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Abaco Sea
Sailing in the Bahamas’
STORY & PHOTOGRAPHY By Brian E. Clark
ith a steady wind sota’s Twin Cities and Lake Supe‐
filling its sails, our rior’s Apostle Islands, was the
40-foot Bali cata‐ commodore of our nine-cat
W maran slipped flotilla - a veritable small navy.
through the peacock blue waters He sailed with us on the Indie
of the Abaco Sea, a relatively part of that first day, giving
shallow body of water in the skipper John Blackburn a few
northern Bahamas that averages tips and making sure our four-
less than 20 feet deep. member crew could handle our
Our course was steady and vessel.
we only tacked a few times on Burns told us catamarans are
our way to Man O’ War Cay (pro‐ ideal for the Abacos because
nounced key), where our plans they have a shallow draft, unlike
called for a light “workload” of most monohull boats that require
hiking, swimming, snorkeling, deeper water for sailing. In addi‐
collecting shells, reading and re‐ tion, they don’t heel (tip) much,
laxing. In the meantime, we fa‐ meaning passengers are less
miliarized ourselves with the likely to get seasick.
spacious, two-hulled Indie Vortex Moreover, cruise ships can’t
cat (as catamarans are known in ply the shallow waters of this
sailing lingo), got to know our sea, so there are no behemoths
fellow shipmates and enjoyed disgorging thousands of passen‐
the balmy 80-degree tempera‐ gers on small ports. Which meant
tures. we only had to share the bays
Thom Burns, a retired naval where we overnighted with sail
officer who runs the Northern and powerboats.
Breezes Sailing School (northern‐ “The other great thing about
breezessailing.com) in Minne‐ cats is that people can spread
178 WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE SUMMER 2024
