From Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia.
Rum Cay is an island and
district of the
Bahamas. Lat.: N23 42' 30" - Long.: W 74 50' 00" - Size: 30 Sq.
mls
Rum Cay, 20 miles (32 km) southwest of
San Salvador Island, is mainly flat with rolling hills that
rises to about 120 feet (37 m). Christopher Columbus called it Santa
Maria de la Concepción. The island is believed to have acquired its
more racy modern name from a shipwrecked cargo of
rum. The
main settlement is Port Nelson, a picturesque village lying among
coconut groves.
First known as Mamana by the Lucayan Indians, the cay was later
renamed Santa María de la Concepción by Columbus. Spanish explorers
once found a lone rum keg washed up on a shore and changed the name
again to Rum Cay (pop: 53 1990 census). In the north there is an
interesting cave, which has Lucayan drawings and carvings. Various
artifacts from the Arawak period have been found by farmers in the
fertile soil, which the Indians enriched with bat guano. In common
with other islands, Rum Cay has experienced a series of booms and
busts. Pineapple, salt and sisal have all been important industries,
but competition and natural disasters, such as the 1926 hurricane,
have all taken their toll and today tourism is the main source of
employment. Plantation boundaries known as ‘margins’ can be seen all
over the island, which date from the beginning of the 19th century
when Loyalists settled here. Nearly everybody lives in Port Nelson
where cottages can be rented. Settlements such as Port Boyd, Black
Rock and Gin Hill are now deserted and overgrown.
Deep reefs and drop-offs surround this former pirates’ haven.
There is staghorn coral at Summer Point Reef and good diving at
Pinder’s Point. At the Grand Canyon, huge 60-foot coral walls almost
reach the surface. Summer Point Marina has dockage, moorings, bar
and restaurant. There is a small guesthouse available from former
Constable Ted Bain. The Last Chance Yacht Supply has groceries.
Batelco office for phone calls closes at lunchtime. Yachts wait here
before sailing to Mayaguana or the Turks and Caicos Islands, or
before returning to Georgetown and points north.
Adventuresome divers can still find the shaft, anchor chains and
hawser holes of the H.M.S Conqueror, Britain's first propeller
driven warship. It sank in 1861 and can still be found in 30 feet of
water in a staghorn gully near the breaking reef.
HMS Conqueror
The wreck of the 101-gun
man of war
HMS Conqueror, built in Devon in 1855 and which served in the
Crimean War, lies in 30 feet of water off Rum Cay where it sank in
1861,
is preserved as the
Underwater Museum of the Bahamas. It is the property of The
Bahamas Government and none of the contents of the ship may be
removed.
In 1860 HMS Conqueror was one of the Royal Navy’s latest ships,
and took pride of place in the British line of battle in that day.
She was a 101-gun battleship, capable of throwing a prodigious
weight of metal from a broadside, still very much a three-decker
with the masts and full rig of a ship of the eighteenth century, but
with the incongruous addition of a smokestack amidships and a vast,
primitive, coal-burning engine driving one great screw. Still
virtually on her maiden voyage, she was lost on Sumner Point Reef,
Rum Cay, on December 13, 1861. Her crew of 1,400 all survived.
"She was 20 nm out in estimating her position and, after making
her landfall, cut rounding the southeast point of Rum Cay too fine
and went hard on the reef. Her captain, fearing that his crew (most
of whom could not swim in those days) would drink themselves
insensible when it became obvious the ship was lost, ordered all
ale, wine, and spirit casks to be broken and their contents ditched.
He then sent the two largest ship’s company unloaded everything they
could salvage, and set about making a camp on the island. The
captain remained on board with one midshipman and ten seamen until
the ship broke up. Then all of them, less the boat parties, were
marooned on Rum Cay. They were rescued soon after the news of the
disaster was known."
"HMS Conqueror is still there. You can dive her, in some 30 feet
of water." (The Bahamas Cruising Guide)
Before
1996 the island was part of a combined district of
San Salvador and Rum Cay.
