STUDENTS VISIT CASTAWAY CAY
by Jack Hardy (Abaco Central teacher)
It was a humid afternoon at Abaco Central Secondary School. Grade 12 English class
was feeling fractious because it was hot. BEC had the power off and the fans weren't
working. "How many of you are interested in journalism as a career?" No response.
"How many of you have any interest in journalism?" One languid hand was raised. "How many
of you would like to help cover a story for our school newspaper?" A few more students
halfheartedly offered. "OK, you guys, we're going to Disney on Gorda Cay." Whah!
A forest of hands shot up amidst wails of despair. Too late. The few had been chosen.
There has to be a limit to democracy in a school system.
So early in the morning of 9th October, eight students from Abaco Central Secondary
School set off from Marsh Harbour to visit Mickey's beach. Well, only six set off
because two of the students were Sandy Point people and joined us there. Another
Sandy Point man, Richard Fawkes, drove the second car (and paid for the gas. Thanks, Richie!)
The one boy who should have gone missed out because the excursion was not arranged
on Bahamian time.
Christina, Chervain, Jasmine, Shazara, Teneil, Chavon, Melinda and Raquel were our
lucky ones. The trip had been arranged through Dave Thornton of American Bridge and
our guide for the tour was Steve Norton, American Bridge Project Engineer. "He's
cute!" the girls agreed.
Cute or not, he was very personable and informative. The object of the exercise was
to report back on the beginning of the final stage of Gorda Cay turning into Castaway
Cay, a day resort that would be used by the largest cruise boats in the world to
deposit 2,700 visitors twice a week (four times a week later on) to enjoy an Abaco beach
and plenty of amenities. The first boat, the SS Magic
, is still under construction and will sail from Italy to Castaway Cay to inaugurate
the Disney venture.
It took less than half an hour to make the journey from Sandy Point to Castaway Cay.
It was a lovely day with not a cloud in the sky, an augur of many more similar days
to come when the cruise boat patrons want to cool out on the beach after enjoying
the attractions of Freeport and Nassau out of Port Canaveral.
Joining us with a truck to show us around was Lynn Bedwell, who made the girls feel
much more at home amongst all those men. "I'm the only woman on the cay," Lynn told
us. "I'm Momma to everybody here." That was proved over and over as we drove around.
Our visit was well timed. Disney will begin operations in March 1988 so all the buildings
were in place - they just weren't finished yet. Looking over the site there were
plenty of rough edges, but by squinching your eyes and using your imagination you
could see the beach paradise soon to be.
Our first stop was to the newly-dredged harbour to the south west point of Pumpkin
Harbour. Giant hydraulic buffers were already in place to hold off the world's largest
liners in inclement weather. There was 45 feet of water for the boats to park in.
Talking about eyes, I could see those of the girls glazing over as Steve went through
the technical details. "The ships will bring in 80,000 gallons of water at a time,"
he told them. "There's no potable water on Castaway Cay. The water used in the toilets will be recycled and reused for plant watering and toilets."
"Yuck!" said someone.
"Oh, it'll be pure," Steve assured her. He then went through all the filtration processes.
We saw all the buildings one by one from the almost complete Post Office to the staff
recreation area and private beach. The Post Office, Steve told us, would issue its
own special stamps. The revenue would accrue to the Bahamas government, of course,
but the stamps should be collector's items.
Steve pointed out that the tawny pink roads were for pedestrians and the blue roads
for a tram service. He also showed us the stroller rental and bicycle rental building,
the native produce and Disney retail stores, canteens, bandstand, seating pavilions
for those in need of a rest from sun and fun, children's recreation area and, guarded
by a couple of real live pelicans, an aquatic bar. "We pay them to do that!" Steve
quipped.
The mention of aqua made the girls complain that they were thirsty. Lynn drove us
to the workers' area where we were given a cooler of ice cold water and a tube of
drinking cones. The girls drank long and deep, only disturbed by my casual comment:
"This recycled toilet water doesn't taste too bad, does it?"
Of course it wasn't. There was something about the system that couldn't be tested
until it was in use, Steve confided to us. Until there was waste to process, one
was never sure. It was time for Richard Fawkes to be whimsical. "You could bring
over the people of Sandy Point," he suggested. "Maybe call it Sandy Point Relief Day!" We all
groaned and climbed aboard Lynn's truck to traverse the old airstrip to the western
side of the cay.
At the end of the airstrip where, after a 25 year hiatus, I saw once again one of
my favourite beaches. Glorious, even by Abaco standards. I've always said that I'd
buy Gorda Cay whenever I won the lottery. Now I'll have to buy out Disney first.
One of our girls, Jasmine, rushed off calling "Daddy! Daddy!" for, indeed, her daddy
was working in the area. Most of the Bahamian crew working on the cay were my old
students from a generation or two ago. I felt very old.
I felt very good, however, about the arrangements for the permanent staff. Their recreation
building and area included a select section at the southern end of the beach where
the harbour rock line extends into the sea - an excellent handline fishing area.
"Mr Hardy!" the girls complained. "You didn't tell us it would be like this. We could
have brought our swimsuits! And you made us come in school uniform!" As you've guessed,
they were a complaining bunch. They should make good journalists.
After we dragged Jasmine away from her daddy, we went for a closer look at the Pumpkin
Bay beach area. "All this sand on the beach," Steve said, "was dredged and deposited
here." We all looked at each other, not wanting to be rude. It was quite clear the
girls much preferred the beach that God had made.
While the girls asked questions about how things would be when the project was in
full operation, Richie Fawkes had a different agenda. As a Sandy Point man and Abaconian
reporter who had, like me, known Gorda Cay in its pristine era, he wondered about
the environmental impact of so many visitors to such a gem of an island. "Only a small
percentage of the cay will be open to visitors," Steve assured us. "The rest will
remain natural and undisturbed."
Both Richie and I knew that Gorda Cay, undisturbed, meant plenty of sand flies and
mosquitoes at times. "Disney has investigated that," said Steve. "Passengers will
be on the cay between 7.30 am and 4.30 pm, not prime time for insects." If there
was any nuisance, it would dealt with on a minimalist basis.
Disney boats used to pull into Guana Cay but the lack of deep water docking was a
hindrance. Castaway Cay is perched right on the edge of the Little Bahama Bank and
you go from knee-deep water to dozens of fathoms in no time at all. One of the attractions
for visitors will be deep sea fishing and the anglers will be able to put their lines
into the water as they leave the dock and start fishing right away. There is also
excellent bonefishing in the shallows.
We arrived back at the boat just as lunch time had been declared and several of the
young workers decided to say hello to the girls before they left. Jesse Bain, in
charge of our boat, had other ideas. No sooner were they on board than he fired up
the engines and loosed the lines. An avalanche of testosterone in work boots hit the dock
moments before the next option - a swim to shore.
The girls had been issued with film for their cameras by the school. After meals of
fried chicken and hamburgers prepared by Glacie Dean at Pete & Gay's, we set off
back to Marsh Harbour and deposited our films with Troy Albury at Snap Shop. Next
morning I picked them up and cried. Some of them were good, but they were of the girls snapping
each other. Or Steve. Others were of the cay taken from about two miles offshore.
Some showed mounds of construction material. One had a tank reading POTABLE and another REUSABLE. An interesting effort was a close up of the postage slot at the Post Office.
Others showed a perfectly focussed worker's bunk bed and the beaches graced with
a 15 degree horizon angle. They wrote, by the way, far better than they snapped.
It was, perhaps, a far more important day than the students could realise. When Castaway
Cay is in full operation only employees and cruise passengers will be welcome. Marsh
Harbour area people go to Sandy Point to catch crabs in season. Sandy Point people go to Gorda Cay. How will that change in the future? Steve couldn't tell us. That
would be a Disney decision. Our intrepid journalists might have seen Gorda/Castaway
Cay for the first and last time.
Thank you, Mr Thornton. And thank you, Steve and Momma Lynn, for being such gracious
and accommodating hosts.