Mailboats: The Lifeblood Of Inter-Island Communication

MAILBOATS:

THE LIFEBLOOD OF INTER-ISLAND COMMUNICATION

Captain Moxey Vessel

By Shavaughn Moss Photographs courtesy of L. Roscoe Dames II

Can you even wrap your head around the idea of not being able to enjoy ice cream on a regular basis? For people living on Family Islands, sometimes called the out islands, around the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, this can be reality. The simple enjoyment of an ice cream cone, which many people take for granted, is a luxury that Family Islanders may not have the means in which to indulge, if, by chance, the cooling system on the mailboat (cargo freighters) that transports supplies to their island is not working up to par on any given week. This simple statement speaks to the importance of the country’s domestic shipping network. Mailboats are an integral part of the archipelagic Bahamian society—dare I say an inherent part of Bahamian culture.

From the northern-most island of Grand Bahama, home to the second-largest city in the country—Freeport; to the most southern island—Inagua, a paradise for bird watchers and ecotourists; and all inhabited islands in between—New Providence, on which sits the capital city of Nassau, to Eleuthera, Cat Island, Rum Cay, Long Island, San Salvador, Ragged Island, Acklins, Crooked Island, Exuma, Berry Islands, Mayaguana, Bimini, and the Abacos—the mailboats have been a lifeblood for generations.

The mailboat is a government-subsidized vessel contracted from private agencies to communicate with the Family Islands on a regular weekly basis. The vehicle that you’re driving while on the Family Island was ferried there by mailboat. Groceries to prepare the food and drink that you consume while on the island came in on the mailboat. Furniture and appliances in your hotel or Airbnb came in on the mailboat. Building supplies to construct the abode in which you are staying came in on the mailboat. Every vehicle, building material and 99 percent of all foods are shipped to the Family Islands on mailboats— including the government mail, for which they receive a stipend. Mailboat Cargo

For decades, the mailboat vessels were the link between the capital city and the Family Islands for natives. Today, the major shipping industry remains responsible for transporting goods between the two.

Frederick Rodgers, assistant port controller in the Port Department, said the mailboat system has always been and remains important to the country, even in the digitized 21st century.

“As an archipelagic nation, we have these islands, particularly far-flung ones, that need the mailboats which initially were vessels carrying freight and the government mail. That was the only communication. They did not have telephones or telegraphs, other than the letters, so they carried government-official information and letters for people. While physical letters have for the most part become a thing of the past, with the advent of social media and email, the mailboats are still needed to supply food to the Family Islands as well as essential supplies,” said Rodgers. “Mail today is limited— we don’t have that many letters going as they used to with social media and email, but we can’t leave them out in the cold. The mailboat is significant. We just can’t get away from them.”

Some vessels that still take the government mail to islands, receive a stipend.

Visit the Potter’s Cay Dock where the mailboats dock to intake goods, Monday through Wednesday of any given week, before sailing out to the island(s) they service and you would be amazed to see the items being shipped out—including live animals.

It’s not a one-way affair by any stretch of the imagination. This is definitely a two-way operation. Mailboats sail to the islands filled with supplies for residents. They return to the capital laden with crops grown in the Family Islands and shipped to relatives living in the city.

“The mailboat is significant,” said Rodgers. “We just can’t get away from them.”

To be honest, the mailboats are practically the “lifeblood” for Family Island residents.

Michael Goffe, who manages Russell’s Island Distributors, one of the main grocery stores in San Salvador in the southern Bahamas, said 99 percent of the product they retail is brought into the island via mailboat. “We have no choice,” he said.

Reliance on the mailboat is a way of life for the Family Islands. Living there means learning to accept certain things—that goods have to be shipped in, and learning to work around things—if the weather is bad and equipment like the vessel’s refrigeration malfunctions and items that need to be kept cool don’t make it onto the island on any given week. If there’s no produce on the island for two to three weeks, residents work around it.

A transplant from the capital, Goffe said he adapted right away to what it entails to live the Family Island life.

“I understood how things worked,” he said.

Ordinarily, Family Islanders try to order every week and store items, all the while, praying the mailboat sails into port the next week with stock.

“I shudder to think if something significant would hinder or hamper the mailboats sailing.”

During the Christmas season, the mailboats usually break from sailing for a two-and-a-half-week period, through to the New Year. It’s a period that is usually hard on Family Islanders, but one that they work around.

Daybreak Vessel Dockmaster’s Building

Captain Moxey Vessel

At the store Goffe runs, like most Family Island stores, they try to order extra stock in advance to tide them over the break until the mailboats resume sailing. But once the natives know the vessels are arriving to their island with stock, stores find themselves stormed as people stock up on perishables, produce and fresh fruit. Sometimes, the day after the mailboat comes; Family Island stores can find themselves raided of all produce.

Antonio Eyma, operations manager for the two M/V Bahamas Daybreak, which services Eleuthera ports—in the central, south and northern parts of the island—agrees that mailboats are an integral part of Family Island society, as they are a way to get things done. “Everything you can think of that can fit onto a vessel, we try to accommodate,” said Eyma. “You go to the boat to wait for your meal to come. If you send someone something on the boat, they’re at the boat waiting for that box. Don’t let them not find that box, that’s a different story.”

With all goods shipped to the islands through the mailboats, Eyma said no matter what anyone has, no one is better than anyone else on the island, as they all have to wait for the mailboat.

When it comes to service, everyone on the Family Islands knows just about everyone who works on the vessels, because sometimes they have to utilize the sailors to take messages to relatives on other islands, even in a day of emails and WhatsApp messages.

“If you live here, when the telephone goes down, there is little means of communication, so we’re separated from the world. So, the mailboats are used to communicate as well as offer a mode of transportation making them essential still.”

While mailboats typically carry cargo, they can be an inexpensive way, for the adventurous and those who aren’t faint of heart, to get out of the capital.

A limited number of passengers can be transported by the mailboat; they can only carry the number of passengers they are registered to. The main objective is to take supplies to the islands. So, comfort and a snail’s pace are a definite reality. It’s an 18-hour journey from the capital to San Salvador; and the M/V Lady Francis, the main mailboat that services the island, takes a circuitous route to get to the island, visiting other ports before its final destination. And it’s going to take you that length of time to get back.

Some of the mailboats, because of the proximity of some islands like Eleuthera, can make two trips per week, while others servicing far-flung islands like Inagua do once-per-week runs. Sailings can also fluctuate due to weather, and the distance the boats have to sail as there may be good weather in the capital, but the weather may not be good in the south. And when they arrive at their destinations, there can be interference with landing freight. So, while mailboats try to stick to a schedule with sailings to ensure residents in the Family Islands get their supplies, things can happen to hinder the consistency of their travel. With the roll-with-the-punches lifestyle that is Family Island living, the Port Department provides a weekly sailing schedule, which is available via email. And today, ZNS, the national broadcasting station, still broadcasts sailing schedules via the radio. UA

Lady Rosalind Vessel