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When Dann Lewis first gazed on Northern Eleuthera’s conglomerate of sea grape, coral reefs and pink sand beaches, he was about to graduate from Dartmouth College and attend MIT graduate school. 18 months later, he instead became one of the youngest overseas investors ever to come to the Bahamas, and formed a new company called Current Development Ltd. Dann would spend the next two years building a resort of 22 duplex-type beach homes known as Current Club, with a marina, fueling dock, and water and power facilities for visiting yachtsman. Local Bahamians will both build and staff the new resort property.

A half hour trip by plane from Nassau, Eleuthera (from the Greek word “eleutheros” meaning “free”) posed some interesting challenges. The 25-acre parcel of land that would become Current Club had magnificent beach frontages on the north and south sides of the island with good anchorages for boats and ideal swimming conditions…but there was no electricity available. To build a resort, one must have electrical power. Dann Lewis quickly realized that he needed to build an electrical generating plant, but was understandably a tad overwhelmed at how such a plant gets built. So he read a “How to Build an Electrical Generating Plant” book, and proceeded to build one.

To this very day Dann Lewis sleeps with a pillow over his head, not under. Every time that electrical generating plant hiccupped, sputtered and stopped humming, Dann would have to drop what he was doing or if “asleep”, get up and go fix it.

The next major hurdle was facilitated by frustration in getting supplies in a timely manner from Nassau or Miami. Virtually everything had to arrive in Eleuthera by slow-boat or by air, and the infrastructure supporting these two modes was very much a product of island mentality. (Read: Don’t Stop the Carnival by Herman Wouk) Dann quickly realized that he needed to buy an airplane, but was understandably a tad slowed down by the notion that he did not know how to fly an airplane. So he read a “How to Fly an Airplane” book, bought an airplane in Miami and flew it (over-water) to the Bahamas, without the obvious benefit of formal flying lessons.

To this very day Dann Lewis……..never-mind.

By: Sherry Lewis, April 21, 2008

From Eleuthera, Bahamas: One sunny Saturday shortly after lunch, I decided to catch up on some paperwork in the Current Club office rather than go sailing. I was expecting a good friend from the States to arrive in his private plane that day, so was monitoring our air-to-ground radio while trying to balance the checkbook and ignore the squeals of laughter coming from guests languishing on the beach outside my office window. Several passing aircraft called in to see if we had rooms for them later in the week on their return from Exuma, and finally I heard my buddy calling in to say he was en route from Nassau to the North Eleuthera airstrip, and would make a low pass in front of the Current Club on his way in.

A few minutes later he called in again and I noticed a distinct change in his voice – “Uh, Dann, I’m having a bit of a problem — my engine is acting up and I’m not sure I can make it to the airport!” “Where are you?” I asked, while waving at our Dock-master who had just come in the door. “I’m about ten miles south of the Club, just off Current Island,” he replied. “I’m going to have to ditch – I’ll try for the shallow sand bar in front of the Clubhouse in about five minutes,” his voice faltering. “We’ll be standing by in the Boston Whaler,” I said. “Good luck”.

“Billy, get the Whaler started, I’ll be out in a minute.” Knowing my old friend well, I though he’d be able to accomplish a successful ditching with the landing gear up in his single-engine plane, but my heart rate was climbing and I knew his must be too! I stopped at the bar and grabbed a tumbler of his favorite beverage, Wild Turkey Bourbon, and ran out to meet Billy in our Whaler.

The sea was flat calm, and as we headed down the channel to round the sandbar, we saw the plane gliding towards us. The engine sputtered to a dead stop and after a perfect splash down, we came up behind the left wing as the plane slowed to a stop and slowly began to settle. The door popped open and my friend climbed onto the wing, shoes in one hand and briefcase in the other. He stepped into the Whaler, feet hardly wet, and gratefully sipped on his Wild Turkey as we backed off and watched the plane sink to the bottom in eight feet of crystal clear water.

I looked at my buddy with admiration and commented “I knew you said you’d drop in this weekend, but I had no idea you’d be in such a hurry to get here…”

Believe it or not, that plane was hauled out of the water, pulled up next to the Current Club bar, re-built much to the pleasure and amazement of my guests, and eventually towed to the airport where it flew away!

By: Dann Lewis, May 23, 2008