Friday March 29, 2024 Rum Cay

Deb here. Leisurely morning on board Bonnie Lynn. Erick made a delicious German pancake for a late breakfast, topped with blueberries, yogurt, and maple syrup. 

Late morning Hannah, Erick, and I loaded into the dinghy for a bit of an explore on land. We parked the dinghy on shore and took off on the road, with the first goal of visiting the salt pond. We eventually found the salt ponds, no longer used but at one point a place where salt evaporated out of the salt water, with walls to keep the water in. It was all very similar to what we’d seen on Long Island last year, just smaller.

Following this, we walked up a hill to an abandoned

structure with great views. There were two other out buildings as well and it was all rather sad. Inside the main building was a model of a proposed development on Rum Cay that obviously never happened. If it had, the current state of Rum Cay would have been much different for sure. 

After the hot walk we headed back to the dinghy and boat. In mid-afternoon Erick asked if anyone wanted to go snorkeling. I was the only one who took him up on his offer, so off the 2 of us went in the dinghy. We traveled quite a way up the coastline, finally anchoring in a spot with lots of coral heads. Erick hoped to find some spiny lobsters, but no luck. He did manage to spear a small grouper, and we saw lots of colorful fish (and one menacing barracuda) as well.

Back to the boat for a shower before heading back to shore with the dinghy. We’d made a 6 pm reservation at Kaye’s Restaurant, and decided to go over early to get a walk in. We walked a nice loop, seeing the new clinic, the school, the Anglican Church, and a bunch of homes. As we walked by Toby’s Bar the proprietor, Jackiie, came outside and talked us into a cold drink. We sat at the bar and had beers (everyone else) and a cuba libre (me, kind of a rum and coke in a can) and peppered her with questions about life on Rum Cay.

After our drinks we walked to Kaye’s and had a wonderful culinary experience. She’d asked the day before what we liked to eat and Erick had suggested she cook us whatever she wanted, and we weren’t disappointed. Kaye and her daughter served up lobster bisque and johnny cake first, followed by

salad, and then steamed conch, goat curry, peas and rice, and a green bean/cabbage cheesy casserole. All of this was washed down with delicious rum punch, and followed up with a cinnamon hot cross type bun for dessert (a tribute to Good Friday). So good and quite the authentic Bahamian experience, all for about $40/person.

We rolled ourselves out of there and back to the boat. Another great day!