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February 7, 2004

Farmer's Cay was GREAT!

I got caught up in the islands' 18th annual Farmer's Cay Festival and became 'Chairman of the Buns'.   This auspicious role included organizing the Men's 'Legs and Buns' competitions including making commercials on the radio, getting a committee together to pull off the recruitment of men, as well as conducting and judging the events.  Hey, it was a tough task but someone had to do it, right girls!  Anyway, the competition was stiff, but with high style, we were able to select the best buns and legs on the island and had a lot of fun doing it.  Even gave away a bottle of rum to each winner as well as a certificate and a kiss to the runner's up (that was for ME!).

I also joined the beach volleyball team competition (aka, sand diving'in my case) and believe it or not, after two days of competition, my team ended up the champions! After sand diving the morning away, then conducting the buns event, then having to hurry and move the boat to another island, it was a real relief to finally, finally, get a shower and get those sandy shorts off my body.  Almost made missing my rum punch award celebration worth it.  Almost!

One night I dined on cracked conch at the Farmer's Cay Yacht Club with a delightful banker who lives in Nassau and travels constantly throughout the Caribbean basin and South America.  It's interesting to hear how business is conducted in such a diverse geography and his schedule reminded me of my own back in the good old days of buying companies.  Ahhhhhh, but alas, no more!

I also took advantage of the contact with people at the festival to interview them for an article I hope to write for the sail club called 'Best of the Exumas'.  I'll post it on my web site when I'm done for those of you considering a trip to the Exumas.   The Festival on Little Farmer's Cay brought scores of boats, crowding all the anchorages, including 'my' the little cove.  When returning to the boat from the 'legs & buns' contest to find the bow just about stuck up a neighboring boat's exhaust pipe, (due to the crowding) it was time to leave (I so do NOT like to tempt disaster).  Made it to Galliott Cay before nightfall, but since it was low tide, grounded on a sand bar just short of the anchorage (why is it always low tide when your charts are wrong on the depth?).  Fortunately, some friends came to the rescue in their dinghy and pushed the bow into deeper water, and I was having my glass of wine at anchor by sunset.  Thanks to the crew of Trouvaille!

During 'play or sail days' my nights are still spent writing the screenplay, and I'm seeing some progress, although it seems woefully slow for the amount of time I am spending.

Even though I finally had to leave precious Little Farmer's Cay  (went to Galliott Cay to hide from a frontal systems packing 25-knot winds) I returned for just one more cracked conch meal at the Yacht Club, and to get more air time on my cell phone.  It's a dollar a minute, so cruisers needing to stay in communication, will need to plan ahead (see communications under 'helpful hints' section).  Anyway playing Hide-From-the-Frontal-System seems a way of life at sail during this time of year, but after this front passes, it's on to Georgetown, winter playground of the yachties.   Hopefully, I'll have some fun stories to tell you from there.

Karen

Mon, 02 Feb 2004 16:36:52 -0600

I am now in the land of what I am calling,  "transparent water".  You cannot tell by looking at the water whether it is 3 ft deep or 15 ft deep since you can see the bottom in great detail regardless of depth.  I even had to venture out in the dinghy and use a lead line to see for myself that the water was deep enough to anchor in, since, upon being able to see every blade of grass on the bottom, I could NOT believe the depth sounder was reading 15 ft.  And, you guessed it, it was indeed 15 feet deep. 

 It is getting even more beautiful the further south you go.  We will need to leave the "banks" side soon and travel in Exuma Sound, since the 6 ft. draft of the boat is pressing the depth limits of the Banks from this point forward.   In reading my Bahamas history, the Bahama Banks were actually above ground during the Ice Age, being separated from Cuba only by a narrow deep trench.  Hard to imagine the watery commonwealth of the Bahamas as being a forested continent, but, I guess that was a long time ago.   Now, however, the continent is a shelf covered by a few feet of water.

Already February, we are entering the southern Exumas and on the home stretch to Georgetown, the "yachties playground" (or so I am hearing).  It seems everyone is heading for Georgetown where the month of March marks the time of the local regattas and general celebration of the "boat people".  A few weeks ago, I heard on the Cruisers Net that there were 150 boats there (in Georgetown).  That number has now bloated to 230 boats and is expected to climb close to 500 boats by party time in March.  I hope to be out of there by then, not wanting to sidetrack my writing efforts by volleyball games, barbeques, and general carousing (am I dedicated or what!).  Since my last report, we have learned how to outmaneuver the clocking of the winds during the passing of frontal systems.  The benefit of this has been unexpected visits to Big Major's Spot, Black Point Settlement, and Big Farmer's Cay.  Given your location, it may be necessary to up-anchor and leave on a daily basis during storm fronts to find sheltered locations (unless you find an all-weather anchorage which is rare).  Read more below for details on recent locations.  Also, I have an address and emergency phone number in the Bahamas. If you need to contact me, contact my mom and she will provide you with this contact info.  (If you don't know how to contact my mother, just email me through this website, and I will get back in touch with you via email)

The Exumas are very remote with few settlements, most without telephone or facilities - let alone internet access, so some of this information is going to be dated by the time you find it on my web site.  I"ll simply keep writing and submit my dated reports whenever I can and hope you enjoy them! 

I am getting quite a bit done on my screenplay and have figured out how to use my new digital camera.  When it is not a sailing day, I am able to do some "picture - touring" around in the dinghy in the early morning, leaving the afternoon and evening to write.  Sometimes I set up my "writing office" outside in the boat"s cockpit, so I can be inspired by the view.   There really is no routine, since on sailing days, the writing occurs late at night, and on days spent in harbor, time is more available for both writing and getting a little exercise. Between navigation planning, boat maintenance, cleaning, cooking, sailing, anchoring, finding weather information, and other tasks, the days just fly by.  Hardest are the nights that you must spend on anchor watch, or running the motor at anchor to keep away from boats swinging into your path (or you into theirs).  The current is strong here, and sometimes unpredictable in its path, making for some sleepless nights in crowded anchorages.

Since my last report from Nassau, we've been moving southward through the Exuma Chain.  In haste to get to a telephone and make some boat repairs, we've missed most of the Exumas Land and Sea Park, but hope to get back to it on our return trip north.

Read about: Allan's Cay, Norman's Cay, Little Bell Island and Staniel Cay.

Tue, 13 Jan 2004 16:38:22 -0600
Hi Everyone!

It's January 13th and I've made it to Nassau by way of Cat Cay in the Bimini Islands, then two days across the shallow Bahama Banks (where we had to seek shelter from a storm on the lee side of Andros Island) then on to Chubb Cay in the Berry Islands and on to Nassau. Because of winds coming from the wrong direction, we arrived in Nassau just as the sun was setting, and after a couple of failed attempts to anchor in Nassau Harbor (bad holding, crowded) we docked at Nassau Harbor Marina just to be on the safe side. Having access to land directly from a dock is handy for heavy chores like laundry and groceries-much easier to load and carry from terra firma than boat to dinghy to land to walking here and there carrying this stuff. After our chores are done, we will decide which way the weather is blowing and either head up to Eleuthera (Northeast) or down to the Exumas (Southeast).

Being my first missive since getting underway, let me know if this is the type of info you want to hear about. I'm trying to keep the Home Page short and sweet so those casually interested in my whereabouts can quickly get a sense of what's happening. Those interested in more can see the other sections for detail and ruminations on sailing and this lifestyle in general. I'm also working on a cruising checklist for those of you considering an extended sailing adventure. Always interested in your thoughts. Take care until next time!

Karen

Fri Dec 19, 2003 7:39:24 PM US/Pacific