I watched tidily uniformed schoolkids climb aboard as the crew loaded sacks of flour, a boxed microwave, some spare luggage, and various other unidentifiable bundles onto the 50-foot fiberglass ferry boat. Despite the early hour, everyone was cheerful as they made their way to their wood benches, nodding good morning to fellow passengers whether they knew them or not. The captain crawled through the window, gunned the engine, and we began powering our way through the bracing, briny air from Treasure Cay to Green Turtle Cay.

Other seafarers that day were piloting million-dollar yachts that were costing them a small fortune in anchorage fees to travel around the Abacos, a 120-mile-long chain of more than a hundred Out Islands of the Bahamas. Us? We were paying $17 round trip to hop out to Green Turtle Cay, where we spent the day breakfasting at Green Turtle Club, snorkeling and picnicking, and touring the bright little town of New Plymouth (the very model of what a Bahamian town should look like).

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