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out more in the large living area between into the Bahamas bearing winds clocked at
the pontoons where the berths are lo‐ 185 miles per hour. Gusts hit 200 mph in the
cated,” Burns said. “A 42-foot cat can eas‐ Abacos, which lie about 60 miles north of
ily handle eight people. With a monohull, Nassau.
that would require a 50-footer and you’d As if that weren’t enough, a huge storm
still be living in a tube, no matter how big surge of up to 23 feet swept away many
the cockpit.” buildings, tossed around working boats and
My adventure (I didn’t know anyone on yachts like toys and submerged a large
my boat before I’d signed up for this out‐ part of the Bahamas.
ing) began by flying from the Midwest to At Marsh Harbor on Grand Abaco Island,
Miami and then hopping over to the town water in the harbor was sucked out by the
of Marsh Harbor on Great Abaco Island- hurricane’s low pressure system and then
only about 90 miles from the mainland. came roaring back, sweeping vessels into
As I flew into the airport, I was stunned the community and dumping them on
to see hundreds of acres of dead pine trees streets and flattened houses.
spreading out beyond the tarmac. They’d “Ah, it was a terrible thing,” a taxi driver
been stripped bare and killed on Sept. 1, told me on my way to the Conch Inn Hotel
2019 when a powerful hurricane slammed and Marina (conchinn.com) to begin my
180 WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE SUMMER 2024
