sherwindu wrote:
"Rosalie B." wrote:
sherwindu wrote:
I don't know what Grandma Rosalie's problem is with the Bahamas Guide. It may not have
fancy illustrations and even the latest GPS data ( I haven't checked the latest edition, so maybe
they now include it), but I have made numerous crossing and cruising of the Bahamas and this
publication called Yachtsman's Guide to the Bahamas is one of the best for an overall guide. The
It is a very good guide, but I liked others better. That's my
opinion, and I'm entitled to express it. You have a different
opinion. You don't need to complain about my opinion to express
yours.
I felt you were just dismissing the Yachtsman's Guide. I think it is one of the best comprehensive
books on the Bahamas. I have bought supplementary books, like 'Cruising Guide to the Abacos and
Northern Bahamas', when I visited those waters.
I don't think saying that everyone seems to like the Yachtsman's Guide
is really dismissing it. I tried hard to like it because everyone
else seemed to, but I just didn't like it as well.
I find the habit people have of referring to it as "the Bahamas Guide"
(which I did think you might have been doing) as though there were no
other guides quite off putting and uninformative. There aren't that
many more letters to type "Yachtsman's" instead of "Bahamas"
For many years, this guide was the only decent one around, and I imagine
it is still one of the best. I think that rates it as something special.
Yes Armond pointed out that in the old days it was the only game in
town and that's why people were so fiercely loyal and protective of
it. It is good and it does have some good features.
I didn't like it as well as I expected to, given what everyone else
said about it. However, I did not get this guide until the 2nd time
we went, when I was already somewhat familiar with the Bahamas and had
the other books. I do know that other people tout this guide as the
ultimate in guides for the Bahamas but it did not have a lot of the
things that I found very useful in Wilson's guide (like the phone
number of a dentist in Nassau).
It's nice to know where the dentists are, but more importantly I want
good nautical information that will keep me from going aground, etc.
That was only a single example. Wilson's book has lots of phone
numbers and places where you can get services and parts. Plus he also
has many really helpful waypoints. It was his location of the range
for Bimini that gave me my first clue that the Maptech charts were off
for that location. He also offsets the waypoints so that you get to
the harbor entrances etc but are still out in a safe area and don't
run into the marker if you should (stupidly) set that waypoint into
your GPS and then go below to have a nap or something.
I found the physical presentation harder to use, the text not as
clear, and I didn't find the sketches that useful although it is an
interesting idea. The Explorer charts have sketches to IIRC.
Things may have changed but in my days, there was no markers to line up
with the approach to Bimini Harbor. The sketch book showed a prominent
building, which helped with that problem. In the Exumas, many of those islands
You must be thinking of some other harbour. There aren't any
buildings that I recall on South Bimini that would help. On our
initial visit, because I didn't have the Explorer charts and I didn't
know whether to trust the Maptech charts or the Wilson waypoints, I
called a marina (number in the Wilson book) and he said, "go to the
end of the beach and come in at 85 degrees".
http://p.vtourist.com/645973-Lined_u...uth_Bimini.jpg
http://p.vtourist.com/645974-coming_...uth_Bimini.jpg
http://p.vtourist.com/645975-Alongsi...uth_Bimini.jpg
Of course the sand bar that comes out from the end of North Bimini
might be bigger than in your days, and they probably hadn't dredged
the approach to the South Bimini marinas which has made shoaling
around the entrance partway in.
Or maybe, you are talking about the big blue building (Fisherman's
Restaurant)
http://p.vtourist.com/645475-Fishermans-Alice_Town.jpg
which is where people go aground after they get into the harbor.
all look the same, so having a sketch of the shape of them really helps in finding
the entrances to harbors. I have not seen the latest books on the Bahamas, but in
all fairness, Wayne should take a look at the Yachtsman's Guide to the Bahamas
and compare it to other guides. That book proved to be reliable and very helpful
for my numerous trips to the Bahamas from Walker Cay in the north down to
Great Inagua in the south.
The problem is that these books are expensive and run from $44-40
each. And the Yachtsman's Guide doesn't seem to have sample pages on
the internet, or at least I couldn't find any.
book is compiled and updated by Bahamians and has easy to read presentations with many usefull
things, like sketch charts which show landmarks in places where there are no nautical markers.
It is published by Tropic Isle Publishers, Inc. who can be reached at 305-893-4277. They used to
be in North Miami, Florida. Be aware that the last copy I bought was back in 1997, so this number
may no longer be correct. I see it in most yachting supply stores, so you should have no problem
finding it.
http://yachtsmansguide.com/store/index.php
There is a 2005 edition.
"Wayne.B" wrote:
On Sat, 19 Nov 2005 14:03:58 GMT, Rosalie B.
wrote:
I found the "Bahamas
Cruising Guide" by Matthew Wilson to be VERY helpful.
===========================
Thanks, just ordered one from Amazon.com
They have the Table of Contents and some excerpts online which is
apparently a new service they are offering.
grandma Rosalie
grandma Rosalie