View Single Post
  #1   Report Post  
posted to rec.boats,rec.boats.cruising
Wayne.B Wayne.B is offline
external usenet poster
 
First recorded activity by BoatBanter: Jan 2007
Posts: 2,536
Default Deserted beaches, caves and shipwrecked Robinson Crusoes

Anyone who has ever aspired to explore pristine, nearly deserted
beaches, caves, or follow in the footsteps of real life shipwrecked
Robinson Crusoes should go to northern Eleuthera Island in the
Bahamas. There is a stretch of white sand beach there extending
behind coral reefs amid sparkling tropical water that is simply breath
taking. The area is known as "The Devil's Backbone" because of the
outlying string of coral reefs that have claimed many ships over the
years. When the wind is blowing hard out of the north the breaking
surf on the reefs can be seen from miles away.

Sometime in the 1600s a British sea captain named William Sayles was
wrecked there with two shiploads of settlers. They sought refuge in
a nearby cave and lived there for a time.

We went out exploring along the Devil's Backbone this afternoon in our
inflatable dinghy in the hope of doing some beachcombing and finding
the cave. As luck would have it, we were able to do both.

Here are some picture links from Google Earth (not mine), of both the
beach and the cave:

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/7467461

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/16854726

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/3328235

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/18059548

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/6917571