Paradise Revisited
The chartered Fountaine Pajot Isla 40 proved an ideal family vessel for the Bahamas cruise. Credit: Betsy Lewis
This feature forms part of AFLOAT’s latest edition of boating features, sharing cruising stories, sailing destinations and family adventures from around the world.
A sailing family discovers its nautical roots on a Bahamas charter that parallels a voyage almost 50 years ago done by their father, recalls Craig Ligibel.
What would prompt a young Northern Beaches family to leave their North Curl Curl beachside home and travel half-way around the world for a cruise in the Bahamas? The family’s recent cruise had its beginnings almost 50 years ago, when the author and his pregnant wife were marooned on a deserted island in the Bahamas. We camped on the beach. Watched the stars. Cooked over an open fire and patiently waited for the tides to push our 90 foot sailboat, Dolphin, free of the sandy bottom that held her tight for three days.
Eventually, the tide came up, the winds blew in the right direction and our captain managed to sail the boat off the bottom and into the welcoming confines of Staniel Cay Marina. Needless to say, it was quite an adventure. Almost five decades later, the sandy shores of some of the Bahamas’ most isolated and intriguing islands were once again home to the Ligibel clan. Albeit the 2025 edition of the family: Daughter Betsy Ligibel Lewis, her Australian husband and their two seafaring kids, Charlie, aged seven, and Ava aged four. The Lewis’ can’t claim a grounding off Little Farmer’s Cay as the centrepiece of their Bahamas cruise, but the memories made by the young Aussie family in one of the most pristine areas of the Caribbean are sure to stoke tall tales as the kids get older and set out on sailing adventures of their own.
Early days
Betsy has been sailing all her life. First on my 15-foot Sunfish in the friendly confines of Lake Quivira, Kansas. Then, later as first mate on my 43-foot centre cockpit ketch, Winds End, plying the West Coast of Florida, the Bahamas and Belize and Guatemala and most recently as crew along with her family on my 20-foot catboat, Mystic Wind, as we gunkholed around the western reaches of the Chesapeake Bay. She’s even done a bit of sailing in Sydney’s Harbour and kayaking in Tasmania.
“Dad’s always included me in his sailing adventures, sometimes whether I liked it or not,” the forty-something US/Aussie sailor recalls. “It was special to visit some of his nautical haunts in the Bahamas with my kids and husband tagging along. I’d heard about his and Mum’s Bahamas adventure for years. It was fun to share some of the same experiences with my family; this time without camping out on the beach!”
CAPTION: The author back in 1980, exploring the Bahamas before going sailing in the region. Credit: Craig Ligibel
Betsy has lived in Australia for the past 13 years. She initially moved to Sydney to help set up the Australian office of her father’s international advertising agency, VML. She now splits her time between being a mother of two active young Aussies (soccer, swimming, dancing, Nippers on the Beach, rugby) and juggling her job at Adobe Systems where she runs a team of Customer Success specialists across the Asia Pacific region. The young family lives a stone’s throw from some of the most beautiful stretches of sand in the world on Australia’s Northern Beaches. Early in her sailing life, Betsy was known to swing from the spreaders on her father’s boat, 75 feet in the air, and narrowly escaping being devoured by sharks when her father inadvertently towed her behind the boat though some of the most shark-infested waters of Florida’s Charlotte Harbour.
Charter cruise
The Lewis’ decision to charter a catamaran and make some of their own Bahamas memories was occasioned by a family reunion in Nassau. As Betsy put it, “As long as we were travelling half way around the world for a family gathering, why not spend a little more time in the Bahamas and do a little cruising?” Enough said.
The couple started with a review of charter companies serving the Bahamas.
“We narrowed our search down to Cruise Abaco (https://cruiseabaco.com/), which offered the option to have a captain drive the boat by day and then leave the boat to us at night. A perfect situation for us,” said Betsy. “We knew enough about boating that we were confident we wouldn’t get into any trouble with the anchor set and being close to shore with a dinghy at the ready.” Cost for the one-week charter was around USD$8,100 excluding food and tip.
The newly minted cruisers met their captain, 68-year-old Paul Werbin, in Marsh Harbour where they provisioned the boat for week of on-boat dining. “We figured we’d eat lunches out and cook dinner on the boat. With the kids finicky eating, we thought that would give us the most choices. We were excited to spear a lobster. Unfortunately, the lobsters were as elusive this time around as they were for my Dad 50 years ago. Thank goodness for a well-stocked larder,” said Betsy.
Captain Werbin has been bumming around boats and small planes up and down the US East Coast and the Bahamas for most of his life. He spent 30 years as a nurse anaesthetist with time off to cruise his own boat and as a fill-in captain on a schooner in Yorktown, the Alliance 2, skippering sailing tours of the area.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian, Werbin flew 18 missions delivering medical supplies, food, water and making parachute drops to places in need. Werbin likes Cruise Abaco’s arrangement where he leaves the boat at night and returns in the morning. The veteran skipper thinks for families travelling with young children short 1-2 hour legs with stops during the day work out great. “I believe that there were many special moments of the family during the week,” he says. “But a big part of my job is to stay out of the way for family together time.”
Charlie and Ava were natural sailors. Both spent as much time snorkelling, chasing schools of fish as they did colouring beautiful pictures and playing games on deck. While keeping busy on the boat, they didn’t have time for screen time and only watched two movies the whole week.
Betsy recalls the look on Charlie and Ava’s faces as they surfaced after their first reef snorkel adventure. “We were swimming with turtles, and I knew they were hooked from that moment on,” said Betsy.
Werbin charted a meandering course with minimal sailing and maximum beach and exploring time. “We ducked into Hopetown for a looksee, found it pretty crowded and headed out for a more peaceful anchorage. Our voyage included stops at Great Guana Cay, Hopetown, Tahiti Beach, Tilloo, Mermaid Reef, and a sunken boat near Lubbers Cay. We found the islands pristine, the people welcoming and the food delicious,” said Betsy.
Werbin has seen a lot of development over the years. “But most of it has been focused on limited areas. There are so many uninhabited islands and parts of islands that I’m not ever bothered by crowds. Over the years I have seen the Exumas become much more crowded than the Abacos.
In a strange twist of fate the deserted island where the senior Ligibels were marooned, Little Farmer’s Cay, has blossomed into quite the tourist destination as it hosts the annual “5 Fs Festival” also called the Farmer’s Cay First Friday Festival. It’s a fun weekend featuring Bahamian culture, a traditional free buffet, local art sales, music, games, and a significant regatta with sailboat races for cruisers and locals.”
Werbin estimates that the tiny island’s population of 60 swells many fold with cruisers and participants. A far cry from the deserted stretch of beach the Ligibel’s called home years ago.
“As I sit here in Marsh Harbour there are about 15 boats at anchor,” says Werbin. “The last report at Georgetown Exuma is a bit under 200 boats in the harbour. I made a stop in Georgetown last season to find groceries and there were over 400 boats in the harbour. Yikes!”
Betsy and her husband of nine years were enchanted by the islands and by their on-board routine. “Our captain knew when to ask for help and was very eager to show Charlie and Ava everything there was about our boat. The kids had little chores to do every day. Lots of free time. Lots of time in the water. Will we do it again? You bet.”
The smiles on the faces of Ava and Charlie said it all.
Beaches
Several evenings were spent huddled around a beach fire, safely away from the wind on deserted Cays. “You can still find places like this if you know where to go,” said Captain Werbin. Tilloo Cay was a favourite spot for beaching it day or night.
The Lewis camp fires reminded me of my time on Little Farmer’s Cay more than 45 years ago. One night Betsy Facetimed us from the beach and memories of camping out years ago flooded back.
The contrast between those two experiences was significant. The beach and azure water were the same. But in our previous incantation we slept under a sail fashioned into a tent and dined on whatever our cook could rustle up to grill on an open fire. Nights were star-studded, while the thrill of sleeping at the jungle’s edge kept some of us awake through the night. Occasionally, one of us would roll over in our sleeping bags and squish a land crab out looking for a meal.
Fast-forward 46 years to find the Lewis family enjoying some of the same simple pleasures we enjoyed decades earlier. A conch shell I plucked from the surf in 1980 enjoys an honoured position in my office next to a similar shell the Lewis’ found only weeks ago. Your author’s hope is that this beach combing interlude will spark even more nautical adventures among the Lewis family as they learn more about the sea and take advantage of nearby Australian cruising opportunities.
Charter Yacht Dellis Rae
- Manufacturer: Fountaine Pajot
- Year commissioned: 2022
- Model: Isla 40
- Length: 40 feet
- Draft: 4’1”
- Power: 2 30 hp diesel engines
- Staterooms: 3 Fuel: 80 gals
- Water: 140 gals
Read more boating features and cruising stories in the latest edition of AFLOAT Magazine.
