Sailor’s Choice Restaurant & Bar in Nassau

My photo of A-Class sloop Tida Wave from the island of Staniel Cay hangs on the wall at Sailor’s Choice. When her crew come to eat, they see themselves surfing down the waves.

Sailor’s Choice Restaurant & Bar Opens in Nassau

Stop by to hang out and eat and drink with Bahamian Wooden Sloop Sailors and Owners

Article and Photos by Jan Pehrson except as noted.

In Tthe Bahamas, friends and family are important. VERY IMPORTANT! Families have traditionally been large, so most Bahamians enjoy networks of first family, extended family, cousins, and friends.

Realizing this, when proprietor Deno Albury reopened

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his family-owned waterfront restaurant at 307 East Bay St, Nassau, he chose a theme of community. Deno knows that there is no better way to experience Bahamian communityin-action than go to a sailing regatta, a social event and competition not to be missed. Sloop regattas started officially in 1954, when a small group of Bahamian and American yachtsmen conceived the idea of holding races for the Bahamian working sailing craft during the off-season when they were not being used for fishing and transportation. These early regattas morphed into the exciting, extreme, crowd-pleasing sloop racing of today.

Bahamian wooden sloop sailing is about cousins and friends from one island racing their cousins and friends from another island for prize money and fun. A-Class sloops, the largest class, are 28 feet long with long, overhanging booms and 60-plus feet masts. In windy conditions, they are way-overpowered and sailed with crews of as many as 15 people. Community-in-action! Precariously balanced on pry boards, hiked-out crews balance the sloops’ huge billowing sails.

My photo of A-Class sloop Ed Sky from Nassau hangs on the wall at Sailor’s Choice. When her crew come to eat, they see themselves hiked out on the pry boards.

At Sailor’s Choice, Deno designed an atmosphere to make sailors feel comfortable. First, he hung on the walls posters of crews sailing their family-owned sloops, photographed by me during the past five years. Next, he brought from his home trophies won by his own A-Class sloop Good News, owned by Deno and his father Wycliff Albury. This historic family sloop has been sailing in regattas and winning trophies since the earliest races, rebuilt many times, and is still actively racing today.

With the sloop posters and the trophies, Deno created Sailor’s Choice — a hangout for sailors and an informal yacht club.

Sloop sailors started to come in, eating tasty, familiar Bahamian food while looking at photos of themselves and their boats on the walls. Soon Sailor’s Choice, located on the

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My photo of A-Class sloop Ruff Justice from Long Island hangs on the wall at Sailor’s Choice. When her crew come to eat, they see themselves rounding the weather mark.

East End of the Nassau Harbor, began to draw international cruising sailors as well, coming from the nearby marinas. Next came sailors from the established Nassau yacht clubs just down the road. Finally, curious tourists started walking in. All added to the mix of community.

As of now, there are photos of twenty different sloops hanging on the walls. The number is fast-growing. When sailors don’t see a photo of their own sloop, they say, “where’s my boat?” Deno and I get to work, hanging up another one of my photos. Also, Deno has created a special Captain Ken Kramer and I sail Slowpoke (behind us), a 1974 Morgan Out Island 36 rebuilt by Ken, around the islands of the Bahamas, photographing regattas.

Our 51st Year

Sailor’s Choice is an informal yacht club with sailing trophies on display over the bar. Good News, The Albury family’s A-Class sloop, has collected trophies since the earliest days of the regattas.

Adrian Albury shows me around Sailor’s Choice – his family’s new waterfront restaurant and hangout on the Nassau Channel East End.

“wall of winners” that grows after every major regatta! See the attached schedule of 2020 Regattas in the Bahamas and come on down and join the fun.

The menu includes: Down Home (Streamed/Baked/ BBQ Chicken), Sweet Island Gal (Curry Chicken), Long Island (Curry Mutton), Briland (Steamed/Cracked Conch), Slip Knot (Steamed/Fried Fish), The Good News (Steamed Grouper), The Bow (Lobster), Sternchaser (NY Strip Steak), Sail Away With Me (Wings Platter), King’s Special (Seafood Platter) For planning help and deals on airfare, rooms, and cars: www.Bahamas.com

Jan Pehrson is a sailing photojournalist who spends summers in San Francisco, California and winters in St. Pete Beach, Florida. As a racing and cruising sailor and Coast Guard licensed skipper, Jan’s familiarity with sailing and the sailing community lends an in-depth element to her prolific array of photographs and articles. Contact her at www.janpehrson.com

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