Spanish Wells

Officially St. George’s Cay, this 2-mile long, ½-mile wide island is better known as Spanish Wells due to Spanish ships coming by here for fresh water. It was never Spanish controlled. Eleutheran Adventurers and British Loyalists and their descendants populated Spanish Wells in the 17^th century and today the majority of its residents are white Bahamians. Very little change was seen here for 300 years. In the 1950s, Spanish Wells harbor was dredged which provided commercial access for boats; electricity came in the 1970s which meant refrigeration for the fishing industry; the 1990s brought satellite dishes and GPS; and the 21^st century added wifi.

Spanish Wells is known as the fishing capital of the Bahamas and their main catch is Bahamian lobster, called crayfish by locals.

A boat like the one below is owned by six fishermen who share profits equally. They go out for 3-6 weeks at a time checking their traps, but unlike Florida where buoys mark traps and make frustrating dodging for pleasure craft, these hotels are marked only by GPS so only divers know the location of the lobster “hotel.”

In 1947, before this modern industry and before lobster was seen as a luxury item, it sold locally for 2-cents apiece!   

                                         Photo from the Spanish Wells Museum

Several fishing boats followed by tenders passed right next to our anchorage. 

When a partner in a boat decides to retire, he keeps his share of the boat but looks for a graduating high school boy to take over his work, giving him a percentage of the earnings. This keeps many young people from leaving the island which is a problem on most of the other islands we’ve visited. Many other fishing industry related jobs are available too with maintenance, mechanics and of course tourism.

We saw this one-car ferry, as well as larger ones, going back and forth between islands.

Steep hills go up from the harbor to town that you’d need to avoid if you are using the main form of transportation here, a golf cart!

                                  Lovely quaint houses, many with gardens and landscaping.

                                               And there is a long beach on the ocean side.

Also seen are small fields with goats and street corners with evidence of the short lived effort of Loyalists to grow cotton.

No island is complete without a good in-house bakery and Kathy’s provided us with Johnnie Cake and fudge.

And after the fudge, if you need to see the dentist you’ll find him in a warehouse with zero frills.

The sights of Spanish Wells and Eleuthera in general feel like we are getting eased back into American civilization with a few more amenities, but still a Bahamian flavor.   

We will now bid farewell to Eleuthera and head to our last island chain, Abaco.