This royal throne of kings, this scepter'd isle,
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise,
This fortress built by nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war,
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea . . .
William Shakespeare

Shakespeare obviously had CORNISH CAY in mind when he wrote these words. However he overlooked some conspicuous virtues - such as the island's eminent suitability as a corporate retreat, as a magnet and adhesive for an extended family, as a bonefish and ocean fishing club, as a romantic cruise ship destination, or as a barefoot Robinson Crusoe hide-away.

Cornish Cay comprises approximately 34 acres, located in Abaco Sound in the northern Bahama Islands. It lies about 200 miles east of Palm Beach and 90 miles north of Nassau. There is scheduled air service from Florida direct to nearby Marsh Harbour International Airport by American Airlines, US Air, and other major carriers. Flight time is about an hour.

The perimeter of the island measures approximately a mile and a half including about a mile of virginal pink sand beaches. The terrain is rolling copse to 55 ft. elevations. There are over two miles of shaded, sanded paths for golf carts, or bare feet.

From it's 55 ft hilltop the island commands views of Pelican Cays National Park, North Bar Inlet and historic Pelican Harbour which is the deepest protected anchorage between Charleston and Nassau. There, treasure galleons sheltered and pirates preyed and played long before the American Revolution. The Park is a Bahamian treasure, an underwater fantasy world. It is famous for it's glorious coral gardens and magnificent scuba diving reef.

North Bar Channel, Abaco Sound's deepest and safest access to the open ocean, lies just a mile from the cay. Looking north from the hilltop cottage one sees Marsh Harbour, Hope Town and Man O War ten miles away. At night the friendly lighthouse at Hope Town winks its seductive five flash greeting.

This scepter'd isle is offered with impeccable fee simple title and was conveyed by a magnificent document in classic calligraphy defining the tract known as Cornish Cay, bounded on all sides by the sea. Granted by King George the Fifth, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, being Defender of the Faith and Emperor of India. It requires as fealty the payment to the Crown of one peppercorn each year upon demand. The document is sealed with wax and a flutter of red ribbons.

The owners of Cornish Cay have preserved much of the island in it's natural state and have made all of the extensive improvements in with the natural beauty of the island in mind.

BUILDINGS

Current accommodations include a marina guesthouse and a beachfront guesthouse on the western shores and the caretaker’s lodge with 4 bedrooms. The Main Residence sits on the highest peak of the island featuring a 360 degree view of the surrounding waters. The Main Residence was recently gutted with the intention to completely renovate the structure and modernize it. The home is structurally sound being a blank canvas waiting for it's new steward to create that perfect retreat. It is elevated 14 feet above grade on 24 specially treated pilings secured six feet deep in rock. The roof and floors are solidly built and the original home was surrounded by a large wrap-around deck under roof and boasted a salvaged antique 17th century Spanish canon. Under the elevated main cottage is a separate storage pantry and refuge of solid poured concrete.

The two guest cottages, built of concrete walls are about 30'x18' are separated from the main cottage and from each other by about 500 feet. Both have ceiling fans, electric and gas service, kitchen appliances and baths with showers, and are appointed with furniture, linen, and kitchenware. One is air conditioned. Each has a 7,000 gallon reserve rainwater cistern under a screened porch, an electric pump and gas water heater. A hidden cistern in the hilltop supplies water by gravity to lower buildings.

Support structures on the cay include a workshop, a large storage barn, a covered electric lift for boats to six tons in a boat harbour carved in rock, a stone garden house for stone vegetable planters, generator shed. Additional features include two boat launch ramps, an old tennis court, an 80,000 gallon water storage cistern, 4 deep wells ready for an R/O plant, Denyo 150 KW diesel generator with auto transfer, ample docks, a new native stone retainer wall along the western coast. Water & electrical conduit have been embedded in the ground traversing the cay in preparation for construction of more villas or support buildings.

Top it all off with a newly created nature pond, complete with tidal flow to the ocean which is intended to be an aquarium of sorts and as a sanctuary for waterfowl.

The workshop is about 18'x20' containing work benches, power and manual tools and three alleys of shelves for cartons of maintenance supplies. Attached to this work shop is the newly constructed generator house which is an additional 18’x20’.

There was a concrete tennis court which has since deteriorated, but it could be restored.

The brand new storage barn is 1,800 square feet with an 20+ foot height and contains various equipment including a backhoe, bobcat, a small tractor, cement mixer and more. Transportation on the cay includes 2 gas utility golf carts and 4 electric golf carts. There are various spare parts and bits n’ bobs for the boats, the houses and everything else on the island stored here.

A stone Hansel & Gretel garden house stores tools and supplies for three waist-high, forty foot by six foot, stone vegetable planters providing the ability to grow fresh vegetables or flowers. Each has sun screening, overhead sprinklers and a potting bench.

UTILITIES

The island is now served with Government utility power making life on an island much easier to manage for both a private owner or a commercial entity. Backup power is by the brand new Denyo 150 KW high speed diesel generator, ample capacity to supply the entire island.

The island's main water supply is a concrete storage cistern 60'x60'x9' deep - cut into hillside rock. It holds some 80,000 gallons of rain water captured from the main roof. A micro-wave phone provides voice, fax and internet. Three buried fiberglass fuel storage tanks hold 4,000 gallons of diesel fuel.

BOATS & MARINE FACILITIES

Six boats are included in this offering:
25 ft Pilot House MayCraft, 2007 with the 4-stroke 225HP Suzuki
(It is 25 minutes to Marsh Harbour for freight and supplies.).
30 ft twenty-two knot Albin fisherman-weekender with 300 hp GM diesel (engine needs some work)
17 ft Boston Whaler with a 90 hp Yamaha.
15 ft Boston Whaler with 70 hp Evinrude.
20 ft Panga skiff, 2005, with 75 hp Mariner - for caretaker.
19 ft tin boat with 115 hp Johnson.

On the western waterfront a heavily built 120' pier has accommodations, water and limited electricity, for three 50' boats -- as well as space for smaller boats. Alongside the pier base is a corral cut in rock for live fish, crawfish, conch, etc.

The pier will support vehicles such as golf carts and loaded trailers. The structure is protected, and its water smoothed, by a sturdy and secure breakwater of boulders.

A 100 ft. walled canal leads to a 50'x60' boat basin excavated out of the rock next to the main dock pier and marina. It contains two mounted 2000 lb. swinging davits with winches to lift boats and freight, and a 12,000 lb electric boat lift. This inner harbour serves as a refuge for the small boats during rough weather.

There are two concrete ramps for boats on trailers. One rises from inside the breakwater sheltered marina. A second ramp leads from the inner harbour to the tennis court. Trailers are drawn up the ramps by a winch, by a golf cart or by the farm tractor.

The island shelters on the west a long stretch of smooth water over shallow sand ideal for landing a sea plane.

Two off-lying 800 lb. ship anchor moorings are linked by battleship anchor chain.

MISCELLANEOUS

Trees: Madeira mahoganies, mastics, sapodillas, figs, ficus, palms, coconuts, casuarinas, stoppers, ironwoods, satinwoods, gumbo limbos, frangipani plumerias, tiger claws, mother-in-law's tongues, inkwoods, manchineels, poisonwoods, pork & doughs, pigeon plums, cassias, lancewoods, mangroves, old man three finger, maiden plum, yellow elder, cork trees, orchid trees (bauhinias), poincianas, thatch palms, silver palms, almonds, allspice, cactus, tree hibiscus, etc.

The orchards offer informally scattered and annually unpredictable fruit, depending on seasonal rainfall, shade and fertilizer - citrus, sugarcane, coconuts, allspice, bananas, guavas, papayas, West Indian cherries, pigeon peas, loquats, sea grapes, mangoes, avocados, sapodillas, sugar apples, key limes, mastic fruit, etc. Nearly any plant will prosper in the humus-rich soil if watered, fertilized and attended.

An abundance of flowers thrive in the coppice - wild orchids, bromeliads, seagrapes, cereus, frangipani, alamandas, yellow elders, cotton, tree hibiscus and many other vines and shrubs.

Myriads of indigenous and migratory birds - banana quits, grass quits, ground doves, warblers, woodpeckers, herons, sandpipers, plover, oyster catchers, parrots, owls, swallows, rails, West Indian white crowned pigeons, W.I. quail doves, Bahamas red legged thrushes, red winged blackbirds, frigate birds, buzzards, gulls, terns, night hawks humming birds, ospreys, fly catchers, rails, plover, etc. West Indian White Crowned pigeons breed and nest on the cay, as do herons & great blues, greens, and night herons.

Bonefish are fought, and caught off the cay's beaches.

Cornish Cay, the ideal family private island, offers:
Civilized seclusion,
Manageable size,
Convenient location,
Modern services and conveniences,
Political stability,
All-season accessibility.
Sensible development.


This information is believed to be accurate, but interested parties should verify to their own satisfaction.