Landrail Point Settlement, Crooked Island - The Bahamas

We left Man o' War bay far too early! We were hoping for a calm, relaxed sail but it was not to be. We were going far too fast! We had estimated our arrival at sunrise if we sailed at 5 knots, but of course, when we want to go slowly we speed! We were doing an average of 7 knots! Andrew tried everything to slow the boat down but we just kept going faster and faster. When I woke up at 5:30 and joined Andrew in the cockpit, we were already there.

We cruised up and down the island until the sun came up, which was after 7 am and then went in to drop anchor. Andrew followed the charts closely and I stood on the bow watching out for shallow patches and bommies. 

Waiting for sunrise

The following day, Saturday, we went ashore for a walk and we wanted to see what the shops had to offer. We had decided that if we see things in the shop we will buy it as we are not sure when we will get another opportunity.

After driving about half a mile along the shore in the dinghy, getting soaking wet, we turned back and eventually found the entrance to the dinghy dock. We had missed it completely, and we weren't surprised why. The entrance is small with big rocks on either side. It looks more like it has be blasted to make an entrance. It wasn’t much of a dinghy dock, rather tie up to rock on the side of a man made lagoon.

Again the land is flat and sandy. A few pine trees and lots of low lying scrub. We found a rubbish bin and then went looking for the shop. 

No fuel here

There are two shops but both are run by Seventh-Day Adventists which meant they were at church and would only open after sunset on Saturday. We continued on our walk, only passing one chap in a bakkie and a man on a bicycle.

Small shop

We found the beach at the end of the road and stopped for a rest under a wooden shelter. If you look closely you will see some plastic chairs and a table. 

Holiday cottages

The exercise was wonderful, even though there wasn't much to look at. We saw a tiny hummingbird, but apart from that there was very little bird and animal life. 

Always miles behind us

When we arrived in the bay there were a couple of other boats. They left the day after we arrived and we were the only boat in the bay. It was quite peaceful and wonderful to be on our own.

We decided not to go back to shore on Sunday to look for eggs and lettuce but rather make our way to Clarence Town on Long Island. This may have been a mistake, but who knows what the shops in Landrail Point would have had on offer.