Day 426 – THE CARIBBEAN (BAHAMAS): Abacos Island


When I awoke, the small prop plane was nose-diving at an angle so steep that the steward was half hauling himself up the aisle in a rush to get back to his seat. Before the flight on the tarmac at Miami International Airport he was jovial. “Welcome aboard,” he said into his mouth piece. “Today’s flight will take, ahhh, slightly shorter than the time it took you to check in.”

Now, he was giving the passengers a half smile, trying to put them at ease. It wasn’t working on me. I was 70% certain that something had gone terribly wrong. The descent angle was very steep. My heart was in my mouth as I saw the tops of the spindly trees come closer.

At the last moment the airplane pulled up and the back wheels thumped into the rough packed gravel runway. Looking back, a dark storm could was approaching fast from the direction that we had just come from. The pilot had outrun it, and skilfully put us down on the ground in front of it.

Old barge near Marsh Harbour, Abacos Island, Bahamas

I stepped out of the plane into an atmosphere of ease and carefree. The airport was a fenceless dirt runway. A lone cream coloured building waited in the sun for the passengers, shaded by a brown tiled roof with large overhanging eaves. This was my introduction to the islands of the Bahamas.

We are currently enjoying a few days here in the Marsh Harbour Marina getting the boat ready to head out towards Tortola. The boat is very well equipped with very good inbuilt navigation equipment, air conditioning, flat scree TV, DVD player…rather nice indeed.

Saloon of Jeneau 42DS sailboat

So now we are provisioned up, and planning to leave tomorrow. I am excited and eager to see how it is to sail a mono hull sailboat.

Jeneau 42 sail boat in Abacos Island, Bahamas


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6 thoughts on “Day 426 – THE CARIBBEAN (BAHAMAS): Abacos Island

  • Mum

    Are yopu sure you want to continue living in Millionaire surroundings? Just think what a big step down it will be getting back to the skateboard with all you own on your back!

  • Ken

    Hi, I've been following your experiences and sailing is a great way to get around (: The Jeanneau 42DS looks like a nice boat. I like single hulls much more than cats.

  • wim harwig

    Hi Rob,

    Do you realize that you're living the same sort of life that was portrayed in the James Bond films (made in the sixties) ?

    In those days I thought that it would take 200 years to have navigation and communication and microwaves etc, like shown in the "James Bond world". But it took only 40 years.

    And now that the rich and famous live in that modern comfortable world, there is this good-looking fellow who wants to travel on a SKATE-BOARD !

    I suggest that you introduce yourself as : Thomson, Rob Thomson. And want it stirred, not shaken. And the last sentence in your book will be; "Ohhhhh, Rob…"

    😉

    Keep going,

    Wim.