Rum Cay

Thursday, May 17, 2007

023-38.220 N
074-49.860 W

Ahoy from Rum Cay in the Bahamas!

We departed for Rum Cay five days ago and decided to head to Flamingo Bay on the NW end of the island. The cruising guide touted the great snorkeling and diving and it seemed that the island would shield us from the easterly swell. The guide also tells you that you need to thread your way through a series of shallow coral heads patch reefs which are easily seen to get to the anchorage. A better phrase would have been a "maze" or "labyrinth" of patch reefs, many of which go all of the way to the surface at low tide. Most of the coral was deep and didn't present any problems, but there were definitely quite a few that we could have collided with. We eventually found a spot to anchor, but we were surrounded by coral heads which came near to the surface.

The anchorage at Flamingo Bay is wonderful, with about 12' of clear water over pure white sand. It's a blue feast for the eyes. The beach is loaded with shells as our waterline now shows. The weather has been very unsettled lately and we had a series of squalls blow through. The photo to the left shows one passing behind us with a waterspout. The only thing that's missing from this photo is the cloud to ground lightening bolts that were abundantly present!

About three miles to the east of the anchorage is Hartford Cave from which locals used to mine bat guano. The cave has a series of ancient Lucayan carvings. That was pretty cool to see, but the mosquitos were thick!

We snorkled the patch reefs surrounding the boat and at a freighter wreck on the W reef and were very saddened by the condition of the coral. I'd guess that only 20% of the coral was alive. We later talked to some people who had been coming here for years and they said that as recently as 6 years ago the coral was in wonderful condition. Then a hurricane came through and did a lot of damage. However, it appears that the real damage was done when fishermen from Spanish Wells, Eleuthera came over here and used bleach to force the lobsters out of the coral heads. That works, but it kills the coral. It's amazing how dumb people can be!

The forecast showed an increasing swell from the N, so we decided to move around to the Port Nelson anchorage. We managed to do that between squalls and we anchored near the airport. The guidebook talks about the "maddening roll" in this anchorage, and they were right. Luckily I had previously made reservations at Sumner Point marina and we pulled into there early the next morning after spending the night rolling from side to side. The forecast was for worsening weather we made it in just in time. A fleet of sports fishing boats arrived from San Salvador later that day after the swell hit the island.

Sumner Point marina is an interesting place. They clearly cater to the sports fishing boat people, and sports fishing boat people are a different breed. The boats typically cost between $2 and $5 million and have a crew of 2-3 people who move the boat to wherever the owner wants it. The owners fly in to meet the boat (many times on their private plane/jet) and head out fishing for a few days. To say that many of these people are full of themselves would be putting it mildly. Some of them are very nice, but man, there are some real pieces of work!

Some of the crew are extremely colorful...One guy that we've named "cowboy" likes to jockey his boat around as quickly as possible and will probably end up hurting his crew one day with his antics. I sure wouldn't want to trust my multi-million dollar boat to him! He comes from a family with money and has appeared on the show "Reel Adventures" (probably doing something stupid). The other night he decided that he would grab the tail of one of the dozen or so nurse sharks that gather nightly to slurp up the carcasses of the fish being cleaned. He had previously almost lost his foot to bull shark while surfing. The next night another guy decided that he was going to gaff one of the lemon sharks that had also come in to feast. I was sickened by the macho show and had to walk away before I said something.

The diving on the SE side of Rum Cay is supposed to be wonderful. The seas subsided enough today for us to explore the area. We literally dove half of a mile outside of the marina and were treated to *huge* coral mounds with sand channels in between. We made our way to the wall which was at about 70' and descended into an abyss. Unfortunately only about 35% of the coral is alive. There are no sea urchins present and the algae is covering the coral. This is the same problem that we saw in Andros and is caused by a toxic bacteria. What's also amazing is the lack of big fish. I often feel like I'm swimming over a city that's been struck by a dirty bomb. All of the buildings are there, but there's virtually no one in the city. It's all very depressing as you can easily imagine how beautiful and lively it used to be.

We've been stuck at the marina for what will end up being 3 days due to weather. There's a strong low pressure trough that's been stuck over us for days and it's being fed by a lot of moisture being pumped in from the Caribbean. We've been surrounded thunderstorms and as I write this, it's pouring and the sky is filled with lightening. We're planning on heading out of here tomorrow and moving to Conception Island. The winds will be light, but the trough will still be over us.

-- Geoff & Sue

For the cruiser:

If you head into Flamingo Bay, be sure to have good light and someone on the bow watching for coral heads. We anchored a 23-40.87N 074-56.12W in 12' MLW over sand. We entered at about 23-42.45N 074-56.80W and worked our way into the anchorage. For the first mile or so the coral heads were deep enough so that they weren't a concern. However, for the last 1/2-3/4 of a mile, they were close to the surface at some locations.

We anchored in Port Nelson at 23-38.75N 074-50.84W in 10' over sand. Holding was very good, but there was a lot of roll.

Sumner Point marina is under management transition at this point and definitely needs some oversight. Their rates are $1.45/ft, power is $20/day for 30A and water is $0.50/gallon. The restaurant is very pricey and service and food is below par for what you're paying. (Two hamburgers, fries and two sodas were $27 for lunch). There's supposed to be a dive shop here, but there isn't.

There are a few small grocery stores in Port Nelson where you can find limited supplies. The mail boat comes in on Wednesday.

Log ID: 961