Landrail Point, Crooked Island, Bahamas

Another day another sail as we push on through the Bahamas, Mayaguana was 260 miles from Nassau, which we need to reach by 15th June, so we are trying to cover the distance into the Exumas group quite quickly to enjoy as much time there as possible. We have decided to do this distance as day sailing which is far more enjoyable though, so tonight’s destination is the west coast of Crooked Island, which with Acklins Island and Long Cay form a triangular archipelago surrounding a large shallow reef.

The Crooked-Acklins-Long Cay Archipelago

The sail was fairly uneventful, Kevin put in the fishing lines although the water was still thick with seaweed as it has been since we left Dominican Republic. We assume it must be the debris from the Sargasso Sea which is mid-Atlantic from here and famous for it’s weed infested waters. We therefore regularly needed to bring the lines back in to detach the clumps of seaweed “catches”. We therefore didn’t leap up quite as quickly when one of the reels ran off until it became clear that it was something far more substantial than weed. Kevin picked up the rod and as soon as the tension was applied a 8ft marlin jumped out of the water behind the boat. I was slightly less excited by the thought of reeling in this monster than Kevin and just shouted “Oh My God!!” in a slightly panicked way, but Kevin was having the time of his life reeling it in. The marlin put up quite a fight, tail walking as it is apparently know in the trade – dancing vertically out of the water on it’s fins. However, after about 5 minutes the fish bent the lure and got away which goes to show it is sporting, the hooks we use are specially designed to give the fish a chance. Kevin was extremely pleased to get that step closer to reeling in a Marlin and was reliving the experience all afternoon and evening….!

The 50 mile sail is complete by about 4pm and we anchor off the beach in front of a row of beach houses. We passed the Bird Rock lighthouse on route which we can see from where we are anchored. Bird Rock lighthouse dates from 1876 and was made from stone quarried nearby. It was built using Fresnel lenses and was only converted to electrical power after over 100 years at which point it apparently became unreliable but it was working when we were there.

Bird Rock Lighthouse

After three longs day’s of sailing we both fancied a cold beer but we had none on board, we also needed bread, eggs etc. This time it was Kevin’s turn to adventure ashore, so we dropped the dingy and he motored off round the headland into the Landrail Point settlement, where there is a small boat dock literally bored out of the rock. The town is a settlement of Seven Day Adventists who do not imbibe, so Kevin’s search was not successful. He came back reporting the shocked looks his enquires had produced, though he did manage to get bread. They had suggested the Shark Bay resort the other side of the boat, so he headed off again this time dragging the dingy up the beach. The resort is the ultimate getaway with it’s own airstrip connected by a private plane which can come and collect you. However, it’s probably not the business to have in the offseason within a community of Seventh Day Adventists and the bar was closed, the local nearby reporting that it may well not open that night either.

Invincible at anchor off Landrail Point in view of Bird Rock

We made a cup of tea and a angel hair pasta and prawns with truffle oil for tea and I finished off Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet which I had been reading before we both got another early night ready for another sail tomorrow.