The Far Bahamas… I’ll say.
I just realized that we’re over 400 miles from Cat Cay where we entered
Bahamian waters in December. Heck we’re
less than 50 miles from Cuba where we sit right now… Food for though there…
We crossed the 5,000 mile mark shortly before we arrived
here on Great Inagua. Yes we have Cruised over 5,000 miles since September 30,
2013. WOW… That’s a lot of miles when you consider we
only travel at about 6 miles per hour.
We’re also finally reached “The Tropics”… as in, we crossed
23.5° North Latitude which is the northern boundary of the zone. I’m officially SAFE from winter!!!
Great Inagua is the last Bahamian Island we will visit
before we make the giant leap to our THIRD country (if you count the US) and
the Caribbean Sea. While waiting for our
weather window we’ve had a lot of time to think about that. So many times we find ourselves staring at
the remote scene around us and wonder “how did we get here from there?” It’s astounding when you think about it
really…
The "dock"? |
The Island is surrounded by coral reef with only a narrow
shelf of shallow water hardly wide enough to find a spot to drop the hook in
many places. It’s simply amazing to sail
from waters in the thousands of feet deep… and then mere minutes later we’re
dropping an anchor in 15 feet.
Even finding depths that shallow is a challenge and there
are lots of coral heads to contend with.
We followed the Explorer Chart to an anchorage on the NE corner of the
Bay in hopes that the North swell would not find us. There was a gentle swell that rocked the boat
but it was not enough to complain about…
We dropped the anchor in clear water and white sand with coral patches
all around us. Too bad this is part of
the Bahamas National Trust park and there’s no fishing allowed. I just KNOW these rocks are full of
lobster!!!
I was hot to get to town and re-provision but it looked like
we would probably be here for a week before the weather window presents itself,
so no need to rush into town just yet. Bruce wanted to hang out here and explore the beach. Our first morning here the weather was rainy
and windy so we just hung out on the boat.
I was amazed at how tired we both were.
I guess passage making really takes more out of you than you realize.
This is not working... |
There... that should hold it |
A little further up the sand road we found some buildings
that looked like they were some sort of “fair grounds”…maybe a venue for
watching sailboat races.
Imagine my delight when I spied a SWING! There on that beautiful beach was a swing just waiting to be swung. And I did! I could just feel joy bubbling up inside me as I tried to go higher and higher… It’s harder than it looks! Lying back in the swing and looking up at the blue sky through the Australian pines was sheer heaven.
Imagine my delight when I spied a SWING! There on that beautiful beach was a swing just waiting to be swung. And I did! I could just feel joy bubbling up inside me as I tried to go higher and higher… It’s harder than it looks! Lying back in the swing and looking up at the blue sky through the Australian pines was sheer heaven.
It was so nice to be on dry land again. It had been five days since our feet had
steady ground to walk upon and I was excited to hike the roads, not caring that
Henry said there wasn’t anything to see…
Maybe he was right but just walking was very nice…
Of interest along the way… we saw cotton growing in the
wild. This brought thoughts of slaves
and cotton fields and I wondered about the history of the island.
There were a few birds around. We had actually seen sea birds offshore long
before we arrived. Many of the islands
in the Bahamas have few if any birds so hearing them twitter in the brush was
nice. We saw one small raptor-type bird
and at first thought it was an osprey but it was too small… we found it nesting
atop a headless palm tree.
Further along the path there was a large area that showed
evidence of a recent fire. Lighting
strike? Some trees were uprooted here
and there… maybe from the hurricane? All
these things we would ask Henry.
We began to get hot and hungry so we backtracked to the
boat. After lunch we pulled up the
anchor and motored right along the coast nearly ten miles to Mathewtown.
Along the way we passed the Morton Salt complex. There is a long conveyor that takes the salt to be loaded onto the boats for transport away from the island. We hope to get up close and personal to one of those salt pyramids! They look majestic from the water. I wonder what happens to the salt piles when it rains…
Devils Point |
Government basin under construction |
Lighthouse |
The next morning we decided that the swell was manageable
enough to try going ashore. We headed
into the entrance to the government basin and were surrounded by big boats and
barges.
There were dirt movers working to dig out the sandstone from
the perimeter of the basin, enlarging it in big chunks. We motored around looking for anything that
looked like a dock… Workers on the boats
just held out their arms like “I don’t know what to tell you”.
We spotted what looked like a boat ramp and squeezed between
two big vessels to tie up to a large bollard on the wall. This is obviously not meant for cruisers or
small boats… but the people around the basin were nice and looked sympathetic
as they watched the idiots trying not to be killed.
The surge was throwing the dinghy up onto the concrete boat
ramp and then sucking it back off again.
We decided that I would go in search of a source for diesel while Bruce
kept the dinghy from being destroyed.
This can NOT be it.... |
The town was very neatly laid out and had several buildings
that looked sort of “colonial”. Very
old. Lots of damage from past storms or
maybe things just fall to ruin here in the islands… I found the Morton Salt Museum… would love to
come back here… I passed the police station and found another small building
with a lone gas pump outside.
I spoke to some girls in a car parked in front of the fuel
pump… they pointed me to a man standing by a fuel-truck talking on the
phone. I chit-chatted with the girls
until the man was done with his phone call… No he couldn’t help me but pointed
me to the yellow building just to the right of the basin…
That’s the place I passed!
It was deserted! So, defeated, I
returned to the basin. I found Bruce
with a group of men. They had evidently been bonding and the guys told him
where to go for diesel…
Yes it WAS the place just around the corner, but not the gas
station… the HOUSE beside it. We walked
up there and knocked on the door. No
answer. A car was just leaving around
the side and a guy across the street told us to go around to the back… Feeling
very strange, we did.
There was a woman leaving with fresh baked rolls. Mmm I want some of those! She offered to give us one. No… So
in through the door we went and found ourselves in a very neat and tidy kitchen
decorated in overwhelming black and white with yellow daisies.
Long story short, the lady would bake us some bread if we
wanted and yes, here husband, Leon (like a lion rooooooaaaaaaaowww) was the guy
to see for diesel. We went back and got
our jerry cans and left them with him as he was airing up the tire on his
truck.
We would go to the grocery store and pick up a few things and meet him back at the basin with our filled diesel jugs. Feeling better about life, we headed for the market.
There was a lot of activity inside… the supply boat had come
the previous day and the stores were flying off the shelves before they could
even be set out. Literally people were
standing at the back door to the storeroom asking for things that would then be
handed out. I picked up some eggs and
when I came back down the aisle again moments later the eggs were almost
gone!!!
I was looking for milk and there was none in the case… a
woman got a gallon for me from the store-room…
Wow it was a zoo!
We took our things and checked out and were pleased to find
Leon with his truck waiting at the door for us.
We piled our bags into the back with the diesel and hopped into the
truck next to him. Conversation was
difficult with the radio blaring… but the ride was short through the back roads
of the town.
Fuel first |
That was Saturday.
For the duration of our stay here on Great Inagua we were plagued by the
incessant swell. The boat rolled and
bounced continually. Sometimes it would
calm somewhat… briefly… At first our
attitudes were good and hopeful that it would moderate with the winds turning more
east from NE.
All day Sunday we stayed onboard, reading and napping. We couldn’t do much more. We were hopeful that we could go ashore and
get fresh bread and maybe hook up with Henry for that island tour to see the
flamingos and the Salt Factory…
Going out full |
We slept some, but sleep was interrupted by a huge swell
that would roll the boat and rock us from side to side, almost tossing us out
of bed. It’s a miracle that nobody was
seasick, not even Jezabelle.
Monday came and we were hopeful that things would settle
down enough to allow a shore visit, but with passing squalls and the increased
activity in the basin… it didn’t look promising.
We were able to contact Chris Parker for weather information
and he told us that we would have reasonable weather for leaving here on
Tuesday. Soon we would be free.
The swell continued.
I cooked passage food… pasta salad, boiled eggs, a cake. Try making a cake with a rolling boat and
just see how that turns out…
More loads. The basin is just not safe... |
NOW we know why nobody comes here… I had hopes that things would settle once the
winds clocked around to the SE… but no.
The swell just came from the other direction.
The three of us were in “endurance mode”. The end was in sight so we just had to
(literally) hang on for a little while longer.
Now as I sit here listening to Chris Parker Weather and thinking about
last minute preparations… I am disappointed
that we didn’t’ get more time to explore the treasures to be found ashore… but
we’re really just ready to leave. I
can’t imagine that there are ever weather conditions here that would allow for
a comfortable stay. The remoteness of
this place, the fact that it’s just a mountain jutting up from the ocean floor…
makes for a continuous state of flux.
The lack of infrastructure for small or non-commercial vessels, no
matter how welcoming the people, is just not adequate for our needs or
comfort.
A fantastic report on a beautiful island. You really get the idea of just how isolated it is when you don't see any tourist boats or other sail boats at anchor. I also found very little in reviews of the island....happy sailing and be careful on your next leg.
ReplyDeleteIt really was nice and we would have loved to stay a little longer if we had better weather conditions. There is a tour of the salt production facilities and a trip to see the flamingos that we would have loved to take...
DeleteWonderful report! We have always wanted to go to Great Inagua, but maybe not so much anymore. You said you wanted to learn about the island. I read the most amazing book about Great Inagua called "Inagua" by Robert Klingel. It was written in 1940. It is not only solid work of natural history, but also a high adventure. It was recently re-issued by Mr. Klingel's daughter and is available on Amazon.
ReplyDeleteDon't let our weather experience deter you, I would still love to tour the island. But the weather said go! The people were very friendly and really want tourists by boat to come. I think once the work being done on the basin is finished it will go back to being a great place to visit.
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