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If
you've just entered at Little Harbour Bar, by the time you've spotted the beach
west of the lighthouse and sorted out the rest of your landmarks, Tom Curry's
Point will bear 202°T. Assume this 202°T course until you can see down the
channel leading into Little Harbour. Your
southerly approach into the harbor will roughly parallel the rocky east
shoreline of Tom Curry Point. If
you don't immediately see the channel markers, a good range is the east end of
Tom Curry Point lined up with the headland inside the harbor on the south shore.
Follow that range until you can line up the first pair of channel
markers.
The
channel into Little Harbour is short but has a crescent shaped turn to the
southeast. You'll cross very light
green water north of the channel, and may be tempted to bear off west into
darker water. Don't do it. The very light green almost white water is thin, but it's the
deepest you will get! The confusing
watercolor is confounded by the fact that the channel seems to be marked with
whatever balls are available. On my last trip there, I found three pairs of
markers. The three on the starboard
side were all red, but those on the port side were an odd collection.
It is not really as difficult as it sounds, the port and starboard
marking balls are paired in a somewhat obvious manner no matter what the colors.
If you're having trouble sorting out the markers, call Pete's Pub on VHF
channel 16 for assistance. I found
the controlling depth to be four feet (MLW) just north of the marked channel.
If you stray outside the marked channel, you will very quickly find quite
shallow water (2 feet MLW)!
The
Harbor
You
may wonder if all this is worth it, but you'll wonder no more when one of the
most beautiful harbors imaginable bursts upon you.
This anchorage is completely protected from 360°! A beautiful beach
encircles half of it and a rocky headland the other half, with caves just
begging to be explored! Here you'll find palm trees on the beach and mangroves
lining the creek, just take your pick! Ashore
you will find an interesting collection of artists, who welcome visits ashore
from yachtsmen! In this regard,
Little Harbour is unique in Abaco. Nearby,
you'll find bonefishing flats, creeks to explore by dink, and blue holes ideally
suited for the SCUBA divers!
Once
through the short entrance channel, rent one of the moorings from Pete's Pub. In recent years, it has become too crowded here for anchoring
to be a real consideration. You
just won't have sufficient swinging room, and will probably create problems for
yourself and other boaters on moorings. The holding ground is said to be poor
anyway.
The
large dock on the west shore belongs to a beautiful private home high above the
harbor. They have a long steep
climb up the hill. These homes, and
others that you'll see perched high on the bluff, have a spectacular view of the
harbor, the ocean passage, and the reef. Don't
tie up there and don't land there. There are many definitions of
"private", and although this whole harbor is private, visits ashore
are welcomed on the Johnston's property on the eastern half of the harbor, but
not so on the western side of the harbor.
The
Caves
The
"private" label hasn't yet stuck to the caves on the western side of
the harbor just north of the private dock. The rule is that you're welcome to
explore up to the high water mark, and these caves are well worth exploring! The shore is difficult to approach by dink because of the
seaweed and the sharp rocks hamper landing .
Don't try it without sturdy shoes! The
best place to land is just north of the big rock shown on our chart, about 75
feet north of the private dock. From
there you can clamber over coral rocks to reach the cave. It's not difficult and
you'll find it interesting. It'll never take the place of Carlsbad Caverns, but
it is sure different from the rest of Abaco!
The
Johnston's
For the main
"tour" of Little Harbour, land your dink at the wooden pier on the
east shore of the harbor, and meet the hospitable and talented Johnston's.
The dink landing is on the north side of the pier.
The houseboat, normally docked at the end of the pier, belongs to Pete
Johnston, where he lives with his wife Diane.
The patriarch of the family, Randolph Johnston, was once a professor at
Smith College and a world-renowned sculptor.
We found his son, Pete, hard at work in the workshop.
The two-story workshop is in the barn-like pink building with a
corrugated roof set back from the beach north toward the lagoon.
I found the workshop as interesting as the sculpture. The engineers, mechanics, and "do-it-yourselfers"
will appreciate the tremendous mechanical complex it takes to keep this private,
self-sufficient community going! They
are probably better equipped than most boatyards!
Randolph
Johnston moved here from Canada via Massachusetts. He and his family lived
aboard their schooner, the Langosta,
while they were getting started. He
became famous for his bronzes done in the lost-wax process.
The process uses wax patterns and rubber molds, made from his
originals. A metallurgist as
well as an artist, his work demonstrates extremely fine detail. His wife, Margot
and son, Pete are accomplished artists in their own right.
The whole family has articles on display in the new gallery, just south
of the dock.
Pete's Pub is an open-air
establishment that is open when Pete gets in the mood!
The establishment got started as Pete's personal project, partly because
any other nightlife was either far away in Marsh Harbour or non-existent.
Originally housed in the beached remnants of the Langosta's pilothouse, the pub now has its own new structure.
The floors are still sand and the nautical paraphernalia still abounds!
For a while they tried serving simple dinners, but I've never found them
cooking.
The
Lighthouse
A walk up the hill to the
old lighthouse will be a rewarding experience! Take your cameras! The
view from this promontory is as spectacular as you will find anywhere in Abaco.
The view of the ocean is breathtaking and there is a "boiling
hole", which provides an exceptional opportunity for photography if the
tide and seas are just right! At the very least you will get an opportunity for a bird's
eye view of the entrance to Little Harbour and Little Harbour Bar!
Pay particular attention to the light tower and you will understand why I
have repeatedly said, "Don't rely on lights in the Bahamas."
Along the path to the
lighthouse, you will pass a mangrove-lined creek where the Johnston's take their
boats when a hurricane threatens. I didn't know you could get a boat that
far up into the mangroves!
Swimming
and Snorkeling
On the lighthouse trail
you will also pass a path to the beautiful beach that lies on the north side of
the harbor. It is lovely and well
worth exploring, although I found some surge there and a great deal of seaweed.
From that beach you can easily snorkel on the reef that forms the eastern
side of the entrance into Little Harbour. It
is now protected, so look but don't touch!
The entire harbor is protected! Proof
that such protection pays off is evident in the numerous sea turtles, which you
will see while you're moored here. If
you don't include Little Harbour on your first itinerary, include it some time.
This may eventually become your favorite stop in Abaco!
Leaving
Little Harbour, northbound you'll find a wealth of choice destinations for the
rest of your cruise, more than you can probably enjoy in one trip.
Immediately, out of Little Harbour, your choices will be the large Bight
of Old Robinson, which offers some delightful gunkholes for dink exploration;
the anchorages off Lynyard Cay, and some really deserted beaches; or the passage
along the shore of Great Abaco to the more heavily traveled areas between Marsh
Harbour and Green Turtle Cay. Either way you'll have to negotiate the extensive
shoals that have been building west of Lynyard Cay.
Bight
Of Old Robinson
It
is possible to take your big boat to an anchorage into the southern part of Old
Robinson's Bight for better access to the dink explorations which is this big
bight's attraction. Reading Wilensky's original descriptions of his travels
through this area, they were strikingly similar to my own.
Some days it is great for anchoring back here. On others, there will be
enough roll that you will prefer to go elsewhere.
There is a very nice
beach on the inside of Riding Cays and others on the north side of the bight.
Wilensky found bonefish flats on the south side of the bight as well as
good bonefishing on O'Neil's Creek and North Robinson Creek.
In North Robinson's Creek we found a houseboat, more or less permanently
anchored. His "homestead"
reminded me of Henry David Thoreau's "Walden Pond". You could stay
here for a while without anyone bothering you.
My preference was for O'Neil's Creek and Little Harbour Creeks, where we
found tremendous scenery and a number of blue holes.
We were snorkeling, so we left the SCUBA gear on the big boat, but if you
like SCUBA diving, take your equipment along! You could spend days exploring the
whole bight and the creeks which lead into it.
Watch the tide because you could get stranded (or lost) back in those
creeks very easily! Some fresh water, a compass, and a flashlight would be
prudent additions to your normal dinghy equipment.
Blue holes are scattered
throughout these creeks. They are too numerous to plot on the charts and it is
difficult to get good fixes in these "backwoods" anyway.
As you motor along in your dink, just look for a spot of water that is
exceptionally blue! That's simple
enough. Anchor, dive over carefully and check it out.
These blue holes are pools of deep water that offer a sharp contrast to
the surrounding shallows. Some of
them are said to have underwater connections to the ocean!
Some are over 100 feet deep, and they're loaded with fish.
Occasionally you will see lobster or moray eels. These blue holes are
sometimes called "boiling holes" because they bubble or boil as water
rushes out of them with the tide.
As you are leaving the
Bight of Old Robinson, go back out the way you came in.
Don't be tempted to try to go northwest of Bridges Cay, between that cay
and Great Abaco. It's all very
shoal in there! Leaving the bight rejoin the 007°T course northbound until you
have passed the shoals previously discussed, or head for one of the excellent
anchorages on Lynyard Cay.
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