MAYAGUANA

                Rising up ever so slightly out of the Atlantic in the southeastern most part of the Bahamas is the island of Mayaguana.  The highest point reaches to 21 meters, putting Mayaguana among the lowest Bahamian shores we have cruised.  Its relatively flat terrain makes for easy wandering for a couple of sixty-somethings,  while its reef lined coast limits the number of safe anchorages.  Abraham’s Bay- the main anchorage- is fantastically H U G E  and  S H A L L O W !!  We made our way in as far as possible, reducing our commute by dinghy to the settlement to a mere 3 miles.  In flat calm conditions, it was a pleasant ride…unfortunately, it was pretty windy and then somewhat stormy the week we visited, so we got soaked more than once, even though the Captain tried to avoid the bigger whitecaps.

         

       According to Reggie-  owner, chief cook, waiter, and bottle washer of the only restaurant in the settlement- there are only about 400 residents on Mayaguana.  It is a quiet place where few boats stay for long and its people feel especially blessed that they were bypassed by Hurricane Joachim. We stopped to speak with a few others while walking and they extended the usual Bahamian welcome.  One man introduced himself as he sat on the wall at the dock with his toddler grandson.  The boy had a bad cold and was going to get dunked in the sea water to help clear his head.  Another resident, a strong looking young woman, was out preparing a garden spot so that cruisers could get fresh vegetables when they came ashore.

       When we entered Reggie’s place to have our preordered lunch, a man jumped up from his table and insisted we sit there under the only fan.  We arranged for two lunches to eat-in and two chicken dinners to take-away.  The amount of food we got was more than enough for five meals and our bill was only $49.  (1 USD = 1 Bahamian)  Before we left, Reggie was kind enough to trade some USD for some of our excess Bahamian dollars.  I inquired about a stand of papayas that I were behind his place and he told me to take as many leaves as I needed to use for making a tonic for chikungunya.

   

        One day near the dock at the settlement, we encountered a family of three in their stallled dinghy.  The tide was very low and their engine cut out when it hit the bottom.  We towed them in and chatted  on the short walk into town.  They were a Polish family of four from Krakow sailing with one crewman and a nanny who helped with the two boys aged one and two and a half. ( I couldn’t imagine cruising full time with two little ones!)  Later, we towed them out to their vessel since they couldn’t find anyone who had the required wrench to fix the outboard.

       Finally, when the weather was in our favor to move on, we said “Good bye” to Mayaguana, the very last island of the Bahamas that we had time to see.