Lucayan Waterway

It's been an especially windy spring here in the Bahamas and we're still waiting for suitable, safe, calm seas to head back to the States.  Our last trip across was way too bumpy for our liking and it was hard on our old bodies...  not to mention our old boat, so we're planning on being quite picky.

It is a three day trip in our trawler from the Abacos to the States.  Our plan was to get day one and two out of the way and finish our wait in the West End of the Bahamas, ready, in case a single day comes up.  We chose to wait at Ocean Reef Marina, as it was cheap and familiar.  We were here with friends a few years ago.  They have a nice pool and hot tub, and most importantly, it's close to our jumping off point for our trip across the gulf stream to the States.  To get here, the most direct route was through the Lucayan Waterway.

The Lucayan Waterway is a canal that runs from the North side of Grand Bahama Island to the South.  Once inside the canal it is well protected and quiet but the North entrance, where we would enter, is quite shallow and silted in.  It is recommended to only go through on high tide.

Unfortunately for us, we figured high tide was either first thing in the morning or just as the sun was setting, either case didn't suit well.  We'd either have to anchor overnight at the entrance, which is quite unprotected, and enter the canal first thing in the morning, or feel our way through in the dark.  We planned on an overnight anchor at the North entrance and early morning passage at high tide.

Lots of rocks to watch out for

The approach to the entrance channel can be a little confusing!
Wheredawego??  Ah! From right to left.
But this did not impress as an appealing anchorage.  Ugh.

We arrived late in the afternoon.  There are no tide charts for the area so a bit of guess work is required.  By our calculations we figured it was likely rising, not too far past low tide.  And yuck.  The anchorage was windy and unprotected.  This is a very unpopulated area and we just didn't have a good feeling about anchoring here.

Sometimes you just listen to your gut.  We have a very shallow draft boat so when Jeff suggested we just inch forward very slowly at idle speed "and see", with a hand on the gear shift ready to give a shot of reverse if necessary, I agreed, somewhat reluctantly.  It looked like a hard coral bottom down there.

It turned out he was right.  We were probably pretty close to that hard coral bottom at some points but we made it through the short entrance channel unscathed and we were on our way.  Whew!

We draw just under three feet.  We were not as close as it looks.
We know to add a foot or so to this reading.
...Still, I don't enjoy seeing it!  Way to close for my comfort.

Long, straight channel in.

Once inside the waterway there is plenty of depth.  It is quite desolate, especially the Northern portion.  There are many houses in various stages of construction that look like they've been abandoned.  A cab driver was explaining today that this is very common in this area. They are not abandoned at all.  Most people don't want to (or can't) get a mortgage, so once a lot is purchased, people just build in stages as they get the money.  It may take longer that way but they eventually end up with a completed house at less cost and no mortgage.  He said it can often take eight to ten years to get a house built.

Lucayan Waterway

This entire hotel is half-completed.
I'm thinking this one has been abandoned.

We arrived at Ocean Reef Resort and Marina just before sunset and safely tied up at our slip.