Bakers Bay, Just Heartbroken

[Under the Palms]

My wife and I have been cruising around the Out Islands since the early ninties, the past 5 years or so we've spent our vacations on Guana, we felt on Guana we had found the perfect island. It had everything we wanted, friendly people, no crime, pristine beaches, a great beach bar to cut loose at - Nippers, and a great beach bar to chill at - The Sunset B&G. It also had private beaches where you could go to get away from it all - High Rocks and Bakers Bay. It now appears we've lost both. We were shocked when we found High Rocks cut off to the public when we came down last year, big signs "Members Only". Not that there is anything wrong with the beach in front of Nippers, but it's not exactly our idea of quiet and relaxing. When we look through our photo albums of our kids (2.5 and 7) growing up, most all our vacation pics are from Bakers. Our oldest was less than two on his first trip, and we came home from Guana a few years ago to find my wife pregnant with our second, sounds crazy but we ended up naming him Bayley, we call him Bay for short. I remember trying to come up with an island oriented name for him, or something to do with our travels. We sat and talked about how much fun our oldest had at Bakers on the trip we had just returned from, and thats how we decided his name, Bay. He was basicly named after Bakers Bay.

Not to be too long winded, but I grew up spending summers on a lake in upstate main, 12 miles from Canada. Looking out over the lake with Parlin mountain on the other side, fishing, exploring, untill I was 15. That was the summer we went up to find the logging company had clear cut the mountain, not one tree remained standing, not only did it ruin the beauty of the area, it also killed most the fish due to the run off, years later the trees came back, the fish never did.

We just moved from the town my wife and I grew up in, it used to be a nice town where kids could ride bikes on the roads with no problem, then a couple of years ago the re-zoned part of the town for reatil, it seemed to slip through so fast no one had time to protest. Our town is now a shopping destination, the traffic is horrific, on our little side road with only 80 homes, the traffic is now over 5,000 cars a day. The town was raped, run over by people who don;t care. They through out their garbage on our roads, and nearly run you over just trying to get out of your driveway.

Progress?

Whats the most shame with Bakers, is the people who frequent this area do so be cause of the way it is now (or sadly was), the very reason people spend time there is about to be gone, and all the people will change. That is sad.
Bakers Bay R.I.P
Todd, Jen Shay & Bay :(

[brock]

Well spoken/written.. We are with you. www.saveguanacayreef.com.

Any help is worth it.

Brock

[Elizabeth]

I am in tears reading your post.

Please go to saveguanacayreef.com and do what you can to save Baker's Bay. It is not too late.

[CaywannaBay]

Having just come back from our first trip to the Abaco's and staying on Guana Cay. the one thing I am happy about, is being able to see Bakers Bay before the work started. We were there when there was a crew cutting up and dismanteling what was left of the Disney stuff. We will be back and probably visit other Cay's but will have the fondest memories of the unspoiled,and unpopulated Bakers Bay.

[dogfish]

CaywannaBay,
There are many unspoiled and unpopulated beaches in the Abacos. The problem is that none have been partly developed and then left for the general public to enjoy. If you are looking for those unpopulated and unspoiled beaches just head north of whale cay. If you want one complete with dock, picnic tables, artificial wreck, and the remains of full facilities then you are out of luck.

Sorry, I don't want to see it happen either but I just can't help seeing the other side on this issue.

-Doug

[CaywannaBay]

Doug, Thanks for the correction of my use of the terms I used before. I just meant that they are spoiling a good thing. I will remember Bakers Bay as I saw it in the attached picture.

[coconutscottage]

Doug,

What you are speaking to is the emotional side of change, this has nothing to do with the issue(s). The issue that you are taking the "other side" on is not in fact the issue. Please go to www.saveguanacayreef.com to review the issues, the message board has some lively dialogue also.

[panachecon]

Its a small world and getting smaller........
And lots of people want to buy a piece of "Paradise".
The price is going up, and the Abacos will never be what they were 20 years ago.
As for me, as long as the mega resorts and casinos stay away, I'll be coming back and
be happy for the prosperity it brings the residents, our "paradise" is their home. Let them decide. jim

[dogfish]

While I understand the environmental impacts (my former career) associated with this development I find it disturbing that this sort of activism only happens when the development happens where people can see the cranes doing the work. Another poster brought up the rather severe impacts of not having pump out facilities for the thousands of visiting boats each year.

Let me be clear that I am not "taking the other side". I can take my personal feelingsout of this mess and can see both sides. However I would rather things be left as is.

There will be many examples on both sides of the environmental issue and I suspect that the real impacts will be somewhere in between both extremes. I don't want to start an online argument, just want people to think about other environmental issues that face the abacos such as rapid settlement of the cays with no infrastructure to handle the waste. Would we be up in arms if the baker's bay land was sold off in 1/8 acre lots for cheap and houses were thrown on them without putting in a marina?

-Doug

[big fish]

I would echo Doug's comments.

My thoughts:

Unplanned development at any level can be detrimental to any community. Abaco is in the midst of a development boom that shows no signs of abatement. People love to come to beautiful places, so obviously it will continue. Trying to stop it is like trying to stop gravity. It doesn't work for long. My thinking has always been that the best you can do is to try and require that it be done responsibly. In order to institute responsible development, you need to have a plan. There are many references available that address "best practices" for development. I have suggested before that all the energy spent trying to stop something that is approved, would be better spent trying to set up a development plan for the future. This Bakers Bay development is nothing compared to what is coming. I promise that this is far from the last large development plan you will see. I would think that there may be many that will be much more offensive than this one. If the Bahamas is truly a democracy, then there is a way to organize an effective planning infrastructure. It definitely shouldn't be done in the haphazard way that it is done currently.

The waste issue is a very important part of the overall problem. Boating waste discharge, septic systems for houses, and general solid waste are important factors that need to be addressed to insure that water quality doesn't suffer significantly. Abaco needs planning help big time. That is where people should be putting their efforts. It does absolutely no good to have a NIMBY (not in my back yard) attitude.

Just one man's opinion.

Bruce

[PatW]

If you all have so many opinions, why not take them to the www.saveguanacayreef.com? Its been said over and over that this forum is not the place to discuss Bakers Bay. Go to our web site and lets discuss this. I'm sure you will find many people willing to give you their side of the story.

[Wonkee]

Thanks Pat, although this development is going to be devistating to the way of Life as we know it in Abaco, and on Guana. This is not the place to disscuss it. That is why another board was set up. My Brother-in-law was on this site this weekend and mentioned that all he could find were post about some project on Guana. I dont want to talk so negativly on this board about the "Outside World" that it scares people away from visiting.
I hope that the problem does resolve itself, and we can get back to the old posts where we gave trip reports and had pictures of our adventures to Abaco