Staying Shipshape in The Abaco Islands: Photo of the Day
The traditional sloops of yesteryear may be hard to come by in The Bahamas of today, but that doesn’t mean that the shipbuilding and maintenance traditions that have long made these islands a favorite of seafarers from all over the world have been forgotten.
That’s especially true in uncommon Out Island outposts like Man-O-War Cay in the Abacos.
Located just a quick boat hop over from the Abaco Beach Resort, this historic island hamlet remains to this day a prime center for boat construction and retrofitting. A walk down Bay Street here is almost like cutting through a busy shipyard, virtually all hands busily engaged in making vessels of all sizes shipshape in one form or another.
This, of course, makes for some rather nice photo-ops. The pic above is among my favorites from my most recent visit a few months ago – just a lonely guy painting away on the shaded side of a gorgeous tall-masted sailing vessel under a very hot sun, no doubt a healthy measure of pride in every brush stroke.