Dann Lewis

Our Time Machine has us one hour east of the South Florida coast at 7,500 feet, traveling at almost 200 m.p.h. when the island of Eleuthera rose up from the sea. I throttled back and pushed the nose of the single engine aircraft into a gentle descent. The windshield of the Bellanca gradually filled with a view of the lush green island rimmed with it’s famous pink sands and wearing necklaces of white, then pale green and finally, dark blue water.

This is the way to arrive in the Out Islands of the Bahamas, in a time machine that lets you overfly the clink of the dice and the noisy crowds of Nassau and Freeport, and land at the quiet, serene island of Eleuthera which, like most Out Islands is still dominated by sea, sun and yester-year; an ambience of warmth and contentment that has long since disappeared from most spots on this earth.

The Out Islands are for people who know how to enjoy doing nothing. Take the Current Club. It is hard by the village of Current on the northern tip of Eleuthera. People who travel the Out Islands say the Current Club typifies the better of the small resorts. One reason is that it is owned by Dann H. Lewis, assistant director of the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism.

His manager, Peter Smith greets guests warmly. Doors to the cottages are never locked. The cottages are nestled in a grove of Casuarina trees and surrounded by coconut palms, sea grapes and hibiscus bushes.

Days usually begin with a bounteous breakfast followed by a dip along a three mile stretch of sandy shores that is perfect for skinny-dipping, and is only five minutes away by fast golf-cart. Two side-trips that should be musts for guests at the Current Club are Spanish Wells and Harbour Island. Both of these trips are close enought to get you back to Current Club for the al fresco lunch served on the patio a few feet from the edge of the ocean. Meals here are above average and are certainly “Bahamian fare” - such as lobster or grouper.

So if you’re a bum at heart, or want to learn how to become an expert at doing nothing, the Current Club is for you. And, if you are a qualified pilot (as is the multi-faceted Dann Lewis) you can leap Georgia and Florida in a single bound and touch down in paradise. The owner of Current Club, Dann Lewis, is now running the Ministry of Tourism for all the Bahamas Islands, and is embroiled in starting a new airline that will serve Eleuthera and other Out Islands from Nassau and Freeport.

from: Atlanta Magazine, August 1972

The next chapter in Dann’s remarkable career will be the birth of Bahamasair, the national flag carrier of the Bahamas.

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