When approaching Abaco, from points north of West Palm Beach, Florida; I prefer to wait for good weather near Lake Worth Inlet, near West Palm Beach.  Once I feel that I have a suitable window of good weather, I like to depart Lake Worth Inlet so as to time my arrival at West End Grand Bahama in daylight.  For me in my boat, this means I usually depart between midnight and 0300 hours.  Power boats will of course be able to run the entire 55 miles during the daylight, with an ample daylight reserve at the end of the run.  

I like to clear customs at West End, Grand Bahama; get a good night’s rest there and enter Little Bahama Bank at Indian Cay, then on to Great Sale Cay for the next night.  I can usually make the run from Great Sale Cay to Green Turtle Cay in one day.

Deeper draft vessels, or those in a bit of a hurry may want to enter at Memory Rock.  Using this strategy, you can cross the Gulf Stream during the night, timing your arrival at Memory Rock during the early morning and make it to Great Sale Cay well before you lose your light.

When I’m approaching from the Florida Cays, I like to depart from Marathon, catch the Gulf Stream on the outside and have a nice ride to Bimini.  Bimini makes a delightful stop en route. From Bimini, one can proceed on to West End, as I described above,  make a stop at Freeport, or cross the Great Bahama Bank to the Northern Berry Islands.  All of these options offer excellent rest stops and fun shore side excursions.

Detailed courses, distances, harbor charts, and several sample itineraries for both the northern routes and the southern routes are provided in chapter 2 of the book.