A call from my brother, Brent, in October set the wheels in motion for a great adventure.

His new baby, "Petite Cordelia", a beautiful, big ocean going 40 foot Bayfield yacht, was ready to sail after a year of shake-down cruises and many days "on the hard" getting all of the systems ship-shape. The acronym "Boat" really stands for "Break Out Another Thousand"!

It took me all of 5 minutes to call Sue at work and to get my flight booked to Freeport, Bahamas. Brent's friends, Margot and Jean completed the crew of four.

Although the Bahamas were battered with Hurricane Sandy just weeks before, we managed to sail through some wild weather and heavy seas without incident. The rough seas made for mediocre snorkeling, but we did manage to have a couple of stellar days on the inner reefs.

"The Abacos" are a remote part of the far northeast end of the Bahama islands and are in direct path of northeaster storms crossing the North Atlantic Ocean from Europe. Lying east of Freeport, most communities of the Abacos are very small and isolated. Many beautiful "Cays" are totally uninhabited and we anchored at many of them. November is low season for tourists and we had days where we didn't see another boat on the Abaco Sea.

This was no "Sandals" beachside vacation, but being able to explore uninhabited islands with beaches and jungle that stretched for miles was an amazing experience. The photography was "monumental" with passing storms, big waves, amazing sunrises and sunsets, wildlife and lots of places to explore. The small communities that we visited were a step back in time and folks were incredibly friendly and interesting.

Other times we visited larger communities such as Marsh Harbour, Hope Town, Green Turtle Cay and Treasure Cay that had amenities like showers, groceries, bars and restaurants. There we met other fellow sailors, many Canadian, and many that have chosen this adventurous and somewhat lonely lifestyle as their way of life.

A great adventure, by all accounts.