Bahamas - The Out Islands - Home of The Wreckers

Welcome back to the Bahamas.
We decided to stay in the Bahamas this winter and see the islands we had missed. To get off the beaten path. We wanted to see the Jumentos and Ragged Islands in the south west. The Acklins and Crooked Islands south, San Salvador where Columbus first landed, Cat Island and Eleuthera all in the east and then the other islands we missed in the Abacos (in the North Bahamas). All remote, isolated and mysterious.
These are the islands we had heard and read stories about where the main economy in the early years was luring passing sailing ships onto the reefs and rocks at night by placing false lights and fires. Then swooping down on the hapless victims, killing any survivors and raiding the booty. Known as the Wreckers, they survived on the misery of others. Cool Stuff.
We flew into Miami to attack our normal shopping list "Things Needed For The Boat". This list never seems to get shorter. In a hotel magazine Sharen read there was a museum in an estate of Henry Frick. Henry was the managing partner of one Andrew Carnegie. His life and eventual hate for Andrew made for a great read. We had purchased the book called "See You In Hell"at the Frick Museum in NYC. It told the story of their momentous quarrel. We were surprised that his estate in Florida had not been mentioned in the book and we decided to sneak a quick 2 hour run up to see it the morning of the day we were flying out to Nassau. 2 hours ended up being almost 3 due to heavy traffic and we were now frightened of being late for the plane so we only had a half hour at the museum. Which.... as it turned out was a "Henry Flagler" not "Henry Frick" museum. Sharen had misread the writeup. Well it turns out that Flagler was as interesting as Frick and probably more so. He was the original partner of one John D. Rockefeller when they started out together in Cleveland. He moved to Florida and was instrumental in the growth of the state. We bought his autobiography and also another. One of Thomas J. Lipton. Just because. Both great reads. We made it to the airport. Just.
We arrived with our oversized luggage, told a white lie (again) to the Customs in the Bahamas, who charge the full price of imported goods as duty, and we were soon happily back on the boat. Bob in Georgetown had done a wonderful job of looking after Slow Dancing for us and after an extensive clean and a bit of varnishing we were off.
My brother Mike and his wife Jean joined us for the first part of our travels. The first few days were basically a motor through the reefs as we headed south to the Jumentos and Raggeds (Shown as Ragged Island Chain on the map). This area is seldom traveled by sailors and we were excited to get off the beaten path. A kind of Christoper Columbus type of feel. Except instead of a sailor perched high in the crows nest keeping an eye out, we had radar and 3 GPS's to guide us. Oh. And occasionally brother Mike out at the front to watch for errant reefs.
Once clear of all dangers from below, we settled in to some wonderful sailing in the lee of the Jumentos. We stopped over night in a wonderful anchorage with a couple of fish boats. Mike jumps in the dinghy and motors off to negotiate for some fish or maybe even lobster as our attempts to find our own had failed miserably to this point. We watched from our boat through binoculars with visions of every scary horror movie we have ever seen going through our heads. He returned with lobster. Lots, and was told by the captain there was no way he would accept payment.
A great meal, wonderful anchorage, great company. We really enjoyed watching them relax and fish (even if the catch was a bit puny).
We traveled on and spent another few nights anchoring in wonderful idyllic bays in the lees of the most beautiful islands. Each terrific to explore. After several days we came upon an island with 16 boats anchored. We discovered they were assembling for the annual Feb 14 Barbecue put on by the people of Duncantown for the cruisers. Duncantown was amazing. It is totally isolated in the most southernmost island in this chain. The people have become accustomed to not depending on anyone else for support and as such have become very independent. When we were there, the roads were being paved with funds donated by a Scandinavian country. For some reason, the locals decided they wanted ashphalt instead of concrete which was being applied. The day we arrived the townsfolk stood in front of the machinery until they were heard. Once explained, they relented. They were also being given a new town dock through the IMF or some other fund. They previously had to have their supplies brought in by local shallow dory boats as the supply boat from Nassau (which supplies all the islands) was too deep to get any closer then a mile off. Tough life. The ancestors here also took to ship wrecking as a means of survival.
Sharen & I found some time to do some snorkeling, enjoying the abundant undersea life.
We sailed up the islands again to about half way and then did the brave thing. We shot across the bay, to the apprehension of our sister- in- law Jeanne. Medicated with Sharen's supply of the latest and greatest of drugs (Sharen is a traveling pharmacy) we left just before daybreak and arrived on the lee side of Long Island just before sundown. It was crucial we go when we did as the weather was predicted to turn bad and we wanted to get into a safe harbour. Mike and Jean were scheduled to leave and we had Terry & Neil returning for a 4th visit. Next day we pulled anchor just before daybreak and were off to Flying Fish Marina in Clarencetown. Although on the windward side of the island it is known as a safe spot to hold up during bad weather. What we didn't know was that the weather would stay bad for so long. Our plan of sailing to San Salvador and experiencing the Columbus landing was not to be. Neither was our plan to sail to the Acklins, south of Long Island.
Flying Fish Marina was a nice spot to call home for a bit but after a few days we were ready to go. Not to be. The seas were 7' plus everyday. We rented a car and toured north and south. Long Island is not "long". It started to drive us crazy. We welcomed friends Terry and Neil and Mike & Jean were able to escape by plane after a few days. Neil is a great fisherman and was quite content fishing and talking to the local fishermen who everyday would return with a catch of Mahi Mahi or Kingfish. Each 3 feet or so long. They would fillet them on the table on the dock, tie the skeleton to a rope and put it into the water to wait for the sharks to smell the blood and come in. Fun to watch but... just don't fall in. We did find some interesting out of the way places such as a restaurant overlooking a beautiful group of small island reefs just offshore. At the seaside we discovered lots of drifted in fish nets etc which we collected for our backyard. Also a beautiful resort on the far north end of the island we had visited last year. We also swam the Dean's Blue Hole where divers free dive to 380+ feet. That day the diver on the right in this picture, did a free dive to 180 ft. Wow. I was pleased to get down to 15 or 20 ft. I think Neil was down to about 30 plus. (But. He really is part fish. We keep looking for gills on him).
Now. All that know her are aware of Sharen's love of shoes and this sign caught her eye. The store was actually in the living room of a residence in a fishing village. The inventory was limited but Sharen loved the sign.
We have been thinking of sailing off farther afield and were concerned our boat may not be strong enough and were researching aluminum boats. We were tickled when this boat pulled in beside us. We spent a lot of time looking it over and talking to the owner. Most aluminium boats we had seen up to this point were hard chined (made with flat pieces & not rounded together). This boat looked like ours. It was very nice. We started thinking about going to France to the factory to investigate them further and seriously start the process to find a newer, stronger boat.
One of the other things we did to fill our days was to go cave exploring. This is one where for years the locals would go to avoid a hurricane. This appears to be a cooking area. I have a pair of night vision goggles around my neck. A gift from our brother-in-law Bob.
Lunch would frequently find us stopping at Max's Conch Bar. This is probably the most popular restaurant/bar on the island. It is a 15ft square road side kiosk that serves drinks and burgers and of course the best conch salad you have ever tasted. Max is fun as is his wife and we enjoyed stopping in.
Sharen thought this sign behind his bar suited us quite well. She said she would use it as my epitaph.
Anxious to get back on the water, I had a dockside weather forecast from the captain of a 100 ft cruiser that was pulling out early one morning. The captain said the waves were settling down. I chose to follow his lead and go. This was fine with everyone except Sharen who asked..."Are you sure?" This should have twigged and gave me cause for pause but I was tired of being land bound and wanted to get off. So off we went without anyone getting properly medicated against sea sickness. Needless to say the seas hadn't settled and soon after our departure I was getting nasty looks from everyone. We bounced quite heavily for about 2 hours and .... the seas started to quiet down a bit so we decided to make for Rum Cay. This was one of our favourite islands from last year. We were welcomed by everyone including Rasta who we had nick-named the Giant Ewok. We stayed a few days enjoying meeting old friends. We tried to get Bobby, the owner of the marina who is also the local sculptor, builder, chef and general surfer boy to sell us a piece he had sculpted out of coral but we decided to check first on our ability to bring it into Canada before we completed negotiations.
We sailed onto Hawks Nest Marina on the southern tip of Cat Island. This is one of the least visited islands and we could not understand why. It was beautiful. Very quiet and very few tourists. Just a few boaters. We rented a car and did the self guided tour which really means we stopped to ask directions a lot. On the far north of the island we stopped at a little bar. Unlike Max's Bar on Long Island, this guy just sold booze. As it was the middle of the afternoon, we had a pop and convinced him to sell a lot of his decorations around his bar. We especially liked the glass fish bouys. These have not been in use for years so they are very rare. Terry liked the aluminum ones. We are quite excited to add them to our fish lines etc for our back yard landscaping.
We stopped into a small,very beautiful resort on the far north end of the island, then motored back to the boat. On the way we found another isolated resort. The beach and the access were very nice. These are owned by expats who have fallen in love with the island and stayed. They don't make a lot of money but it is a labour of love.
We also took this photo of sailboats anchored off for the night in this wonderful quiet bay in the lee of the island.
Sundown is Sharen's favourite time for snapping pictures. Thank you God for digital cameras. 30 photos of the same sun every night can be a bit much.
So. What is it we do when we sail? We like to read while the guests fish. Sharen & I don't fish when we are by ourselves as we only tend to catch them when we are coming in and that is not a good time to be distracted so close to land. Here is a photo showing Neil waiting for the fishing line to sing and me reading about where we are going. The boat, as most always is the case, is on auto-pilot. Thank heaven for OTTO. He is our favourite crew.
Our next island is Eleuthera. This is a very populated island and has a lot more visitors. We sailed into Cape Eleuthera Marina on the south western tip of the island. This is a brand new marina. Built just before the major recession in the US. We felt sorry for them because it was mostly empty. The former development located here was a haven for the Kennedy's and numerous movie stars from the 60's era.
Eleuthera is home to one of the best surfing beaches in the Bahamas or Caribbean. The area was discovered by Ray Shilling. We spent a wonderful evening at his son Derek's and his wife"s beautiful river valley home in Edmonton where he regaled us with wonderful stories and photos of life growing up on a boat with his dad and mom in the 60's. The beach lookout was built by surfers as a place to hangout while waiting for the surf to pick up and as a memorial to Ray. Very neat.
Needless to say, as you can see from this picture, the sundowns on Eleuthera are spectacular.
We did the normal self guided tour. We rented a car and drove the length of the island, stopping every time we saw something interesting and striking up conversations with the locals. One of the most interesting sights is this bridge which joins 2 sections of the island. It is called The Glass Window. It was hit by a huge tsunami size rogue wave, shortly after it was built, moving it sideways 11 feet. Rather then rebuild, the highways dept. just moved the approach so there is this strange looking jut in the road.
On the North East side of Eleuthera lies a small island which has been developed as an exclusive address for the filthy rich. It is called Harbour Island and is a vacation spot for an exceptional number of American Billionaires. The Kellogs, Perelmans, etc. Why here? Well, this island had some of the nicest sand beaches we have ever seen.
One spot we had heard about held a lot of mystery for us and we were anxious to see it. This is Spanish Wells. One of the biggest issues was shallow water. We had to slip though a very tight spot, called Current Cut, at the north end of Eleuthera, at slack tide which that day was just before dark. If we had hit it wrong we would face current at 4 to 8 knots. The lateness of the hour meant we had to anchor in a sketchy anchorage with just the last light of day. The next morning we dinghied in to town in some pretty rough seas but were rewarded with one of the this world's special places. These 2 dolphins greeted us on our way in. It was like a fairyland. As we approached we took this photo of what must be a Puritan Family on their way to church. Spanish Wells is a 100% white settlement in the Bahamas which is 60 to 65% black. They are descendents of The Eleuthera Adventurers, a shipload of Puritans from Bermuda who hit a nearby reef in 1640. These people are very successful fishermen. They can earn a couple of hundred thousand in a few short months. We rented a golf cart which was sufficient to see the entire island. The colors and beaches were beautiful. One of the oddities was a number of homes totally covered like this one. We were told this was to exterminate the biggest pest on the island. Termites. We walked the beach at the edge of town and watched the boats come and go thru the very narrow north channel. Sharen spied this sand spit and decided to walk out. She made it. Spanish Wells is one very cool spot.
On reports of good weather we pulled anchor and did the run to the Abacos. This can be a bit bumpy but we were very pleased to find gentle seas and winds. We arrived in Pete's Pub, which we had visited last year with neice Karla and then moved on to the lee of Lynyard Cay, then onto Marsh Harbour where we had plans to meet up with friends Dick & Joanne who sailed with us last year. They were flying in with a group of 5 couples and had a catamaran chartered. While waiting we rented a car and toured Grand Abaco. We discovered Cherokee Sound. This is a very quaint community an hour south of Marsh Harbour. The streets are wide enough for one car if you pull in the side mirrors. We noticed that absolutely no one was ever in a rush. If you decide to stop and talk it is expected any one who pulls in behind you will get out and join in the conversation. The houses were like doll houses. They were also plagued by shallow water and had built a 700 foot dock to see if they could get out to water deep enough for the mail boat. 700 feet out they had gotten only to 3 feet. This is also a 99% white community. We believe the Eleuthera Adventurers settled here and Man O War Cay (just north of Marsh Harbour) as well as Spanish Wells.
Dick and Joanne arrived with their crew and they were all a blast. Most were hard working docs and knew how to let loose when on vacation. They were all really funny and most were friends from university years. We traveled with them for 3 or 4 days enjoying Great Guana Cay and of course its most famous restaurant Nippers Bar and Grill. We arrived there on a Sunday when they have a Barbeque Pig. This of course attracts a huge group and it was fun to watch the younger crowd party. Sharen & I rented a golf cart and traveled to the very exclusive Bakers Bay development where homes are generally valued in the $10 to $15 million range. We next moved on to Green Turtle Cay, stopping along the way for a snorkel off a beach on the east end of the island. Dinner that night was most enjoyable, mostly from the wide range of jokes and laughter.
Sharen & I departed at daybreak the next morning as we had a long run to Sale Cay, a distance of over 70 nautical miles. Dick, Joanne and crew were heading east to the other islands they had not yet visited. We arrived at Great Sale in complete darkness and anchored by guess and by golly, relying on our instruments alone. We had never anchored in the dark before but chose to do it this time as we had been here last year and knew the area. We also were pushing it to arrive in Freeport before a predicted nasty system which was heading our way from Florida. We overnighted again in Old Bahama Bay. This is the spot where Travolta has a condo and where his son passed away a few years ago. I don't think he has come back since. We fueled up and left again early to beat the storm and pulled into Bradford Marine where we had plans to have Slow Dancing pulled out and stored for the summer season. We had decided to go to France and actively start shopping for a new boat. After France we were scheduled to fulfill a promise to our daughter Nicki to babysit the grandchildren for a few days, then bring them back to Edmonton while she attended a childcare conference. This was not a difficult decision as the conference was in Hawaii.