Ah, West End, a peruse through Bahamian history will speak of the importance of this humble spot. A massive hotel and resort (Jack Tar) with all the trappings – marina, golf courses, and international airport – created in the early 1960s helped put the Bahamas on the worldwide tourist map. Well, island malaise and a couple of crippling hurricanes doomed this once thriving community. But it’s slowly coming back. Gone is the massive crumbling resort Todd saw on his first trip to the Bahamas decades ago. It’s been replaced by a charming set of hotel blocks/cottages, still a safe marina, and the runway? Well, folks like John Travolta used it when they visited their homes here. West End remains the hub of this end of the island and surprisingly is the capital of Grand Bahama.
It’s no longer a “destination” island for most cruisers. It’s more of a convenient place to check in at Customs and Immigration, stay a night or so and move on. However, during the summer it’s a hot spot, given the short 55 mile run from West Palm Beach.
For us, it was a needed safe harbor for our little group. No pit stop in the islands should be all work though, so in lemonade-from-lemons fashion, we spent the days in a mix of tasks and play.
Oh, my aching thighs!
One afternoon, we took bikes (free at the resort) to the West End Village for some exploring. We were told it was about a mile, but pedaling against the breeze off the ocean made it feel more like five miles.
After more intense aerobics, I mean pedaling, we came to Shabo’s and Sherry’s, a delightful family-run conch stand in the West End Village. Feeling deserving of a treat, we stopped. (We stopped again. Yeah!)
The “harvest” is quick. First, he tapped an expertly placed, small hole where the muscle connects inside the shell, and then:
After seeing how it’s done and trying the Conch Pistol, we stepped around front to order totally fresh conch salad.
With fresh conch salad snacks in our baskets, we rode the bikes A-L-L the way back to the marina area. Todd and Terry kept going out to the point, so Terry could see where they’d been towed in (since he was pretty much locked up in the engine room for that part). Susie and Lynn decided to stop for some beach combing instead. (Stop again. Get it? Well, there was this hill and everything…)
Searching for treasures
We hit a couple of the beaches for some beach combing during our stay. The sea glass was plentiful, and we even found a few whole sea fans, but there were a couple of unique finds.
Then Lynn stumbled onto the piece de resistance, an actual…
She tucked the bottle in her bag and saved it as a surprise to open with the guys at dinner.
It was pretty exciting. Unfortunately, the letter was in Spanish, so none of us can read it, except the date. Even we gringos could see that it was only a few weeks old. So, Lynn plans to add a note about where we found it and re-“mail” it when we’re back on the ocean.
Watching the sea life
SaltyMare was tucked into the back corner of the marina, very protected from the current – kind of like being docked in an aquarium. And with the beautiful, clear Carribean water, we saw some fun sea creatures. Lots of fish cruising through and an occasional shark!
Back to work
When we arrived at the marina, Kyle, the dockmaster, touched the SaltyMare and proclaimed, “There’s enough salt here to cure a fish.” So, among the aforementioned chores, both boats received well-deserved baths.
Back to the main reason we were here, Finish Grade’s engine issues had been diagnosed and addressed, but we still needed a few things to finish the job. Monday, we rented a car to drive into Freeport in search of the last necessary items, and after many phone calls and checking several marine and auto part stores, we had not found everything. There was only one place left to try, and when we got there, it was…CLOSED. Not closed for lunch but closed til Wednesday! Oh no!
But have no fear, because between Todd’s gently barge in and start talking and Terry’s southern charm working on the nice lady who just came by to feed the animals inside, guess what? Thank the Lord! We found the only bottles of anti-algae for diesels on the island!
With that accomplished, Terry can treat Finish Grade‘s fuel tanks and in the morning we’re outta here! Next stop, Great Sale Cay!
Our Travels 