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Mär 21, 2007: Navigating around reefs

20°C / 68°F

Position:23° 95' N-76° 32' W

Wind: 54km/h

Despite heavy winds, we reached Little Farmer Island one of the Northern Exuma Islands.

Who is navigating in the Bahamas is well advised to start with the first daylight and to arrive before dark. The Northern part of the Bahamas is a huge plain covered by 6 to 10 feet of seawater and hundreds of small flat islands. A sweet one of them had a diameter of about 40 feet. Beat wanted to put his foot on it and declare it as "outre-mer" territory of the Republic of Basel. As expression of this independent endeavor, he wanted to hoist the Basel flag (see historic remarks of the last reports).

Most of the day, we floated through this shallow 4 to 10 feet deep waters. What a privilege to glide hours and hours through the spring-clear, tender, blue-green-turquoise sea! Only flat boats with a minimal draught can enter this unique zone – "sun21": draught of less than three feet. Consequently, we were alone all day long. One must navigate very carefully here. We are standing in front of the deck as lookout. In the beginning, we were alarmed by dark spots and also "dark reefs" and intended to make a detour round them: These were shadows of clouds. Attention, another small double reef at backboard: Two dolphins! Despite very heavy North wind, we arrived in time at the Little Farmer Island, one of the Northern Exuma Islands. Several sea currents come together there, like a square with crossings of different sea passages.

Beginning of spring today, the days grow longer, but it is rather cool. Strong winds from Northeast are holding us back here – the only option is to take it how it is. Our boat is not a bulldozer overrunning every obstacle like 20-30-knots winds with raw force. Time for an island excursion: 60 people live here; a small store with two shelves, half empty. The bar is an old cottage with two benches in front of it, the
airport, an airstrip, the wreck of a small airplane, an open gazebo with a table and a suitcase on it that waits for its owner, nobody there, nothing else there. The owner of the ocean view inn, a really nice restaurant with a brand new blue-green paint, gives us the flag of the island as a gift. "Oh, from Switzerland. There are only two real democracies in the world where people can truly vote on issues, budgets
etc.: Switzerland and Libya!" He is also active to preserve the Bahamas Land and Water Park, a National Park at Warderick Well Cay that is threatened by tourism projects and other "developments". He tells us the story of the stranded sailboat that we saw approaching the island. 207 Haitian refugees fled out of their homeland, and their boat capsized here some days ago. All of them could be saved. They were brought to Nassau.

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