ERIC WIBERG: The wrecks and tales of San Salvador, Conception Island and Cat Island

Overview

Here is a selection of maritime incidents and shipwrecks that occurred around Little San Salvador, Cat Island, San Salvador, and Conception Island up to the year 2025, drawn from historical sources and modern accounts. These stories span more than a century and highlight both tragedy and survival in these lightly populated Bahamian waters.

Little San Salvador

Little San Salvador lies between Orange Creek on North Cat Island and Bannerman Town on the southern end of Eleuthera, historically a reef‑ringed islet in a busy shipping lane into and out of The Bahamas. In recent decades, cruise interests acquired or leased the island, branding it with names such as “RelaxAway” and “Half Moon Cay,” gradually distancing it from its original character.

From the 1880s through the 1980s the Newbold family held most of its approximately 2,400 acres. During the Second World War, the Duke of Windsor and US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt considered the island as a potential major US naval base.

Presidential visits and visitors

Little San Salvador attracted several US presidents, including Roosevelt, who fished there in 1935 from the USS Farragut and USS Potomac, and again in the 1940s. President Eisenhower later trolled the surrounding waters in 1957, reinforcing the island’s reputation as an exclusive fishing ground rather than just a navigational hazard.

In 1907, Dr N. L. Britton of the New York Botanical Garden led a scientific party to Little San Salvador in search of new plant specimens, adding a botanical dimension to the island’s story. In 1972 a Boston University group deliberately camped there for an ecological survey, choosing voluntary isolation rather than shipwreck.

19th‑century wrecks near San Salvador

In 1874 the steamer City of Guatemala, a 1,505‑ton American passenger and cargo vessel, grounded on the northwestern tip of San Salvador and was wrecked. The ship’s loss underscored how exposed the approaches to San Salvador were for steamers navigating the reefs.

During a hurricane in September 1883, Captain Dorsey of the ship Carleton, sailing from Nassau to Inagua with 14 passengers, sought refuge in Little San Salvador’s harbour. “The ship was blown out of the safety of the harbour, and as a result multiple passengers died, including Rev. J. S. J. Higgs, the rector of the parish of San Salvador Island.”

Further steamship losses

In 1889 the 2,116‑ton British steamer Chancellor struck Low Cay in Snow Bay on the southeast of San Salvador and was wrecked. Around the same era, the 1,852‑ton Australian steamer Frascati hit the northwest coast of San Salvador near the modern Club Med site and was lost.

On New Year’s Day 1902 this fruit‑carrying steamer struck a reef, was abandoned offshore, and sank shortly after midnight. These back‑to‑back groundings illustrate how hazardous the reefs around San Salvador were for large, heavily laden ships.

Sailing vessels and schooners

In June 1901 the British sloop Lizzie Culmer was blown ashore and wrecked on San Salvador while en route from Rum Cay to Nassau with cargo and passengers. Survivors were eventually rescued by the schooner William F. Campbell, which was loaded with pineapples, though a woman died before help arrived.

In 1937 the Canadian sailing schooner Avon Queen, a vessel of 1,035 tons over 20 years old, sank in deep water off San Salvador and was abandoned by her crew. This later wreck shows that even experienced mariners in stout sailing ships could not always avoid disaster around these islands.

Cat Island shipwrecks

In 1958 the diesel motor ship Island, flying the Cypriot flag and measuring 927 tons, struck the eastern coast of central Cat Island at Harts Bay and was wrecked. The grounding added to a long list of cargo and passenger ships that failed to clear the reefs lining Cat Island’s shores.

Mailboats and coastal traders serving Cat Island also faced dangers, as shown in separate accounts of vessels that later sank in Bahamian waters over a span of two centuries. These incidents demonstrate that routine inter‑island routes could be as treacherous as deep‑sea passages.

Conception Island wrecks

In 1978 the Panamanian cargo ship Palmetta, a 386‑ton diesel vessel, was wrecked north of Conception Island on a line toward Cat Island. In 1980 the 575‑ton motor ship Zeilen was wrecked on the northeast coast of San Salvador, followed in 1981 by the grounding of the motor ship Nathaly at Fortune Hill in central San Salvador.

These wrecks were scattered across a broad area and separated by decades, suggesting that many more unrecorded losses likely occurred in this sparsely populated region. Thin settlement and limited reporting meant some shipwrecks never entered official records.

2025 Conception Island survival story

On Conception Island in 2025 a solo sailor from Acklins was rescued after being shipwrecked, with the events later described by Chief Officer Wesley Walton in a published account. The narrative, titled “M/Y Illusion V’s Crew Help Rescue a Shipwrecked Local in the Bahamas,” captures a modern survival drama in waters long known for wrecks.

“Kevin Buzzard found himself stranded on the remote Conception Island… a 44‑year‑old fisherman from Acklins [he], was delivering a 26‑foot center console boat from Nassau to Acklins.” During this roughly 250‑mile solo journey, he ran out of fuel near Conception Island and drifted toward the fringing reef.

Stranding and rescue of Kevin Buzzard

On Valentine’s Day his boat wrecked, forcing him to abandon it and swim ashore to reach the safety of dry land. Alone on an uninhabited island with no food, water or communications, his situation grew increasingly critical.

After four days, the crew of the yacht Illusion V anchored off Conception Island in the early morning, and while they were exploring by tender, a group of recreational sailors alerted them to Kevin’s plight and asked for help. The crew assembled essential supplies of food and water and set out to locate him.

“Upon arrival, they quickly assessed Kevin’s condition and recognised the urgency of the situation. He was severely sunburned, dehydrated, covered in sand, and in shock, not knowing where he was. You could not only see but feel his desperation.” Despite the extreme remoteness, which limited official search‑and‑rescue options, the yacht’s crew organised a rescue plan to ensure he could be taken home the next morning.

Reunion and broader pattern

The rescuers also contacted Kevin’s wife, Diane, sending her a video message to confirm that he was alive and receiving food and water. After extensive communication between Diane and the Illusion V crew, a local rescue boat from Acklins collected Kevin and returned him to his family.

For several centuries many shipwreck stories in these southern Bahamian waters have ended, like this case, with survival, rescue, and reunion rather than simple loss. The pattern underlines both the dangers of the region and the enduring culture of mutual aid among mariners and island communities.

“Here are a sampling of the incidents and wrecks which have occurred in Little San Salvador, Cat Island, San Salvador, and Conception Island over the years up till 2025. We learn of them many from Wrecksite, Wikipedia, wreck historian Jim Jenney, and the log of yacht Illusion V.”

Author’s summary

A chain of wrecks and near‑fatal voyages around San Salvador, Cat Island and Conception Island shows how hazardous Bahamian reefs remain, yet also reveals a persistent tradition of timely rescues and hard‑won survival.

The Tribune — 2025-11-28