French Wells, Acklins & Mayaguana, Bahamas

Hello there…it’s been a while since we’ve posted. For anyone that’s been keeping up with us and noticed…sorry about that. We are currently in the Turks and Cacios Islands, Provo to be exact and it’s been a adjustment for us. There is lots going on here but locating and buying an internet card has not been an easy task so we have resorted to using the web where we can find it. Not a problem when we anchor where the resorts are but that is on the Atlantic side of the island and it’s a bit rough with the swell to anchor out there for long. So far we’ve spent one night on the “outside” just long enough to e-mail family to let them know that we are doing OK. Other than that we’ve been anchored up in the creeks that are much more comfortable. Let me tell you a bit about our trip coming here and then I’ll go into more detail about the Cacios.

We enjoyed our time in French Wells, paddling the creeks and exploring the beaches. Nice calm anchorage but there was a really ripping current, definitely had to put two anchors out. Brian went exploring one day and took the dinghy way, way, way up one of the creeks along with his bike to see what he could find. Said that he had a great time and ended up finding a small town and of course he was able to locate the tavern there too, lol! I was surprised when he brought back potatoes, onions and cheese from a little store that he came across. That was a successful trip for both of us. He said that he had a great time and got to meet some of the locals in the short time that he was there. Nice adventure for him.

We headed out from French Wells over to a little harbor called Attwood to anchor for the night before sailing to Mayaguana which would be our last stop in the Bahamas. Attwood was a beautiful little harbor. Nicely protected. No wind that night though and the sand-flies were ferocious, what a shame because this place was really beautiful.

 Oh yea I guess that I should mention that we got to see our first brown boobies…and no guys…especially you Dennis, it is not the kind of boobies that you are now thinking of. I’m talking about the tropical bird kind of boobies 🙂

They were neat to see and different. No photos though there were too fast as we sailed along they flew right by. We also passed by the Bird Rock Lighthouse. We were told that this is the lighthouse that Jimmy Buffet based his book “Salty Piece Of Land” on. Pretty cool to see it in person. Nice lighthouse too.

Mayaguana, Bahamas

Last stop for us in the Bahamas…mother nature must have known….drum roll please….I got to see pink flamingos, I got to see pink flamingos, I got to see pink flamingos! (Me dancing all around, jumping up and down) Can you tell I was excited? I’ve been wanting to see flamingos and have been watching out for them everywhere.

I was starting to think that it was not going to happen. We were motoring to shore to clear out of the Bahamas and off in the distance in the shallows I spotted them. They were way far away and the water was too shallow to motor in but Brian loving me so rowed us all the way there to see them. This was a happy day!

Mayaguana was a nice last stop. We found the least expensive beer in all of the Bahamas, only $2.60 a beer…at a tavern! We were really surprised to find a tavern at all because this place is very remote. We were told that it has a population of about 300 people, not much for a island that is 24 miles long and about 6 miles wide.

It was once once a part of the US missile tracking network and at one time had over 3,000 residents. Now all that is left from that era is a 7000ft runway and an old full tank farm and lots of dusty roads.

This was a nice last stop for us and as we headed out through the cut in the reef early the next morning we thought about all of the fun that we had in the Bahamas and we got ready for our next stop, The Turks and Cacios Islands hoping that we would have as much fun there as we did these past few months in the Bahamas.

Heaven on Earth

As I said earlier we’re now in the Cacios Islands. We’re working on getting internet but looks like we might just have to use it were we can get a connection instead of having it on the boat. Not convenient but it works. Everything here is just so far apart. I’ve got postcards to send out but getting to the post office is another hurdle…crazy! It’s another world here. If your not staying at a resort it’s hard to get anything done.

It sure is beautiful though! I’ll make a post about it soon. Love and miss you all!

Jennifer and Brian