Rebuilding the Bahamas

January 30, 2023

As you know if you follow our blog, we are presently berthed at Marsh Harbor, on Great Abaco Cay.

Marsh Harbor is primarily a working-class town, providing many commercial services (restaurants, grocery stores, medical clinic, nail salon, marine hardware, etc. And several prominent marinas, of which ours is the nicest.

Most of the homes here are modest, owner-occupied. Many built in the 1960’s or even 1950’s. Many of them uninsured. Some have simply been abandoned.

The ”word” on Marsh Harbour is that it has been slow to rebuild. First came the utter destruction from Hurricane Dorian in 2019. Then a year of Covid delayed everything further.

Several days ago, I had an opportunity to speak with our cab driver about his experience. He had just finished building his home in July of 2019. Dorian hit on September 1st. When the roof tiles started lifting off his home, he and his wife took refuge in their car. Cyclonic winds kept repeatedly lifting the car and dropping it, but they survived. Their house did not. They were uninsured.

We mentioned in an earlier post that we had spoken with Michael Albury, of the Albury family from Man O’ War Cay. He’s the one who explained to us, “What do you have to do first in a recovery here? Rebuild the commercial docks. Because without the docks, we can’t get the building supplies we need: wood, cement, etc. It all comes from off-island.”

Nevertheless, we have been VERY impressed with the rebuilding that has been accomplished since then in Marsh Harbour. And our marina is certainly gorgeous. Here’s a drone shot…you can see the marina complex on the right and the hotel and the gorgeous beach on the left. The views from the hotel lobby are breathtaking.

Here’s a “building” right next to our resort

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Yesterday, we visited Elbow Cay, where the rebuilding has proceeded at a faster pace than in Marsh Harbour. Elbow Cay is the closest island to Marsh Harbour – just six miles across the Sea of Abaco – a half-hour trip by boat. The island is about six miles long and quite narrow: at some points you can enjoy a view of both the Atlantic Ocean and the Sea of Abaco.

The primary port on Elbow Cay is Hope Town – towards the northern tip. It’s a pretty little harbor, watched over by a picturesque red-and-white-striped lighthouse. This is the only remaining manned lighthouse the Bahamas. It still uses a kerosene light, and the mechanism must be hand-wound daily. The harbor itself is protected on all sides and surrounded by pretty little cottages and houses.

We sailed into the harbor yesterday morning and rented a golf cart for a tour of the island. The farther south we travelled, the more impressive the homes became. Many of these houses are not 100% owner-occupied. They are investment properties, or second homes (or third or fourth). There is a lot more money in Elbow Cay, (and I’ll bet a lot more insurance coverage), and the recovery has been faster.

We rode our golf cart all the way to the southern terminus of the island to visit a well-known sandbar called Tahiti Beach. We timed our visit for low tide, because the sandbar extends almost a half mile at low tide.

The sand bar was spectacular, as we expected. What we didn’t expect was the dramatic scenery. The tide began to come in between Elbow Cay and Tilloo Cay – the next Cay south. They are separated by a channel, or “Cut” just a few hundred feet across, and the tips of both islands are defined by rocky promontories.

The tidal current was a visible force of nature, and the waves on the Atlantic side of the cut were crashing into the rocks, showering spray 30’ in the air.

Hard to see the waves crashing over these rocky outcroppings.

On the way back to Hope Town, we passed a MASSIVE marina being totally rebuilt from the ground up (or water up). Pilings being driven, cement being poured. Dozens of laborers.

A little farther down the road, we pulled into the parking lot of the Abaco Inn, poised on an oceanfront bluff. I had a duck confit club sandwich (yes, you read that right) with a Kalik, one the local Bahamian beers. YUMMY.

From our little hightop table, on the top of the highest bluff on the island, we could see behind us all the way back across the Sea of Abaco to our resort. But the view in front of us was truly spectacular: huge swells coming in off the Atlantic, breaking all along the reefs that guard the beaches. And the beaches run off to the south as far as one can see.

I have travelled extensively (Cape Cod, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Brazil) and I don’t recall a more spectacular oceanfront scene.

As you can imagine, rebuilding a nation take a LOT of skilled labor. This fellow is what’s called a “mortar forker”.

TTFN

PS: Sunday was a great day for Eagles’ fans. Here’s Rod with his special hat, drinking “green” mojitos in 78 degree weather. GO BIRDS!