Alabaster Bay, Eleuthera, Bahamas

 Time for a nice long walk...nearby is an abandoned US Navy installation.  We've been here before but it's a fun stroll around the deteriorating base.  Here's what AI says about it:

Abandoned U.S. Navy base on Eleuthera, located near Alabaster Bay and Receiver's Landing. Established in 1950, the base was used for sonar activities and closed in 1982 after the U.S. and Bahamian governments could not agree on new lease terms. The site, also referred to as an experimental U.S. Navy facility and Auxiliary Air Force Base, is now abandoned, though parts are submerged and used as a habitat for marine life. 

    Function: The base's primary function was to house an experimental U.S. Navy "Sound Surveillance System" (SOSUS) station. It also operated as an Auxiliary Air Force Base.
    Closure: It originated in November 1950 and closed in 1982. The closure was due to disagreements over lease terms between the U.S. Navy and the Bahamian government.

 Almost 50 years later, it's getting pretty overgrown....

Warning signs....no one seems to mind if we wander though.

This was the chapel - it's huge.  The faded white sign painted on the side of the building advertises the different times for the different religious denomination's worship schedule.

This is all the same building -there must have been a lot of religious servicemen and women!!

Walking in the hot sun over to the beautiful ocean side.  Taking a break on the rubble.

It's hard to see it, but this is a paved water collection basin.  There were two of these on the property.  Apparently, during rainstorms, they pumped the fresh water up to large holding tanks.

Most of the roadways that are no longer in use look like this.

 

We spent a couple of hours wandering around....sad that no one made use of all the structures.....but I'm sure there were lots of politics at play....

Back to the boat....

Strangely, our dinghy had a lot of water in it when we returned.....we investigated a little but could find no leak.....hmmmm.  Will investigate further once we get to Rock Sound.

There are lots of beautiful places in the Bahamas and this is on the top part of that list!

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