Bahamas - Northwards

Heading north to the Bahamas, it took us four days, approximately 645 nautical miles, the weather gods smiled down at us, and we were able to average seven knots sailing with the occasional motor assist. Downwind parasailing the first day, it was great to be able to shelter from the sun’s intensity on the foredeck. Second day, no wind, stifling hot and the sea a glassy mirror, we did attempt to fish as we motored along, but clumps of Sargassum put an end to that. By the third day the wind had picked up and we had a good reach under full sail which continued into the fourth day, the Sargassum disappeared, and we were able to catch two dorado and a tuna. It was a great four days and four nights.

And then we were in the Bahamas and the clearest, bluest water we have ever seen. Wow. I had read that an astronaut was once asked - what was the most beautiful part of earth as seen from space – his answer - the Bahamas are gorgeous. And they are, the colour and clarity of the water is simply outstanding.

Checking into the Bahamas is a two-stage process, Customs have an online Click2Clear system where you can buy your USD300 cruising permit (yikes!) and then you need to physically meet a Customs officer, but where to go? Noonsite provides a comprehensive Ports of Entry list, and we had been given a heads up about checking into Clarence Town on Long Island. The few buildings ranging along the shore didn’t look particularly official and with only data we weren’t able to call the Customs number we had been given, so we went ashore, spied some people over by a big blue building and approached looking for guidance. It was the local agricultural co-op and our new best friend Judy, not only rang Roosinique at Customs, who then drove 30 mins down to check us in, but she also arranged for Josie to drive us the 20 km to the telco BTC to buy a Bahamian SIM.

So, our first Bahamian foray was driving along the Queens Highway; running the length of the 130 km island, we passed the road to Dean's Hole, the second deepest blue hole in the world, eight churches, three number (lottery) houses, two schools, five small shops, five restaurants and fifty homes.

The next day, we got to chatting to a local chap while filling up diesel drums at the Flying Fish Marina, and he told us that they get many different types of sharks right in the marina, not only Nurse and Reef but Bull sharks as well, all drawn in by the free meals provided by fishermen cleaning their catch. Sharks, in the marina, was this going to put an end to my confident snorkelling?  Not that I swim in marinas, but sharks … I was assured that this is a rarity and that this takeaway spot has become a nursery; the sharks appear at the beginning of the season with their young and leave them there to play with other fish while they head out to deeper waters, and no one fights! 

As we travelled up the string of islands, we found that checking tide charts and following marked chart routes became a daily necessity - the Bahamas are very shallow, we regularly anchored in 2-3 metres, and the depth can vary suddenly. So much so that often we found it useful to duck out into the wilder Atlantic side, travelling up the eastern coast we could make much better time than weaving around coral fields. And the view from outside the lagoons is quite extraordinary, the water is so blue that it casts a glow upwards turning the clouds blue, quite extraordinary.

The Exumas are a chain of many islands (cays) and are beautiful; we never ceased to be amazed by the soft white sand and the crystal water, sometimes aquamarine, sometimes turquoise, it was like liquid jewellery. And it was so quiet, often our only company the laughing gulls. Some of the cays have the homes of the rich and famous nestled in the trees, some are deserted with the occasional conch shell ringed firepit, a legacy of visiting sailors, and some have small settlements with limited provisioning - we made a note to stock up on essentials in the US before heading back down in 2024.

Highlights -

Ψ The laughing gulls (Leucophaeus atricilla) I literally had them eating out of my hand.

Ψ The swimming pigs at the aptly named Pig Beach on Big Major Cay are a tourist attraction, it is thought they initially were either shipwrecked or left intentionally by sailors for a future feast, I prefer the former. Tendering into shore, a friendly passel swam out to great us, and although they are tame, we kept them at an arm’s distance, and fed them the crackers left over from our Atlantic crossing. The crackers eere much appreciated.

Ψ Liquormat. Just past the Yacht Club on Big Major Cay, where it costs USD6 to dispose of a rubbish bag, there are desalination and power generation plants and then a laundromat with a small bar. I liked the name.

Ψ A nightime visit by a female money bat moth (Ascalapha odorata), also known as the black witch, they can attain a wingspan of 240mm, ours was just a baby at 120mm.

Ψ The Iguanas. On the aptly named Bitter Iguana Cay we tendered ashore at sundown, painkillers in hand, to talk to the locals – the Northern Bahamian rock iguanas (Cyclura cychlura), around since the last ice age 18,000 years ago. The lettuce was a bigger hit than the carrot peels. And on Allen Cay, the critically endangered sub-species Allen Cay rock iguanas Acyclura cychlura inornata preferred lettuce to celery. Note to self, take more lettuce. Apparently, they are bigger than their cousins due to a diet of nutrient-rich plants fed by guano, from the world’s largest colony of Audubon’s shearwaters, they didn’t look much different than those in Bitter Iguana Cay and we didn’t see any shearwaters. Did see a ray in the water and an osprey (Pundion haliuetus) in a palm tree though.

Last stop in the Exumas was Normans Cay - the major drug trafficking hub for the Medellín Cartel in the 1970s and 80s. Anchoring off a long empty beach in 2m sand, we dined at MacDuffs, the only restaurant on the cay, hidden up a boardwalked path leading from the beach, golden lit warm wood, and roses in a garden setting. A morning snorkel at Escobar’s plane wreck, was great, now a FAD, we got our fish fix.

Then there is Nassau. Capital town on New Providence Island. Sited cross from Paradise Island with its hotels, golf course and colonnaded mansions it can now accommodate five cruise ships at a time, how fabulous. But aware that we shouldn’t be too hasty to judge, we walked up to the National Art Gallery, shared a five-flight taste at John Watling’s rum distillery, and visited 1793 Fort Fincastle. The gallery is sited in a beautiful old villa and was exhibiting a local artist with an interesting mixture of styles. The distillery was established in 1789 and makes small batch rums with cane juice from other islands, and the fort was a 20-minute hike up Bennet’s Hill. The fort was interesting, built to protect Nassau from pirates, it is shaped like a ship’s prow to fool invaders, it obviously worked as it never saw action. Adjacent to the fort is the cool and verdant Queen’s stairs, built to get from the fort to the town, it took 600 slaves 16 years to build and is also known as 66 steps. Modified at one point to have 64 steps, it was the number of years Queen Victoria reigned, in recognition that she abolished slavery in 1837 upon her ascension. Town was hot and busy; we weaved our way back through the passengers of four cruise ships and vowed never to return.

Spanish Wells on St George’s Island is quite charming. It was so named because this is where Spanish ships heading back to Europe refilled their water supply. Settled by a group of 1600’s English Puritans and then 1700’s Crown Loyalists, it is now a lobster fishing hub, where the population of 1,608 is 82% white Bahamian with a strange accent, a mixture of colonial English and southern states USA. Golfcarts are the main means of transport, and we spent several hours exploring the sleepy island with its neighbourhood of tidy colourful wooden cottages and nearby Russell Island with larger homes set in tropical gardens overlooking southern white sand beaches. Budda’s Snack Shack on 12th St is a must for happy hour and a snack dinner

Checking out in Marsh Harbour on Great Abaco, Customs is by the Commercial Dock, and the devastation wrought by Hurricane Dorian in 2019 is still very apparent, lots of ruined homes and docks, and some rebuilding. I had made an outbound entry on Click2Clear but you don’t have to checkout of the Bahamas when going north to the US, only when you leave to go south, they stamped us out anyway (and didn’t charge us the USD75 exit fee). We mail our cruising permit and landing slips back to them when we get the US, odd system.