I am planning a trip with one or two friends, to travel and explore the
outer islands of the Bahamas (e.g., Harbour Island off Eleuthera,
Walker's Cay off of Abaco), camping at various spots for a week or so.
There, we would surf, swim, fish, and explore as much of the area as
possible. After a week or so, we would travel to another outer island
and repeat.

Ideally, what we would like to do is find someone interested in taking
6-8 weeks hoping from various outer islands, making their way down to
Turks & Caicos and eventually Puerto Rico, AND where this person would
be interested in having three people crewing their boat in exchange for
joining them on that passage.

I have a good deal of sailing experience. My friends know little or
nothing of sailing (so far). We intend to head out from Florida (or
anywhere on the US Eastern Seaboard really) in December 2007 or Jan
2008, so we have plenty of time to learn some more about sailing, if
necessary. We also have plenty of time to organize with people and
plan a route. We would be coming aboard each with a medium sized pack
with all gear necessary for our needs, and one surfboard each.

What I am asking, essentially, is how best to find someone interested
in taking aboard two or three people (completely willing to crew in
exchange for passage) to make these jaunts to islands (or perhaps
sailing the entire journey)?

Is there plenty of transportation between even the outer islands that
it would be an easy task to find someone on some boat going to one
island, and then a week or so later, finding someone making the jump to
the next island?

I have heard that hitching rides with mail boats works rather well for
getting from island to the next. Has anyone heard of this and has any
advice on how to go about setting this up?

Thank you for any advice, references, or information, in advance.

Sincerely,
Scott