As an aside, the educational portion of the blog: a Brief History of the Bahamas

Taken from Skipper Bob’s Bahama Bound publication and History of the Bahamas, by Jerry Wilkinson

The Bahamas were discovered in 1492 by none other than Christopher Columbus. He landed at San Salvador, located at the southeast edge of the Great Bahama Bank. Of course, while Columbus may have “discovered” the Bahamas, it was already inhabited by a race of people called the Lucayans. Apparently the Lucayans are descendents of the Arawak tribe of Indians from Hispaniola. Lucaya means “island people.” The Spanish forced, or lured, the Lucayans into slave labor on Hispaniola, destroying the entire indigenous race. The Spanish brought to Florida a West Indies native word, "Cacique," pronounced "Ka-SEEK-ee" by some, but "Ka-SEE-eh" by the Spanish, meaning Chief. The fierce Caribe tribe, Spanish for "cannibal," gave rise to the name Caribbean. The slaves were mostly taken to Cuba where they were worked to death. By 1600 there were no Lucayans left.

Over the next 150 years, the Bahamian Islands were mostly uninhabited and largely ignored. Water routes to the Bahamas were dangerous. With the Gulf Stream and tidal current to contend with, at a time when navigation equipment was at a minimum or non-existent, getting a large ship near an island was not easy. Many vessels met their end against a Bahamian reef. Once there, there was little to keep anyone. No mineral deposits, no farmland, little if any fresh water, and a rugged terrain. The Bahamas eventually became British property and were granted to Sir Robert Heath in 1629.

The first organized group to try to settle the Bahamas was led by Captain William Sayle. Seeking religious and personal freedom, his band of about 70 tried to land in 1648 on the northeast coast of Eleuthera and were shipwrecked. Most of their provisions were lost and over the coming years the group struggled to survive in a very hostile environment. Little local fruit, almost no game and soil that begrudgingly grew meager crops meant life was hard. They survived, but never flourished. Even today, a living can be earned in Eleuthera from the land and the sea, but it requires a lot of effort.

Over the coming years numerous groups would try to settle the Bahamas with great ideas of success and riches. All would fail. The land would provide a place to live and a refuge from the sea. But only fishing and tourism would keep the Bahamians alive. Pirates chose the Bahamas for refuge and a place for a base of operations. After 100 years they were hunted down and eradicated. Wrecking would become a profession as more and more ships plied the oceans and came to an unexpected death on an uncharted reef. The locals would collect all the material off the wrecked ship and sell it or use it to buy goods to augment their life.

The American Revolutionary War caused a large influx of settlers in the Bahamas. Those American Colonists that chose to remain loyal to England during the war were treated harshly after the war. (They were called Loyalists.) Many fled persecution in the new country of the United States of America and went elsewhere. Some to Bermuda, others back to England, but almost 4,000 settled in the Bahamas. They started cotton plantations (eventually killed off by a worm), salt ponds (could not remain competitive to modern mining methods), farming (land would not support long term crop growth), etc. This English ancestry is clearly visible today in the many small towns and villages throughout the Bahamas. Even more obvious are the many failed ventures. There are visible remains of plantations, resorts and other ventures that have been tried throughout the years.

During the period of 1780 to 1805, the last group of Bahamians to enter the stage emerged. They were slaves. Before the Loyalists fled to the Bahamas there were probably not more than 1,000 slaves in the Bahamas. The Loyalists brought an estimated 4,000 slaves with them. Over the coming years thousands of additional slaves were imported to the Bahamas. However, slavery was abolished in 1833 and the slaves became citizens of the Bahamas. Years of hard work followed, but the black population in the Bahamas has been largely absorbed into the mainstream. With interracial marriage a common occurrence, racism has been virtually eliminated in the Bahamas. Today the black population outnumbers the white by three to one. As you might expect, blacks hold most government positions.

Over the years the Bahamas was to endure pirates, liquor smuggling and drug smuggling. Each flourished until the authorities could bring them under control. Because of their history, the Bahamas often gets a bad rap as a “dangerous” place to visits on a boat. The truth is that there is very little danger from pirates or other criminals in the Bahamas.

By 1973, when the Bahamas was granted independence from Britain, the Bahamas had transformed itself from a deserted group of islands to a functioning nation with industry, a government, and very valuable assets: its geography and climate. Today this independent nation plays host to thousands of cruisers each year.