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| Map of Andros and the Bahama Islands. |
Part One: Selecting a Location
The EcoExplorer’s adventure novel "The Legend of Hornigold’s Treasure"
takes place on Andros Island, the largest of the 26 inhabited Bahamian
Islands. A group of teenagers, all members of an organization called the
EcoExplorers from central Virginia travel to the island for a weeklong
marine biology course at Rockwood Field Station. Here’s a little insight
behind the creation of the novel from the authors of EcoExplorers young
adult novels Allen B. Graves and C. Joseph Elder.
Why did you select Andros as the location for your novel?
Elder:
"As scuba divers, we chose the first novel in the EcoExplorers
series to focus on marine biology, reef ecology and to touch a little on
the decline of the coral reefs. We met with a dive buddy from
Charlottesville, Gary Eisenhuth, who teaches chemistry at Western
Albemarle High School and marine biology courses at Piedmont Virginia
Community College. Each summer, Gary would take a group of teenage
students to Forfar Field Station run by International Field Studies
International Field Studies for a weeklong hands-on, outdoor course in marine biology. We talked
with Gary about his excursions and that was the seed that led us to
Andros."
Graves:
"Andros is such a ripe kettle of history, culture, flora and
fauna, so it was the perfect tapestry for the convergence of fact and
fiction. Captain Benjamin Hornigold was operating in the Bahamian waters during
the age of piracy and he had easy access to the remote island. Even
today Andros has unexplored areas and our research and adventure trip
there included seldom seen inland blue holes. The decision to go and
explore for the setting of the novel was an easy one and I look forward
to the day when I return."
So you actually traveled to Andros?
Elder:
"Yes, we contacted International Field Studies
and booked a week stay at
Forfar Field Station. There we were able to
interact with a group of visiting students and be a part of their daily
agenda. Forfar’s dive master and other staff members also toured us
around the island and out to various dive locations."
Graves:
We not only traveled to
Andros but felt we had to go to make the story complete. You can outline
a story, which is the skeleton, you can put the connective tissue and
skin on, which is the covering, but to get at the marrow, you have to
get some sand between your toes and drink in the nectar of the
surroundings.
Great analogy Allen. What was your favorite memory of your Androsian adventure?
Graves:
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| Field lab, Rat Cay |
We spent a day at Rat Cay snorkeling and took lunch. The teacher had
a field lab planned for the afternoon and one young man complained that it
sounded too much like schoolwork. Several minutes into the lab that consisted
of looking at tiny marine life through magnifying glasses, the young man
stopped being a student, the lab was not work, it was the moment he became an
EcoExplorer.
Elder:
The trip back into the Androsian outback in search of the
first blue hole. We rode along with two of the back of the
aged passenger van Forfar dive staff. The van was loaded down with scuba
gear and underwater camera equipment. The trip was pretty much as
described in the novel with the van plowing through the overgrown
pot-holed logging trails, but I still remember hearing the sounds of Led
Zepplin blaring out of the speakers as we ventured back into
the jungle. We finally arrived at the location with a view through a
small clearing of the distant blue hole. It felt really good to suit up
and get into the the cool water for our first blue hole dive.
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| One of the many blue holes on Andros, Bahamas. |
Another reason for choosing an island in the Bahamas is because of it's vast history of pirating during the 17th and early 18th century. Andros is also rich in myths and island legends that we thought would play well into our adventure, so we wove in these great stories throughout the novel. We'll get more into this later.
Next blog- Who is Captain Benjamin Hornigold?
