Walker's Cay

Walker's Cay is the northernmost island in the Bahamas, part of the North Abaco district. Once a popular sport fishing location, the island has been deserted since 2004, following severe hurricane damage. The island is currently undergoing renovation under new ownership.

Walker's Cay
Bull sharks hand fed from the beach at Walker's Cay
Walker's Cay
Geography
LocationCaribbean
Coordinates27°15′36″N 78°24′07″W
ArchipelagoBahamas
Area0.4 km2 (0.15 sq mi)
Administration
DistrictNorth Abaco
Demographics
PopulationUninhabited (2014)
Additional information
Time zone
 • Summer (DST)

Geography

Walker's Cay lies 53 miles (85 km) to the northeast of West End, Grand Bahama and 105 miles northeast of Jupiter, Florida, in the northern Bahamas. Its surface is only about 100 acres (40 ha). The island sits on the edge of the Little Bahama Bank, the bank containing shallow, blue-colored water, averaging about 10 feet (3.0 m) in depth. However, on the north side of Walker's Cay, the water drops off sharply into deep blue ocean depths. The closest island is Grand Cay.

History

Early history and development as sport fishing location

Walker's Cay was named after Thomas Walker, a British judge sent to the island to deal with piracy in the early 1700s.[1] After his death in 1721, the island remained uninhabited for over two hundred years until Buzz Shonnard, a businessman from Palm Beach, Florida, leased the land from the Bahamian government in 1935 and built a small hotel, attracting anglers and tourists to the island. A 75-slip marina was built, and an airstrip, Walker's Cay Airport, with a 2,500-foot-long (760 m) runway suitable for light aircraft.[2]

Shonnard's 99-year lease began an era in which Walker's Cay was a well-known sport fishing location.[3] One of Walker's Cay's seasonal residents was American businessman Robert Abplanalp, the inventor of the modern-day aerosol valve for spray cans. Abplanalp bought the lease on the island in 1968 and continued to develop it as a sport fishing destination, not neglecting to pay attention to the conservation of marine life; he began encouraging tag-and-release fishing in the early 1970s.[1] Walker's Cay was particularly known as a location for billfishing, with huge Atlantic blue marlin caught in the area; angling for bonefish was also popular there.[4]

During World War II, Walker's Cay was used by the U.S. military as an anti-submarine base.[5]

Various celebrities became regular visitors of Walker's Cay, including U.S. President Richard Nixon, actress Jane Fonda, singer Roger Daltrey and athletes like Davey Johnson and Roger Staubach.[2]

The Walker's Cay marine area was declared a national park, Walker's Cay National Park, in 2002.[6]

Destruction in 2004 hurricanes

Abplanalp died in 2003, and the following year the island's fortunes were dealt a further blow, when two severe hurricanes, Frances and Jeanne, destroyed the hotel and severely damaged the marina.[7][8]

Redevelopment

In May 2018, Walker's Cay was sold to Texas businessman and philanthropist Carl Allen, who announced redevelopment efforts.[9] By spring 2019, Allen was engaged in talks with Bahamian authorities on permitting plans.[4]

References
  1. Waters, Steve (July 26, 1992). "There's nothing to do on the island of Walker's Cay but fish, dive and relax". The Baltimore Sun.
  2. Waters, Steve (June 5, 1992). "It Begins With A Cay". Sun Sentinel.
  3. J. Linton Rigg, Bahama Islands: A Boatman's Guide to the Land and Water (Charles Scribner's Sons, 1973.
  4. Sam White, Walker's Cay on the Rebound: An update on this northern Bahamas hot spot, Marlin (May 28, 2019).
  5. Ken Schultz, Greatest Fishing Locales of North America: 60 of the Best Places to Fish in Freshwater and Saltwater in the United States, Canada and Mexico (New Line Books, 1998), p. 24.
  6. "Walkers Cay marine park" (PDF). Currents: Newsletter of the Bahamas National Trust. June 2002. p. 4. Retrieved 2009-03-09.
  7. Hartnell, Neil (20 Aug 2014). "US Billionaire In Walker'S Cay Talks". Tribune242. Ellington. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  8. Fusco, Mark (20 Nov 2014). "Bahamas Hopes To Sell Walker's Cay To U.S. Billionaire". PassageMaker. Annapolis, MD: Cruz Bay Publishing. Retrieved 16 Apr 2016.
  9. Robards, Chester (22 May 2018). "Walker's Cay sold, earmarked for development". The Nassau Guardian. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
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