The mailboat idled by Spartina at 5 a.m. as we sat moored in Settlement Harbour, Great Guana Cay, Abaco. Deck lights illuminated two Bahamians securing gear as it exited the harbor. Left behind on government docks was a mountain of dry goods, hardware, and the mail. Men on the dock went to work sorting through the pile and loading what was theirs onto a micro-flatbed truck.
On board, I made coffee for Julia and tea for myself. At 7 a.m, three 40-foot ferry boats arrived, loaded with workers headed to the Baker’s Bay Club, a gated golf and marina resort restricted to members only. The Club takes up the western third of this seven-mile long island. Once emptied, the ferry reloaded and left with the night workers…domestics, chefs, kitchen help.
The 1990 census reported 95 residents on Great Guana Cay. About then, the Big Red Boat, a Disney-licensed cruise line, began bringing American tourists to the island. Disney spent millions dredging a deep ship channel, filling mangrove swamps, and developing hundreds of acres to create their Treasure Island resort. By 1993, the Disney development became too expensive to maintain and was abandoned. For almost a decade, Disney’s development sat deteriorating, becoming a ghost town.
In 2002, a group of American investors formed the Baker’s Bay Golf and Ocean Club. Though almost 90 percent of the Guana Cay residents opposed the development, including a lawsuit claiming irreversible environmental harm, the development was built. Construction continues.
From our mooring, I see small yellow, coral, and teal-colored cottages along the narrow streets of the original Guana Cay settlement. Local teenagers roll carts full of scuba tanks to dive boats. The morning sun lights up bright white boat hulls. Sleepy tourists awake as workers carry off the last of what the mailboat brought at 5 a.m.
Anton DuMars is a coastal geologist and longtime Folly resident. Come sail aboard S/V Spartina. To book a trip, visit sailspartina.com or email Capt. Anton at sailspartina@gmail.com.
