MAGIC IN
PARADISE
38
CLASSIC BOAT JUNE 2019
No air-con, no fridge, no systems! For a
cruise to the Bahamas? People said they
were mad. But they didn’t know Magic
WORDS CHRIS MUSELER
O
ur friends said we couldn’t do it. Everyone
we spoke to about trying to take an engineless
rowing and sailing tender through the
meandering, gin-clear waters of Shroud
Cay’s north creek from the Exuma Banks out to sea
and the famous natural “washing machine” said it
could only be done in a powerful RIB.
The top of the vast Exuma Land and Sea Park in
Shroud Cay and its maze of creeks that wind through
acres of mangrove roots play host to a large population
of juvenile marine life including spotted eagle rays and
hawksbill and green sea turtles, all unthreatened, calmly
gliding up and down the narrow waterways. Still, they
said, “Sorry, Chris. Currents are too strong for your
set-up. Take it off your list.”
I had carefully mapped out our big family
adventure for two years. The plan was:
buy a bluewater boat with some class
like our past traditional boats, sail it to
the Bahamas in the fall, and take our
vacations on the boat before using my
newly-honed passage-making skills to
sail her straight from Nassau home to New
England. A nice feather in all our caps.
No one had said we couldn’t do this
grand voyage with our traditionally-rigged
pilot schooner. But we never heard the end of why they
thought it would be more enjoyable on a modern boat.
You must have roller furling instead of hanks on all
your jibs, otherwise you’ll be caught out in a squall.
How can you live without refrigeration in the tropics?
You need pressurised water and a hot-water tank.
Where’s your generator? A watermaker is a pretty
good idea; you should think about it. A canvas cockpit
enclosure is a must.
“On demand” is the catchphrase of today’s cruisers.
Automated systems, powerful engines and beefy utility
tenders are all about getting there quickly, no matter
the wind or current direction. Magic is decidedly not
an “on demand” kind of cruiser.
What we learned from our glorious round trip to the
spectacular blue-green waters and smiling local faces of
the Bahamas is that we had everything we needed. And