Five F’s and a Birthday – February 5 to 8, 2011
Our stay at Compass Cay was cut short when the weather forecast told us that the winds would be coming out of the south for an extended period. Our friends, Karen and Warren, were scheduled to arrive in Georgetown in about a week to join us on board and we did not want to miss their arrival.
As we motored down the Exuma Bank at 2600 RPM the overheating alarm went off once again. We thought we had that resolved back in Florida! We just can’t seem to get to the source of that problem. Tom slowed the engine down and we limped into Little Farmer’s where the Five F was in progress. The Farmers First Friday in February Festival is held every year and is built around a Bahamian sloop regatta. We arrived just in time to pull up the beach off the airport runway and anchor not far from the finish line as one race was finishing. The final race of the weekend would take place later that afternoon.
Festival parking lot.
Compared to the big annual regatta in Georgetown it was a small event but there was no lack of enthusiasm. The regatta site had the requisite loud music and cheap beer (probably not a good thing being on the edge of the runway)and there were things happening at the main commercial area of Little Farmers which is a short walk down the runway, around the corner and up the road.
Several waterfront venues sold t-shirts, food and beverages with conch salad stands set up right in the water.
Conch drying in the sun. As far as I can tell it is used with salt beef but I have yet to find a recipe.
Regatta site shuttle.
Although we were supposed to be headed down the Exuma chain to Georgetown, when we pulled up anchor at Little Farmers the wind was coming from the south so we turned around and aimed Polar Pacer back to Black Point. It was Super Bowl Sunday and Lorraine from Lorraine’s Café was on the radio advertising her special dinner buffet of typical Bahamian main dishes, pizza, appetizers and dessert. Drinks were extra. The little café was absolutely packed with cruisers whose home country fire regulations would never have allowed such a square foot density of diners. Pre-game entertainment was provided by renowned boat builder Van Ferguson and his wife Agnes, accompanied by a couple of local ladies. Lorraine even escaped from the kitchen to join them briefly.
The air conditioner was running with all doors and windows open and by half time the place was stifling and the crowd was too loud for the game commentary to be heard. Not an unusual situation whenever you get a bunch of cruisers together. We made a break for it and made our way back to the government dock to see if we could find our dinghy in the dark. As we made our way back to Polar Pacer the crescent moon appeared to be hanging among the mast head anchor lights on the sailboats in the anchorage.
The pre game show. That’s Lorraine on the right.
Monday morning at Black Point. We were woken by the crowing of roosters on shore as the sky started to show some light. Shortly afterwards Polar Pacer was rocked about by the waves created by small power boats taking the men of the settlement to their jobs on other islands. Among them are Van who goes to Compass Cay where he does landscaping and maintenance at the Sampson Cay Club and Randolph Rolle who spends the week at Compass Cay helping Tucker keep that island ship shape for visitors.
It was Tom’s birthday and Joe and Melanie invited us to have dinner with them on board Onward. Joe also provided water taxi service for Agnes (who had invited herself to the celebration when she heard about it at the Super Bowl party) and Van to join us. By the end of the night we had a standing invitation from them to stay in their house if we needed a break from the boat. Most of their ten children have moved away to Nassau and they have a few empty bedrooms.
In her spare time Agnes weaves green palm fronds into strips that are sent to Nassau where they are made into baskets and bags to sell to the tourists. The ladies in Georgetown told me that is easier on your hands if the fronds are dried first.
Early the next morning we headed out Dotham Cut on an incoming tide. There was no significant wave action as we made our way into Exuma Sound and prepared to do a little fishing on the way to
Georgetown.
Georgetown.
Dotham Cut looking towards Exuma Sound
The cliffs on the Sound side of the cut are breathtaking.
We had three lines out in flat, calm water. At 10:45 Tom landed a 30 inch mahi mahi. As he was preparing to clean it on the back deck another mahi mahi, about twice the size, took a second line. The hook was only caught in its dorsal fin and it proceeded to get tangled in the other lines before Tom could get it under control. He caught it with the gaff but that wasn’t going to hold either. This was one big strong fish! He did manage to flip it onto the deck but it immediately bounced over the back of the boat and back into the water. Tom was almost tempted to jump overboard after it to bring it back.What a disappointment! Just a few minutes later there was another tug on the line and what appeared to be a mackerel or a tuna changed its mind and spit out the hook.
This one could have been lunch for the one that got away.
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