On Tue, 16 Nov 2010 08:47:47 -0800 (PST), Frogwatch wrote:

I showed that article about caves in the Abacos to some of my caving
friends and mentioned I was going there. Suddenly my sailing trip has
become a caving trip. "No, we cannot go the short way to Little
Harbor from Freeport because it is dead into the wind". I have
several good cavers who want to go.
Quite frankly, I trust cavers more than sailors to be self
sufficient(and cheap).
Turns out that the most interesting caving is near "Hole in the Wall"
which requires a rappel down the cliff so I get to use my new caving
rope too.

Be careful around Hole in the Wall. While working with the Coast and Geodetic Survey, I found myself
on a 36' former tourist boat headed from Eleuthra to Hole in the Wall. Actually, we were trying to
get around the south end of Abaco.

Got caught in some heavy weather with waves much higher than our boat. We lost our dinghy, a 13'
Whaler, and gave up trying to get around the point. Seas were just way too rough. Finally started up
the eastern side of the island and got to Crossing Rocks, where we almost sunk the damn boat on
coral heads as we tried to get into the harbor. We lost our anchor, and had to take up a collection
to get the locals to dive for it. We spent the night there. The next day we made it to Cherokee
Sound. By then we were out of fuel, so captain of the boat, Rooster, hitchhiked to Marsh Harbor to
get some. Late that afternoon we got buzzed by a small twin engine Cessna, the pilot of which turned
out to be the owner of the boat. As we didn't have a radio on the boat, we'd been presumed lost. We
were, as we had no charts either.

I say 'we', but I was just a teenage surveyor along for the ride.

Hole in the Wall can get damn rough.
--

Hope you're having a great day!

John H