April 2009
SKINNY WATERS…aka, Why Didn’t We Buy a Catamaran?
Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas
We made an overnight passage from the Dominion Republic to Turks & Caicos.
Collectively, it is written that these two island nations have over 700 islands and cover thousands of miles. Only about 30 to 40 are inhabited. We will see only a few of them.
The Turks and Caicos are almost like a long coral reef. They offer beautiful options for snorkeling and diving and for catamarans and shallow draft boats are probably great. For those of us who draw 5’ or more, there are not as many options. Providenciales is in the Caicos group of islands, and it was our best option for a quick trip.
We chose an anchorage on the south side of the island of Providenciales, or Provo, for an easy check in, and what we hoped was easy access to the town. “Downtown” was a few miles away, and an expensive cab ride ($35USD+), so we four decided, against advice from the officials, that we needed the workout-you know, that ol’ “ it can’t be that far” mentality, and started walking. Town, as it turns out, is a real long walk…and to not much of a town at all. Luckily, the nicest Canadian ex pat plumber in a work truck stopped and asked if we wanted to hop in the back….’you betcha’- we’re not proud and so in we jumped. He dropped us in the center of “downtown”- basically an asphalt parking lot, strip mall with a supermarket shopping center, few other stores, mainly insurance agents, etc…. and that was about it. We asked for directions to something…more? No one would really talk to us. We walked a few more blocks and found a marine store, which as always, perked the boys up, but where’s the heart of this island? We realized if we were going to see anything, we really needed a car…but no one seemed to know where we could rent one.
We reversed directions and found ourselves on Airport Road where we spotted a few car rental offices; we stopped at the first one. A few guys were inside, one sound asleep at the reception desk, and the other two wouldn’t talk to us, despite our polite hellos. Not surly, they just didn’t want to move a muscle or even think about giving us a car…we backed out, said goodbye with the same effect that our cheery hello’s got…nada. Where the heck are we? It was kinda surreal-part DMV/Post Office, and part Tangiers Island- we were the unseen. Thus far, the T&C’s weren’t making much of an impression.
We saw a Hertz sign a ¼ mile down the road and gave it a go. Much better, we were sure that we would now be able to fall in love with the real Provo so many people seem to adore. We did our usual figure eight sightseeing tour and found some places of mild interest, but nothing that grabbed us. Voyager came in directly from San Juan and was going back to the US, so they were at Turtle Bay Marina on the north shore. The marina is nice, and is where we would stay if this were a real destination for us. It is closer to a good supermarket and other shops, a friendly atmosphere, fun restaurant and marine stores.
The north side of the island is nicer, in my opinion, but our impression of the island is that it is a great place to own a second home or go to a destination resort. It has beautiful white sand beaches, great diving and snorkeling, tropical weather, but if you are a deeper draft vessel your anchorage will be further out and you’d really have to have a car to get around. Provo doesn’t seem to have a unique culture or heart and therefore slides off our minds like Teflon. It seemed that the people were not very happy. You often find that native people everywhere resent tourists, but this was different, this is how they were with each other. Perhaps it was just that week.
We had one last dinner with the gang, Dot & Ken, Les and Rose. We celebrated Ade’s birthday early, and quietly said good night, and goodbye for now, to our dear traveling companions of so many thousands of miles. They are returning to the real world and new business opportunities and need to get to Georgia STAT. They were always there for us, and also always wonderful company. We will miss them so much. Rose had surreptitiously baked Ade a Kahlua Birthday cake and had it all wrapped up and ready to take back to WS for his actual birthday. That’s the kind of people they are.
We are ready for the Bahamas! The Bahamas are an archipelago that extend over 2000 miles in a general NW to SW direction and have over 600 islands. They sit on a vast limestone reef and its name, Grand Bahama apparently came from the Spanish, meaning Great Shallow Sea. It is skinny water and careful alert navigation is essential at all times.
Our first stop was Abraham on the island of Mayaguana, a convenient little township in which to check into the country. Now this place seems to have personality… it’s quite flat, lots of scrub bushes, not too many trees…white-white fine sand, gorgeous water, and about 10,000 conch shells piled high. There are only a few people on the island, they all know each other, in fact, we think they are all related. It was an Easter weekend and we didn’t know if anything would be open. We started walking down the dusty road after we’d anchored in the bay and dinked in. A friendly local gal, Winifred, picked us up, said she was sure we could check in, even though all offices were closed, and drove to several people’s homes to get to the official who could sign us in. They tracked him down, and off we went to his office. He’d changed into a suit and tie, was very nice, but explained that in “actuality it is only my clark” (love the way it’s said with an English accent), “who knows precisely how to process all the necessary papers”… (He, in fact, hasn’t a clue how it’s done - typical boss-man, eh?)… “And pity, she’s out bush crabbing this morning, but no matter, she couldn’t possibly stay out all day, so we’ll just wait, shall we?” Well Okey Dokey then!
It is Easter Saturday and we are just grateful we don’t have to wait until Tuesday, after the four day holiday. We walked around a bit, watched the colorful neighborhood drunk try to find someone to buy him a bottle, as the local Mom & Pop had cut him off, and just generally enjoyed ourselves taking in all the comings and goings at the crossroads of this small village.
