Reefs and Recovery

Prior to the pandemic, when we thought last year was the real start to our cruising life, we did not plan to visit the Abacos because they’re in the extreme NW Bahamas, the opposite direction from the Caribbean, our ultimate target. Besides, they had just been hit by Dorian in September 2019 and were only about 6 months into their rebuilding efforts when we set out from Georgia in early February 2020. (If you’re new to my blog, read this post to find out why our boat was in Georgia). When we realized we wouldn’t have a full cruising season again this year we talked about what we would or could do given the ongoing pandemic and Dave’s hand surgery and recovery timeline. Regardless of where we chose, we knew Indigo Lady would be in the hurricane belt for the entire hurricane season, with us on board for part of it. We also knew we couldn’t go too far. 

As lovely as it would have been to see more of the Florida Keys, we didn’t want to delay our trek to the Caribbean any longer. The Bahamas are the first leg of that journey for us and they have a wonderful hurricane hole in the Berry Islands where we can leave Lady when we go back home to New Hampshire this fall. Extra bonus, when we resume cruising next January we don’t have to cross the Gulf Stream; it can take weeks in the winter to find the right weather window to do so. Now the Abacos seemed like a viable destination. Other cruisers rave about it as a destination for its friendly people and the beautiful diving and scenery. We knew we could easily spend a couple of months there exploring. They could use all the visitors they can get, too, since their economy relies heavily on tourism, which they have not had a lot of these past two years. To the Abacos we would go.

We have been in the Abacos coming up on four weeks. We’ve had several days of diving and have explored each island we’ve been to. From what I’ve read, the reefs have been declining over the years, some due to increased tourism but mostly due to the changing climate. Still, they’re in better shape than I expected. There have been a couple of beautiful dives with a good crop of healthy corals and small reef fish, others have been mostly brown with either remnant healthy corals or returning corals, hard to tell. The Bahamian government has been creating more coral & fish preserve areas since the early 2000s and there are several here in the Abacos. No fishing is allowed in these areas and you have to either anchor in sand, avoiding all coral and sea grass, or pick up one of the dive moorings, few of which remain after Dorian. I’m glad to see these efforts. Hopefully they’re making a difference. Our friend Ian is with us for a little over a week. He dove this area about 20 years ago, so it will be interesting to hear from him how the reefs have changed over those two decades. 

Thus far we’ve spent time exploring the out islands of Elbow Cay, Man-O-War Cay, Great Guana Cay, and Green Turtle Cay. These are barrier islands facing the Atlantic, on the east edge of the Sea of Abaco. We spent one night at anchor outside of the private canal development of Leisure Lee on the “mainland” of Great Abaco Island on the west side of the Sea of Abaco, and a couple of nights at Marsh Harbor, also on Great Abaco. These places are at varying stages of recovery. Hope Town, on Elbow Cay, and Green Turtle Cay seem to be the furthest along. Marsh Harbor is still looking wrecked. Dorian first made landfall in the Bahamas over Elbow Cay (Hope Town) with 1-minute sustained winds of over 180 mph and gusts over 200 mph. It crawled slowly over Grand Bahama and didn’t weaken for a couple of days and even as it eventually did weaken, it pulled northward slowly. Most of the locals were stuck here during Dorian. I can’t imagine the terror they felt or the emotional scars that experience left, especially on the children. One woman we spoke to on Green Turtle Cay told us that families moved from one house to another during the storm; as one was destroyed, everyone moved to the next. 

There is a lot of active rebuilding in all these areas. It is through the unquenchable perseverance of the locals, supported by numerous aid organizations, that these islands are making their comeback. We see barges running back and forth between islands with heavy equipment and building supplies. On every island is the sound of saws and hammers and the sight of stacked new building supplies waiting to be used. On Green Turtle Cay we watched a house being demolished and loaded into a dump truck for removal. Something new will take its place. Each island we’ve visited has at least one open restaurant, a couple of open shops, and a grocery store (although the one on Great Guana looked closed to us). We’ve been able to find fresh produce easily, which I wasn’t sure would be possible in a remote area like this that’s still recovering from a hurricane. We’re going to have to remember to actually eat all the frozen veggies we stocked up on in the U.S.!

The pandemic hasn’t made the recovery any easier. At least 50% of the Bahamas’ economy relies on tourism one way or another. The Bahamian government has had to balance the need for tourism dollars with the need to keep its people safe from COVID. They have opened up more to travelers, requiring pre and post-arrival testing for those unvaccinated. As of May first, fully vaccinated travelers with proof of vaccination can forego the testing requirements. Masking and social distancing remain in place, with varying degrees of enforcement on the different islands. They have started a vaccination campaign here, and still impose island by island shutdowns as warranted to control spread. 

There are other parts of the Bahamas we could have explored this year, equally as beautiful, equally as close to the Berry Islands where we will end this cruising season, but not devastated by the hurricane. We decided that this is a small way we can support their rebuilding efforts; show up and spend money. We’ve pulled into the harbors that have moorings and paid the (remarkably small) fee to support the mooring owners, which have surprisingly not been big marinas. We tour the town on each island and while ashore buy lunch, a handful of groceries, sometimes treats at the local bakery, and mementos and gifts in their shops. We’ve purchased some groceries in each location and some small mementos and gifts from their shops. We also learned that there is a way to donate online to support the dive moorings. We don’t care about amenities; we have everything we need onboard. Some islands have multiple lunch options, others only one. We don’t care, they all serve fabulous food. We can see hints of what the Abacos were before Dorian and why people flock here by land and sea each year, why other cruisers rave about the Abacos. Sure, we’re missing out on meeting a bunch of other cruisers, but we also don’t have the typical crowded anchorages and mooring fields and we’re having some great conversations with locals. We’re having a wonderful time. I’m glad we came.

It’s been a tough two years for the residents of the Abacos, and it will take them years to completely rebuild. If you feel so inclined, there are numerous ways to support the residents of the Abacos in their rebuilding efforts. Please share this link widely. (I’m just passing along information; I don’t get any compensation for advertising this list.)I’ll leave it at that. Stay safe and take care of each other!