Stats for April 2, 2019

Origin: Governor’s Harbour

Destination: Alabaster Bay Anchorage

Distance: 7.7 miles

Speed: 7 mph

Time on the Move: 1 hour and 5 minutes

After our short trip to Alabaster Bay, we packed up and headed adventuring right away. Our anchorage LOOKED like a peaceful beach with a resort, but we knew that just behind the trees was some hidden US history.

Just on the other side of the street were ruins of a US Naval Experimental Facility that was open from 1950-1980 with the purpose of using underwater microphones to identify unwelcome submarines trying to sneak into US waters. They also took part in weather forecasting and offering guidance to NASA related to weather for shuttle launches. It was a cool site, but there was lots of debris, as the area was quite **ruined**! Everything was left behind to bake in the sun when the site was abandoned 38 years ago. Interesting and kind of creepy. 

This was the mess hall where coolers and storage areas were obvious. The tile and wallpaper were amazing. The debris all over made us thankful we insisted on real shoes and no flip flops. There was rusted metal, broken glass, and other booby traps all over the place!!

This large building was divided into barracks with bunks. At one point 150 contractors and servicemen worked and lived here. Higher ranking officials had houses on the installation.

The housing building also housed the chapel and the times for services were still evident on the wall.

This is the “T building” where they recorded sounds picked up by the hydrophones from the Atlantic in the mission of anti-submarine warfare. There were no windows, and the building was surrounded by a gate where only certain workers were allowed. 

Walking through administrative offices.

In the back of the administrative services building we found the Brig. Hayley sure looks remorseful, but I think Tobin needs a little more time to think about what he’s done.

The gate separating the Naval facility from the Auxilliary Air Force Base—we did not explore the AAFB side of the installation.

We headed right down this paved road to the beach on the Atlantic Ocean where they did their listening. The water had a lot of concrete clumps in several areas, including what looked like foundations for docks. We weren’t quite sure what it was, but wondered if it was used to hold the wires for the hydrophones in place.

The edges of the property had seen better days, as debris was falling down (maybe washing down?!) the sand dunes. There were also several sinkholes in the concrete catchment area that looked like they had been used as a landfill. Eventually, the US couldn’t reach an agreement with Bahamians to extend the lease of the property, so the land is currently owned by the Bahamian government. All of the equipment and buildings were left to bake in the sun and cover with rust.

We had a nice picnic lunch on the beach and then played in the pink sand and in the waves. I was kind of freaked out by the concrete and rebar left behind in the water, but it was so clear, it was easy to see what areas to avoid. We also had a local come down and make sure no one was bothering us (which they weren’t–only him). He said sometimes other locals give tourists a hard time for coming to this area and he wanted to make sure we were okay. It was nice of him, but it put us on edge a bit. No one else bothered us the whole time, though.

When we got back to INNTW, the sun was getting low and the water was perfectly calm. It wasn’t necessarily our planned anchorage for overnight, but the conditions were right, so we stayed put. We were the only boat there until SummerCamp showed up just as the sun was setting.

In the morning we woke up to the calmest, clear water. Our little cove reminded us of northern Michigan with the sandy beach and pine trees along the water. It was just beautiful!

The boys went spearfishing and fishing early, so Hayley and I were left to relax. Eventually she paddled over to SummerCamp to play, so I had an hour on the boat ALL BY MYSELF. This never ever ever happens. I blogged.

Later that morning about 4 more boats moved in to the anchorage and all the cruisers seemed to head to the beach. The tide went down and the sand flats were exposed. It turned out to be a pretty cool spot. Together with the kids from SummerCamp and Sand Flea, another cruising family we met way back in Great Harbour, our kids played for the rest of the day.

Thanks for reading and following along on our amazing adventures!!