Andros from the west

I had a reader ask me if I've been to Andros, and why more boaters don't seem to go there. Since I haven't been blogging about home repairs, numerous medical trips to Miami, landscaping, and other mundane tasks that don't really fit into a boating blog, and as I'm making preparations for my next trip, I decided I'd devote the next couple of days to talking about Andros.

I have spent a few months diving and exploring around Andros, which is a place I love! With my previous boat, which only drew about 2.5 feet, I used to head from the Keys to Cay Sal Bank, where I would anchor for my first stop. The next leg was continuing on across the Santaren Channel, and the Bahamas Bank; anchoring a few miles offshore of the western end of South Bight. I would go through South Bight with the tide, and dock at Driggs Hill to clear Customs and Immigration.  Once this involved walking the few miles to Congo Town to find an agent at the airport, since all the phones in Driggs Hill were out.  I miss being able to take the shortcut through South Bight on this vessel, which draws a little too much water to get through the way I used to. I have yet to explore to see if I can get through Middle Bight with this boat.

The western shore of Andros is uninhabited, except for the very northern tip. Coming in from the bank, the bottom is deep sand over limestone.

The journey through South Bight is NOT for the faint of heart, and involves some pretty involved water-reading on the western coast, especially. The water is not necessarily clear in the Bight, especially the western end. The waters snake through a low salt scrub terrain, growing on limestone. The vegetation and the elevation get higher as you work your way to the east. The sand bottom shifts around on the limestone base, and can change some with hurricanes. There are numerous blue holes, though most of the ones that I've explored are closer to the eastern side.

There are humongous biting flies, similar to what we called "green heads" in Louisiana, and what the locals of Andros call "doctor flies." They are relentless coming through the western ends of the Bights. These huge horse flies cut you as they land rather than land and then bite. I used to pass fly swatters to my cruising partners and challenge them to see who could kill 100 first in the open air cockpit of the old boat. We even modified the game to see how many times in a row you could kill two in a single swat before a miss, and how many could you kill in ten swats. Every so often I would just make a swoop with Raid Flying Insect killer.  I would wash the corpses off with the salt water wash down hose.

I dove one day in Miller's Creek, while waiting on the tide, to check out a cave entrance to a blue hole, which, BTW, I never explored, choosing to spend my time on the clearer water blue holes on the east side of Andros instead. Anyhow, I dove the hole, and when I surfaced, the fellow who was traveling with me, who had been exploring by skiff was about 2 minutes shy of being bonkers from the flies, and threatening mutiny. Fortunately, the tide was up enough that we pressed on.

Don't get me wrong, I love exploring the Bights! You just either need to be moving quickly in a small boat, or tucked safely behind screens, or in long sleeves and pants, Everglades style.

The flies are less numerous along the eastern side of Andros, and even in the Bights they are only a daylight phenomenon. I don't know if they sleep at night, or have to hide somewhere to keep from being sucked dry by the mosquitoes. Did I mention the mosquitoes?

Don't worry, I'll write something more positive tomorrow.