https://youtu.be/m2uTFF_3MaA?si=mtA1IEgjCTBSVxLb

Lots of private islands in this neck of the woods. We passed Musha Cay on our way to our anchorage at Rudder Cay. usha Cay, and the surrounding small islands are owned by David Copperfield of magician fame. Of all his "magic" he is best known for making the Statue of Liberty disappear a few years back. Apparently he has amassed a fortune and is reported to be worth over $80 million and counting. I guess he needed someplace to invest so he bought these islands and turned them into a high end resort. Apparently he good at making your money disappear if you want to stay there as well!

https://youtu.be/k7gHglCdm2o?si=pQUaa2_J8F067XIj

Another private island in the area is Darby, complete with the ruins of a castle built at the highest point, commanding an impressive view of the area. So the storygoes, the Darby Island Castle was built back in the 1930's by a British gentleman names Sir Guy Baxter. The original intent was to turn the island into a plantation. However WW2 came along and rumours started about how Sir Guy was a Nazi sympathizer and he would harbour German Uboats at his island during the war. Not sure of how true it is or isn't but the Germans did conduct numerous attacks in the Caribbean on supply vessels headed for Europe. Mysteriously Sir Guy disappeared during the war never to be seen again so there is speculation he was transported to Germany.

https://www.grandbahamamuseum.org/exhibits/maritime-and-aviation/u-boats

We were up for exploring the ruins of the castle but there was a sign stating the island was private and contact info for anyone who wanted to go ashore. I sent the contact an email asking for permission, which was quickly granted along with a warning not to go up on the 2nd floor of the building as the floor was rotting and unsafe. The message also stated the island had recently been sold. I found a real estate listing it for $38M a few years back!

https://www.messynessychic.com/2017/08/01/private-island-complete-with-an-abandoned-nazi-castle-for-sale/

We headed over the next day and hiked up the rough trial to the castle. The undergrowth was very thick and if you weren't paying attention you could miss it. It had once been a very grand structure which was now slowly falling apart. The floors were stone tiles cut into intricate patterns and the woodwork was apparently mahogany. Some rooms had the ceilings caving with 2nd floor joists rotted away so we were thankful for the warning. Not a lot of animals on the island although we did see a rather long snake coiled up in 1 of the rooms and he was not to pleased to see us so he disappeared into a hole in the floor. It would have been a very impressive place in its day.

https://youtu.be/Kz_cGcnKFog?si=6k5ys-dl8rR7A_pG

The Bahamas is reported to include a series of 700 islands with only 30 f them being inhabited. Likely due to fresh water and resource availability but it appears they command a pretty impressive price if someone wants to buy 1.

If you don’t have that kind of cash you can always bring your own island and hide it in amongst the 700.

https://youtu.be/zj02CeofIH8?feature=shared

Today's photo is of us in front of 1 of the caves on Rudder Island. the rock is mostly sandstone and gets pretty eroded by the wave action.