Geo Town to Eleuthera

Early on the 24th we weighed anchor to make our way out through Conch Cay Cut to Cat Island. It was an exodus. Very few boats had left during the preceding week due to the weather. We estimate that on the day we departed, there were about 60 boats leaving George Town. Twenty or so were headed east and south to Rum Cay, then on to the Caribbean. A handful were headed south to the Jumentos then on to Cuba. The vast majority were headed back up through the Exumas toward Nassau and then home to the U.S.

No one else seemed to be on our course for Cat Island. It was a beautiful, sunny day for the 55 mile sail over to New Bight at the southern end of Cat Island. We sailed on a close reach all day. It was one of the best days of sailing on the entire trip, but maybe I say that about every day that we sail. As we sailed across Exuma Sound we could hear on the radio the other boats headed up the Exumas. They didn't have it as nice as us. Those who could do it, had to sail close hauled, hard on the wind. Others had to motor since they couldn't point high enough to sail. Eventually the wind died for most of them. It wasn't until we were in the lee of Cat island that the wind got light and shifty. But since we were only a few miles from our destination we didn't mind turning on the engine.
As usual, it was Christopher's job to rig the fishing rods. You can see that he chose the right lure. This Mahi-mahi was beautiful as he brought it along side. When these fish are in the water and fighting the hook and line they flash brilliant yellows, blues and silvers.

As beautiful as his fish was, the water colors continued to amaze us. In the morning we left behind the light blues of Elizabeth Harbor for the cobalt blue of Exuma Sound. As we neared the end of the trip Cat Island began to appear as a thin dark strip on horizon. Slowly a thin strip of pale blue to lime began to appear between the cobalt blue of the Sound and the strip of land that was Cat Island. As we got closer the strip became a more intense pale blue and slowly grew in width until the bank on the west side of Cat Island stretched before us. The transition from the Sound to the bank is abrupt. In less than a mile the bottom comes up from several thousand feet to twenty feet of water over a white sand bottom. It was the white sand bottom reflecting the sunlight back through the water that had produced the beautiful blue-green strip that we saw on our approach.

After we got to New Bight we were joined by 'Ocean Explorer'. Johnson, Wendy, Pete and Will were coming in from Little San Salvador. By the end of the afternoon there were a total of five boats in the anchorage. What a relief from George Town! The radio was silent for long periods. No roll and chop from dinghies speeding by. No loud music thumping from the clubs on shore.

We asked the crew from Ocean Explorer to come over for dinner to share in our bounty from the sea. Christopher's fish fed all six of us, with seconds for all.

New Bight is the home of The Hermitage, built by Father Jerome. The padre was trained as an architect in England, became an Anglican priest, then a Catholic priest. He served in Australia, the Bahamas and the U.S. as a missionary. He retired from life as a missionary when he had a heart attack. It was then that he went to Cat Island and built his retirement home, The Hermitage. One thing led to another and he built other churches on Cat Island, Long Island, Eleuthera and New Providence.

	This is the sign that directs you to Father Jerome's abode from the road along the beach and anchorage.
	The view from the road below the anchorage.
	While the Hermitage was under construction father Jerome lived in this cave.
	The back side of the Hermitage. Below and to the left of the bell tower is a catchment system carved from the rock that Father Jerome used to collect rainwater.
	The view over Cat Island from the bell tower.

The first afternoon in New Bight we hiked up to the Hermitage with Johnson and Wendy and their boys to watch the sunset. To our delight we were treated to the green flash as the sun finally sank below the horizon. The second such flash of our trip.

With its better top soil and rainfall and agricultural history I expected Cat Island to be properous, by Bahamian standards. That is not the case. The tourist resorts that have been flattened by hurricanes in the last 10 - 15 years have not been rebuilt. There is not much agriculture anymore. Many of the businesses at New Bight have been shuttered for a long time. These observations put me in a contemplative mood.

By training I am an economist. By nature I am pretty conservative; for a baby boomer anyway. I understand the importance of free trade and comparative advantage. Nevertheless, it seems that the 'first world' is so productive that we can produce and sell food in the Bahamas for less than the Bahamians can produce it themselves. The Bahamians have no resource base for manufacturing. Basically, our productivity and natural resources have undercut anything they can do except for tourism. Sandy beaches and sunshine are where they have a comparative advantage. Yet, their own government has made it too hard for foreigners to develop tourism and there aren't enough wealthy, entrepreneurial locals to really bring 1st world resorts on-stream. Apart from that, the resort developers keep finding other exotic locales in other parts of the world with an even lower cost of doing business. In short, there is always another 3rd world country with an even greater comparative advantage in tourism.

At the same time we in the 1st world have closed our borders to all those we have put out of work with our fantastic comparative advantage in processed goods. When the locals are able to find a crop they can produce for export (sugar, bananas, oranges, pineapple) then we impose tariffs in order to undermine their comparative advantage. Trying to escape complete reliance on tourism, the Bahamians tried to develop off-shore banking. After all, in relative terms they can provide banking services as cheaply as anyone. But the U.S. has led the OECD and WTO to threaten sanctions unless the Bahamians meet reporting rules not imposed in the U.S., but which we claim are necessary in our fight against drugs.

In short, we have used our comparative advantage in many goods and services to dominate an economy like the Bahamas, then erect trade barriers that prevent them from exploiting their own comparative advantage, and then restrict the mobility of their labor force to regions where the jobs are.

This Catholic Church in New Bight was designed and built by Father Jerome.
These are two views of an abandoned Anglican Church in New Bight. A high proportion of the buildings along the beach and anchorage in New Bight are now in this state. In the days of a larger more robust agricultural economy I'm sure that this church was alive and vibrant.

With the threat of yet another cold front we opted for an extra day in New Bight. The extra day provided lots of time to discuss the unemployment we saw in this slice of paradise. This bit of beach and mountain is a pretty place indeed. The Hermitage and some of the other churches could be developed as part of a pilgrimage tour. All that is needed is a 1st class hotel nearby. As part of the development process the government could create a BahamasAirPass, akin to the Eurail pass, good for travel throughout the islands during a limited time. Wendy's advice to me and Johnson was that we stop trying to interpret the Bahamian quality of life on our own terms and just enjoy the tranquility and people.

On this extra day here We were not able to find any good spearfishing locations. Either we didn't know where to look, or our dinghy was too slow. It was Will's thirteenth birthday and he graciously shared his cake with us. In the evening we were treated to another green flash.

On 3/27 we made our way up to Bennett's Harbor. It was a dead calm day and we motored the entire 25 miles. Boring. The choices for the day's destination were somewhat limited. The few harbors on the west side of Cat Island are only big enough to fit a few boats inside. Little San Salvador is not a place to be in anything but the prevailing (?) easterly winds. Bennett's Harbor seemed the best choice in light of a forecasted approaching cold front. Outside the harbor we would be protected from winds blowing from NNW through SSW. If necessary we could squeeze into the harbor. We got up there early. While Christopher went spearfishing,successfully, I hiked across the island to the Atlantic Ocean.

Bennett's Harbor is another of those Bahamian places that could be so much more with a little energy. First, they have to get the derelict boats out of the harbor, like this abandoned gaff rig sloop from Haiti in the above picture. Parenthetically, this boat is identical to the one on the beach at Little Farmer's Cay and that reportedly brought 130 Haitians to the Bahamas. They need to fix up the government dock and buildings. And they need to provide some minimal services to visiting yachts.

The expected cold front didn't seem to be materializing so we went over to Little San Salvador on 3/28. The fifteen miles was on a broad reach or wing-and-wing all the way. Previously uninhabitied, Little San Salvador was purchased not too long ago by Holland America Cruise Line. The ship company has now made it a day destination for its cruise ships. One of their ships will come into the bay, disgorge a couple of thousand passengers for a picnic and water sports, load everyone back on board late in the afternoon and then sail away in the evening. It is supposed to be quite a sight. Between ship visits the site is a well maintained ghost town.

We only stayed at Little San Salvador for one night, so we missed the cruise ship spectacle. We had to move on because the forecasted cold front was heading our way. The storm producing the front was already making itself felt at our anchorage. The wind was a little too far north of east and the ocean swells were wrapping around the island into the anchorage, making life on board very uncomfortable. On 3/29 it was on to Eleuthera.