The Ragged Islands...As Close to Cuba as you can get

A typical home in Duncantown, termite nests, drying conch, trail markers (people pick up trash off the beach to mark a trail), the salt pond, DC-3 house ...wouldn't this be fun to live in

We decided to head South from the Exuma Islands to the Ragged Islands. These islands are much more remote with no facilities available to the cruiser so you had better stock up and plan ahead.

First stop was Flamingo Cay. This was another beautiful spot and a good snorkeling place although the current was a bit rough. John had purchased his Hawaiian "sling" and was anxious to try his luck at spear fishing.

Next stop down the chain was Buena Vista. This happened to be on Valentines Day so John and Craig decided to fix the women a Valentines Day dinner with all the fixings. John had caught some fish that he made into Fish Fingers and we had a local fisherman stop by the boat to purchase 8 lobster tails for $20...what a deal. The dinner was delicious and the guys even did dishes! My most vivid memory was of the huge starfish everywhere under the boats so doing your "Bahama Bath" off the back of the boat was a pleasure and the water was refreshing!

Yes, we went all the way South to Duncantown...only 60 miles from Cuba...tempting but not worth the fines the government imposes for trespassers. This town has only about 100 occupants and was another run down town. A little depressing and a culture shock but always fun to mingle with the locals. (Notice the termite nests on the house in the picture). Lots of goats, dogs and roosters running wild...Obie was having a hey day! The local grocery store owner, Maxine, had just come back from Conch fishing and had her conch on the line to dry. There was also a wreck of a small boat that had come from Haiti with 156 persons on board...unbelievable. They had the small school house for all ages but in the Bahamas, once you reach about 14 you must go live in Nassau to finish school if you are lucky and wealthy enough. And someone had made use of an old DC-3...why not?

We had a welcome to Duncantown party with some fellow cruisers, "Charmed", and "It's About Time" who told us about another awesome beach for beach combing. So off we went and after a long, hard dinghy ride, we ended up following them to the trail head. Along the way we had to walk through a Salt Pond...it reminded me of snow in Colorado but a little different texture. It was an awesome beach, found lots of Heart Beans (these are bean pods that float across the ocean usually from Africa), a few Hamburger Beans, and many other shells. We actually found sooooo many beans that we left quite a few for others to find.