Uncharted

A first Bahamas charter tends to raise two questions: who will know where to anchor, and is a full week too much to start with? Uncharted answers both. This 2023 Bali 4.2 is available bareboat if someone in your party is a qualified skipper, or with a local skipper arranged through Abaco Sail if nobody is. And because the minimum charter is four nights, you can try a long weekend on the water before committing to seven. We handle the booking; the operator runs the boat from Conch Inn Marina in Marsh Harbour.

A local skipper earns their keep here because the water is shallow and the right anchorage changes with the wind. The Sea of Abaco sits behind a string of outer cays that keep the Atlantic swell offshore, so most of your sailing is in sheltered water, but sandbars, grass flats and tide-sensitive harbor entrances reward someone who knows them. With a skipper aboard, the questions that fill a first-timer's evening, like where to tuck in if the wind swings north overnight, become someone else's job, and your group can concentrate on swimming, snorkeling and the next beach.

On board, Uncharted makes sense within the first hour. The saloon opens straight onto the aft cockpit through a garage-style door that tilts out of the way, so the galley, saloon and cockpit work as one shaded space, and the bow is solid deck with sunpads and seating rather than netting. There are four double cabins with a head each, eight berths in all. Air conditioning runs under way and at anchor, there is a generator and a watermaker, and a freshwater deck shower handles the salt after a swim.

For a short break, the central cays all but plan themselves. Hope Town on Elbow Cay with its red-and-white lighthouse, Man-O-War Cay with its boatbuilding history and the long ocean beach on Great Guana Cay are all short sails from Marsh Harbour, so even a four-night charter can take in all three. Snorkel gear for everyone aboard, a stand-up paddleboard and the Comfort Pack's dinghy and outboard fill the days, while the cockpit grill and Bluetooth audio in the saloon and cockpit take care of the evenings.

Uncharted's weekly rate runs from $4,675 (August 1 to 18) to $14,025 over Christmas and New Year, plus the mandatory Comfort Pack at $1,000 for the first week and $600 for each week after. Rates already include the 10% Bahamian VAT, and the 4% cruising tax is charged on top. Each night of a short charter costs one-sixth of the weekly rate. The honest trade-off against the Bali 4.4s is size, 42 feet rather than 44. Against Cat Tales, the rate is identical and the build a year newer. If you want a skipper, ask us to include one in your quote.