Ocean Breeze: Port #59: Harbor View Marina, Marsh Harbor…Big City Life in the Abacos

Great Loop II Date: 04/21/2015

Day #263 (Tuesday) 27 miles (3584 total miles)

Locks: 0 (30 total locks)

Bridges: 0 (4 total bridges)

Port #59:Marsh Harbor, Great Abaco Island, BS

Marina: Harbor View Marina

.Todd and I kept an eye on the weather. We had the Whale Passage to go through to get OB into waters of the Abaco Sea that would lead us to more island stops down the chain of Abaco islands. The day finally arrived for us to move on.

We were both a little anxious about the Whale Passage. It’s a narrow area with rocks on both sides. The Abaco Sea becomes very shallow in that area and boats with drafts of more than 3 feet are advised to take the passage into the Atlantic Ocean. Once in the ocean, we would take a 90 degree turn to make way around Whale Cay and come back into the Sea of Abaco.

The Whale Passage...we had to take the route at the top. The lower route is for shallow draft boats. OB is too big a girl.

This is a picture of the Whale Passage in a Rage...that's what we were trying to avoid. I got this picture on the web...it didn't look like this when we went through, thank goodness!

The passage ended up being a non-event. However, the winds picked up making our intended stop at Great Guana Cay not possible. We would have been very uncomfortable on a mooring there with the seas rolling into the small harbor.

Todd decided crossing the Sea of Abaco to Marsh Harbor would be more favorable. It was one of the towns on Great Abaco Island we intended to visit. We picked Harbor View Marina from recommendations on Active Captain. It is one of our most valued tools for marinas, anchorages, hazards and a plethora of other pieces of information that keeps us out of harm’s way.

Harborview Marina in Marsh Harbor.

As we were tying up, I hear my name called. I looked around and directly behind us on another dock was Paul on Infinite Sea. Paul and Stephanie were the Loopers that stayed by our side after we hit the weir dam in the Mississippi River. They were making their way back up the islands to stage their crossing back to the USA.

Marsh Harbor is the third largest city in the Abaco islands. It was a busy little town with narrow roads and, for the most part, no place to walk. However, we wanted to get Charlie off the boat and stretch our legs, as well. Although we were unimpressed with Marsh Harbor, we did find a marine store that carried a Mercury engine part we needed to repair the engine on our dinghy.

While we were at the Harbor View Marina waiting for better weather in Great Guana Cay, there was a large amount of traffic using the fast catamaran at the end of our dock to go somewhere. Todd inquired where all the folks were going. He was told these were multi-millionaires going the homes and villas at Baker’s Bay on Great Guana Cay. The day we were leaving for Orchid Bay in Great Guana Cay, the Prime Minister of the Bahamas walked down the dock with a huge group of military police as well as family and friends.