judging at the end of that discussion that the Plana Cays location has been scientifically proved.
I wouldn't say "proved"; just better supported by scientific evidence than other theories.
And yet, the island doesn't come close to matching Columbus' description. :')
Sure it does. In fact, every single island in the Bahamas comes close to matching CC's description: green, flat, surrounded by a reef, and with a large pond in the middle. Sounds very specific, until you actually try to rule out a Bahamaian island on that basis -- and find that you can't.
Molander may be deceased, I'm not sure.
Still alive, but quite infirm nowadays.
In any case, he's often cruised the Caribbean, and compared Columbus' log with the actual currently available possibilities.
As have Beecher, Morison, Roukema, Marden, Judge, Dunwoody, Peck, Verhoog, and many others -- who have reached no consensus.
I note "currently" because of the volcanic activity in the Caribbean, which could alter the landscape directly (eruption) or indirectly (tsunami).
No volcanic activity at all in the Bahamas. And although hurricanes and storms might affect some coastal features, such as beaches, there is one thing that remains constant even after 500 years: islands cannot move. Therefore, the most reliable indicators we have about the landfall are the distances and directions between islands (plus the lengths of coastlines) as reported by CC in his log. In evaluating these indicators, Egg Island does only average -- although where it fails, it fails miserably (distance to Cape Verde fix, distance from IV to I). Those theories that use Crooked/Acklins as Island II (Plana, Samana and Mayaguana) are way ahead of the pack.
Wow! Hey, thanks for that. Imagine my surprise! Welcome to FreeRepublic!