Friday, March 25, 2011

A visit to Black Point (x 3)

The Exuma archipelago stretches out over a hundred and fifty miles and comprises 365 cays, or as the tourist board says, “one for every day of the year.” When we refer to Staniel Cay, we often mean the dozen or so islands in the middle of the group from Pipe Cay to Black Point on Great Guana Cay. This twelve mile long area offers a variety of activities from vegging out on your own private beach to hob nobbing with the mega yacht set at the hub, Staniel Cay Yacht Club (SCYC.) More importantly it offers many alternative sheltering spots from the high winds that accompany cold fronts on a regular basis. As these fronts pass through or near, the winds clock around and today’s sheltered lee side of the island is next week’s eye of the storm. As in much of the Bahamas, there are few all weather anchorages, and flotillas of cruisers often pick up on-mass from one anchorage or roadstead to another at the hint of a significant weather front.

Black Point is the southernmost part of this neighborhood for us. It offers little for the tourist but attracts boaters with its free water, free trash disposal (donation requested), free Wi-Fi and what has been referred to as the best Laundromat in the Bahamas. During our extended stay in the area we visited Black Point three times. The cruising guide refers to it as the second largest settlement in the island chain, but you can’t prove it by me. Aside from the facilities listed above, I found it to be charming in a minimalist way. If there were cows you could call it bucolic.

Aside from the coconut palms fringing the beach in the harbor, the change in vegetation from the other islands in the group is striking. This is where I learned the term pot-hole farming. Here the bedrock is clearly in evidence. It is winter, and the wind-swept, water stressed vegetation is stark, growing by chance in the small pockets of soil trapped in the pockmarked limestone surface.

Our first visit was all business, having a ponderous load of clothing and linens needing a good washing. We motor sailed down to the open bay which we could see from Staniel, although we had to go way off shore and around Harvey Cay to avoid the shallow reefs. We anchored in good sand in about 12 feet of water between the two charted docks, the Government Dock and the little dock at Rockside Laundry. I have already described the doing laundry and fetching water in the previous post. Our first visit lasted just for a few hours as we had to rush back to SCYC to participate in the Pirate Party that evening. During our second trip to Black Point, we sailed in to the anchorage and anchored under sail because the engine was overheating. We had the same chores and having completed those chores, we walked over to Lorraine’s Café for some lunch and World Wide Web. We have found that many out-island business cater to so few customers that it is not unusual for the shopkeeper, cook or landlord to be out and about. We all carry VHF radios, and give them a public shout-out on channel 16. While sitting in Lorraine’s Café all alone, we’ll radio her…“Lorraine’s Café, Lorraine’s Café, This is Bentaña, Are you open for lunch? Over” Lorraine might answer and change from 16, the hailing channel to a vacant working channel. Anyway Lorraine showed up and we asked if the kitchen was open and she said did we want to eat. She gave us the Computer password and an hour later we had our cheeseburgers and fries. The internet was about as slow as the food service. Lorraine said come back in the morning, the connection will be better. We were kind of tired and so we returned to the boat for a well deserved sleep.

The next morning (actually days later, but I have condensed all of our Black Point visits in to a single thread for the sake of simplicity and mostly because they have blended together in my mind,) after a good shipboard breakfast we went to explore Black Point and retry the internet. As we prepared to get in the dinghy, a remora appeared resting under Bentaña. I had trimmed some fuzzy cheese and threw the moldy bits at the fish. We saw that there were two, and they seemed to like green cheddar. I got some nice video footage and I’m told its good luck to have remoras hanging around. And so ashore we went.

A hand stenciled sign at the government dock says, “Cruisers don’t miss the Garden of Eden.” The cruising guide mentioned this roadside attraction as well, so we were off to find it. Just a the end of the government dock road was “More Fire” a “C” Class Bahama sloop lying on its side waiting for the next regatta. This is also the location of the trash trailer and the water spigot. On the way down the road, we met Samuel and his wife sitting in the shade at the side of their home plaiting palm leaves into long strips which they sell to the shops in Nassau where they are turned into “straw” bags and other island souvenirs. I asked if I could take their picture and Samuel said “it was OK, Friends had told him they saw him on Facebook. His wife was camera shy and he didn’t want the photo published. (The so-called “straw” is actually very strong palmetto leaf fibers which resist the elements. They are used as thatching on gazebos and beach and picnic umbrellas. Presumably they used them on houses in the past. When woven, they serve as mats, bags, wall coverings and room dividers)

We passed a shed with a “supermarket” sign, it was closed, but I could see a bin of potatoes inside. A little farther down the road was “Adderley’s Friendly Market” a more well stocked vendor with multiple side business, cottage rental, golf cart rental and straw market. The grounds were well kept with lots of potted plants, cave drippings and the ubiquitous net floats that wash up on the beaches. Adderley’s is a cross the street from Deshamone’s, the other restaurant offering free Wi-Fi. We stopped there on our way back.

A little way down the road we found another Wi-Fi hot-spot at Scorpio’s with happy hour and dominos (indoors or out,) as their attractions. Nearby in the side yard was a sloop in the building stage and I took some photos. It looked like the work was stopped in mid-stream, not uncommon here. I was told they were waiting for additional wood for planking. The ribs and other curved members are usually made of local wood which is very tough, and is found already pre-shaped on the stump, as straight thick trees are a rarity here. There unexpectedly was a huge cactus in the front yard. Across the street was the very neat All-Ages School. The schools welcome volunteer help from the cruising community, as government resources barely (rarely) trickle down to the family islands. What else is new?? Text books are not supplied and any sources are appreciated. We met cruisers on “Spartina” and “Samana” working through “the Seven Seas Cruising Association,” delivering cartons of books donated by a Florida School district. They had carried them and delivered them to the schools by sail boat from the United States. The school kids like their parents are friendly and polite. They wear uniforms and “Dickies” seems to be a prestige label. I’ve been told by American educators that the school standards are high.

Just after Scorpios and the School is what looks like a generic concession stand, where we meet “Cookie” the telephone guy. He’s on break enjoying the seat in the shade. We ask him about the structure, which he tells us is used to serve beer and food during the regatta. We have seen several similar structures around, and we come to learn that the regattas coincide with island homecoming, on whichever island they may be held. With little work on many of these “Family Islands,” most of the population goes off to the big cities like Nassau or Freeport to work, and send money and goods back to the family. The regatta is the excuse for everyone to come home and be with family. It’s also a darn good reason to party and the population swells as cousins and nieces, uncles and friends get together back home.

I ask “Cookie” about the pallet of shrink wrapped phone books on the government dock. At Staniel, I calculated six hundred books on a pallet. He said there were about a hundred and twenty five phones on the island, but BTC (Formerly BaTelCo, nee Bahamas Telephone Company) has no clue about the islands. I suppose that a pallet is the smallest shipment they can make. “Cookie” invited us to help ourselves, as the books were not home delivered, but available on a pick-up basis only, and there were bound to be left-overs.

Well “Cookie” returns to the phone company pickup truck with “no riders” on the door to continue servicing his customers, and we continue down the road toward the Garden of Eden. Down the road we find Bertram Brown and his wife Varonice, sitting in the shade of the Gazebo in front of their home, plaiting straw for the market. Alongside, out in the hot sun, finished strips are drying and changing from the green pliable fibers to sturdy tan fabric. We stop for a chat, and unlike Samuel and wife, they welcome photos. We talked about plaiting and gardening. The radio was turned to “Rush Limbaugh,” which they said they “got a kick out of.” I walked around their garden which provides them with their pumpkin, corn and pigeon peas, the traditional Native American agricultural triad. The staple carbohydrate in the diet is “Peas n’ Rice” with the pigeon peas as the legume of choice. Most restaurants have supplanted them with French fries. The garden was more rock than soil, but it kind of worked. After all, these are desert islands. After our nice meet and greet in the shade, they point us further down the road to the Garden of Eden.

We round the bend at Regatta Point where there is another concession stand and pavilion. It has a lovely view of the banks where sloops from many of the family islands will soon gather on the racing circuit. A little ways further there is a deep sink hole with banana trees enjoying the little moisture and shade that it can provide. We pass more houses, some neat and trim and some storm wrecked and in ruin. Next to what looks like a very fine house by Black Point standards is the garden for which we trecked out here. A hand stenciled sign on an unregistered car part was the clue. Sort of next to and behind the lovely house was a collection of drift wood and coral pieces in a dry-park setting. This was clearly a fusion of “Ojets Trouve” and “Outsider Art.” The whimsical sculptural collages were lots of fun and were clearly something to see. Deeper into the garden we found the home of the artist, and the more productive and “Gardeny” part. Willy Rolle was off-island at a job, but the potholes around his home are a marvel of productivity. His wife, a sweet barefoot woman in a red headcovering and jeans invited us to look around. She is troubled with vision problems, and the doctors in Florida have been unable to help her much. After Judy and I walked around a bit marveling at the variety of fruits and shrubs, she came out and was naming the dozens of fruits. Most of them I had never seen or heard of before. Many of them are exotic even to this place, as Willie has collected the varieties himself through friends and admirers.

Mrs. Rolle returned to her kitchen which was exuding delightful aromas and we bid her fare well and promised to pray for her vision and headed back towards our boat. On our return along the same road we met George, sitting in front of his simple pink home with the trellised porch. George was happy to talk to by passers, and he told us how he had worked in the US “on contract,” which apparently is how we used to get migrant labor. He picked fruits and vegetables in many states, and is now at home enjoying retirement. I ask to have a photo with him and he goes inside to ask his family to join him. He returns alone and says they are busy watching “Jerry Springer.” Well G-d Bless the American Media, Rush Limbaugh and Jerry Springer together on this lonely outpost of humankind. It makes me PROUD TO BE AMERKIN.

Back at De Shamone’s, it’s time for a comfy seat, a cold drink and some internet. Judy has a Kalik and I order Vita-Malt, a Non Alcoholic barley beverage with purported health benefits. The internet connection is faster than most and we are able to Skype with Judy’s parents. We’ve ordered a snack of cracked conch. Prepared from sliced and pounded conch, dredged in seasoned cracker meal (hence the name) and delicately deep fried. Tasty and delicious.

While making good web progress, other cruisers pass by and cruise in. “How’s the server?”they ask. “It’s kind of okay, just now,” we quietly respond. We know if more cruisers go on line, the server will slow down, but who are we to deprive fellow travelers the manna of free net. Or as the sign at the bar in the SCYC says, “What’s your hurry, you’re here!” So, “here” we met a couple of net surfers with their sweet puppy. They are Paul and Mary. I ask if the dog is Peter. “No, she’s Jasmine, or Jazzy for short. But if we get another dog, that’s a good suggestion,” they add as if I’m not the first to ask. Their boat is “Merry Sea” and we’ve heard the name on the VHF for a while, and now we can put faces to the boat name. We like them instantly and offer to share rum with them on Bentaña “when the sun goes below the yardarm.”

As previously mentioned, we had the engine overheating and had to figure out the reason why. We had already changed the heat exchanger. In our investigation we found that the elbow between the raw water cooling pump and the heat exchanger had a hole in it, which we discovered when we started her up and the engine compartment filled up with steam and caused all sorts of side effects.

The next morning, Paul from Merry Sea stopped by to see how he could help. We had already changed the elbow and discovered that the raw water pump had a slow drip leak. Paul recommended that we replace it because once they start to leak, they often fail quite quickly. Well, he was right, because by that night we had a stream coming out of the pump into the bilge and were awakened in the middle of the night with the bilge high water alarm going off! So we decided to return to the Staniel Cay area, ordered a new water pump and awaited its arrival by Watermaker Air.

Our third trip to Black Point was with Merry Sea. We needed to do laundry, get water and use the internet but we were only 2/3 successful. The settlement’s water main had broken during the night and all the water was gone from the storage tanks. The Laundromat has its own storage tanks, so we were able to do our laundry, but the people who arrived after us were out of luck. We also had the pleasure of joining up with two of the boats that had come on the Caribbean 1500 to Marsh Harbour. Kate and Bernie (our leaders) on Mahalo were there as well as Hank and Ellen from La Belle Helene. We also met Mike and Mary from Braveheart, Susan and Forrest from Rejoice! and Stu and Chuck from Long Gone. We also met Sharon and Bob on Shazaa who shared some kitty litter with us so that Mary would not have to use all beach sand in her litter pan….We had lots of social time and internet time and were able to Skype with our friends Basil and Danielle on Scrimshaw, our friend Rene’ and my parents. Technology sure is wonderful!!

We headed back to the Staniel Cay area to pick up our kitty’s special order of Kitty litter and then we would head for points south.

…But that’s for another day.

Welcome to Black Point!

C Class "More Fire"

The water spigot

Trach trailer

The best laundramat in the Bahamas! Ballast and pry boards in the foreground.

boat skeleton

Consession stand with "Cookie" resting in the shade

Bertram and Varonice Brown plaiting

The Brown's garden

Regatta Point

Banana pit

Welcome to the Garden of Eden!

Driftwood sculpture

Steph hefting fish net balls

fishnet float (they are found everywhere)

Pothole gardening

Gardening on the moon

Mrs. Rolle chatting with Judy

Steph and George

We are having trouble with the internet at the moment so the rest of the photos will be posted at a later date.

Meeting up with friends from the recent past at Lorraine's Cafe

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 31^st 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.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Staniel Cay Part 1

Staniel Cay 12/21/10- 1/1/11- Judy 1/4/11

Judy -- From Warderick Wells, it was a 3.5 hour sailing trip to the area of Staniel Cay. Not knowing the “lay of the land” and the lay of the bottom, we decided to anchor at Big Majors Spot where there were a lot of other boats already anchored. Big Majors is known for its swimming pigs that swim out into the water to beg for food from people in dingys. We pulled out some old bread and climbed into the dingy to go see the piggies. They had previously been on the beach but had disappeared, so we had a pig calling contest (Steph won!) and one brave pig waded into the water and swam to come visit us. After taking lots of pictures and videos and giving the pig all the food we had with us, it lost interest and returned to shore. We took a ride over to Staniel Cay Yacht Club (according to the guide books, this is a popular destination with a well deserved reputation. Although there were pilings and docks to accommodate lots of boats, there was only two in sight, one at the dock, and one anchored off), beached the dingy and took a walk around the settlement. There seemed to be a number of houses under construction, nicely coming along, and bright blue and yellow ( the national colors) street signs, sand blasted in wood. We felt right at home, at the intersection of Kings Highway and Honey Spring Valley Road. We discovered the internet at the Yacht Club and figured we would go in another day to use it.

Big Majors was a rather long dingy ride from the dock, so the next day we picked up the anchor and moved to a spot near Thunderball Grotto. Yep, it is the same grotto that was used in the James Bond thriller “Thunderball”! Because of the cool water and air, we decided to visit the grotto another day. It is safest to enter it at slack low tide and it took a few days to figure out when that was. We were originally going to go to anchor east of Big Majors Spot but as we approached the narrow passage the current was very heavy against us and all we could see was water swirling around and over the rocks (the Crown of Thorns) which must be avoided as you go through. Not knowing the territory and being cautious, we decided to back up and anchor next to Thunderball Island. We met Bob and Barb on Rhiannon ( a beautiful steel hulled schooner Bob built back in his welding days, before he became a nurse, allowing them to steal away and sail and dive for weeks at a time! ) who were anchored nearby and they invited us over for drinks. They also showed us the way to go through the passage safely to enter the area known as “Between the Majors” which is a protected area between Big Majors Spot and Little Majors Spot and is a favored anchorage when cold fronts are going through.

Today is Friday, January 28, 2011 and those last paragraphs were written weeks ago. I decided that I just HAD to write some more to share with you our wonderful experiences, even though I will just have to gloss over many of them because of space and time constraints. Luckily Steph went through the photos and wrote down the highlights of each day. Basically, we spend time doing boat projects and cruising (repairing boats in exotic locales) and spend time ashore soaking up Bahamian culture and meeting lots of nice people…natives and foreigners, landlubbers and other sailors alike.

We have also snorkeled several times, two of them at Thunderball Grotto, which is lovely. We bought an underwater camera that uses film, so we need to get the pictures developed and put on a CD or DVD so that we can load them into the computer. The currents here are very strong and it is best to go to Thunderball when it is approaching slack low tide. The first time we went, we got there a few minutes late and the tide had turned and was beginning to flood. It was very difficult to swim against the current to enter the grotto, but it was well worth the struggle. We had taken frozen veggies with us and used them to attract the tropical fish. Man, it was like swimming in an aquarium! The fish were thrilled with the veggies and got very excited and aggressive, to the point of grabbing the baggie out of my hand and dashing away with it! There are three or more large holes in the ceiling of the grotto that let in sunlight and the colors were incredible. The second time we went we got there just at the right time tide wise. We had no veggies and the sun was at the wrong angle, but we had a lovely swim through the grotto, floated out the other side, and drifted with the slowly changing current around the end of the island and back to the entrance. We drifted over many different kinds and colors of coral and saw dozens of kinds of fish. At each turn you see another type of fish, in colors and shapes I thought only came from Hollywood. If you hover quietly in one spot, more fish appear as if by magic. The corals are often in day-glo colors, which I never understood at the pet shop. We dove again yesterday and it is just another of the many stand-out experiences we’ve had.

Staniel Cay Yacht Club is the social center of the area for the cruising community. As we said before, it seemed pretty quiet there when we first arrived, but more boats and people arrived daily and by Christmas the place was filling up and jumping and by New Years it was really crowded. Then, as quickly as it had filled up, it emptied out again. In between there was an event filled calendar which included a Christmas party with Santa for all the Island and visiting kids, a pirate party with everyone in costume. and an evening sit down dinner for adults. The night of the Christmas dinner, some of the cruisers stayed on board, because of the dark of the moon and the difficult passage back after the Club, but we took our hand-held GPS along on the dink ride in. When it was time to go back to our anchorage we followed the bread crumb trail back to the boat in the pitch black between a virtual “Scylla and Charybdis.”By luck, it turned out to be the smoothest trip on that course. While enjoying dinner, we met Jim and Deb at the next table, a couple of medicos who flew in from Florida on their helicopter for the event. The next morning as they flew home, they took our picture which is now at the top of our blog. At the pirate party, our friend Vernon Pryde (of Kiwi Pryde,)confused everyone, dressed as a modern day Somali pirate, toting a shoulder rocket grenade launcher, wearing a baseball cap (backwards) and cargo fatigues.

The two events that got my (Steph) juices flowing were the mixed double match race between two local national championship class A boats and the New Years Open Cruisers Race. The Exumas chain boast a water based population who have been building, sailing and racing home built boats forever. Staniel Cay is the home of “The Grandmaster,” the late Captain Rolle Gray, the winningest sailor in the country. The mixed doubles is raced between two of his winning boats, “Tida Wave” and “Lady Muriel.” These traditional island boats are manned by local teams who invite guest crew on (by lottery,) for the experience of a life time.

While Judy was using the internet on the porch of the SCYC, I wandered around. Most every dock has a fish cutting table, and at this one was Captain Tony Gray, dressed in a black garbage bag and a baseball cap cleaning fish. Over the wharf wall, several nurse sharks hovered around waiting for scraps. I talked to Tony and introduced myself. We spoke of fishing and racing and life on the island. While he was cleaning a large grouper head, I asked him if he knew the song “Fish Heads..Fish Heads.. Rolly Polly Fish Heads…” He joked, “It’s a Bahamian song. If not for fish heads, we would starve.” I asked him about the big race, and he told me he was the Commodore of the Race. I asked about the lottery, and he was sketchy about the schedule and the particulars, but this is typical island laissez faire. I told him I was a Race Patrol Chairman at my home club and was there anything I could do to help out. He said they could use some help stepping the mast, loading the ballast and otherwise getting ready. They wait for the mail boat which has a crane to hoist the mast, “so watch for the mail boat.”

Meanwhile I asked him about the fish he was cleaning, and he said, “Here, have this one for supper.” I was delighted, and assuming fishing was his livelihood, I asked how I could compensate him, and he laughed…”You can buy me a beer some time.” That evening I made Banana Bread, using up some fruit that hadn’t been yellow for days, and cooked the fish, both on our Magma Grill on the side of the boat.

The mail boat visits the island twice a week, once on its way south from Nassau, full of most anything that arrives on the islands. It stops again on the return trip up from Georgetown, but there’s little cargo on that stop. They do take passengers, and it seems like a fun kind of a boat ride. It seems that Tony Gray’s dad was “The Grandmaster.” A fisherman turned mail boat Captain and a legend in the islands. Like the “Wells-Fargo Wagon” in The Music Man, the arrival of the mailboat was (and is) a noteworthy event. (Right now Mary the sailing cat is waiting for a special shipment of Kitty Litter, and her dad is hoping for a couple of pounds of his favorite coffee! And her mom is waiting for some Cream of Rice!)

Staniel Cay was originally Gray Cay, and Captain Rolle Gray knew how vital his job was in knitting the islands and families together into a nation. “The mailboat must get through.” And in these tricky and dangerous waters it is often unwise to set out to sea. You can see where he can stand out among his peers and countrymen as a hero. To top this off no one could beat him in a sailboat race. Some say it was his intimate knowledge of the currents which predominate that made him unbeatable on the water. It seemed to me that he was a sort of folk hero cross between Casey Jones and John Henry. We later discovered that a song about him was the number one hit in the islands for two years in a row. How’s that for recognition of a sailboat racer?

So the mailboat arrived, and Judy and I dinked over to the government dock to help step the mast. Most of the preliminary work was done, and “Lady M” was already rigged. The regular crew is made up of natives and other residents (of which there are many.) Little did we know when we worked on the preparation that both Judy and I would get to sail on “Tida Wave”, and she would win three races in a row.

These all wooden boats boast a fairly small hull for their tall mast and long overhanging low lying boom. The massive sail has an extended head (not unlike the Dutch boats that visited last year,) giving more roach than usual. The sail is loose-footed and the clew is run to an outhaul through block and tackle. The most interesting feature and the one which made the race all the more thrilling are the pry boards. Although there is a great deal of ballast put on board in the hold, there is not so much weight at depth as with the deep keeled and bulb bottomed keels we know. This may be for the shallow drafts encountered here. To counterbalance the tall booms and huge spread of canvas, the crew are way beyond “rail meat.” The pry boards are just that, these 3” x 10” boards are shoved across the deck on each tack and the crew climbs, shinnies or scoots up and back, under the low swinging boom, on these boards to flatten the boat. There is four or five crew on each of the two boards and they may all be out over the water laying back to pry the boat upright against the cantilever of the full blown sail. What a rush!!!

Just before New Year’s big events, we headed over to Black Point, about a nine mile sail to Great Guana Cay. Sandy Stefanic says it has the best Laundromat in the Bahamas, and we needed it. We were also low on water, and good purified R/O (reverse osmosis) is free for the taking. That and free trash disposal are two features, along with free wi-fi at Lorraine’s Café are some of the ways this island draws visitors. On the dock at SCYC it’s forty cents a gallon. Here’s a snip I wrote to brother Lew for his pending visit, describing the routine:

“Our days are spent lazing in the sun, snorkeling, beachcombing, meeting the locals and other cruisers, and reading, socializing or taking care of business. You would be amazed how much business there is to take care of, or perhaps how much time is involved in doing it. For example, we have sailed to Black Point three times to do laundry and refill our water tanks. It takes up a slow paced day. We finish breakfast, hoist the anchor and head out by motor or sail or both as conditions require. A couple of hours later we re-anchor about five miles south of our starting point. We load up the dinghy with laundry, trash, six-five gallon water jugs and a collapsible dock cart. I drop Judy off at Rockside Laundry where Ida runs the best Laundromat in the Bahamas. While she sells tokens for the machines ($3.50 a load, wash or dry,) she also cuts and plaits hair. If you want corn rows, see her.

I take the dinghy from the Rockside Dock to the Government Dock where I tie up and unload the trash, the jugs and the cart. I assemble the cart and walk a couple of thousand feet to the water spigot. It leaks and I get soaked, but the weather is beautiful and getting wet is fine, also the R/O water is free (elsewhere it’s fifty cents a gallon.) The cart can carry three full jugs, so I make two trips between the water tap and the dock. I take the full jugs to the boat and decant them into our tanks.”

Well, if you’ve done the math, we now have thirty gallons of free water, and two forty gallon tanks on board, so I repeat the above routine two more times, refilling our gallon drinking water jugs from Poland Spring and Zephyrhills as well as the tanks. While doing this, I met a sailor bragging about his watermaker. He’s only had it a year, and says it’s cost him $26 a gallon to date. I told him I just carried ninety gallons of free water to the boat, so this was a twenty three hundred dollar day for me. In reality, my net savings on water were $45 for the day, which is about what the laundry cost. More of my letter to Lew:

“Anyway, the water is great, crystal clear and teaming with colorful coral and fish. Bring your snorkel, mask and fins. I got a shorty wet suit from a guy who outgrew his for $25, so if you have one, bring it. It’s like living in an aquarium. You CAN swim with sharks here, I know I did. And with barracuda just yesterday at Thunderball Grotto, an island reef featured in the movie of the same name. Many people fish for supper, and we’ve been given fish, lobster and conch. I haven’t caught anything yet but sea shells.

So pack light in a soft stuff able duffel bag, shorts, swimsuits and gear, long sleeve shirts for the sun and a jacket or sweatshirt for cool evenings. Bring a good book or two, leave your guitar at home, space is tight. The weather is lovely, ~80 degrees, pleasant humidity, light breezes. The water is 82 degrees today. We’ve had very little rain. The biggest weather problem for cruisers is occasional cold fronts which bring high winds. There are few all weather anchorages, which are protected from wind in any direction, so we often migrate from one side of an island to another, and sit out the passing winds.

Well, I will close and head in to shore to Isles General Store and see if the kitty litter (and some dark roast coffee) we ordered came in on the weekly mail boat. Then it’s over to Rhonda Miller’s house for a loaf of her coconut or whole wheat bread. I’ll check the Pink Pearl Super Market (no lights, a few dozen items and “Fire-in-the-Hole” erotic rum) and the Blue Store for items that Vivian doesn’t have at the General Store. Then over to the Yacht Club to buy an internet card and a cell phone card and buy some cash with a check.”

Judy here—The Yacht Club and the settlement put on this regatta and week of festivities to draw torism to the area. The Banquet was free to everyone who came. Tee shirts were given to all the tourist crew members and jackets were given out by drawing names. In order to raise some of the funds necessary to pull this all off, there was an auction just before and during the banquet. Cruisers and townspeople donated items to be auctioned off and they raised over $2000 in a couple hours. I made a pair of earrings and a necklace to donate.

At the Banquet the day before the race, they announced that there were enough slots available for all the people who signed up for the lottery. Boat and race assignments would be posted the next day. How great is that? And then they followed that with a Bahamian Feast hosted by the Sailing Club. WOW. Rum Punch, Mon. Lobster salad, conch fritters, grilled fish and conch salad, Bahamian Mac and Cheese, More rum punch (Kaliks if you preferred beer) and carrot cake.etc., etc.

Judy -- Note to self---keep head out of the way while Steph is pulling the starter cord of the dingy outboard. We ended up visiting the clinic late at night after I got hit in the temple and lost consciousness for a short time. I was a bit foggy for a while, but felt better the next day. We were driven to the clinic in a golf cart driven by Tony Gray’s sister Yvonne, who was home for the holidays.

RACE DAY. Judy and I raced through breakfast to go ashore and see the race roster. As it turned out, we both got slots on “Tida Wave“ for the first of three races planned for around 10:30. Everyone was milling around and team T-shirts were passed out. Judy told me that Tony was looking for me out at the dive shop, so I went off to see how I could help. Tony was preparing the marks for the races. There were three large round orange fenders, some lengths of line, some sawed off chunks of boat ballast and some #8 coated copper wire to fasten the weights to the line. It was just like back at the club, prepping marks for the races.

Race time came and went in typical island style, (meaning whenever they got it together) but we were moving forward. The regular crews took the two contenders out to the course, and the guest crews piled on to a T-Top power boat ferrying us out to our rides. The race course start was about a half mile off shore, in order to avoid shallows or reefs. Once aboard “Tida Wave” we were given a quick tutorial on the use of the pry boards and other features of the class, e.g. stay low on tacking as the boom sweeps low over the deck, and keep the boat balanced by constantly moving in and out on the boards as required. Most importantly, when preparing to tack, be ready to move clear of the heavy and fast moving pry as it is shot from one side of the boat to the other.

I made another “Note to self…” keep all appendages out of the way of the PRY, as it can severely damage any body parts that get in the way. Unfortunately, I misplaced the note and got hit twice with the pry…so I got a major “boat bite” (which 6 weeks later still hurts).

We hoisted her medium main sail for a trial run, and found that the brisk wind today was a bit heavy for that sail, and that called for a sail change on the water before the start. The water is filled with support boats, moral and practical, as well as spectator boats and the media. While waiting for our sail change to be delivered from shore, Kalicks (beers) were passed around. The sail was dropped and flaked and the smallest sail was hoisted. Judy had her multi tool and snugged up the shackle at the gooseneck while the outhaul had to be jury-rigged. The smaller jib was set also and it was time to start the race.

The next thing we know is that we are over the starting line and dropping sail. Next the anchor, a four fluked grappling style is dropped overboard and the boat is being blown back up to the start line. It’s to be an “anchor start.” The committee boat checks the line, fires a starting gun and drops the flag. The crew starts pulling the anchor and raising the main sail in a well rehearsed ballet. The anchor is passed back to the cockpit and stowed below. The cockpit is a small open hatch about four by four feet with two crew below. Everyone else, about sixteen crew was on the flat deck or the prys. The crew in the cockpit handled the sheets, and kept the bilge pump running and the beer cold. Water came in across the deck and from the hull. Even with the smaller sail area these tender boats required constant shifting of weight to keep the rail out of the water.

“Lady Muriel” took the lead, she hadn’t shortened sail, but it made her harder to handle, and I understand they had some equipment problems. Meanwhile, “Tida Wave” crept up with jeers and cheers, the two Captains exchanging well practiced epithets. The rush of the water, the billow of sail and the distance between the boats slowly diminishing made for an exhilarating ride. “Lady M” lost her lead, and never quite regained it that day, with our boat taking all three of the match races.

Our crew was swapped out with the next contingent and we went ashore to meet with the press. We were interviewed by Sean and Raquel of the National Television “Island Show” as the race program finished up. By mid afternoon it was time for the awards. All of the racers and race fans gathered in front of the Yacht Club for the speeches and presentation of the perpetual trophy, cash prizes and team jackets. All and all, of the many stellar experiences I’ve had this trip; this one will remain with me the longest. Hats off to the people of the Exumas for whom boat building, sailing and racing is a living tradition.

CRUISERS PRE-RACE MEETING Well, after all that excitement, it’s only midday and tomorrow is the Cruisers’ New Year’s Open. A short walk down past the Public Beach (BTW, all beaches in the Bahamas are public,) is “Happy People” Bar and Restaurant, a disused watering hole. This afternoon, the door is open, but there is no electricity so we mill around outside, or wander inside looking for someone in charge. It seems they are out looking for a generator or a light bulb and making rum punch and chicken wings. Finally it all comes together, food, drink and Sailing Instructions. No handicapping, the only semi distinction is separate monohull and multihull awards. After a long exciting day we head back to the mothership for a night’s rest. Goodness is it eight o’clock already, “way past my bedtime.” Four hours later we are noisily awakened by boat horns and fireworks, “HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!”

NEW YEARS DAY- We meet Wes and Linda of “Odyssey,” who will crew with us in today’s big race. We met Wes in the dark around the punchbowl two evenings ago, and he is an avid racer with “a clean bottom.” The course is a large triangle starting a half mile out, past the shoals, and heading west to Sandy Cay, then upwind to Harvey Cay and back to the start pin two times for a near ten mile course. Wes and I got the boat race ready while “I showed him the ropes” and discussed tactics. Linda was going to be the photographer and Judy was at the helm. There was one other ketch in the field and neither of us raised our mizzen sails. There was a decent wind and we made good speed, but others did better. Without a handicap our big sluggish boat finished ninth out of eleven starters (and the two boats that came in just ahead of us were 2 minutes and 30 seconds ahead of us respectively.) We were elated to have been in the pack for most of the race and we had a great time.

That evening, dinner and awards were at the pavilion at the Public Beach. The main road was closed to traffic, so the resident golf carts had to find a detour. Fat sticks of street chalk was passed out to the kids, and the Staniel Cay Community Association which sponsored the event dished out roast pork, BBQ chicken, Bahamian Mac N Cheese and Cole slaw and sold raffle tickets. It was a great evening social gathering with the cruisers and locals, both natives and residents all enjoying the event. Once again there were speeches and trophies. All racers got awards, and we got a “straw*“ bag made here at Staniel, with a loaf of Rhonda Miller’s homemade bread, two Kaliks and a souvenir shot glass.

*The straw which one hears about is actually plaited and woven leaves of palmetto…. More elsewhere.