Cruising The Abaco Islands: Little Harbour

Our adventure starts off at the Dream Yacht Charter Marina in Marsh Harbor, Great Abaco Island, Bahamas. It’s the beginning of November and although we are on the verge of the season, the rain clouds are here to stay. I hadn’t been on a monohull in a few years and while the other four boats with our Adventure Voyaging group were on catamarans, we had the 42 Jeanneau “Little Darling”. There are four of us. Myself, Bob (Grandpa), Jody, and our newest crew member Dorothy. Dorothy is the bell of the ball. Although she has a few years on me, she was always cracking jokes, having fun, and drinking us under the table.

We made sure to do lots of exploring and hit several islands and towns on our trip including Guana Cay, Hope Town, Little Harbour, Man-O-War Cay, and Great Abaco Island- we kept ourselves very busy.

While all of the places we visited were wonderful one of the most memorable was our stay at Little Harbour, a small harbor just on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. Our boat was the first boat in and we spared no time finding a mooring ball and getting ready to jump into the turquoise waters. A quick swim lead us to the idea that we should go explore the island. It seems like we were all alone in this beautiful quaint harbor, but we soon found out we weren’t.

Several of us got into a dinghy and started to motor across to the shore. But Wait. There was something that kept popping up. “Oh, It’s just a turtle”- I wasn’t so sure. A few seconds later it happened again. While the waters were beautiful- they were not very clear and it was rather hard to make out what was going on underneath our dinghy. Then, out of no where, a beautiful dolphin comes to our dinghy to say hi. This dolphin seemed to be attracted to the sound of our motor- because once we turned if off- the dolphin disappeared. While we were in awe of this beautiful creature, a second, smaller dolphin decided to join in on the fun. For hours and hours the two dolphins played around our boats and with anyone who happened to be in the water. Not to mention that there were actually several turtles who also decided to come and join the fun.

Most of the things on the island were closed since it was Wednesday. Luckily, Capt. Woody talked the owner of the only bar into opening up for dinner. So we all made plans to have a happy hour on Capt. Woody’s Boat “Destiny” and then head over for drinks and food. While each boat started to make their way over to enjoy some cocktails and tapas- one boat surprised us all. It was the Neal boat. And they came dressed in full on toga outfits complete with fans made from palm trees and a lingering question of who was wearing underwear and who wasn’t. It was a great group of people to explore with and dinner time was right around the corner.

Stepping onto land you come up to a dock with one simple two story wooden building, the future home of Little Harbour’s only accommodation complete with a hammock and a front porch that is to die for.  Just past that is the Pete’s Pub and Gift Gallery. This gallery was filled with thousands of dollars worth of bronze dolphins, turtles, sea horses and birds. This artist, Peter Johnson really has talent and the works he does are worth every cent. However, I myself had to settle on a simpler $45 sea horse attached to some drift wood. Totally worth it and one day when I have a mantle, I will put it there. 

Next we were off to Pete’s Pub! A great sandy bottom bar with conch and an unlimited supply of local rums. At just the back of the bar was a small path that leads you out between the greenery to the open Atlantic Ocean. The breeze was swift but the night was clear and it was a beautiful place to behold the Milky Way Galaxy overhead.

Once things winded down, we headed back to our dinghy, and no sooner that we got in- it started to rain. Not just Rain. It POURED! Haha, we were screaming trying to make it back to the boat as fast as we could, but to no avail. We all got totally soaked and had some more rum to warm us up.

Before we left this paradise, it was time to leave our mark forever. That’s right, inside of Pete’s Pub we were able to hang up a Cruising Outpost Burgee and an Adventure Voyaging Burgee that will last until the end of time (or at least until the staples give up). If you have a chance to visit, I highly recommend Little Harbour since it was my favor spot on the trip.

Next week I’ll tell you of a place where the Abaco Sea Meets the Atlantic Ocean and you can swim in both in a matter of seconds.