Without Warning, Moorings Going In Throughout the Exumas
'Purely for Profit,' Cruising Guide Author Surmisses
Updated 10:13 a.m. February 22 to reflect that those who choose to anchor will also be expected to pay.
The barges were already at work when cruisers woke up to learn that hundreds of moorings were being installed all along the Exumas archipelago in the Bahamas. The news hit the cruising community like Pearl Harbor.
The Bahamian newspapers did not have the story, nor did the author of the principal Bahamas cruising guide. The news came as an anonymous leak to a quirky Facebook page Your Daily Bahamas Headlines and spread from there.
Addison Chan is author of the Bahamas Land & Sea app,1 published or the first time in 2023 under the auspices of Waterway Guide. He also administers the Bahamas Land & Sea Facebook group.
“This is out of the blue. Nobody knows anything about this. I had my first inkling on Tuesday when one of my BLS group DM’d me,” Chan said. “They were measuring sand depths last week at Big Majors, but I figured it was exploratory work by Staniel Cay Yacht Club. I guess the cash grab continues, except this one is purely for profit.”
The leaker outlined plans for 49 mooring fields with 253 moorings at more than a dozen popular cays beginning at Ship Channel Cay in the north to Rudder Cut Cay in the south. The leaker included this message: “This is a serious issue that demands public attention. The seabed belongs to the people, not private interests.”
Each plan had a note attached specifying the date of the bottomland lease agreement on behalf of King Charles III and a company named Bahamas Mooring Ltd.
“The company states that this initiative is about environmental preservation, yet there is no publicly available Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) or Environmental Management Plan (EMP),” the leaker wrote. “The installation involves helix anchors drilled up to 18 feet deep, and island residents—including those directly adjacent—were never consulted.”
One of the Bahamas Mooring websites was taken down. Another contained information about pricing and the fact that details would be officially announced at the Palm Beach International Boat Show month. The average cruising boat would cost $25 or $35 to moor overnight.
According to a brochure associated with the project, cruisers who choose to anchor will also be expected to pay—55 cents per foot per day for boats under 90 feet LOA and $1.10 for those 90 and over.
Bahamas Mooring is apparently a subsidiary of the non-profit Ocean Crest Alliance, operated by the family of Joseph Ierna. Ierna is reportedly an American, who was serving as administrator of the Exuma Land and Sea Park, when anchoring and access fees were introduced in 2018.
The park was the first place in the Bahamas to install moorings using the helical-screw technology. Last year, mooring fields were established at George Town, though there was plenty of space for anyone preferring to drop the hook. Many regular visitors objected anyway.
American cruisers are skeptical of moorings to begin with—at least those outside their own country. Yesterday, they were skeptical that the new mooring initiative was truly “eco-friendly.” Facebook commenters pooh-poohed the idea that the mooring fields were part of a plan to protect reefs or sea grasses from chain and anchor damage, noting that most of the areas in question have sand bottoms.
Loose Cannon has emailed Ierna, asking him why they chose to unveil such a big project in such a secretive fashion. Stand by for a follow-up when he answers.
The brochure and original website also quoted anchoring fees, not just mooring. It appears that effectively, anchoring anywhere commonly known in the Exumas just became a for-profit enterprise benefiting a single company. There is a copy of the brochure distributed by this company available on Bahamas, Land and Sea and the George Town Exuma Cruisers and Sailors Facebook pages.
Also, whoever says moorings are more secure than anchors clearly doesn’t have proper ground tackle. The places these many of these moorings are going in are some of the best anchoring grounds on the planet.
So glad you’ve picked up this story. Keep digging. It’s important that cruisers as well as the Bahamian people learn how this came about and who’s really profiting.