Rosalie B. wrote:

It is a very good guide, but I liked others better ...

I find the habit people have of referring to it as "the Bahamas Guide"
... 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"

I didn't like it as well as I expected to ...

Nor did I, but it is fair to point out that the "Yachtsman's Guide" was
introduced long before there were any other reasonably good books. In fact
it was introduced when "Yachtsman's" was used without fear of the PC Police.
This meant that old time Bahamas hands were never going to be convinced that
something better was or is possible.

BTW these are the same folks you will find at Volley Ball beach who have
been playing volley ball at Volley Ball Beach for well over 25 years. They
have no interest in expanding their cruising horizons beyond George Town
because George Town is, obviously, perfect. Why else would it be populated
each winter with 600 or so Yank boats? (I never seem to get around to
counting the Canadians, and of course the French don't count for anything).

--
Good luck and good sailing.
s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat (aka Ole Grain o' Salt)
http://home.comcast.net/~kerrydeare

On Sun, 20 Nov 2005 06:08:14 -0600, Geoff Schultz
wrote:

I don't know if this was mentioned before, but the Bahamas Explorer charts
are the best charts of the area. You can find info on them at
http://www.explorercharts.com/

=====================================

Yes, I have gotten numerous recommendations for them and just bought
all 3 books at West Marine yesterday. They have lots of good
information and very detailed charts. Unfortunately my hypothetical
route south of Andros does not appear on anyones list of viable
alternatives so I guess that one will have to be written off as a bad
idea.

"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 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.



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.



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
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.




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

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

Grandma, I've been attempting to read your info from below, but have not
figured out how to make the system jump.

Where do I read your stuff, vs just see pix that others have put up (well,
as have you, too, it appears)?

Thanks.

Happy Thanksgiving!

L8R

Skip

--
Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig
http://tinyurl.com/384p2 The vessel as Tehamana, as we bought her

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you
didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail
away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore.
Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain
"Rosalie B." wrote in message
...
Wayne.B wrote:

On Sat, 19 Nov 2005 01:33:09 GMT, Rosalie B.
wrote:

Then you could sail down the Tongue of
the Ocean safely at night.

Yes, that would remove a lot of uncertainty but be quite a bit longer.
Where did you exit Tongue of the Ocean?

We didn't do it that way. We have a 5 foot draft and are a slow boat.

We went to the Bahamas twice - both times by ourselves (so many people
seem to take a convoy). The first time we left our mooring in Miami
and went down around Cape Florida (this URL gives you the start of the
trip and then there is a link to the next section at the bottom of
each one) http://www12.virtualtourist.com/m/tt/2abf0/#TL and crossed
to Bimini and checked in there. Then we were weathered in for awhile
- we had intended to go to the Berrys or to Abacos. But it just
didn't look good for that so we went up along the west side of Bimini
and over to Lucaya. Then after another couple of days there when it
didn't look like we had a weather window unless we went NOW, we went
back to Florida instead of going anywhere else.

The second time, we were in Marathon
http://www12.virtualtourist.com/m/tt/2e608/#TL and we left there late
in the afternoon and sailed up to we anchored off Tavenier and
anchored and then the next day we went up to Rodriguez and spent the
day there and then left that evening. We again went to Bimini and
checked in. After a day, we went north of Gun Cay and crossed the
banks (anchoring once) and went to Frazier's Hog Cay in the Berries
and stayed there a couple of days, and then went to Nassau. After a
couple of days there (including visiting Atlantis, my having a filling
replaced, and retrieving my glasses from the harbor), we started down
the Exumas, but Bob had a heart attack before we got to Great Exuma.

grandma Rosalie

"Skip Gundlach" skipgundlach at gmail dotcom wrote:

Grandma, I've been attempting to read your info from below, but have not
figured out how to make the system jump.

Where do I read your stuff, vs just see pix that others have put up (well,
as have you, too, it appears)?

I have a whole narrative of both trips on Virtual Tourist with
pictures, plus information on hotels, restaurants marinas etc (the
marinas are under Sports Tips).

There are two ways to do this. One is go to my VT homepage
http://www12.virtualtourist.com/m/4a9c6/ and there are links to each
segment of all the trips. You can click on each segment that you want
to see. Also if you click on the pictures the large thumbnails will
expand.

If you go to:

2001, Feb 2-4 Scare in the Keys [which was anchored off Marathon and
the start of the 2001 trip] and click on the blue link on the home
page (which is http://www12.virtualtourist.com/m/tt/2e650/#TL ) it
will take you to that section of the narrative.

2001, Feb 15-21 Crossing the Gulf Stream to stay in Bimini, Bahamas
2001- Feb 22 trip to Lucaya
2001 Feb 23-25 stay at Lucaya
2001 Feb 26-leaving Lucaya

And then farther down the page is

Jan. 9-15, 2002 to Marathon FL
Jan. 16-19, 2002 staging for the Bahamas to go to Bimini . and on Jan.
20-21, 2002, crossed the Grand Bahama Bank Jan. 22-23, 2002 Fraziers
Hog Cay (Berry Islands).
Nassau - Jan 25-29.
Part 5a Approach
Part 5b Nassau
Part 5c Nassau Harbour Bridges to
Part 5d Atlantis Aquarium
Part 6 Jan 30 - Feb 6, 2002 "Before the Heart Attack" takes us to the
Exumas - Allan's, Normans, Highborne, and Shroud Cays

Feb. 6, 2002 sailed to Nassau -airlifted to Miami, Feb. 8, 2002 - had
an angioplasty.

Part 7a After the Heart Attack covers recovery in Miami Feb 9-24, 2002
Part 7b We flew back to the Bahamas Miami (from the air) .
Part 8a Feb 25, 2002 is returning to the boat - the Bahamas from the
air
Part 8b Feb 25-March 2, 2002 Nasssau and
Part 8c Coral Harbour
March 3, 2002 we sailed to Chub Cay in the Berry Islands
March 6, 2002,we had a scary bumpy trip to Lucaya
March 10, 2002 - we went West End (Grand Bahama)
March 12, 2002 - re-entered the US at Ft. Pierce

Or you can start at http://www12.virtualtourist.com/m/tt/2e608/#TL
(which is the start of the 2002 trip), and read and scroll down to the
bottom of the page, at which place you will see:

Next PART 3 Gulf Stream Crossing and if you click on the blue "Part
3", it will take you to the next section which is
http://www12.virtualtourist.com/m/tt/2abfc/

If you look in the little box at the top right it will have other
locations where I have pictures (first number is tip information and
the second number is the number of photos) such as

* Alice Town, BS 26 31
* North Bimini, BS 13 10
* South Bimini, BS 4 4
South Bimini is where I have the pictures of the range

* Lucaya, BS 17 46
* West End, BS 6 11
* Grand Bahama Island, BS 7 9
* Freeport City, BS 5 5
* Chub Cay, BS 5 15
* Frazier's Hog Cay, BS 3 12
grandma Rosalie
http://www12.virtualtourist.com/m/4a9c6/