EDITOR, The Tribune.
I was saddened to read, in this morning’s Letters to the Editor, that a commercial marina may be built in Little Harbour, Abaco. I cannot understand why such a thing might be allowed.
I first learned about Little Harbour in the 1950s, from an artist Randolph W Johnston, who escaped from civilisation and built his own little world in Little Harbour, where he worked as a sculptor and raised his family.
Many people don’t know it, but Randolph Johnston created the statue of Sir Milo Butler that graces Rawson Square. He also sculpted the statue of the Bahamian Woman.
I have flown over Little Harbour many hundreds of times and was always impressed by its beauty and tranquility – and by how small it is. It is so aptly named. The widest place in the harbour is a quarter of a mile wide.
What impressed me most about Little Harbour occurred in 1984 when I took my boat on a cruise to Abaco and decided to spend a night in this place that I had always wanted to visit. Once safely moored in the harbour, after the engines were turned off, in the sudden silence, we all heard plop, plop, plop. Looking around we saw turtles, swimming to the boat. More plops meant more turtles, until we were virtually surround by these curious creatures. What a splendid evening we had.
I don’t know whether turtles still plop up to welcome visitors, but I do share Zef and Oona Fessenden’s concerns about what “developers” can do to the environment of Little Harbour. Change may be inevitable, but not all change is good.
PAUL C ARANHA
Nassau,
February 11, 2015.
Comments
TheMadHatter 9 years, 7 months ago
Yes, I agree - just like the President of the United Federation of Planets said at the end of the movie Star Trek VI - "Let us redefine progress to mean that just because we CAN do a thing, it does not necessarily follow that we MUST do that thing."
TheMadHatter
bahamalover 9 years, 7 months ago
I know Little Harbour well. I have been cruising the Bahamas since 1978 and have been to most of your beautiful islands. There is a time and place for everything and this is not the time or place for this. The Waterway Guide reported on this on Feb. 9. I tried to include the link so you can see what the cruisers think of this, but it appears I don't have the skill. It's at Waterwayguide.com/latest-news. Then go to the Bahamas section. This was a single family residence with a private dock and that's all It should be. It's a small beautiful harbour and this marina would take up a huge percentage of it, ruining it for all but David Southworth, who's the 4th. owner in 10 years of the development [ which is not in Little Harbour ] and who intends to sell these slips for $ 125,000 each.
http://tribune242.com/users/photos/2015…
bahamalover 9 years, 7 months ago
BTW Paul, the turtles are still there, the dolphins still play and the night herons hunt and squawk in the shallows. The local captains and guides take you deep sea or flats fishing, and the Johnstons still cast bronze with the lost wax process. At Pete's Pub you can get a simple snack or a gourmet meal where the Elite meet to eat in bare feet. You have to have been there maybe, like we have, to understand how this is such a bad idea.
gbgal 9 years, 6 months ago
I, too, remember happy days sitting at Pete's Pub with feet buried in the sand and enjoying fellowship with other travellers along with his signature fish burgers cooked under shade of a palm leaf roof! It was hard to return to "civilisation". Will this be yet another example of greed devouring good sense to display to our countrymen? Then, all we shall hear is, "I didn't know!" Pray good sense prevails before we lose another piece of our paradise!
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