The run to Rum, about 45 miles could have been very rough if we had to go into it, but quartering away was no problem. Sea started out a minimal 2-3, but ended up a steep, nasty 4-6++ . What looked like a tropical wave was moving through, cloudy, lots of squalls, generally unsettled. We started out exploring the reef that sticks north from Rum's NW corner, reputed to be extremely pretty. It had been, once, lots of dead elk horn and very few fish. You could tell it had been spectacular, once. Hit some deeper spots, but there did not seem to be a wall in decent depth. We covered enough ground that I'm confident there is not much there for freedivers today.
Next Flamingo Bay. This is a spot I'd heard of and been on my list for years, big protected bay, full of coral heads, long gorgeous beach, uninhabited, supposed to be outstanding.
It was.
Getting into the bay was an intricate dance with a jillion close together coral heads that came right up to the surface. Not a problem in good light but something I'd never try any other time. We anchored off one end of the beach, near a set of colonial era ruins and some coconut palms. Matt quickly produced and opened some coconuts. I'd long forgotten how good and how different fresh coconut tastes instead of the stuff we can buy in the store, outstanding! I took the opportunity to go for a long walk on the miles long beach. My kind of place, not a footprint on it but mine, and drop dead gorgeous.
Now we had a problem. We had come to Rum, found the diving I'd heard about to be mediocre. Now what? There is some great stuff on the south side, but its hard to find and I had not arranged for a guide. Nobody ever said anything about the north side, where we were, so we just went exploring. Did some diving on the coral heads just outside of Flamingo Bay. Heart breaking. They had been beautiful, but most of the coral was dead. You could get dinner there, with effort, but that was all. Ran about half way down the island to where the 100 fathom curve comes close in, thinking we might find some walls like San Sal, but no luck. We did find a real nice 60-100 ledge with good, coral covered spurs and a fair abundance of Nassau grouper. You had to be below 80 to really appreciate the place, so Simon loved it and I was a bit limited. Did my only 100 ft dive of the trip, so it wasn't all that bad, just limited. The weather was not great, cloudy, windy, dark diving. Again, Simon felt right at home. .In Chile, where he lives, he dives in 40 degree dirty water, on rocky shores with 12 ft swells(I ain't kidding) so these conditions were just fine. I thought it was a bit less so.
Back to Flamingo for the night. I'd seen enough to know that the north side was worth exploring for several more days, but Conceptcion was calling. The wall there was so great and the wind was much more easterly now, so the wall was sheltered. We were running out of time, but had saved a day for that wall. Next morning early we crossed, did a short wall diving session(vis was poor) then spent most of the rest of the day shooting dinner. Next morning we really hit it. Bright sunny, no current to speak of so we could tie up to buoys over the best part of the wall. All three of us in the water this time, near perfect conditions and we took advantage of it. Simon was doing ridiculously deep dives, Matt did his deepest, I'll let him chime in on that. I was having a wonderful time flying around the big heads. We spent pretty much the whole day there and I was so tired at the end that the next day I stayed in the boat. We crossed to Long Island and shot a fair load of fish on some heads I knew about.
Then it was back to Georgetown. Still had a gallon. of good water. We got there and fueled up no problem then discovered that the next day was Independence day, nobody was going to be open again until Monday (3 days off) the stores were crazy, and nobody had any large quantities of water left. Typical Bahamian snafu. I tried to envision my wife drinking the stuff we loaded in San Salvador. Not a pretty picture. So we spent minor megabucks buying water in quarts and smaller, only to discover that the dock water was free and just fine to drink., filled all the tanks . I loaded up on produce and more, even though Karen was bringing a cooler full with her. In the Bahamas, if its available and you might need it- BUY IT. From there it was easy. Divers caught their plane, Karen arrived, having been relived of all her produce in customs and it was off to the rest of the Exumas
We had cruised this area 25 years ago and were looking forward to seeing it again. Not much to report except it was very fun to be back. Second night we spent next to a wonderful blue hole(which happened to be full of lobster, so we ate well). Leaning back on the canvas on the back deck, holding hands,watching the sunset with the lines of a Buffet song running through my head, “and 25 years slipped away,” very very nice.
One thing that really struck me, the megayachts. I'm sure I saw over 50. Also much fewer of what used to be the normal cruising boat, 35-45 ft sailing monohulls. I'd read a lot about how well the rich have done in the last 30 years and how the middle class is being stressed, but it had not affected me much and I'd kind of ignored it. Seeing the result so graphically was eye opening.
Stopped in Staniel Cay for some extra fuel. Funny how places don't change their character. We had not liked Staniel before, bad atmosphere. Much more upscale now, full of megayacht passengers, but still the same boozy, unpleasant atmosphere. Stopped at Compass Cay at a marina owned by Tucker Rolle, who once invited us to dinner when he had no money, about 12 very well mannered kids, and one chicken to split between all. Impressive guy and I was delighted to see he'd done well. The place had its quota of megayachts, but the atmosphere was so good I would like to have stayed.
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