Mangrove Cay, Bahamas

We awoke to a beautiful day on our first full day in the Bahamas!  We took our time washing off the salt from the ocean crossing and cleaning and rolling up the Stratoglass so we could allow those fabulous Bahamian breezes to cool us off.  Jonny assembled the dinghy and by 2 p.m we were ready to continue our journey.

  We followed a  route that took us through a canal that bisected Grand Bahama Island.

The canal was built in the 1980’s with the idea of building/developing an area that was expected to be like the canals in Fort Lauderdale.  After many of the lots were sold and a number of homes built, the Bahamian

Lynn recalled that her father had invested and lost money in a land development scheme in the Bahamas many years ago and this may very well be the one he had invested in.  Unfortunately, no one is alive to consult about that particular folly!

As we cruised the canal which was well dredged and lined with a good sea wall, it felt like the “Boulevard of Broken Dreams.”

This is not the most frequently traveled route to the Abacos.  In fact, our original plan was to go via West End and around the northern tip of Grand Bahama Island.  But Jonny had met a fellow at Dinner Key who suggested this route and so at the last minute we decided on this option.  The depths were adequate throughout most of the canal but we wouldn’t go if our draft was any deeper and we had to plan our trip to correspond with a rising tide.  Towards the end of the canal, it got a bit skinny and we did bump once.  When we return, we will go the West End route instead.

After going through the canal, we cruised for another few hours on the calm Little Bahama Bank with a thunderstorm surrounding us.

 Fortunately we were only affected by a brief shower.   We arrived at an anchorage on Mangrove Cay at about 7 p.m.