Grand Lucayan Waterway (2014-01-13)

N26° 36.080', W78° 37.472'

Tonight finds us peacefully tied up on the seawall on the northern end of the Grand Lucayan Waterway.  We've finally escaped the south shore of Grand Bahama Island! 

After our attempt to leave on Friday we were understandably a little cautious about the forecasted conditions in the Northwest Providence Channel, which is the deep water along the south shore of the Grand Bahama Island.  Today was forecasted to have swells in the 1-2' range, so we decided we'd give it another try.  The forecast was mostly on the ball, with the majority of the waves in the 1 to 2 foot range, with the occasional wave of 3 foot.  While a bit rough, it was doable, so we pressed on.

After 1.5 hours we spotted the markers for the southern entrance channel of the Grand Lucayan Waterway, and made the turn to enter it.  We were happy to enter the calm waters of the Waterway, and leave the waves behind us, at least for the rest of the day.

Grand Lucayan Waterway, southern inlet

The Grand Lucayan Waterway is very interesting, and quite sad.  It is also, apparently, quite a common story in the Bahamas.  A grand vision, an ambitious plan, and lots of money undone by politics and bureaucratic short sightedness.  For us it's more important qualities were that of a sheltered waterway to allow us passage from the south shore of the Grand Bahama Island to the north shore.

A huge condo apartment building, abandoned before being opened

There are a few beautiful homes along the waterway

 

There are many unfinished homes - some being built and some abandoned - not sure which this one is

After a bit more than an hour we reached the northern end of the waterway.  We decided to spend the night here, taking advantage of the shelter of the waterway before venturing out onto the Little Bahama Bank.  We found a spot in one of the side channels that had been mentioned in Active Captain where there were trees near the seawall that could be used to securely tie up the boat for the night.

safely tied up on the seawall for the night

Tomorrow morning at high tide, we'll head out, and make our way through a shallow half mile long cut called the Dover Channel, at the northern end of the waterway.  Then we'll find ourselves on the Little Bahama Bank, with depths of around 6 to 10 feet through most of the bank.  Our destination for tomorrow night will be Great Sale Cay, roughly in the middle of the Little Bahama Bank.