Florida to Andros in 2024

This year has been very different from other years in the Bahamas. We’ve been here for two months now, and it seems that we are hiding from blows every week! Normally, by late April, the weather has settled down and you have the lazy trade winds blowing from east to south east at 8 to 15 knots. This year we have front after front coming through from the north to north east, and even a fairly heavy blow from the north west for a few days.

It was already early March when we got to leave our dock to first sail down to Miami from Pompano Beach, and then to cross the gulf stream from Miami to Bimini. The winds were really favorable and the swell was also quite pleasant. Overall, a very nice crossing without any incidents. After arriving in Bahamian waters, we dropped anchor on the north side of Bimini (just south east of North Rock) and spent a peaceful night at anchor. The next morning we weighed the anchor after a light breakfast and sailed south east (108°) and went through a small channel about 4kn south of North West Channel. From there we turned south and headed towards Morgan’s Bluff on the north side of Andros Island. Around 80 miles of sailing for the day, is counted as a great day of sailing in our books and especially if it is done in almost perfect conditions. We arrived at Morgan’s Bluff at about 10pm and didn’t want to risk entering the small commercial harbor in the dark.

The charts showed the anchorage to the east side of the entrance to the harbor. It seemed that there was construction on land right beside the designated anchorage and we could see some large earthmoving equipment in the blinding light on land. Also, we recalled from a previous visit that there were many ship wrecks along the edges of the anchorage, and we weren’t confidant that the radar would pick up the submerged wrecks. About a half a mile to the west of the entrance looked fairly safe to stay clear of any large mail boats that enters or leaves the harbor. The anchor barely hit the bottom before we went to sleep. Around 3 am the wind has shifted and we heard a horrible sound of metal dragging over rock. We immediately realized that we were dragging anchor towards the beach and that we had actually dropped the anchor on a shallow bed of rocks with no sand to dig the anchor into. I started the engine, Andre pulled up the anchor and we the re-anchored in the designated anchorage.

The following morning we hailed the harbor master to enquire about the availability of the Customs and Immigrations officers. They told us to come into the harbor and the officers will be waiting for us. After the paperwork was done and all the stamps stamped, the harbor master said that they had a vacant slip at the marina and that we were welcome to use it. A blow was expected for the next few days, so we gratefully accepted and rushed back to Mama-Wana to bring her in before someone else grabs our spot. The slip was on the north end of the harbor with a brand new sturdy dock and the beach and ocean only a few yards away.

I cannot comment about the facilities because I didn’t realize that there were any until the day before we left. There are diesel and gasoline available a few steps away from the marina as well as a small shop with cold water, soda and a few candy bars.

A nice lady was walking on the beach singing beautiful praise and worship songs and after commenting about it, she turned out to be a lovely lady who offered to take us to church with her. The church service was a great experience with a very warm and friendly congregation and leadership.

Our new friend, Flora, has a small farm and brought us the freshest cabbage, tomatoes and green peppers – a true blessing.

She even offered to take us to Fresh Creek, the next town (about 30 miles away) where there is a bank of sorts to get to an ATM to get some cash. Almost all the banks on the Island have closed down and getting cash is a problem, yet the local farmers and little shops have no way of accepting cards. It seems as though the local people get around with limited cash and lots of trust. You get gas today and tomorrow when someone buys tomatoes or a soda from your little shop in your house, you can go and pay for the gas you got yesterday. Island life is so much simpler, slower and hassle free!

We walked to the top of the bluff, where the view to the ocean and the rocks are quite spectacular.

There were also some interesting caves on the way. Further along the road were a small village with a few houses, but we didn’t find any shops.

Morgan’s Bluff is definitely a great place to check in to the Bahamas with friendly staff and easy access to Immigration and Customs officers. We will be back for sure!