By - Captain Rod and Susie Stebbins
Getting to the Great Abaco Islands is a piece of cake, well as long as you have a good GPS. We used our Magellan 5000DLX with great results. We like this GPS because it will accept Loran-C TD's. This makes for great comfort as we have made this trip several times with a Loran as our navigator. The Loran-C works, but believe me when we say that the GPS is the machine to use in the Bimini's and the Bahamas. One also needs to remember, though, that a bit of planning is required for this trip. The weather and the state of the seas really ought to be looked into, to say nothing of having a current set of charts aboard.
The crossing departure point we have selected is the Lake Worth Inlet "HI" and our destination is Settlement Point (26-41.50N/78-59.90W TD's 14380.1/61729.3). Please note we have selected the "X/Z" LORAN-C secondaries to avoid any conflicts with the "Base Line Extension" complications. Obviously, our GPS friends don't have to worry about this phenomena. The trip across is only 55.5km. This end of the island has several places for services and supplies. The shortest route to the Abaco's is across the Little Bahama Banks. You need follow the Indian Cay Channel. One can expect to find water deeper than five (5'LW) feet, however, shifting sands can make some boats condos with wet basements at the oddest times.
The following are a few coordinates useful in getting one most of the way to the paradise islands of the Abacos:
Capt. Rod & Susie Stebbins of Weak Industries can usually be found surfing the internet or cruising up & down the Florida Suncoast in a Sea Ray boat of some type (depending on Rod's mood).
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