Saturday, January 23, 2016

Grand Lucayan Waterway



Mr Mac anchored in what should be a basin surrounded by homes. Note the sunken barge beyond us.

If you want a great anchorage with a creepy vibe (okay, I’m weird that way) in Great Bahama, try the Grand Lucayan Waterway. We’ve anchored there twice now when bad weather was forecast for the area. It’s convenient—just a few miles from Port Lucaya, where we checked in to the Bahamas. It’s secure—360˚ protection, adequate water depth, and good holding white mud/sand. It’s quiet—this is where the creepy comes in. The Grand Lucayan Waterway was originally built in the 60’s as a tremendous development, with canals running from the south side of the island to the north (it’s relatively narrow here, about five miles). Then something happened (we had heard that, for a while, the Bahamas forbade non-residents to own property, but I haven’t been able to track down the exact story), and it was pretty much abandoned. We dinghyed the entire length of the waterway and saw maybe a dozen houses amidst hundreds of empty lots overgrown with scrub and Australian pines. Then there’s the abandoned hotel… Vultures soared around it and perched on the balconies, and empty doorways led into the dark, unseeable rooms. Yeah, creepy. Great setting for a book!

Boat thrown ashore

Miles and miles of empty home lots, overgrown with scrub
Hey, a house!
Yes, those are vultures circling this abandoned hotel
Some of the seawalls aren't faring so well anymore


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