CRUISING the SOUTHEASTERN BAHAMIAN Islands

This archipelago is off the beaten path, so it can feel like you have the place all to yourself.

- DAMIAN LAPLACA

Cruisers often bypass the small and lesser-known southeastern Bahamian islands on their windward passage through the Exumas on their way south to the Caribbean. But they shouldn't. Take the advice of Bruce Van Sant, legendary sailor and author of The Gentleman's Guide to Passages South: "Don't rush through the islands; they are too perfect." So, Google up a map, friends, and follow along.

Because the Bahamas are shallow, the water they occupy in the North Atlantic Ocean is that much lighter, and, frankly, more beautiful than the Caribbean Sea. You can sail for miles in 10 to 15 feet of the lightest hues of blues and turquoise, suddenly plunge into thousands of feet of dark blue ocean, and return to shallow turquoise toward the edge of the next island. The shelf acts and feels like a large V.

Conception Island is possibly the most beautiful of all the Bahamian islands and is only 45 nautical miles northeast of popular George Town on Great Exuma Island. As Van Sant suggests, to reach Conception Island, anchor the night before just south of George Town at Fowl Cay, an uninhabited island with a small swimming beach.\ This will save you 4 miles of motoring to exit Great Exuma. Raise your mainsail at first light, and a southwestern wind will give you one long, straight starboard tack to Conception Island. Uninhabited and pristine, the beach has water so clear, you'll swear you can drink it. The whole island is less than 3 miles at its widest, and it's low-lying like all the small Bahamian islands, making it almost unnoticeable on electronic or paper charts.