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  Off to our right side is Andros Island, the largest Bahamanian island, a low sandstone plateau with sable beaches, green trees and blue lakes. Hundreds of islets surround it, making navigation for the adventurous yachter a mistake.
   Not much marking civilization is notable from this angle. Most of Andros’ settlements are on her east. At the tip of her northeast shore is the settlement of Morgan’s Bluff.
   There isn’t much in my opinion to attract one to this “bit of the moon” on earth unless you are a fisherman or scientist. That is not to denigrate Andros. The feeling of pending adventure that comes with stepping on an isolated lee shore is something I personally love; but for the general visitor it is not a vacation center. We will, like many flights, bypass as we head toward Nassau.
   On our left are the Berry Islands. When the tide is out these deserted spits of land are surrounded by a sandy desert.

Starting in the lower left corner, our course to Nassau on New Providence Island makes us just skirt huge Andros Island. Its ancient Greek name means man, but coupled with its outback appearance gives it a space age sound today. It is sparsely populated, making a top security US Sub base there appropriate, called AUTEC. It borders the deep and bizarre shaped “Tongue of the Ocean.” Across the shaft of the Tongue is Nassau. This satellite photo was taken possibly while passing over Cuba, looking southeast.

   One’s attention is quickly drawn from Andros to a deep blue streak of sea, which looks like some huge blue oil spill in the ocean. Only a few miles from the east coast of Andros,

there exists one of the most fascinating geological formation on earth: The Tongue of the Ocean, an underwater canyon, is set apart from the aquamarine hues around Andros by its deep and bottomless blue. It is about 1 miles deep but varies in width until it ends in a circular bulb at the end.
   The greatest aura of the Tongue at this juncture and flight level is not that it is such deep water but that it starts so precipitously (a geologic sight essentially only found so often in the Bahamas) and that this depth is accentuated by the surrounding shallows which are so shallow the ripples on the sandy bottom often appear as vast sand dunes on land.

   Another satellite photo (right) highlights this. The Tongue truly looks like it should be on another world.
   Strange geography, outback locality,  nearby to exotic locales and amidst modern travel. Mix this with the legends, facts, and hearsay of the Bermuda Triangle, and the mythos of the Triangle is no greater than right here.
   It was along this route, at night and traveling in the opposite direction, that, some 30 years ago, pilot Chuck Wakely, flying a plane for Sunline Aviation, claimed his plane started to glow iridescent green, his compass spin and his controls become sluggish

Artistic representation of flying near Morgan’s Bluff, Andros. The darkened, shallow bank reflects the moon light.

and unresposive. Wakely survived. Nearing Bimini it faded away and his plane returned to normal, though off course.
   In the daytime, like now, such a story seems fabulous. But at night it would be easy to imagine mysterious phenomena over this dark moon lit ocean and deserted shores, with only the distant twinkle of little Morgan’s Bluff.

  This strange outback feeling is quickly banished by the sight of New Providence Island and then modern

Nassau, with its towering hotels, byways, harbor, marinas, airport and historic sights.
   Fort Pincastle guarded this strategic British colonial city, but now its iron cannon stand few and far between. Forts and cannons are not unusual on land and cannons are certainly seen by divers on the surrounding banks.

   More modern vestiges of man mark his passing over these waters. This wreck, I believe, is the Panther. It is near Nassau in deep enough water to enjoy a mantel of Technicolor blue but in enough light to be clearly photographed.

   However popular or commercial such photos become, and no matter how many thousands of divers routinely snorkel or dive over these tropical, 

Fort Pincastle

shallow waters, not one of the many missing in the Bermuda Triangle has been photographed and publicized.
   It is something one ponders more when heading south along the Exuma islands. Nassau banishes the notion of mystery, but these islands form a chain, often with week uninhabited links, that call mystery to one’s attention. They are under an air highway; pilots use them to stay navigated; and yachters use some as half-way points. Shallow waters, exotic  islands; a charming deception to the mystery of the Triangle.

Let’s continue with the Exumas

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