Morgan’s Bluff (Andros)

We left West Palm Beach in a hurry a day early after a recent update from Chris Parker showed an unexpected lull in wind and waves Mon-Tue, rather than Tue-Wed. In an hour, we stowed the dinghy and outboard, raised anchor ⚓, and motored N up Lake Worth to the Sailfish Marina to top off water, diesel, and gas.

We were able to meet sv Beta (Chris &Alex) at Lake Worth Inlet and start the crossing of the gulf stream. The wind was low, but helpful, and the waves about 1 foot. Pretty easy!

We made the Northwest Channel (a choke point between The Berries to the N and Mackie Shoals to the S) about 3pm the next day, and anchored about 6pm with 8 other boats.

Our next few days were full, starting with clearing in with customs and immigration. It went ok until payment time, and then we discovered we had a choice between the buggy online app (which failed), or a 15km trip to the airport. Unexpected fees included $50 (cash) for the immigration officer for transportation (no receipt), $4 tourism surcharge (when already paying $600 for the cruising permit), $5 "donation" for Bahamas Protected Area Fund ($0 not allowed) and $30 for a ride back to the harbor.

We then walked over to Morgan's Cave and belly crawled into the entrance, only to find a second entrance with steps! Alexis wisely didn't follow me. A further short walk took us to Morgan's Bluff, looking N over the ocean (both named after pirate Henry Morgan who might or might not have stored loot in the cave).

The Below Decks Bar (run by Kizzie and Jay) was conveniently located for anyone thirsty, and we met a cruising neighbor couple. Since it was still afternoon, we repaired to the boat until evening when we dinked over to the inner harbor where Wallace’s Floating Bar (ok, it actually had no name), was serving cold ones.

Since Andros is the single largest island in the Bahamas, and neither we nor sv Beta had ever been there, we arranged to rent a car from the guy that gave me a ride back from the airport (Pot Rolle). He’s a very nice man and we got along well, so we paid the going rate of $80/day. First stop was the “forgotten settlement” of Red Bays, established in the 1820’s by a shipload of blacks from Florida that intermarried with Seminole Indians. They were re-discovered in the 1920’s, having lived pretty independently for generations. We purchased traditional woven baskets, made of densely tied slivered silver palm leaves, with Androsia fabric woven in as well by local weaver Peggy Colebrook. Some of these are used to hold water!

30km south, we visited Fresh Creek settlement, where Androsia batik fabric is handmade. They create foam stamps of sea life, then apply molten wax to cotton fabrics with the stamps, then dye the fabric and sun-dry it. It’s very pretty, and the more elaborate creations are double or triple-dyed. John got a shirt featuring Nassau groupers and spotted eagle rays. Alexis custom-ordered two tops. We stopped at a few other settlements looking at harbors as potential stopping points.

The next day we took the car for breakfast at one of only two spots serving, Da Cabin. John had the scrambled eggs, toast, coffee and fried canned sausage. Sv Beta went for the grits and toast. This was a Bahamian joint - not like the US at all! They did have tablecloths and flower vases, but cardboard boxes and plastic ware utensils. $22 for the three of us (Alexis was working and in meetings). We then made a lightning visit to the Mennonite Farm for fresh vegetables (the man at the register was from upstate New York). When the strawberry cartons were all sold, he told the next customer to wait a minute and he’d pick some more! We spent some hours learning weather routing , and then shared Tofu Taco Night dinner on sv Beta. It was tasty!もっと詳しく