Our Grand Adventure

Inagua Life

Waiting in Inagua Town Dock was an exercise in mental fortitude. We had identified the parts that needed replacing and now we just had to figure out how to get them to the island… a process that turned out to be much more difficult than anticipated. Somehow, a strange time dilation effect applies here and nothing ever seems to go to plan.

To summarise a long, painful list of events… Florida parts suppliers can be paid for express shipment, and will let the parts sit in their warehouse for another two days ready to go and not ship it, then ship it ground instead of express. Well done Steven. Top Work. Parts then have to go via Nassau, get processed by customs, then wait for a flight to Inagua island. There is only two flights to Inagua – Monday morning, and Friday morning. Nothing is open on Saturday or Sunday (including customs) so that means that nothing gets done for the Monday flight. So really, there is one flight a week, on Friday.

Our first parts order took two weeks for the parts to arrive, at which point, we started the work, only to find other issues and need to order other parts. Cue up another two weeks of waiting around. Every step of the way it felt like we were so close to getting events to line up and having parts that week, but then, it just never does. Things just take a looooonnnnngggg time to get done.

We were also feeling a bit of pressure to get the situation resolved as my Dad was coming to visit and would be arriving on the 10th April. With the minimal flight options to Inagua we were worrying he would need to sit in Nassau alone for a week before meeting up with us. Inagua is a nice enough place but it’s really not somewhere you want to be for three weeks in a small boat. It’s also a long way to the other islands from here so we weren’t sure what to do!

Overall, we felt like we were in Parts Purgatory. It wasn’t quite hell, but it definitely wasn’t heaven! We experienced high peaks of optimism and hope, followed by crushing disappointment at each delay and setback. It was a bit of an emotional rollercoaster for sure.

Industrial Dock Life Challenges

The dock we were on is not really intended to let people live there and is definitely more of an industrial facility for unloading barges with the town’s goods and groceries. As such, it alternates between being an absolute ghost town with no one around, or an insanely busy, dusty mess of chaos when barges are there for deliveries!

Delivery days are loud and noisy with big barge engines running, trucks and forklifts everywhere and people running hither and thither to get their goods. Despite the heat we would have to close up the entire boat to try and keep the insane amount of white dust out! It still managed to get everywhere.

On the plus side, when there are deliveries on the little bar down the road would open for lunch – dishing up the most insanely tasty fried chicken, rice and plantain meals to the crowd. The entertainment value of watching the unloading was also not to be scoffed at. Health and safety is definitely a different mindset here with some interesting manoeuvers by forklifts and truck drivers. I had to cover my eyes a few times! 🫣

Serious Sailors

In addition to the many delivery barges that would show up, we also had company in the form of these amazing Haitian sailboats. The Haitians would come on these forty foot sailboats, load them up til the vessel looked like it was barely floating, then sail them back to Haiti. They were so impressive! They had no engines at all, and sailed the boats expertly in and out of the docks. Every time we saw one coming or going I had to stop and watch in awe as they expertly handled their vessels.

The vessels themselves were also quite impressive! Clearly home made from timber, they often had old power poles or trees as the mast and booms, and were held together with power lines for stays. These guys could stack an entire cargo container worth of goods onto these boats.

Despite having one or two of these boats on the dock with us at all times, we didn’t really get any opportunity to talk with them as they all spoke a creole blend of French with minimal English. So we were all limited to a friendly wave every now and again.

Bahamian Waters

For the majority of our time in the Inagua dock, we had a northerly or an easterly wind, so we were quite well protected. On calmer days, we could watch the little reef fish swimming all around the pylons in the marina. I was quite attached to my little ‘pet’ baby angelfish that used to hang out on the back pylon we were tied to.

There were a handful of days were we experienced a strong westerly wind, blowing right into the mouth of the harbour. This was a wild couple of days with the boat riding big swells like we were underway while at a dock. We added a bunch of extra lines and held her way off the dock for this time. Getting on and off definitely was a bit exciting! Thankfully that only lasted for a day or two and then we were back to being calm and protected.

Escaping the Heat

When things were too loud and dusty, we liked to drop the dinghy and go for a burn up or down the coastline. Unfortunately there wasn’t any nice beaches for swimming within walking or dinghy distance of the dock, but we would just drop an anchor and swim out in the deeper water of the nearby bays. I found it really surprising that there were no good beaches near the town! How odd to live on an island but everyone has to drive a long way to get to a beach to swim!

We did try snorkelling the one time but the area is just sand (beautiful white sand) with crystal clear water and occasional patches of sea grass. Occasionally a cluster of rocks would harbour some life – but usually it wasn’t worth a snorkel and we would just go for a dip to cool off.