SPANISH CAY

After leaving our anchorage at Powell Cay we sailed a few miles north to the next island in the chain--Spanish Cay--where we took a slip for the night. Spanish Cay is a private island originally developed by a former owner of the Dallas Cowboys but now in other hands. It is a long narrow ribbon of land edged with rocky outcrops on one side and a lovely sand beach on the other. But almost half of its length is taken up by a private air strip. It was very pleasant strolling along the paved roads threading throughout the island and down to the beaches. Infrastructure for future services--hydro, water etc. were everywhere in evidence but there were only a handful of residences scattered across the cay and not a soul in sight anywhere--save for the caretaking and marina staff. Despite the beauty of this island, I would NOT want to own a property here because of the utter loneliness of the place. It FEELS deserted and it IS deserted with the marina itself holding the only signs of life. There was a shop, customs agent and a very big empty restaurant filled with dozens of tables and booths. A wide verandah boasting comfortable wooden rocking chairs and custom gliders surrounded this building but there was no one here to use them. We had arrived well before noon, but once we were checked in all of the staff vanished. The shop, office, and restaurant were closed up and we didn’t see a soul again until early the next morning. Well, that is not exactly true. When three big cruisers arrived shortly before dinner, staff magically appeared to serve them in the restaurant, but by then we had turned in for the night and so were unaffected by any of this activity. It was good to be back in a civilized setting after anchoring out for a few days and now that we are familiar with Spanish Cay we would definitely return here if we had need to “get out of weather”. Otherwise, we’d give it a pass.