written by Ed Wagner
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Conception Island, one of the "out islands" east of the
Exumas in the Bahamas, is an uninhabited piece of
paradise. The small island is located at 23-50N / 75-07W,
NW of Rum Cay and NE of Cape Santa Maria at the northern
tip of Long Island, an easy one day sail from George Town
on Great Exuma Island with favorable winds.
Conception is paradiscial -- a lone sanctuary for birds, sea turtles, barracuda and fish. It has two magnificent white sand beaches, excellent anchorages in white sand and in its interior a natural network of deep and moderately shoal canals. The two anchorage areas are (1) NW side at about 23-50.50N / 75-07.50W and (2) on the SE side at near to 23-48.50N / 75-06.00W. The preferred anchorage, in comfortable winds from NE through S, is an easily swimable distance off the mile or more long, gently arching, white sandy beach on the NW corner (see No. 1). Here, in fifteen +/- feet of clear water, you can watch from your deck as the anchor digs in -- deeply -- with little strain on the chain or rode. A second anchorage (No. 2), best in less than desirable SW to N winds , is an area that lies to the NE of Wedge Point at the southern tip of the island. Approaching the Point and proceeding to an anchorage about two hundred yards or more off another white sandy beach, requires eyeball navigation to avoid rocks and reefs -- overhead sun provides good conditions for avoiding the rocks and reefs. Good anchorages are to be found off the beach and to the north, on the SW wide of Booby Cay (good protection in NE and E winds). We have cruised to and anchored at Conception Island six times over the past four years and are utterly delighted at the views, the beaches and the canals and thankful we "discovered" it. It is small piece ofindescribable paradise. The canals in the interior of the island can be reached at only one point on the western side, at about 23-49N / 75-07W, a small opening with a shoal shelf at the entrance. It is best to enter here at high or near high tide; otherwise you may have to pull your dinghy over the shelf. If possible, row your dinghy to avoid scaring the sea life with the sound and turbulence of an outboard engine. Once inside, the water instantly deepens. As you go north, other canals branch off, some for long distances. Others are dead ends. Be mindful of your canal tour -- it would be very easy to get confused and lost in them. Sea turtles are everywhere. A few healthy looking barracuda, some as long as 4 or more feet, lie quietly in wait for the next meal. Colorful small birds move among the low mangroves that line all the canals. The center of the island is flat and watery: the eastern and southern edges are rocky hills with a fifty feet +/- bluff marking Wedge Point. The island could be described as a shell -- almost all of its entire interior is mostly flat and tidal, rimmed to the south and east by rocky hills. When we have explored the eastern and northern shorelines, we have found ominous rocks and coral heads up to about 150 yards off. The surf is quiet, majestic and timeless. We did find a path through the rocks and coral off the northern end after many tries, some dead ends, to take a short cut to our anchorage in the west bay area. In this area the coral breaks the surface at about mid tide. Conception Island is, except for wildlife, uninhabited. Here you must be totally self-sufficient. The closest civilization is Rum Cay, fifteen miles SE of the island, where you can take on fuel and water and very basic foods, including warm, freshly baked bread at impoverished Port Nelson, or marina dockage and dinner at a fairly new gourmet restaurant just north of Sumner Point. If you go to the marina, call on your VHF for assistance in following the channel markers -- and do as described to avoid running aground. Among all the islands in the world I have seen, Conception ranks at the top. It is off the beaten path. Few boats have ever been seen in any of its anchorages. On one cruise there were two other boats, the most we have seen at one time -- one a charter dive boat, which arrived late one afternoon and departed before sunrise the next day, and another a sailboat with a couple on board. Both were a mile or so apart and distant from us-- no feeling of crowdedness on the water or on the beach. A note: After almost forty years of sailing, I realized one day I was tired of pushing and pulling all the strings, motoring far more than I wanted, and sleeping and living in a small closet with a cold water shower that was size of a linen storage area in a home. I soon bought my first power boat. What luxury! A galley that was large, a saloon that was large and with a chair I sink into, a queen size bunk in a sleeping cabin with a large head area and a hot/cold water shower that you can turn in without hitting your elbows or knees. Sailors are not the only ones to venture into remote and distant places. Sailboats are clearly more graceful and forgiving, but even large ones are, in my present mind set, too cramped. Is this what happens with rapidly advancing age?
M/V GAMBIER Lighthouse Point, FL
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