Matthew Town, Great Inagua Island

[Kyle]Just as we were about to call Bahamas Customs to arrange a time to come in, they called us. As we had just finished the long passage, they agreed to let us enjoy a day’s rest at anchor before coming in the next morning. When they got off the radio, George, the Harbormaster, called us and said there was plenty of space inside for us for as long as we wanted.

Being able to tie up in the harbour made clearing in a LOT easier than we'd expected (and a bargain at just $15/night)

We tied up to the wall in front of the supply ship that was having engine trouble and waiting for parts. When we were done, the Customs man introduced himself, got a few details from us and then said he would go to his office down the road to print our paperwork before bringing it back for us to sign. When we were done, he even gave me a ride to the Immigration office, saving me a longish walk.

As I was just getting a pace up for the walk back, looking forward to a bit of exercise, a man stopped in the road and offered me a ride. There were two more vehicles coming up fast, so I hurried to the passenger side.

”No need to rush, Mon”, he said, “This ain’t America. They’ll go around.”

They did, and even gave us friendly waves as they went by. Curious.

After a brief reconnaissance to make sure the island was both really flat and also spread out, Maryanne suggested this would be the perfect place to get around by bicycle. She was right, of course, but our bicycles aren’t exactly what you would call handy. Retrieving them is only less difficult than unbolting an engine or getting out the spare jib, which is behind the bikes. I generally don’t like to go through the trouble unless I know we will be using them a lot.

Once they were out, though, they were great. It was better than having a car because they are easier to park. We were soon zipping back and forth across town, checking stuff out and running errands. We bought groceries, did the laundry, climbed to the top of the lighthouse and had a couple of very generous meals at the adjacent restaurant. We went way out of town and found lots and lots of sand and not much else, including shade.

The Moreton Bay salt company 'fort' is now a storage area for the company

Exploring the Matthew Town and north to the lighthouse

Further north and west of the town, we cycled for HOURS but failed to find any of the Islands famed flamingos

To get further afield, and for a better chance of seeing the flamingos, Maryanne persuaded a local man, named Darren, to give us a day tour for an agreed donation. He drove us on every road smooth enough for his 2WD car, which allayed our anxiety that if we had just held out and ridden the bikes a little further the previous day, something great would pop up. {Maryanne: Flamingos are pretty guaranteed if you get out to the national park area of the Island, but that is several miles away on a 4WD road, and requires a guide - that was a bit much for our budget so we tried everyting else in hope}

We headed to the wilderness to the SE of town first

Darren then drove us way to the other side of the town to the salt works for the Morton Salt operation. Darren had just retired after forty years there and knew the whole thing top to bottom. He said taking us there was the first time he had been since his last day.

Morton Salt Works - miles of salt flats and plenty of heavy machinery

Back in town we continued to explore - and found the Bahama parrot (a subspecies of the Cuban Amazon parrot)

The forecasts were showing that the only decent weather window we would have to go north over the next week-and-a-half required us to leave the next day. We bid farewell to the friendly people at the harbor and went around the corner to anchor for the night at Man O War Bay, where the gleaming white mountains of salt await the next ship.