Bahamas / Caribbean

The Abacos are a group of islands and cays that form a 120-mile–long chain stretching over 650 square miles. The coastlines are lined with bays, coves and protected harbors that feature full-service marinas and resorts. Great Abaco Island and Little Abaco serve as the “mainland.” Marsh Harbour has a lively downtown area with all city amenities. Treasure Cay boasts miles of pristine beaches, including one of the top 10 beaches in the world. Elbow Cay and Green Turtle Cay are old English loyalist settlements, where you’ll find beautifully preserved colonial architecture with a touch of Bahamian pastels, of course.

The Exuma Islands are made up of 365 cays and islands, beginning just 35 miles southeast of Nassau. The islands have gone through many changes over the years. Today, they’re divided into three major areas—Great Exuma, Little Exuma and The Exuma Cays. Each offers its own unique Bahamian experience. Great Exuma and Little Exuma are known for their laid-back surroundings, while The Exuma Cays act as a playground for the rich and famous, boasting numerous private homes, luxury resorts and beachside condos. The Exumas are also rich in history, as they were settled by British Loyalists with their slaves following the American Revolution.

The Leeward Islands in the Eastern Caribbean span an arc of approximately 200 nautical miles. Whether you pronounce them “lee-werd” or “loo-ard”, it doesn’t matter, as both are correct. The Leewards played a major role in European colonial expansion in the New World in the 17th and 18th centuries. It also served as a theater to play out the machinations of the Spanish, French and English monarchies in their quests for control of Europe.St. Eustatius, under Dutch control, maintained neutrality and in 1756 announced it was a free port with no customs duties. That helped trigger tremendous growth for Statia (the island’s nickname) as the major trading port of the West Indies during that era. It was so successful that it was dubbed the “The Golden Rock”.St. Kitts became the first British Caribbean colony in 1623, and developed the model for the English sugar plantation system and the triangular trade. Sugar cane was harvested and processed by African slaves on St. Kitts into sugar loafs. The sugar loafs were shipped to England for the tables of British households. Manufactured goods from England, such as textiles and rum were sailed to Africa in exchange for slaves. The slaves were sent on ships to St. Kitts to work on the sugar plantations. The French, Spanish, Portuguese and Danish New World colonies all followed this lucrative, but harsh, system.Antigua was home to Great Britain’s main naval station on the Caribbean in the last half of the 1700s and England’s favorite naval hero, Lord Nelson, was stationed there in 1784.Isles des Saintes served as the backdrop for the most famous naval engagement in the Caribbean in 1782, the Battle of the Saintes. The British fleet roundly defeated the French fleet using the pioneering tactic of “breaking the line”.By sailing the Leeward Islands, modern day cruisers have the opportunity to visit islands that have the flavor of Dutch, English and French cultures, as well as the only settlement of Carib Indians in the West Indies.‍

When asked where the British Virgin Islands were, Sir Winston Churchill is rumored to have said, “I have no idea, but I should think that they are as far as possible from the Isle of Man.” Whether Churchill truly said it or not, it is the perfect starting point for exploring this one-time backwater of the British West Indies. By the late 1700’s while the rest of the British Empire’s sugar colonies in the Caribbean were making plantation owners very wealthy, BVI was just a blip in the total fortunes made in sugar, rum and slaves. However, through savvy planning, development and marketing by the islands’ government and entrepreneurs over the past 30 plus years, BVI has become the top charter and cruising destination for sail and power boaters alike. If you have never cruised BVI before, your first experience will be brimming with memorable anchorages, snorkeling adventures, and yes, realizing that you can still do the limbo.

Of all the European nations busy colonizing the Caribbean during the golden age of sail; Denmark is the least likely to pop up in the mind of present day sailors. The Danes, however, started colonies on St. Thomas in 1665 and St. John in 1683. West Indian sugar was the driving force behind colonization then. Slave labor planted and harvested sugar cane. A triangular trade developed where Danish merchants traded African slaves for loaves of brown sugar that were sent across the Atlantic to sweeten the tables in Danish homes. In 1733, France sold St. Croix to Denmark, and from that time on the three Scandinavian owned islands were called the Danish West Indies. For the sum of $25 million, in 1917, the United States purchased St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix from Denmark. The new United States Virgin Islands became a territory, much like Puerto Rico. That was a good investment by the U.S. government, since today USVI directly generates a half billion dollars annually from travel and tourism. And that is great news for boaters because it has helped USVI develop into a very friendly destination for cruising.