Site of New Atlantis discovered

by Marshall Savage

From Vol. 1 No. 1 First Foundation News July, 1993

I am delighted to report that I have located the perfect site for our New Atlantis project.

It is an idyllic island located approximately 90 miles southwest of Nassau in the Bahamas. It is called, with uncanny serendipity, Little San Salvador (San Salvador, of course being the island where Columbus first made landfall in the New World).

LSS is completely uninhabited, in private hands, and presently (Ed. Note: 1993) for sale. These black and white pictures do not do justice to this emerald isle - one of the most beautiful pieces of real estate in the known galaxy. At the western end of the island, where New Atlantis will be located (see map), there is a spectacular stretch of curving pink sand beach. The waters around the island are of an exquisite lambent turquoise that must be experienced to be believed. As we set out to colonize the galaxy, by all means let us colonize this piece first!

The island covers about a thousand acres, not including the expansive internal lagoon. Little San Salvador combines an odd set of characteristics with uncanny perfection. For our New Atlantis project, we need an isolated, but accessible, property large enough to accommodate a growing colony and resort. The site must have easy access to deep water for the OTECs (See Rennaissance of OTEC in this issue). It must have terrain conducive to largescale mariculture. And the place must be picturesque enough to attract visitors and vacationers.

Our first order of business is to secure the island. This will require $60,000 for a one-year option. So start saving up your nickles and dimes.

The island of Little San Salvador. This gem of the Carribean Sea provides all the attributes we need to build New Atlantis, and its pink-sand beaches are within easy reach of the many cruise ships sailing from Nassau.

Your intrepid reporter on the beach at Little San Salvador.

This is tritely a bit of tropical paradise, barely two 110111-S by air froill Miami. We will build here with a light hand, minimizing our impact with closed-loop systems developed for later space colonies.