WHATCH THEM BREAKERS
20 February 2010 | The Bight of Acklins
gary
A brisk sail from Little harbor, Long Island brought us nicely to the French Wells area of Crooked Island. Problem was the following large seas, despite 2 attempts, made it impossible to enter safely. Breaking waves and threading the boat between 2 hard reefs in high winds from the stern is not my idea of fun so we aborted. No choice left now but to slug it out directly to windward, 25-30 knots for 3 hours and clear south end of Long Cay and find some protection in the lee.Just yesterday we heard on the SSB about a cruiser running hard aground and sinking off Rum Cay, a total loss. Simply terrifying and sad. Anchored safe and snug just off the old jetty to Albert Town, population in 1880 was 2000, population now, 30! Here is a report on Albert Town. Update; we spent 2 days off "Albert Town", off Long Cay in the Crooked Island area. Albert Town was formerly called Fortune Island because it was THE place for sailing ships to stop from 1650 until about 1900 when steam ships were invented and Fortune Island was no longer on the route. The 2000 people that lived here 100 years ago are down to about 28 left, We met them all yesterday, 10 children and 18 adults. So very strange they live in houses and shacks amidst all these old ruins, a former city all but buried in weeds and cactus. Half the town was waiting for us at the dingy dock to offer a ride 2 miles to "town" on the only vehicle there and to put the whole town at our disposal for tours, information, a cold drink or anything we could want. No airstrip, bank or Post Office, just a few homes, a school, a Batelco Tower and a diesel powered electric plant. Upon arrival to the sign saying welcome to Albert Town, 2 nice young men adopted us as our "guides" and walked with us wherever we went pointing out all the ruins, stories, pink flamingo flocks, old salt ponds, the oldest/largest/ church, half in ruins, in the Bahamas. They have somehow turned a tiny part of the crumbling church into their actual church so that you have these old ruins with a tiny part all fresh painted with pews (seats 30 max) about 7 ft. wide by 100 ft. long. Then they took us over to Bruce's, the oldest living guy at 75. No one knows him as Bruce, only as "What's That". 3 front crooked teeth and no more. He told old stories about being a child there in the 1920-30's. Then Whats That played songs on his guitar. Sang one song about his "momma" and cried like I've never seen an old man cry. After that he excused himself to go out back to speak with "Ron". He left us hangin. Came back and said that Ron's last name was "Rico", had a great laugh then sang another song he made up about "George" our 7.5 lb. Maltese, that went something like this...oh George, George, George. You used to be a big dog but they cut you in half to make 2 dogs. Oh George, George, George, oh where did the other half go?" He lived in a shack with chickens, a well, an outside barrel stove. There are 10,000 goats on this island for 28 people. When they want meat, they go out and shoot one. More later. Crossed over the Bight of Acklins next day to Acklins Island, formerly 4000 inhabitants, now approx. 1000 scattered in small settlements of 30-50 folks each. It was Valentines Day. A woman getting her hair done by the owner at the tavern said the only event this day would be the "Valentines Day Explosion" up at the Bonefish Lodge. We bought 3 onions at the store and next day sailed south to "Spring Point" the only place we would see diesel fuel anywhere in the foreseeable future, like till Florida.Getting fuel here was not the drive up with the big boat, tie up at the dock, say "fill-er-up" hand them a credit card. Here it's more like...anchor the big boat in 4.5 ft. of water about a half mile out, put the dink in the water and tie up to the exposed rebar with an anchor out to keep the dink from getting impailed, then walking with a hand cart and an 8 gaalon jerry jug about a half mile to the islands only gas station. Pay cash (purchase Snickers Bar), load fuel onto cart-walk back to dink, load dink, motor out to mother ship, siphon fuel from jug to mothership,...repeat and repeat. We are also getting low on dingy gas.And I forgot to get it at the "Last Chance" gas station. 2 days ago we took a very long ride in the dink over to French Wells area then 6 miles up the creek into Turtle Sound and found the "Church Grove" jetty, a concrete dock protruding into creek from the mangroves. Tied the dink and anchored off to avoid puncturing, then walked 2 miles to Church Grove, population approx. 20. Found ice cream sandwiches, 3 churches and were lucky enough to get a ride in back of truck back to the jetty. Make your own fun. Everyone is so very nice everywhere you go in the Bahamas, seems the remoter the nicer. Many folks have no outside contacts other than the weekly "mail boat", when it runs. Last night we took advantage of settled weather, light north winds going to east, and ventured out to little Fish and Guana Cays hangin on the edge of the Acklin Bight, surrounded by sand bars and shallows everywhere but just a half mile from 6000 ft. deep ocean. We fished the cliff, barracudas only. Working up our nerve to eat the small ones which are not typically poisonous. Then fished all day from the dink. Our total take, 2 conchs, a triggerfish and one eel type of thing. We are so far away from anything Lisa wore her "one piece" bathing suit. At the moment we are staged in calm water far out enough from the Fish Cay and surrounding reefs so that we can depart tonight in the dark and safely make our way towards the Ragged Islands, a long chain of rarely visited islands, with no people, no facilities at all?except for Duncan Town. Going south from Duncan Town you will typically hear foreign languages on the VHF as the "fishing grounds south of there worked not only by Bahamians legally but also Haitians, Cubans and folks from Hispaniola, illegally. A problem with Haitians floating illegally up into these areas seeking a better life is apparently getting even worse due to the recent earthquake. Next report will be from the southern most Ragged Islands.