March 2006
The park on the mainland was vast and completely empty. It was approached through a shallow canal in which we swam. The water was warm and there was a strong current so you stayed in the same place as you swam! There were wading birds in the brackish ponds and amazing plants, blossoms and seeds.

The canal in which we swam against the current while visiting the State Park ashore
Waders feeding in the brackish ponds ashore
Waxy flowers adorning trees in the park
Flowers and huge seed pods on the same tree branch
The seed pods open to reveal large gray seeds like pebbles or bird's eggs
Seed pods on large shrubs covered in thorns
All coconut palms have to start somewhere...

Turkey vultures circled overhead and the pigeons were much prettier than those at home. We walked along the tracks in considerable heat enjoying the varied and unusual plants and animals.
We moved on to the west coast bay of Boqueron and waited there for a weather window to sail a straight three days up past the Turks and Caicos up to the first of the Bahamas called Mayaguana. We were apprehensive about depths and weather patterns which were becoming less friendly.

The collapsing Government Dock at Abraham's Bay on Mayaguana

We had a very quiet sail as it turned out and needed to do a fair bit of motoring to keep to our weather window. The northeasterly winds faded and the seas shrunk as we passed to the southwest of all the banks leading up to the Bahamas. As we left Puerto Rico the sender on the main fuel tank died so we did not know how much diesel we were using and we suspected that we would find no more when we got there. We were right!

Abraham’s Bay is about 6 miles long and is entered from the east. You can only come in with the light high behind you as it is packed with coral reefs and rocks. Eyeball navigation with the mate up high is the only way and it takes nearly two hours to make safe entry. Water between the coral heads is less than 3 metres and runs out while you still have a mile to go to report in by dinghy. This was our first experience of sailing in a crystal clear swimming pool.

Signs by the dock direct you towards the things you need
The local office where all local functions listed on the dock sign take place
Hand painted sign for the only local bar where we could buy Kalik beer

The dinghy trip ends with inches of water at a crumbling Government Dock and a long walk to the local government office. A huge policeman came back in the dinghy to inspect the boat while a lady in the office completed all the paperwork. Our dinghy nearly collapsed under its extra load!
Beer stocks were replenished at ‘Club Thunderstorm’ and food at a tiny shop with a lady Baptist minister serving and writing her sermon.

The community was poor but extremely friendly. We

were to get to know the bay well as we were stalled again by US weather patterns for over a week. The anchorage was secure but with strong winds we abandoned dinghy travel and settled in. The gods were not smiling at us so the generator failed, the mobile phones did not work, you could not buy a phone card and there was no internet access and consequently no website updates...

Return

Return to Index