Archives

Conception Island National Park is a wonderful place I’ve enjoyed on numerous trips. The island is deserted and the only access is by boat. I often anchor off Cape Santa Marina at the north end of Long Island which is less than 20 miles away, but for most it’s distant journey which keeps the little island group pristine and uncrowded. It’s over 150 miles to Nassau. Conception was designated a national park in 1964 and is managed by the Bahamas National Trust. There are several mooring buoys offshore but otherwise no modern conveniences whatsoever.   The island has lovely beaches and rocky hills surrounding a large interior lagoon with a labyrinth of waterways that connect mangrove-lined bays and flats that can go dry at low tide. The lagoon is filled with life including fish of many types, turtles, rays and sharks that can be seen in the shallow water on the flats. Wading birds are all over the lagoon including great blue herons, smaller heron species, various ducks, terns, stilts, oyster catchers, ospreys and sandpipers with frigates and lovely tropic birds overhead. Sometimes the white tropic birds with their long tails appear to be blue as the sun reflects off the white sand under the shallow blue sea (I once had to convince a stubborn friend on my boat that the birds weren’t actually blue!). Conception may be home to the largest concentration of this elegant bird in the entire Bahamas. It’s a truly a magical place and Booby Cay, to the east of the main island, is a significant nesting site for terns and other seabirds.   There’s beautiful reef on the north side of Conception with a proliferation of unique corals and the remains of two ships from the War of 1812, including cannons and anchors submerged in shallow water. The British frigate “Southampton” had days earlier captured the smaller American brig “Vixen” and both hit the reef together one November night. Three hundred men made it to shore in the ship’s boats which were soon dispatched to seek help from Cat Island to the north and from Nassau further west. There were few supplies salvaged from the wrecked ships and the men lived primarily on the abundant conch they found and what little fresh water was available. They were eventually taken to Jamaica by several British ships that came to the rescue. A written narrative about the event estimated the men ate nearly 1,100 Conch in the 10 days they were on the island, over 3 per man per day. It’s also interesting in just those few days several “wreckers” showed up, an indication of how common ship wrecks were throughout the islands at the time. Wreckers were men who sought fortune by salvaging cargos off of shipwrecks after first rescuing any anyone aboard. There’s little human history written about the Conception, though some ruins can be seen from an early attempt at settlement. The lack of fresh water no doubt played a role in any desire to live or keep livestock there. This has had the great advantage of keeping Conception in a pristine condition resulting in a spectacular national park of the Bahamas, far enough from civilization that it’s likely to stay that way.   For more information on other Bahamian islands check out our site or The Bahamas: A History Through Maps! Call today with any questions or to talk about custom map options, our number is 239-963-3497.

Whenever Mayaguana comes to mind I remember approaching it’s western shore a few years back. Since the island is a long way out, the eastern most in the Bahamas, we were cruising slow to conserve fuel for the week of diving ahead. I was at the upper helm and sensed something to my left, turning I stared into the curious eye of a Humpback whale in the air right next to our boat. Shocked, I yelled “whale!”.  My boat partner sitting next to me caught the tail going out of view and the big splash that followed, my wife ran out of the cabin screaming “damn it, I always miss the whales!!”. We were amazed how quietly it had come out of the sea to eyeball the humans.   Mayaguana is the only Bahamian Island to retain its original Indian name and remains of Lucayan Indian sites have been found along the shore. The island is relatively large, about 25 miles wide, ringed with lovely harbours that thrive with bonefish and other sea life. Active colonies of Flamingos can be seen and native iguanas live on the east side of the island. There are endless beaches with shipwrecks, reefs and spectacular underwater walls for diving. One wreck is the British Naval sloop “HMS Driver“ which wrecked on Mayaguana in 1861 just fourteen years after being the first ship to circumnavigate the globe in 1847. It’s cannons can be found on the northwest tip of the island in just a dozen feet of water. Cannon balls are neatly stacked adjacent to the guns, corroded together and frozen in time (photo of my whale blind wife Marielle is shown next to them).   Due to it’s isolation, Mayaguana’s population struggles to maintain itself as young people often leave for work elsewhere. There was a surge in residents during the 1960s NASA Mercury and Apollo Space programs when the U.S. had a military base and tracking station on the island. The station charted the trajectory of intercontinental ballistic test missiles launched from Florida along with spacecraft orbiting earth. It also served as a temporary refueling base for military aircraft, but all was abandoned in the 1970s and the island’s population fell into decline. Remains of the facility are still evident with a long runway, part of which has been restored as Mayaguana’s new airport.   The people of Mayaguana are hospitable and welcome visitors into their towns of Pirate’s Well, Betsy Bay and Abrahams Bay. There’s now a good runway and flights from Nassau for regular access. If you enjoy remote islands with spartan facilities while you explore remote beaches that few people walk over the course of a year, where flocks of pink flamingos can be seen and nature rules amongst the harsh, scrubby landscape, Mayaguana will welcome you.   For more history on the islands of The Bahamas check out book The Bahamas: A History Through Maps. Visit our site to see all of our custom maps or call today at 239-963-3497 with any questions or special orders!

I’ve been going to Nassau for as long as I’ve been a pilot, well over 40 years. My log book would number Bahamas flights in the many hundreds, most involving a stop on New Providence Island where Nassau is located. Over the decades a few Bahamians there have become good friends, very intelligent people who work hard and smart. I’ve been lucky to work for Lyford Cay and the adjoining Old Fort Bay development which I helped design and engineer. I watched Atlantis being built, new cruise ship docks taking shape, Arawak Cay being reborn as a vibrant little port and more recent projects like Bahamar which I photographed regularly from my plane for those who built it. I met some real characters along the way including Sir Sean Connery who recently passed, we had a long dinner together I’ll never forget.     Captain William Sayle is credited with discovering New Providence after nearly being shipwrecked, taking shelter in the protected harbour. Sayle was leader of the Eleuthera Adventurers who settled The Bahamas in 1648. No doubt the island had already been used by Spanish ships since it offered one of the finest natural harbours in the New World. An original 1700s map I have showing “Principle Towns and Harbours belonging to the English, French and Spanish” has the “Harbour of Providence” alongside Boston, New York, Charleston, Havana, Cartagena and a few others. Settled as “New Providence” around 1666, the island soon became the center of government for The Bahamas. In 1670 Charles Town was founded and after the Spanish burned it in 1684 it was rebuilt and renamed Nassau, a title with connections to the King of England. A series of unpopular governors were appointed in London which led to pirates seizing control while the Spanish continued to attack. More than 1,000 pirates occupied Nassau in the early 1700s, a pirates’ den filled with pubs and brothels, burned-out trading vessels littered the harbour. Pirates like Charles Vane, Anne Bonny and Edward Teach (a.k.a. Blackbeard) were real and they used Nassau as their base, some actually became community leaders with regular meetings!   Woodes Rogers, a captain and former privateer, came from England with British war ships in 1718 to clean up Nassau. His motto was Expulsis Piratis–Restituta Commercia (Pirates Expelled–Commerce Restored). He threatened to hang any pirate who refused the King’s pardon he offered and most accepted, but some who didn’t were caught, convicted and hanged by Rogers and the Admiralty Court. After Rogers, the island struggled again under subsequent governors until the late 1700s when the British Loyalists arrived. They had remained loyal to King George during the American Revolution and when England lost the war, thousands came to The Bahamas with thei r slaves where the Crown granted them large tracts of land, some on New Providence. Farming was more difficult than it had been in America and most eventually left but some turned to the sea, fishing and salvaging ships around the reef-strewn Bahamas. Later came sponging by Greek immigrants in the 1800s with an international sponge market in Nassau, but times were often tough with outbreaks of disease and famine.   A boom in prosperity came during the American Civil War in the 1860s when Confederates traded cotton for European guns and supplies on the docks of Nassau. Boats would run through the Union blockade to southern ports and revenue from the increased trade helped modernize the capital. After a subsequent period of decline a second boom appeared courtesy of Prohibition in America from 1920 to 1933. During Prohibition Nassau prospered like never before and Bahamian families made fortunes without ever breaking the law since liquor was legal in the English colony.    After WWII air service to The Bahamas improved and tourism starte d to flourish. In 1957 the main airport opened, the port was enlarged to accept more and larger cruise ships and resorts with casinos flourished. Places like Paradise Island and Cable Beach became famous as the world increased travel to warm and welcoming places. Today Nassau continues to be the epicenter for government, commerce and transportation in The Bahamas. I go regularly to see my friends, drop off books and maps we produce in Naples and then carry on to the out islands where we keep our boat. Well, the out islands are now called the “family islands” and have been for a long time, I guess it’s just hard to teach an old dog new tricks. To learn more about the Bahamas and other regions, check out books here along with our custom decorative maps! Give us a call at 239-963-3497 with any inquiries, we'll be happy to help!

Most people today know Paradise Island because of Atlantis, a large resort distinguished by a world class aquarium and lagoons with water pumped in from the sea. When Atlantis was being built I watched the huge salt water pumps being installed behind what would be large water falls to mask their sound. Paradise Island (“PI” as locals call it) has a beautiful beach with another famous resort, the Ocean Club. There’s lots of shopping on the island with restaurants, bars, boat tours and high end marinas at Hurricane Hole and Atlantis which attract large multi-million dollar yachts. What I like about Paradise Island is the largely unknown and interesting history. The island acts as a huge breakwater which created one of the New World’s best harbours . The Spanish likely found the protected anchorage in the 1500s and stayed on the leeward side as do ships today. The island became known as “Hog Island” and the oldest existing lighthouse in The Bahamas was built on the western end in 1817. Navigation into the harbour has been greatly improved over the years and the lighthouse remains an important landmark for cruise ships and other vessels. In 1913 the “Porcupine Club” opened on Hog Island, an organization for elite millionaires with buildings on the harbour side and a beach house on the ocean side. Members of the Porcupine Club included U.S. banker Andrew Mellon, J.P. Morgan, Howard Hughes and Vincent Astor. The Club property eventually became an early Club Med which was later incorporated into Atlantis. Swedish industrialist Dr. Axel Wenner-Gren bought land on Hog island as he fled Nazi influence in Europe before WWII. In 1937 he bought “Southern Cross” from Porcupine Club member Howard Hughes, then the world’s largest private yacht at over 265’ in length. In the early 1940s Wenner-Gren helped create Bahamian jobs at the request of the Duke of Windsor, the newly appointed Governor of the Bahamas who had abdicated the throne as King of England. He employed hundreds of Bahamians to turn a stagnant pond on the island into “Paradise Lake” by digging canals to connect it with Nassau Harbour. In 1961 the property was sold to wealthy American Huntington Hartford, heir to the A&P Supermarket fortune (A&P has been called the Walmart before there was Walmart). It was Hartford who renamed Hog Island “Paradise Island” in 1962 when he began to develop it and the now famous Ocean Club. He purchased stone architectural structure know as the “Cloisters” which originated in a 14th-century European monastery. It was imported to the island, reassembled stone by stone and remains an interesting attraction on Paradise Island today. Huntington Hartford eventually sold his interests to Resorts International which built the first Paradise Island bridge in 1967. The island became famous as an international entertainment center with casino gambling. In 1987 Donald Trump became majority owner of Resorts International. His shares were later sold to American entertainer Merv Griffin whose wealth was created by successful TV game shows Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune. Paradise Island Airways operated from 1989 to 1999 with planes landing on a 3,000-foot airstrip toward the eastern end of the island. The airline connected Paradise Island to Florida along with Chalk’s Ocean Airways, which landed on Nassau Harbour and taxied up a seaplane ramp on the island, a romantic way to arrive! The airport was replaced by today’s luxury homesites with an adjacent 18 hole golf course. South African resort developer Sol Kerzner bought the Resorts International property from Merv Griffin in 1994 and transformed the land into Atlantis, which has been one of The Bahamas’ major success stories and employers for many years. Paradise Island continues to evolve with many celebrities calling it home. I think PI and the aquarium at Atlantis is a must see for people who’s first experience in the Bahamas is arriving in Nassau on a cruise ship, a yacht or via the many international flights that serve the nation’s capital. For more history on The Bahamas check out our The Bahamas A History Through Maps history book and visit our site to view our custom maps! Give us a call at 239-963-3497 with any questions!