GREAT EXUMA DRIVING DAY

March 19 we rented a car for 24 hours.  This gave us a way to take Don and Pam to the airport the morning of the 20th, and provided an opportunity for a Sunday island drive.  We drove all the way north to Barreterre, and all the way south (as far as the road would go) to Williams Town. 

At lunch time the possibilities were looking pretty slim, when George turned down a rock and sand road with a sign reading “Cocoplums  - Eat Well, Laugh Often, Live Long – Open Every Day – Closed Tuesdays.”  The road ended at a beautiful white sand beach, with some small islands just offshore.  A small open air café, painted blue and turquoise, faced the water. 

It was more upscale than the usual conch bar, and the prices were higher, but not abusively so.  Turns out to be run by a former Ritz Carlton chef with a Bahamian background.  The food was very good, and the view was spectacular.

Barreterre is a destination we have considered for our boat, and it was very interesting to see it in person.  The approach is very shallow, but we could probably get Sunspot Baby in there at high tide.  A couple of miles across the water is the south side of Lee Stocking Island and Rat Cay Cut, where we could get back out into Exuma Sound.   Now we have a better picture of the nautical situation at that end of the island.  Barreterre is actually it’s own island, separated by two small bridges from Great Exuma.

We drove through the very upscale Emerald Bay Resort and Marina, which is a Four Seasons Hotel operation.  We marveled at the size of the place, and how many small container boats of material must have had to come in to build it.  There isn't the draft in this harbor for really big ships to come in.  We have been wondering what happened to all the mega yachts in this area that we saw last year.  Now we know - they are all at Emerald Bay.  More room at George Town and the surrounding anchorages for the rest of us.

On the way back through George Town to the south end of the island, we stopped at Sunspot Baby for a boat break, and took Toby for a quick toodle.  Winds have been light, and tied to the dock we are not facing into the breeze so we had already put the yellow sun cover on the boat which lowers the interior temperature by about ten degrees.

The south end of the island doesn’t seem as populated as up north.  We passed several familiar spots where we had been by water, and it was nice to associate them from land.  Little Exuma is connected to Great Exuma by a one lane bridge called the Ferry.  Now we know what that looks like.

Back at the boat, we rested up and George grilled some steaks for dinner.  Don and Pam had bought baked potatoes and the makings of Caesar salad.  We were still stuffed from lunch, but wanted to have a nice boat dinner for Don and Pam’s last night.

It has been nice having them here and once again, they were perfect boat guests.

Lynn Stateham

Next Report: George Town to Clarence Town