29. Allens Cay and Normans Cay

Sometimes you meet someone and you just click. That was the way we felt with Merle and Nick. On Thursday, Feb. 7 we were sorry to have to say goodbye to them and we promised to keep in touch. We left Nassau bound for Allens Cay in the company of Sadie A, Finisterre, C-Drifters and Superior Grace. We went over the Yellow Banks, so called because the water is very shallow and can appear yellowish in tone indicating very shallow areas. Areas that are quite dark can either be grass and rock and I still have a hard time deciding which it is. It has caused some anxious moments.

Allens Cay is one of remaining habitats of iguanas in the Bahamas.


This is the primary reason boaters stop here. These scaly creatures, about the size of a dachshund, are protected in their wild state. When we went ashore, the beach contained maybe 30 to 40 motionless iguanas poised silently in their watchfulness. As we stood quietly, so did they. When we moved, their eyes followed our every move.

They appear tame but definitely are not. They have a sharp bite and cannot distinguish between your hand and a tasty morsel. Visitors are asked not to bring pets ashore and not to feed them. They appeared relatively curious. One young man had dived for conch and had brought the conch to the beach where he was trying to figure out how he was going to get the conch out of the shell. One larger iguana kept going closer and closer trying to see what he was doing. He appeared quite fearless (the iguana and not the young man). Probably it was a she and not a he. Ha, ha!

The next day it was only a three hour sail to Normans Cay.

Here is Roman on his own deserted island

In the middle of the anchorage was an almost totally submerged C-46 transport plane. Normans Cay is one of the largest islands in the Exuma chain of islands. In the 70’s and the early 80’s it was famous or rather infamous as the base of a Columbian drug smuggler, Carlos Leder. We met one cruiser who told us that the first time he and his wife came to the Bahamas, they dropped anchor off Normans Cay and men came out in boats and machine guns and sprayed the water in front of their boat with bullets “encouraging” them to move on. Apparently the Bahamian government asked the United States for assistance and the DEA broke up the smuggling ring. The drug ring left everything as it was.

Big explorer

Walking around the island, we saw the abandoned buildings, roads, docks and even motor vehicles which litter the property. All of the buildings have fallen into disrepair and are rotting. We walked along a road which leads to an airstrip which is now used by charter aircraft.
Beyond the airstrip, there are several private residences as well as one small resort, MacDuffs.

It is like the setting of an old movie with a long wooden bar with high bar stools, large overhead fans and an attractive outside dining area. We had some refreshing cold beer at the bar before we walked back to the other side of the island where we were anchored.

On the way back, Roman climbed up one of the trees and knocked off 5 coconuts which we took back to the boat.

Sunset off Norman's Cay