- Consistent, modest
breezes prevail.
- Abaco is rarely uncomfortably hot or cold.
- Rainfall is primarily in "20 minutes and they're gone" afternoon showers and squall lines.
Cooled
by the prevailing southeasterly Tradewinds in the summer and warmed by the surrounding
waters and the Gulfstream in the winter. Although the central Abacos are on the
same latitude as Palm Beach, Florida, winter temperatures average 10°F warmer
than Florida and the summer highs are generally lower. Meteorological records
report an average of over 7 hours of sunlight per day.
While
June - November is hurricane season, August - October is the greatest risk. Even
then, it is an extremely small chance that your trip may be interrupted. You can
buy travel insurance for a full refund. Storms tend to have plenty of notice, so you can fly out well in advance of unpleasant
conditions.
- Logistics:
- Marsh Harbor,
Abaco is a 50 minute flight from Miami.
- Food:
- In restaurants
ashore, meals are consistently "good" and always reasonably priced.
Various "conch" (pronounced "konk"), lobster, and seafood
items are specialties. The principal delights of Abaco, however, are found beyond
the culinary realm.
- Life
aboard:
- You
will tend to live outside, in the water, and ashore, and use yacht cabins only
for sleeping and changing clothes. Calm anchorages prevail. Seasickness is generally
not an issue as there are no ocean swells.
- Area
History:
- The
islands are home to descendents of loyalists to Britain who fled Colonial America.
They speak an interesting local version of English today. Some locals were disappointed
to see the famous Hopetown lighthouse installed as it ended the lucrative salvage
of shipwrecks, often lured to their demise by fires set ashore. George Gallop,
the famous pollster, had his vacation home in Hopetown and, we can thus conclude,
also had excellent taste!
- Compared
to the Caribbean, Abaco:
- is
less crowded than the Virgin Islands
- requires
a shorter flight from the U.S.
- offers extensive sheltered seas, while many Caribbean islands are surrounded by
open ocean.
- is cooler than the Carribean in winter
- Safety:
- Abaco is
very safe. We were once advised to not even bother locking the boat! While we
don't not take that literally, it reflects our experiences here.
- Diving:
- Some yachts
offer diving, while others arrange "rendezvous-diving" where a dive
boat picks you up during your charter.
|
|
|
Average
High °F |
Average
Low °F |
Average
Rain " |
Jan. |
77 |
66 |
2 |
Feb. |
77 |
65 |
1.6 |
Mar. |
78 |
67 |
1.4 |
Apr. |
81 |
69 |
1.6 |
May |
82 |
70 |
4.3 |
Jun. |
82 |
70 |
4.3 |
July |
87 |
75 |
3.8 |
Aug. |
88 |
76 |
4.4 |
Sep. |
88 |
75 |
6.2 |
Oct. |
84 |
74 |
7.4 |
Nov. |
81 |
71 |
2.6 |
Dec. |
79 |
67 |
2.2 |
|
