fresh Creek, Andros have scoured bottoms which are tough to anchor in. Frequently there are coral heads in the anchorage so check your swinging radius. Don't forget about the 3-foot tidal range.

We didn't use the Bahamian moor in the Bahamas with nearly the frequency we did on the ICW. Unless there's a strong current or you need to restrict your swinging room, one anchor is enough under normal circumstances.

Charts and guidebooks

The Explorer chartbooks are the ones to have. If you do electronic charts, as we do, the Maptech Region 7 charts include the Explorer charts for the Exumas. The BSB electronic charts and the BBA chartkits are not nearly as detailed. The waypoints plotted on the Explorer charts can be relied on. The newest Explorer charts for the Exumas include the Jumentos (I don't know if the electronic version has this update).  The Explorer charts have become more and more guide-book-like, with lots of extra info.

We really appreciated the guidebooks by Stephen Pavlidis, The Exuma Guide and On and Off the Beaten Path, which covers the central and southern Bahamas. In places where there are no Explorer charts, or where the electronic charts are less than ideal, the sketch charts in these guidebooks are indispensable. His waypoints are good and his information about passes is extremely helpful. He also includes interesting (if not always accurate or complete) information about the various islands. For the Abacos we used Steve Dodge's guidebook.

We also have the Yachtsman's Guide to the Bahamas, which is okay for an overview, but for most places we went it doesn't give enough detail to be very useful. It does have tide tables in the back which we used, and sometimes the sketch charts gave us information that we didn't have elsewhere (such as for Andros).  The bottom line is that it's nice to have multiple sources.

Communications

Pay phones in the Bahamas work with a debit card which can be bought in $5, $10, and $20 denominations from Batelco offices and most marinas and hotels. Calls to the US are $1/minute so many cruisers get international AT&T calling cards. The one we used in 2000 and 2001, from Sam's Club, no longer worked in 2005.

Nassau has several internet cafes downtown, and in Marsh Harbour you can connect a PC at the Subway (the sandwich chain) and at the local ISP's office. In Rock Sound, the stationary store near the Batelco office has internet services.  Some marinas will let customers connect through their phone lines; the Staniel Cay Yacht Club and Sampson Cay Marina both have FREE wireless service, although if you want to use it from your anchored boat you will need a good antenna.  The north mooring field at Warderick Wells offers wireless service for $5/day. In George Town, Forbes, Exuma Business Services, and BalSound all offer net access for a charge. 

In towns where there is no alternative net access, you can plug into a phone line at the Batelco station (most towns have them) for $1.50/minute international. The access is very good and fast.

Some cell phone companies might have service in the Bahamas. The one we had in 2000 and 2001, AT&T, doesn't. If you are extremely persistent and don't mind spending a lot of money, it is possible to get an AT&T compatible phone hooked up with Batelco cell phone service. A friend of ours spent a whole day in the Nassau Batelco office getting phone service; she said you need to fill out lots and lots of forms including disclosure of all your financial assets, and pay around $450 in addition to a fairly steep per-minute charge.  Our new cell phone (2005) is from Verizon and although we suspended our service, we heard from others that Verizon phones do work in the Bahamas - however it's $1.59 a minute.

Dinghy

You should have a dinghy and motor combination that planes. If you don't have a good dinghy and fast motor, you will get very wet, and be boat-bound in poor weather. Rowing is just not practical at many islands with strong currents or long distances to shore or the good snorkeling spots. (We always carried oars, though, as a backup in case the motor failed. We frequently used them to get the last distance in or out to a beach, where it was too shallow to motor.) A good dinghy anchor with lots of line is a necessity for snorkeling and for keeping your dink attached to the beach. We carry a 4 lb Danforth which is probably overkill. Carry a handheld VHF if you're going far afield. Dinghy lights are rarely used but in crowded harbors like Georgetown are a safety necessity. A flashlight will do.

Draft

Windom draws around 5'3" loaded. Although there are only a few places we went where we would have grounded with 6'6", we would have been a lot more nervous. The tidal range is around three feet depending on the time of month. Given enough tide and guts, six feet can be taken in to just about any anchorage. More guts are needed in the Abacos. The shallower your draft, the less tide and guts needed.

Fishing

The check-in fee includes a fishing license, so you might as well fill out the form and get one. We trolled a line every time we were in deep water, but most of our meals were caught while snorkeling using a pole spear. We caught mahi-mahi (dolphin fish) mutton snapper, barracuda, jacks and yellowtail snappers, while trolling. We only tried baitfishing once but had great success catching saucer-eye porgies.

Ciguatera (a toxin found in some reef fish) is a problem in the Bahamas, so we avoided extremely large groupers and snappers, and large barracudas and jacks. We heard that the locals eat any size grouper, and in most of the horror stories we have heard, a big jack was the culprit.

Hogfish and queen triggerfish (yes, those pretty fish!) are relatively easy to spear and are very tasty. Lobsters also are easy to spear, once you find them. Lobster season is closed April 1 - August 1. Conch can be found by diving or wading and they are trivial to catch but a pain to clean. You can sneak up on groupers, but they can really move fast when they want to. Snappers are harder to sneak up on, although some species are curious and will get close if you are motionless.  Jacks can best be speared by smoothly swimming so as to intercept a school. 

The best spearfishing and conching tends to be near the uninhabited islands and areas:  Samana, the Jumentos, north coast of Rum Cay, etc.  The Jumentos are heavily fished by commercial Bahamian outfits, so there are not so many lobsters and big groupers there; on the other hand, trolling over the banks is remarkably productive. 

Fuel

Gasoline. In winter 2000, gasoline cost between $2.75 and $3.50 per gallon, so if you buy jerry jugs in the US and fill them with cheap American gasoline[*], your savings will more than cover the cost of the jugs. We brought 18 gallons of gas with us and ended up buying 10 more gallons in the Bahamas.

Diesel. In winter 2000, diesel was probably $2 to $3. We didn't really pay attention to diesel prices because we carry over 200 gallons and didn't need to buy any in the Bahamas. (We returned to the US with about 5 gallons left, kind of close for comfort!) Again, jugs of cheap American diesel are probably a good idea if you don't have mega tankage like we do.

Propane. We got propane refills in Georgetown ($13 for a 10# tank in 2005) and Rock Sound, Eleuthera ($11 in 2000, probably around $15 now). This compares with $5-$8 in the US. In many places in the Bahamas you must leave your tank for the day or overnight to be sent somewhere and filled. Don't even bother trying to get propane in small towns.

Alcohol. Friends with an alcohol stove were hit hard by the cost of stove alcohol in the Bahamas -- $32 for a gallon, which only lasts them three weeks. Alcohol to fuel your body rather than your stove is also expensive.

[*] Of course, Americans who drive sport utility vehicles and commute 40 miles a day don't think it's cheap. When we left the US in 2000, gas in Florida was around $1.40. When we came back, we heard news on the radio about $2/gallon gas in Chicago, but no matter how high gas in the US is, it's certainly going to be even more expensive in the Bahamas. [back]

Laundry

Laundromats are not as ubiquitous in the Bahamas as in the US. We found them in Nassau, George Town, Rock Sound, and Marsh Harbour. In general the cost was a little higher than in the US. These places also have laundry service for additional cost. The big exception was at the laundry in Rock Sound where it only cost $4/load (2000) to have our laundry done for us, the same cost as doing it ourselves -- you can bet we just dropped it off! At some smaller towns you can have laundry done. In Staniel Cay it cost about $20-$25 (2005) for a large bag (maybe 3 loads) and was ready overnight.  Exuma Dry Cleaners in George Town does a lovely job of washing and folding for $1/pound (2005) and if you bring it before 8:30 it will be done the same day.

When we were away from laundromat territory, I did some washing in buckets and drying on lifelines. It's a pain, and it uses a lot of water, but it does the trick. I think that using salt water for the wash doesn't save much on water because you need to rinse so much more, so I just used fresh water for both wash and rinse.

Mail

Sending mail. The easiest and most reliable way of getting mail back to the US or Canada is to give it to someone flying there. Some marinas have mail drops for US-bound mail. Staniel Cay Yacht Club flies mail to Ft. Lauderdale regularly to mail it there, and you can drop your mail in their box.  Exuma Markets in Georgetown has a box for US flat stamped mail, and cruisers with guests flying out are encouraged to ask them to take some mail back. The Abaco Cruiser Net asks each morning for boats with people flying back to the US or Canada willing to take stamped mail. We sent about a dozen letters back and every one got to its destination.

Receiving mail. Regular postal service is slow and unreliable. Several friends of ours had three-week waits for mail. Courier services such as DHL or UPS are fast, traceable, and expensive. They only deliver to certain places, of course. We got mail delivered to us in Georgetown (via Airborne Express to Exuma Markets, which reads a list of boats with mail or packages each morning on the VHF net) and in Marsh Harbour (via UPS to the UPS office). Both times we got about 2 months worth of mostly bank statements and magazines -- maybe 20 pounds of stuff -- and it cost around $90. "Reggie Air" is an alternative way of getting things shipped to George Town -- ask at Exuma Dive Center.

Money

We brought $1200 cash (in twenties, hidden in a secret place on board) for our 4-month stay, and only ran low about two weeks before we left the islands. We got more cash at Barclay's Bank in Marsh Harbour, as a "cash advance" on our Visa-branded ATM card, and no fee was charged (and we got it in US rather than Bahamian dollars!). We heard from cruising friends that the Georgetown banks also charged no fee, but that the fee in Spanish Wells was a whopping $7.

We also used our Visa credit card, and occasionally our Visa ATM/debit card, wherever possible (Nassau, Georgetown, Marsh Harbour, and marinas). Most places in the Out Islands take only cash.

Our cellphone, internet, and mailing service bills are all automatically charged to our Visa credit card, which is in turn automatically paid out of one of our bank accounts. We just made sure before leaving that we had enough in that account to cover our four months in the Bahamas, and we kept track of all charges and expenses using Quicken. The few bills that we had to pay directly we did via US maildrop services (see the section on mail).

We were in the Bahamas over April 15th. US taxpayers abroad get an automatic 2-month extension to file, and can file for a 4-month extension using form 4868. I downloaded this form from the IRS website and filed it before leaving. You do need to estimate your liability and pay enough so that you're covered, or they will charge interest on the outstanding amount. (Of course, if you pay too much, they don't pay you interest on your refund!) State requirements vary; Colorado (our state of residence) has a similar form which gives a 6-month extension.

Provisioning

Food. You will probably want to do most of your provisioning in the US. Most types of food are more expensive in the Bahamas, and gourmet/health food/specialty stuff is rarely available. Of the places we visited, Nassau and Marsh Harbour have supermarkets the equal of large US supermarkets (Marsh Harbour even has a "wholesale food mart" along the lines of Costco or Price Club, but with no membership requirements). George Town and Rock Sound on Eleuthera have stores about equivalent to medium US supermarkets, and Thompson Bay and Clarence Town on Long Island, and New Bight on Cat island are like smaller ones. The stores on other islands (those that even have grocery stores!) are more like mini-marts or 7-11 type stores.  In 2005 there are now decent groceries available at Staniel Cay (Isles General Store) and Sampson Cay, but get there on mailboat day (Wednesday).

Fresh milk was the most expensive item we found (relative to US prices), usually between $6 and $8 a gallon when it was available (generally only within a day or so of the mailboat). US brands of juices, sodas, canned foods, condiments, crackers, cookies, and cereal were pricy, as were vinegar, aspirin, and Kleenex. Items imported from British Commonwealth countries tended to be less expensive than equivalent US items, even less expensive than the same items in the US. Butter from Ireland or New Zealand was $1.50/lb and very good. Twinings tea, and British "cream crackers" and ginger cookies were all quite cheap and tasty.

On some islands local women bake bread (usually white but we sometimes found whole wheat) which tends to be a little on the squooshy and sweet side. It makes great French toast though. We baked our own bread most of the time because we prefer dense whole-wheat and rye bread.

In the tiny mini-mart like stores, the only fresh produce you can expect to find are tomatoes (green and red), potatoes, and onions. Sometimes there will be bell peppers or cabbages. The small stores will have all of these, plus maybe grapefruit, oranges, plantains, bananas, and apples and lettuce imported from the US. The medium and large stores have a typical US selection, including green beans, zucchini, and so on, but expect sticker shock for these veggies in the medium stores (e.g. $5/pound for eggplant). There are some fruit and veggie stands where you can buy direct from the grower. If you can get to a produce packing plant (I hitchhiked to the one north of George Town) you can get extremely high-quality, fresh local produce at very good prices.

I loaded up on produce in Florida and put the fruits in nets and the veggies in "green bags" from West Marine in the fridge. We ate fresh stuff for two months, all the way to George Town, where we stocked up again. The green bags are awesome, but be sure to store only uncut items in them.

Drink. Bring all the beer and wine you plan to drink as in the Bahamas it is outrageously expensive ($9 for a sixpack of Budweiser, Beck's or the local Kalik) and the selection is very poor. I had heard that rum was cheap, but I would say rather that it is about the same as US prices, perhaps a little less. You can get local rum and some interesting flavored rum (coconut rum, mango rum, pineapple rum etc) for about $10/liter; Bacardi (which is bottled in Nassau) is slightly higher. We love the coconut rum! I had also heard that other liquor was expensive, and in many cases it is, but at "duty-free" stores in Nassau and Georgetown we found Jack Daniel's for around 10% more than Florida prices.

Security

We never locked our boat or dinghy. We would have locked up in Nassau had we anchored out. There, unsecured dinghies at dinghy docks or tied behind boats are reportedly big targets for theft, but according to a Canadian woman I spoke with who has been living in Nassau for four years, no Bahamian would actually board a boat to steal e.g. a dinghy on davits, or any other boat or personal gear. Apparently, Bahamians are not allowed to have guns, but Americans, as everyone knows, go everywhere heavily armed, and therefore they all have guns aboard and will shoot would-be thieves at the slightest provocation.

Occasionally local kids "borrow" dinghies tied up at the George Town dinghy dock, but the dinks have always been found unharmed. We anchored our dinghy on beaches everywhere and tied it up to local docks without locking it, with no problems. We hope that the Bahamas continue to be so crime-free!

Transactions with other cruisers

It is illegal in the Bahamas for cruisers to buy, sell, trade, or barter goods unless the duty has been paid in advance. And if you think that stops anyone, I've got a duty-free bridge to sell you. Cruisers always have stuff they discover that they're not using as much as they thought, and other cruisers are always looking to get a good deal on used gear. If you want to make a transaction, don't mention prices over the VHF. The morning cruiser's radio net in George Town is filled with carefully-worded announcements:  "I've got a 5-horsepower outboard I'm not using" or "I'm looking for a woman's wetsuit, size small."

Trash

We "precycled" to get rid of as much potential trash as possible before leaving Florida. We always put food trash into a Tupperware container which we kept in the fridge, and dumped it when outside anchorages. When in less-inhabited areas where we were unlikely to be able to offload trash for over a week, we split our trash into three parts:  cans and bottles (to be broken up and disposed of over off-soundings deep water), paper and thin plastic (to be burnt on the beach below the high-tide line), and serious trash (to be saved until we get to a town that will take it).

Garbage can be dumped at marinas (sometimes only for customers, sometimes there is a fee) and at some but not all settlements. Waste motor oil can be disposed of in Nassau, Marsh Harbour, and George Town (and probably some of the other larger towns).

VHF radio usage

In the US there are certain working channels allocated for recreational boats. In the Bahamas, there aren't. Most cruisers here quickly get in the habit of using the channels closest to 16 rather than going up to the US recreational channels. (Note that 17 is low power.) Commercial ships usually use 13 as in the US. Most people use the US channel designations.

In George Town during the height of the season, and also in the Abacos (particularly around Marsh Harbour), 68 is used as a hailing channel for boats, and 16 is used for hailing businesses and for emergency (most people set their radios to monitor both). If you are within radio range of these places, don't use 68 as a working channel. Most channels near 68 are good as working channels, but most radios can't transmit on 70 which is reserved for DSC digital use.

There is a VHF net daily in George Town at 8:10 am on 68. I believe there is a daily net in the Abacos as well.

Water

The watermaker turned out to be an extremely useful item. The water quality in all anchorages is fine for running the watermaker. If you plan on spending much time in the uninhabited parts of the Bahamas during the winter, you should either have a watermaker, travel with a boat that has one, or just carry a whole lot of water. In the four months we were there 2000, we only had three thunderstorms with enough rain to be worth catching. (Locals told us it was an unusually dry winter.)  We caught rain a few times in 2005 but usually big rainstorms come with big winds, which make deploying a rain-catcher difficult.

In places where reverse-osmosis water is available, you will probably need to jug it, and it costs between 30 and 60 cents a gallon (except at Black Point in the Exumas where it is free). Well water is usually free and usually brackish, but sufficient for showers, cleaning, etc.

Weather

Prevailing wind conditions in the winter are easterly, 10-15 knots. Typically the wind will slowly edge to southeast as a high pressure center slides off to the east ahead of a cold front. As the front approaches, the wind will shift relatively quickly through southwest, west, and northwest. It may die off to under 5 knots before, during, or after this shift. This period lasts between several hours and a day or so; then the front passes and it starts to blow like stink from the north. 25 knots is not uncommon. The north wind is a cold wind, and the further north you are, the colder it is. For the next few days the wind slowly continues to veer, blowing from the northeast and then eventually from the east again, with the windspeed usually dropping to the usual 10-15 knots once there's more east than north in it. The entire cycle repeats with the next cold front, usually within the next 2 days to a week.

Some marinas and other places rebroadcast the NOAA and Bahamas Meteorological Office weather forecasts, along with the tides, over VHF. In the Exumas, Highbourne Marina reads the weather at (I think) 7:30 am, June "Blue Yonder" of Overyonder Cay (near Staniel Cay) does an excellent weather report at 8:00 am, and the George Town cruiser's net starts off at 8:10 am with the weather. All are announced on channel 16 and then given on a working channel. If you're sufficiently close to Nassau you can get the weather from Bahamas Radio ZNS1 1540 kHz AM in the early morning.

If you have an SSB receiver, you can get weather information no matter where you are. BASRA (Bahamas Air Sea Rescue Association) broadcasts the weather forecast on 4003 kHz at 7 am. If you can tune in ham frequencies, BASRA does a ham version of its weather net at 7:20 am on 3696 kHz, and the Waterway Net gives Bahamas weather and the offshore report for the southwest north Atlantic (i.e., the Bahamas) shortly after it begins at 7:45 am. We prefer to get the NOAA weatherfax broadcasts from NMG in Louisiana (4316, 8502, and 12788 kHz) which include a 24 hour and 36 hour wind/wave forecast at 1230 UTC (7:30 am EST, an hour later during EDT), the nowcast and 12 hour wind/wave forecast at 1315 UTC, and a surface analysis at 1335 UTC. We use "JVComm32" which is shareware. NMN (4426, 6501, 8764, 13089, 17314 kHz) does a computerized voice broadcast ("Perfect Paul") of the offshore weather report, which includes the Bahamas, several times a day (1130 UTC is the early morning report) but we usually just use the faxes.

We also get the NOAA model data in GRIB format which is available through the saildocs.com service.  Winlink users can do it automatically through the catalog.  This service requires a SSB/ham radio plus an HF modem.  This product is similar to what is sent by weatherfax.

The Caribbean Weather Center SSB broadcast that David Jones used to run is now done by Chris Parker, and he includes the Bahamas.  During the winter (before Daylight Savings Time) he gives Bahamas weather on 4045 kHz at 6:30 am; after the time change the 4045 broadcast is at 8:00 am, but frequently you cannot hear it from the Bahamas, so he also includes the Bahamas weather with the Caribbean-oriented broadcast at 8:30 am on 8104 kHz.  (Times and frequencies are all subject to change - this is as of 2005.)  Anyone can listen to the broadcasts and glean whatever useful information they can, but if you want specific forecasts from Chris you must become a sponsoring vessel, which as of 2005 costs $175/year.

Navigational notes on a few places

Hog Cay Cut
This is the "shortcut" between George Town and the Jumentos Cays (or the backside of the Exumas). Tide is crucial. At dead high tide which was 3.6 feet above datum, we saw 6.4 feet at the shallowest point crossing the bar. Look up the tide data, consider your draft, and do the math. The Explorer chart or Pavlidis waypoints are good. Make a range with the lone palm tree and the bush below it.
Comer Channel
This is the other way to the Jumentos.  Pavlidis's waypoints are good.  We found no less than 7 feet.  It's not so much a channel as a broad area of deep-enough water.
George Town, Exuma 
The guidebooks make the entrances sound worse than they are. The Explorer chart waypoints are good. As of winter 2000 the major reefs at the entrances are marked with small buoys. However, the dredged central harbor area is filling in with shifting sand and at low tide it's easy to ground in the supposedly 2-meter deep area. The shoal southeast of Welk Cay near the southern (eastern) entrance can cause serious waves to build when there are northerly swells.
Little Farmer's Cay, Exumas 
If you are going from the anchorage west of Little Farmer's Cay around the south end of the cay and out to the cut (or vice versa), you must stay very very close to the shore, closer than indicated on either the Explorer chart or the guidebook chartlet, to avoid grounding on the sandbar.
Current Cut
The current through this cut is truly phenomenal. Time it with the tide or you'll be spinning your wheels. On the southeast side, the deep water is fairly close to the small rocks near the island until the waypoint where you can head out (use Pavlidis or the Explorer chart for details).
Abraham's Bay, Mayaguana
The east entrance is narrow, hard to read, and has a shoal in the middle. The west entrance is far easier and less scary.
Bimini
All of our electronic charts for Bimini are off by several hundred yards!  Go in on the range, and eyeball navigate into the entrance. The entrance has shoaled and changed since we were there in 2001.
Samana
Pavlidis's waypoint for the entrance and sketch of route is right on.  This is a strictly eyeball route but is not difficult provided you have good light and no swell.  We found no current inside the anchorage, contrary to what Pavlidis says.  The anchorage is not particularly comfortable with strong winds from any direction other than north.
Dollar Harbour (near Long Island)
The shallowest point is the bar outside the cays (we saw 6.0 ft at mid-tide), not the one between the cays as suggested by Pavlidis's sketch chart.  His waypoints are good but his sketched route is not.  We found it most straightforward to go around the bar between the cays on the east, not on the west as indicated.
"deepwater channel between Halls Pond Cay and the banks" (Exumas)
We failed to find this channel as shown in Pavlidis's guidebook.
Lark Channel
This is a route between the Jumentos and the Tongue of the Ocean.  The route as given in the Explorer chart, from Flamingo Cay to a waypoint south of the Middle Ground, to and through the Lark Channel, is good, with no shallow coral heads that we found. 
Grassy Creek Cays
These small cays close together at the south end of Andros can be approached via a deep channel between the northernmost cay and "North Rock" (another cay). A waypoint at 23°47.1N, 77°24.9W could be used.  The channel enters and then curves southward, very obviously bounded by shallow coral on the right.  Depth is around 25 feet.  Various places to anchor behind cays.
Lisbon Creek, South Bight, Andros
Pavlidis's sketch chart is wrong and the Explorer chart (also the Yachtsman's Guide) is correct about the location of the dredged channel into the creek.  We saw 8 ft. in the channel but are unsure as to the tidal state as the current in the creek continued to flow "out" long after what we thought was low tide.  
by Ilana Stern, s/v Windom ilana [at] windom [dot] netrack [dot] net
[updated 5/10/2005]back to articles