Our sincerest thanks to Greg and Barbara Allard for sharing their thoughts and beautiful photography from their Bahamas cruises. These photos and descriptions will have you aching to follow in the Allard’s wake! Enjoy this last of 2018 Letters from the Bahamas!

Hello everyone –

Well, tropical storm Alberto turned to the west, and in the Bahamas we were fortunately left with some rains and wind. The weather in the Bahamas this season was challenging at best. We had a terrific time, but there were long periods (sometimes a couple of weeks) where we had to hunker-down in a safe anchorage or marina to escape some tough conditions.

That is all part of cruising – being prepared to be in remote places, and equipped to understand the weather and your options.

This will be our last Letter from the Bahamas for this season. We have already crossed the Gulf Stream, are back into the U.S., and are down in the Florida Keys. We have to return to the west coast of Florida by going through the Keys because the Okeechobee Waterway, which we normally take across the state, is closed due to a repair on a lock.

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A ship in port is safe, but that’s not what ships are built for.

—Grace Murray Hopper

At Allen’s Cay, near Highbourne in the Exumas. This is an old, wooden Chesapeake Bay Buy-Boat, which has been converted to use as a live aboard in the Bahamas. Years ago, in the Chesapeake, it was the boat to which all the smaller fishing boats sold their catches. The larger boat would then take the catches (most often fish and blue claw crabs) to the processing plant ashore, allowing the smaller boats to keep fishing.

Barbara holds a live Queen Conch with beautiful markings, and a small piece of brain coral found on the beach.

The Bahamian stromatolites are living examples of Earth’s earliest reefs. The only open marine environment where modern stromatolites are known to prosper is the Exuma Cays in the Bahamas. These are on the east coast of Highbourne Cay. The little rods sticking up from the formation are markers put there by geologists to monitor their size and location.

Here’s more information than you probably wanted to know:
“Stromatolites are rare in today’s ocean but living stromatolites have been found along the margins of the Exuma Sound, including Lee Stocking Island, Stocking Island, Highbourne Cay, Little Darby Island, and in the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park. Stromatolites are the oldest known macro-fossils, dating back over three billion years. They form an unusual and special type of reef structure in shallow water. Unlike most present-day reefs, which are composed of coral, stromatolites are formed by microorganisms. Scientists believe that the photosynthetic activity of cyanobacteria are the most important group of stromatolite-forming micro-organisms generating oxygen in our atmosphere.” (From Bahamas.com website)

A beautifully marked Bluehead, a member of the wrasse family.

From the sublime to…..Miami. We left the Bahamas five days ago, and crossed from Bimini to Key Biscayne, just south of Miami.
When we were about ten miles out from Miami, this was our view. What a contrast – going from the laid-back life in the Bahamas to the largest city in Florida.

Key Biscayne is an island just south of Miami, and in the bay are the famous stilt houses. The area is called Stiltsville, and the houses were constructed many years ago. Hurricanes have eliminated all but seven of them. After a prolonged legal battle, the National Park Service which had control of the area has permitted their continued use. The final seven stilt houses have all been grandfathered; no more can be built, and if they are destroyed, they cannot be rebuilt. There are no year-round residents; they are used as recreational cottages.

On the west shore of Key Biscayne is this curious concrete structure, approximately 200’ x 100’. Richard Nixon’s summer White House was located approximately where the two new homes are, in the rear of the picture. His was a one story, unpretentious ranch style house, long ago torn down to allow for the construction of these modern Miami style things. The massive piece of concrete was his helicopter landing pad, constructed at the request of the Secret Service. The current owner has faced it with wood and pilings, to allow for the docking of boats, and to take the edge off its monolithic appearance.

Our son Chris joined us on his boat, Pendana, which he was bringing north from Key West; here Pendana is anchored off Key Biscayne with Miami in the background.

If Miami is one thing, it is constant bedlam. (For an excellent novel about Miami and its diverse population, read Tom Wolfe’s superb book “Back to Blood.”)

There is a huge shallow sandbar, located just off Nixon’s helipad, and the area has come to be known as Nixon’s beach. This was a beautiful hot Saturday, and literally hundreds of boats showed up, and either anchored within a few yards of each other in the shallow water, or rafted up to other boats. The music from each and every boat was deafening and conflicting, the dancing intriguing, and many boats were overloaded. Yes, there was some drinking and other stuff going on too…..

Another view of Nixon’s beach. We are not quite sure how any boat could “Resume Normal Safe Operation” here.

Several of you have asked if we saw any damage from the most recent hurricane Irma. It was everywhere, and the Keys are still recovering. This sailboat is hard aground on a large shoal.

At the rear of the photo is the famous Seven Mile Railway Bridge which is at Marathon in the Keys. In the early years of the 1900’s, when Henry Flagler built the railroad to link Key West with the mainland of Florida, this railway bridge was considered the Eighth Wonder of the World. Many parts of the railway were destroyed in a hurricane in 1935, rendering the entire line unusable. On the other side of this defunct railway you can see the supports of the newer roadway.

Pigeon Cay is a small island about halfway along the seven miles of water spanned by the bridge. It was used as a work camp while the railway was being built, and up to 400 workers lived there. This part of the remaining unused railway bridge is over 100 years old, and for its age looks in decent condition, perhaps even better than many bridges still in use in the U.S. Plans are to reopen it, in a couple of years, to pedestrian traffic from nearby Marathon. To the right of the house in the distance is the roadway to Key West. The island is now an historic site.

This historic building was the commissary, dating from approximately 1912. Hurricane Irma blew it off its foundation, and the only thing which stopped the building from being swept off the island was the gumbo-limbo tree along the left side of the house. At the height of the hurricane, the entire island of Pigeon Cay was covered with five feet of water.

The lighthouse at Alligator Key. The dozens of boats surround it because it is a fine fishing and diving site.

Two final pictures: this beautiful print of a plush garden scene captures the grace of the Bahamian people.

And lastly…a fine ocean view from Stella Maris, on the east coast of Long Island in the Bahamas.

In these Letters, we have tried to capture the beauty of The Bahamas – not just the physical beauty of its palm tree studded islands, spectacular beaches and gin-clear water, but more importantly the wonderful nature of the Bahamian people: kind hearted, ever-helpful, with an unfailing sense of humor and a pace of life which is, quite simply, civilized.

We sincerely hope you have enjoyed these Letters.
Warmest regards to you all.

Greg and Barbara