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#1
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Cruising Bahamas
We plan to go around the 10th of January, but I have a couple of questions.
1. Cash: Everyone says bring a lot, but how much assuming we'll be there about a month and use marinas and restaurants about every other day? 2. Abaco: I've read that Abaco in Jan-Feb is chilly. Others, however, have enjoyed visits there in Winter. How good or bad is it in Jan-Feb? 3. Gulf stream crossing: How does one find boats to buddy up with for the crossing? Where would we want to hang out waiting to depart from either Lake Worth or Miami/Ft Lauderdale? 4. Reservations: Guide books say to make reservations for popular marinas. Since the cell phone won't work, how do we do that? Will VHF reach adequately? Thanks. Appreciate the info. |
#2
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Cruising Bahamas
We went last winter and had a good time. We took a
mooring at Man-O-War Cay as our home base and went on short trips to other places in the Abacos. More comments below. Doug s/v Callista "George C." wrote in message news:UcqEb.7681$PK3.5907@okepread01... We plan to go around the 10th of January, but I have a couple of questions. 1. Cash: Everyone says bring a lot, but how much assuming we'll be there about a month and use marinas and restaurants about every other day? Most of the marinas we stayed at had winter specials of around $0.65 to $1.00 per foot per day. Electricity is around $5 to $8 per day (Treasure Cay was $17/day). Water was metered at $0.15/gal or flat rate at $5 to $8. The Green Turtle Club had a deal going where anything you spent at the resaurant or bar was deducted off of the slip fee. Treasure Cay was the most expensive. 2. Abaco: I've read that Abaco in Jan-Feb is chilly. Others, however, have enjoyed visits there in Winter. How good or bad is it in Jan-Feb? It took us until Jan 22 to get a decent weather window. It was generally in the 70's to low 80's during the day and in the 60's at night. Might have dipped into the 50's once or twice. 3. Gulf stream crossing: How does one find boats to buddy up with for the crossing? Where would we want to hang out waiting to depart from either Lake Worth or Miami/Ft Lauderdale? Most folks going to the Abacos leave from Lake Worth. We left at 4am, crossed onto the bank south of Memory Rock and continued directly to Great Sale Cay. We just talked to folks anchored in North Lake Worth and managed to get a group of 6 boats. 4. Reservations: Guide books say to make reservations for popular marinas. Since the cell phone won't work, how do we do that? Will VHF reach adequately? Some folks cellphones work and some don't. One of our group have an AT&T phone that worked fine and to top it off he never got charged for any calls. That was 2 winters in a row! Nobody else we came across could use their phones though. Marinas monitor CH 16 if I recall correctly. Thanks. Appreciate the info. |
#3
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Cruising Bahamas
We went last winter and had a good time. We took a
mooring at Man-O-War Cay as our home base and went on short trips to other places in the Abacos. More comments below. Doug s/v Callista "George C." wrote in message news:UcqEb.7681$PK3.5907@okepread01... We plan to go around the 10th of January, but I have a couple of questions. 1. Cash: Everyone says bring a lot, but how much assuming we'll be there about a month and use marinas and restaurants about every other day? Most of the marinas we stayed at had winter specials of around $0.65 to $1.00 per foot per day. Electricity is around $5 to $8 per day (Treasure Cay was $17/day). Water was metered at $0.15/gal or flat rate at $5 to $8. The Green Turtle Club had a deal going where anything you spent at the resaurant or bar was deducted off of the slip fee. Treasure Cay was the most expensive. 2. Abaco: I've read that Abaco in Jan-Feb is chilly. Others, however, have enjoyed visits there in Winter. How good or bad is it in Jan-Feb? It took us until Jan 22 to get a decent weather window. It was generally in the 70's to low 80's during the day and in the 60's at night. Might have dipped into the 50's once or twice. 3. Gulf stream crossing: How does one find boats to buddy up with for the crossing? Where would we want to hang out waiting to depart from either Lake Worth or Miami/Ft Lauderdale? Most folks going to the Abacos leave from Lake Worth. We left at 4am, crossed onto the bank south of Memory Rock and continued directly to Great Sale Cay. We just talked to folks anchored in North Lake Worth and managed to get a group of 6 boats. 4. Reservations: Guide books say to make reservations for popular marinas. Since the cell phone won't work, how do we do that? Will VHF reach adequately? Some folks cellphones work and some don't. One of our group have an AT&T phone that worked fine and to top it off he never got charged for any calls. That was 2 winters in a row! Nobody else we came across could use their phones though. Marinas monitor CH 16 if I recall correctly. Thanks. Appreciate the info. |
#4
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Cruising Bahamas
George C. wrote: We plan to go around the 10th of January, but I have a couple of questions. 1. Cash: Everyone says bring a lot, but how much assuming we'll be there about a month and use marinas and restaurants about every other day? Almost all marinas take plastic.... bring a couple in case there are issues or you lose one. $300 customs fee-CASH (over 35 ft) Many restaurants and groceries do NOT take credit. (50-100+per day) Split it up and hide it inside the vessel...(don't forget where you hid it!!) 2. Abaco: I've read that Abaco in Jan-Feb is chilly. Others, however, have enjoyed visits there in Winter. How good or bad is it in Jan-Feb? SImilar to SFL.... could be 75, could be 40... the further south the better but the cold fronts do go deep in JAN. 3. Gulf stream crossing: How does one find boats to buddy up with for the crossing? Where would we want to hang out waiting to depart from either Lake Worth or Miami/Ft Lauderdale? Assuming a powerboat.... Going to Freeport... leave from FLL or WPB.... Going to Bimini Leave from FLL or Miami. If it is a sailboat... plan on leaving 20-30NM SOUTH of where you want to cross to... Depending on the size of the vessel... you may have to wait up to a week for decent seas... remember.. any wind with a NORTH component... add a couple feet to the stream. Call around on Channel 16 for other crossers... I always go alone but usually get in contact with others on 16 and we check up on each other once in a while... 4. Reservations: Guide books say to make reservations for popular marinas. Since the cell phone won't work, how do we do that? Will VHF reach adequately? Cell phone MAY work.... Bellsouth...YES (may require pre-registering... DO IT NOW) Call NOW for reservations... changes are usually OK if weather based.. Be prepared to anchor out in a pinch...(you might just never go back to a marina... we rarely do anymore) most marinas have really bad VHF sets... many times handhelds. Try 16, 68 and 9 for hailing. Thanks. Appreciate the info. |
#5
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Cruising Bahamas
George C. wrote: We plan to go around the 10th of January, but I have a couple of questions. 1. Cash: Everyone says bring a lot, but how much assuming we'll be there about a month and use marinas and restaurants about every other day? Almost all marinas take plastic.... bring a couple in case there are issues or you lose one. $300 customs fee-CASH (over 35 ft) Many restaurants and groceries do NOT take credit. (50-100+per day) Split it up and hide it inside the vessel...(don't forget where you hid it!!) 2. Abaco: I've read that Abaco in Jan-Feb is chilly. Others, however, have enjoyed visits there in Winter. How good or bad is it in Jan-Feb? SImilar to SFL.... could be 75, could be 40... the further south the better but the cold fronts do go deep in JAN. 3. Gulf stream crossing: How does one find boats to buddy up with for the crossing? Where would we want to hang out waiting to depart from either Lake Worth or Miami/Ft Lauderdale? Assuming a powerboat.... Going to Freeport... leave from FLL or WPB.... Going to Bimini Leave from FLL or Miami. If it is a sailboat... plan on leaving 20-30NM SOUTH of where you want to cross to... Depending on the size of the vessel... you may have to wait up to a week for decent seas... remember.. any wind with a NORTH component... add a couple feet to the stream. Call around on Channel 16 for other crossers... I always go alone but usually get in contact with others on 16 and we check up on each other once in a while... 4. Reservations: Guide books say to make reservations for popular marinas. Since the cell phone won't work, how do we do that? Will VHF reach adequately? Cell phone MAY work.... Bellsouth...YES (may require pre-registering... DO IT NOW) Call NOW for reservations... changes are usually OK if weather based.. Be prepared to anchor out in a pinch...(you might just never go back to a marina... we rarely do anymore) most marinas have really bad VHF sets... many times handhelds. Try 16, 68 and 9 for hailing. Thanks. Appreciate the info. |
#6
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Cruising Bahamas
x-no-archive:yes
"Doug Dotson" wrote: We went last winter and had a good time. We took a mooring at Man-O-War Cay as our home base and went on short trips to other places in the Abacos. More comments below. Doug s/v Callista I have not been to the Abacos yet, but I'll add the comments. "George C." wrote in message news:UcqEb.7681$PK3.5907@okepread01... We plan to go around the 10th of January, but I have a couple of questions. 1. Cash: Everyone says bring a lot, but how much assuming we'll be there about a month and use marinas and restaurants about every other day? Most of the marinas we stayed at had winter specials of around $0.65 to $1.00 per foot per day. Electricity is around $5 to $8 per day (Treasure Cay was $17/day). Water was metered at $0.15/gal or flat rate at $5 to $8. The Green Turtle Club had a deal going where anything you spent at the resaurant or bar was deducted off of the slip fee. Treasure Cay was the most expensive. We didn't use cash much. We charged almost everything, except on Highborne Cay in the Exumas where they preferred a personal check to a charge card and Frazier's Hog Cay in the Berry Islands where they would only accept cash. There were no winter specials at marinas because the marinas etc were full and they didn't need to do the specials. 2. Abaco: I've read that Abaco in Jan-Feb is chilly. Others, however, have enjoyed visits there in Winter. How good or bad is it in Jan-Feb? It took us until Jan 22 to get a decent weather window. It was generally in the 70's to low 80's during the day and in the 60's at night. Might have dipped into the 50's once or twice. This depends a good bit on what you want and what you consider chilly. It's way warmer than Canada - about what it is like in St. Augustine or Ft. Pierce in the winter. The water is too cold to swim for any length of time without thermal protection. 3. Gulf stream crossing: How does one find boats to buddy up with for the crossing? Where would we want to hang out waiting to depart from either Lake Worth or Miami/Ft Lauderdale? Most folks going to the Abacos leave from Lake Worth. We left at 4am, crossed onto the bank south of Memory Rock and continued directly to Great Sale Cay. We just talked to folks anchored in North Lake Worth and managed to get a group of 6 boats. Even the first time, we always went alone. We did not want to have to depend on other folks ideas of what was the proper window - i.e. we wanted to make the decision and go or not go without waiting for a committee. We are quite a bit slower than most boats and we also didn't want to hold the others back. We did not go over from either Lake Worth or Ft. Lauderdale. I know folks who go from Ft. Pierce but we don't like fighting the Gulf Stream - we are slow enough without that. Both times we went to Bimini because it is the closest and we like it - since it is close we don't need quite so big a window. We left the first time from the No Name Harbor area south of Miami, and the second time from Rodriguez Key. 4. Reservations: Guide books say to make reservations for popular marinas. Since the cell phone won't work, how do we do that? Will VHF reach adequately? Some folks cellphones work and some don't. One of our group have an AT&T phone that worked fine and to top it off he never got charged for any calls. That was 2 winters in a row! Nobody else we came across could use their phones though. Marinas monitor CH 16 if I recall correctly. One thing you can do is call before you leave to the first place. My AT&T phone never worked although my Verizon bag phone did. I don't know what the deal is now - I suspect no phones work there now. We used the VHF radio quite a bit and also SSB (although not for marinas). grandma Rosalie |
#7
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Cruising Bahamas
x-no-archive:yes
"Doug Dotson" wrote: We went last winter and had a good time. We took a mooring at Man-O-War Cay as our home base and went on short trips to other places in the Abacos. More comments below. Doug s/v Callista I have not been to the Abacos yet, but I'll add the comments. "George C." wrote in message news:UcqEb.7681$PK3.5907@okepread01... We plan to go around the 10th of January, but I have a couple of questions. 1. Cash: Everyone says bring a lot, but how much assuming we'll be there about a month and use marinas and restaurants about every other day? Most of the marinas we stayed at had winter specials of around $0.65 to $1.00 per foot per day. Electricity is around $5 to $8 per day (Treasure Cay was $17/day). Water was metered at $0.15/gal or flat rate at $5 to $8. The Green Turtle Club had a deal going where anything you spent at the resaurant or bar was deducted off of the slip fee. Treasure Cay was the most expensive. We didn't use cash much. We charged almost everything, except on Highborne Cay in the Exumas where they preferred a personal check to a charge card and Frazier's Hog Cay in the Berry Islands where they would only accept cash. There were no winter specials at marinas because the marinas etc were full and they didn't need to do the specials. 2. Abaco: I've read that Abaco in Jan-Feb is chilly. Others, however, have enjoyed visits there in Winter. How good or bad is it in Jan-Feb? It took us until Jan 22 to get a decent weather window. It was generally in the 70's to low 80's during the day and in the 60's at night. Might have dipped into the 50's once or twice. This depends a good bit on what you want and what you consider chilly. It's way warmer than Canada - about what it is like in St. Augustine or Ft. Pierce in the winter. The water is too cold to swim for any length of time without thermal protection. 3. Gulf stream crossing: How does one find boats to buddy up with for the crossing? Where would we want to hang out waiting to depart from either Lake Worth or Miami/Ft Lauderdale? Most folks going to the Abacos leave from Lake Worth. We left at 4am, crossed onto the bank south of Memory Rock and continued directly to Great Sale Cay. We just talked to folks anchored in North Lake Worth and managed to get a group of 6 boats. Even the first time, we always went alone. We did not want to have to depend on other folks ideas of what was the proper window - i.e. we wanted to make the decision and go or not go without waiting for a committee. We are quite a bit slower than most boats and we also didn't want to hold the others back. We did not go over from either Lake Worth or Ft. Lauderdale. I know folks who go from Ft. Pierce but we don't like fighting the Gulf Stream - we are slow enough without that. Both times we went to Bimini because it is the closest and we like it - since it is close we don't need quite so big a window. We left the first time from the No Name Harbor area south of Miami, and the second time from Rodriguez Key. 4. Reservations: Guide books say to make reservations for popular marinas. Since the cell phone won't work, how do we do that? Will VHF reach adequately? Some folks cellphones work and some don't. One of our group have an AT&T phone that worked fine and to top it off he never got charged for any calls. That was 2 winters in a row! Nobody else we came across could use their phones though. Marinas monitor CH 16 if I recall correctly. One thing you can do is call before you leave to the first place. My AT&T phone never worked although my Verizon bag phone did. I don't know what the deal is now - I suspect no phones work there now. We used the VHF radio quite a bit and also SSB (although not for marinas). grandma Rosalie |
#8
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Cruising Bahamas
We have not cruised The Abacos, but where there for a week the first of
November, comments below. We visited Marsh Harbour, Man-O-War, and Hopetown. If you have any question you can send them to bcleveland AT charter DOT net and I will tell what we know. brian "George C." wrote in message news:UcqEb.7681$PK3.5907@okepread01... We plan to go around the 10th of January, but I have a couple of questions. 1. Cash: Everyone says bring a lot, but how much assuming we'll be there about a month and use marinas and restaurants about every other day? You can spend as much as you want. The restaurants and grocery stores in Marsh Harbour all took credit cards. Getting cash while in the Abacos can be tricky as most of the banks we saw where only open 1 or 2 days a week. Restaurant prices were a little higher than here in central Alabama - $7-10 for lunch, $10-16 for supper. Grocery prices were 10 to 25% higher. 2. Abaco: I've read that Abaco in Jan-Feb is chilly. Others, however, have enjoyed visits there in Winter. How good or bad is it in Jan-Feb? 3. Gulf stream crossing: How does one find boats to buddy up with for the crossing? Where would we want to hang out waiting to depart from either Lake Worth or Miami/Ft Lauderdale? 4. Reservations: Guide books say to make reservations for popular marinas. Since the cell phone won't work, how do we do that? Will VHF reach adequately? Our cell phone worked (cingular) did not make any calls locally but the couple of calls back to the kids were about $1.95/min. Just about everybody (marinas, taxis, car/skooter rental, police) seemed to be on 16. Thanks. Appreciate the info. |
#9
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Cruising Bahamas
We have not cruised The Abacos, but where there for a week the first of
November, comments below. We visited Marsh Harbour, Man-O-War, and Hopetown. If you have any question you can send them to bcleveland AT charter DOT net and I will tell what we know. brian "George C." wrote in message news:UcqEb.7681$PK3.5907@okepread01... We plan to go around the 10th of January, but I have a couple of questions. 1. Cash: Everyone says bring a lot, but how much assuming we'll be there about a month and use marinas and restaurants about every other day? You can spend as much as you want. The restaurants and grocery stores in Marsh Harbour all took credit cards. Getting cash while in the Abacos can be tricky as most of the banks we saw where only open 1 or 2 days a week. Restaurant prices were a little higher than here in central Alabama - $7-10 for lunch, $10-16 for supper. Grocery prices were 10 to 25% higher. 2. Abaco: I've read that Abaco in Jan-Feb is chilly. Others, however, have enjoyed visits there in Winter. How good or bad is it in Jan-Feb? 3. Gulf stream crossing: How does one find boats to buddy up with for the crossing? Where would we want to hang out waiting to depart from either Lake Worth or Miami/Ft Lauderdale? 4. Reservations: Guide books say to make reservations for popular marinas. Since the cell phone won't work, how do we do that? Will VHF reach adequately? Our cell phone worked (cingular) did not make any calls locally but the couple of calls back to the kids were about $1.95/min. Just about everybody (marinas, taxis, car/skooter rental, police) seemed to be on 16. Thanks. Appreciate the info. |
#10
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Cruising Bahamas
We plan to go around the 10th of January I am sorry to see anyone going to the Bahamas as long as they have that ridicules $300 entry free in place. It will be corrected only when enough people stay away. |
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