Friday, March 25, 2011

ESCAPE FROM STOCKING ISLAND

Jumping to the present, i.e. March 16, 2011, we find ourselves at Cat Island. Yesterday we pulled up anchor at Stocking Island where we have spent most of the last month (give or take a week, time has really lost its meaning for us.)  We had a fine sail, for the most part without diesel assistance, on a picture perfect day. We had waited quite a while for the opportunity to make this forty mile hop.  Since New Years, Judy has been hampered by her pry board injury while aboard the trophy winning A-class Bahaman Sloop, “Tida Wave.” After a long rest of her leg, she exacerbated the bruise, dancing up a storm at Eddie’s Edgewater Monday Night “Rake and Scrape.” No, it’s not Monday Night football, rake and scrape is to the Bahamas what reggae is to Jamaica. It is a heavy African drum rhythm driven sound augmented by raking the teeth of a carpenters saw and scraping the face of a cheese grater. Sort of Arthur Godfrey’s Kitchen Band on steroids.  Like the music of Junkanoo, it is infectious and makes your body do things it’s never done before. Many of the songs are familiar dressed up in this hyper beat. Strangely, John Denver’s “Country Roads” seems like it was made for Rake and Scrape.
The combination of Judy’s recuperation, the limited weather opportunities and the truly fantastic Georgetown Cruisers Community has made moving on, low on the list of priorities.  Since leaving Pipe Creek and Staniel Cay, we spent a week in Little Farmers Cay for the five F (First Friday in February Farmers’ Cay Festival, a family Island homecoming and regatta) We then left Little Farmers for Georgetown on Great Exuma with a two day stop over at Emerald Bay Marina and arrived at Elizabeth Harbour just as the George Town Community of Cruisers was gearing up for their 31st Annual Regatta. The round of activities and sightseeing precluded much blog diligence, and now having finally escaped from the 300+ cruisers anchored at Stocking Island, Elizabeth Harbour we sit quietly at anchor with five other boats at the Bight at Cat Island.
It’s fitting that this first day far from the maddening crowds was spent climbing the 206 feet to Father Jerome’s Hermitage, the highest point in the Bahamas. As the rounds of regattas and socializing wanes, we look forward to more quiet times on tranquil islands, much as Father Jerome did. I hope this short recap re-engages you, our loyal readers, and us, to fill in all of the truly great adventures we’ve enjoyed since the New Year began.

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