Life Aboard Kind of Magic: Report #12 –Jan 9 2014 to February 7, 2014 –Black Point to George Town, Exuma, Bahamas

Report #12 –Jan 9 2014 to February 7, 2014 –Black Point to George Town, Exuma, Bahamas

We stayed almost 2 weeks at Black Point Settlement on the north end of Great Guana Cay enjoying a non-tourist Bahamian town. Before leaving, we replenished some fresh fruit and veg when Captain C arrived.

Final purchases of fresh bread from Lorraine’s mom done, we were ready to leave when the storm front was approaching.

We travelled about 12 miles south down Great Guana Cay, past the beach we had to ourselves and past Sand Castle (the charts actually note the structure as “castle”! Can you see the sailboat that washed up on their beach 6 years ago during a storm inside the little cove?

Great beach just around corner from Black Point

We pulled in to Little Farmer’s Cay January 15 and dropped anchor off the south east white beach near the cut. We hustled in to Ocean Cabin where Terry Bain and his wife Earnestine run a very well-known and deservedly popular cruiser spot.

Wednesdays are hermit crab race days and we made it in for all three races.

Go #3 !!

I like #3 in the third - He's a mudder and his muddah was a mudder

And they're off

Julian Nixon and his wife on left (Roosevelt Nixon's son), Terry Bain in orange cap

We did alright on the first 2 races but Blair cleaned up the $5.25 pot as the sole winner in race three funding potato chips and pops for a few of the local kids watching the event. That night the front arrived as advertised by Chris Parker. The Cay gave us some protection from the wind as it shifted from south to west and northwest. Cold front indeed, the temperature dropped to about 50 degrees between 2 and 6 am and about 2 inches of rain fell in 35-40 knot winds. Morning arrived and the temperatures rose back to the 70s and the sky slowly brightened. We moved the boat to the north-west side of Little Farmers between the 2 mooring balls in about 8 feet and enjoyed good protection from the NNW to NE winds over the next 5 days.

We were the only boat at Little Farmer’s for the first 2 days and a few boats came and left over the rest of our time there. We had a wonderful time for almost a week meeting many of the about 60 residents. There is an all ages school with 10 children taught by a Guyanan couple working for the Bahamian Ministry of Education. We met JR who is a local wood carver.

JR carving initials in bottom of our owl

JR also farms and has fruit trees and gave us a tour. His farm uses traditional circle pits in the limestone that hold the soil he carefully protects and adds mulch.

Aloe plant's banana flower with a customer in JR's garden

Lots of hens and roosters cockadoddle-doing all day

Walking bridge over stream to Yacht Club

We walked around and over the little pedestrian bridge connecting the main settlement area to Farmers Cay Yacht Club and met Roosevelt Nixon, owner who was giving the bar area a new coat of paint.

I applied for a job and demonstrated my dexterity with a bottle opener but no luck on employment. The YC has a beautiful view.

The government dock is the main place for dinghy docking, using a stern line anchor. We timed one trip in well some fishermen were cleaning their catch and we bought two lobster tails for dinner.

Carsell offered to take us spearing and a couple of days later we went at it scoring 2 lobsters (you should have seen the size of the monster that got away!) and a snapper. Carsell also got a lion fish (they apparently taste great but the spiny fins are poisonous.)

Blair's lobster on spear

We went to church at St. Mary’s Union Baptist on Sunday and Terry’s sister, Caruline Bain-Pinter, is the Paster. The Pastor and the 3-4 ladies of the choir were magnificent in their bright fancy hats and dresses and shoes and purses and they led the 25-30 in the congregation in many wave praises and hymns. After service we walked across the street with Denzel Nottage to his home at “Nottage Cottage” and he showed us his gardens, fruit trees and especially his mango trees.

He gave us a couple of fruits that were also translucent and were very spicy hot – Edi missed his comment to not bite the seeds – VERY hot! Denzel makes shells and rattles to earn a living and we selected a nice rattle for a little boy coming to visit.

Little Farmer’s (there is also Big Farmer’s directly to the south) is a strictly Bahamia cay and the land is generation land. All residents are direct descendants from the original Bahamian settlers John and Anthony Smith, brothers who married two sisters from nearby Musha Cay (which is now owned by magician David Copperfield) to the south. We are slowly learning about generation land. It is land held in common by all descendants of some individual(s) depending on the cay or island. Not all land is generational, some remains held by the Queen/government and some is freehold land which anyone can purchase. Generation land can be taken and developed by anyone with the right lineage. That is why outsiders cannot buy or develop generation land. There are local councils that meet and all those with an interest can attend and have a say. The system has potential for conflicts and we have seen a number of “claims” to land in the form of clearings started, concrete pierings started, spray painted strips along the road with a name etc. The general rule seems to be a descendent can claim land that is not being used and can claim what amount of land they reasonably can use. The developed land can be willed or even sold to another descendent and some settlements have a written record of who has the use of what. Lineage is important. The value of the properties seems unclear and we are told there is never the possibility of a bank mortgage.

Little Farmer’s Cay has a motto “of the 365 Exuma Cays, pick just one” and it would be, of course, Little Farmer’s. Well, we have seen a few of those 365 and it IS Little Farmer’s by a nose (or hermit crab’s claw!) The anchorage got a little crowded as a few more boats arrived and we decided to push on. We have to be in George Town for Edi’s dad who is arriving Feb 13 and so we will not be back for the 5F – Little Farmer’s Cay First Friday in February Festival. This is a BIG festival and food is being prepared as far away as George Town and locals and cruisers alike will be attending from George Town to Nassau. Bands, DJs, food, from day and all through the night until the next morning. We will be back to Little Farmer’s and will look forward to this event next time through.

We pushed on early on a rising tide and meandered our way through the very shallow banks surrounding the Farmers, past Cave Cay and made our way past the Galliot Cut and in to Musha Cay. We had seen a travel show that reviewed Musha Cay – you can rent the entire shebang for $245,000 a day (magic shows are extra) or, if your budget is a little tight, you can just rent a villa or two. David Copperfield owns this Cay and 4 other little ones around (the generator is located on one of those.) We got our money’s worth as we went past very slowly and then skeedaddled before the bill (or security boat) arrived! We anchored at the next Cay, in sight of Musha, at Rudder Cut Cay in front of our very own private beach. A couple of other boats were in sight and it seemed we all had our own private and separate beaches – no charge!

The boat behind us looked familiar and we hailed “Sea Wolf” and determined yes it was. We had first seen Sea Wolf, home port Toronto – ex owners – at the Annapolis Harbour Boat Yard where Mike was installing an SSB (single side band) radio and we had a quick look. Then we got hailed by Sea Wolf just north of Jeckyll Island when they mistook us for another sailboat (we sailboats all look alike to motor yachters!) The captain was surprised when I asked him how his SSB was! Anyhow, we finally met Gabe and Gail the owners.

Earlier that afternoon we had a visit from Jeffery and his mate who had been fishing and spearing a little further south as they were heading back home to Little Farmer’s. We had our lobster from our spearing trip but we asked if we could purchase a couple of conchs. Jeffery wanted to give us the conch but a deal was struck for 2 at the price of $10, a beer for Delroy and an orange juice for Jeffery.

We had met Jeffery at Little Farmer’s when we arrived and one morning before church had sat at the lookout by government dock and chatted. Jeffery is simply a great guy. If you want to go spearing, fishing, want a guide or tour, look him up. Other cruisers, Pete and Chris on Scooter (the committee boat from the Staniel Cruisers’ Regatta) said they have known him since he was a child and yes, our opinion of the man was bang on.

So, we got a lesson in getting conch out of the shell and cleaning it and had the other ingredients for a great conch salad. We scooted over to Sea Wolf for drinks and munchies, our contribution being an AWESOME conch salad (fresh locally grown tomatos and green onion from Rolleville on Great Exuma bought on Little Farmers and some orange all diced up with conch and drizzled with lime juice -- mmmmmmm :) Surprise surprise, Pete and Chris(tine) on Scooter had stopped to say hello and had dropped off a lobster. These two are long-time cruisers here and Pete is a good hunter. Pete and Chris gave Edi a real compliment on the conch salad – it could have been made by a Bahamian.

We had a great time and Gabe and Gail invited us for dinner so we went back to Kind of Magic to reprovision (get more beer, cruisers bring their own food and drink when going to another boat for sundowners etc.) and got our lobsters to put together with Pete’s lobster and Gabe went to work making dinner and his secret ingredient was vodka. Gabe and Gail have a condo in Mississauga having sold their house in TO and they have a cottage near Parry Sound. They have moved onto their boat, a 44’ Kady Kroegan. Well, small world because in addition to all this, Edi found out that Gabe was born in Novi Sad, 100km from where she was born in Subotica both being citizens of that no longer in existence country Yugoslavia. Oh, Novi Sad is also where Edi’s mom was born. We had a fabulous time and look forward to crossing paths again some day. The next day Gail hailed us as they departed for George Town via Rudder Cut and we waited for high tide so we could move on south on the banks.

We departed January 21 on a rising tide and picked our way carefully past Darby Island and the Pimblicos in as little as 5 feet of water (hey, lots of room and at least 3 inches to spare!) and moved past Norman’s Pond and Leaf Cays and the Adderly Cut. We inched into an 8 foot hole and anchorage in front of the now defunct Caribbean Marine Research Centre on Lee Stocking Island and stayed there for a few days.

The Centre was operating up to a couple of years ago but the island was put up for sale. We heard it has sold and by next year will be another island or cay off the list of those open for cruisers to walk on. We dinghied in one day when no-one was around and hiked over the airport strip (looks like it has not been used in a long time) and over to the Atlantic side and wandered the mile long beach and picked through the flotsam and jetsam. There is all sorts of debris that gets washed up especially on the eastfacing beaches and there is a holiday in the Bahamas – I think in September, call Shoreline Clean-up Day. The debris is a stark reminder of how out-of-hand our reliance on plastics has become. We found debris from Europe and lots of buckets and containers, fishing netting, polyester rope etc., all of which we had seen before but not in such quantity. We had helped clean up a beach in Warderick Wells at the Exumas Park but this would require some real work – and a dumpster. The island and the beaches are just beautiful even with the debris. We swam and dinghy explored and walked and gathered some coconuts for the meat and the juice.

Time to move and we motored just 5-6 miles south to Children’s Bay Cay and stayed there for 2 nights.

View from Kind of Magic at Children's Bay Cay, of Sound through opening

We dinghied into Bareterre one afternoon and wandered about, stopping at “Same Ole Place” for lunch. Ken the owner had bought a TV and for that past 3 weeks could not get the cable working on it but had been waiting for a cruiser. Oh-oh, pressure time. Well, we got the tuner code online and presto, the cable was working in time for Superbowl weekend. Ken and his wife were happy! We topped up some items at Rayanne’s convenience store and chatted with the owner. A couple of young men had stopped in and it came up that the owner was a retired teacher from the high school in George Town. Somewhere in the conversation she told us and the fellows to “be good” and we all said “Yes ma’am” and she laughed and said her students always called her “Miss Lloyd.” Stop in at Bareterre, dinghy in from behind Rat Cay or around there and stop in and say hello to Miss Lloyd, she is every inch the caring lady. We chatted with a local guy on the dock (great government dock with a GOOD dinghy dock) and our shore excursion was over.

Well, we had travelled the banks as far as we could without going west and down the shallow “Sout Side” which we would save for another time. It was time to jump out to the Sound via Rat Cay Cut and we picked a perfect day – sunny, warm, NW 15K wind. 4 hours later we entered Elizabeth Harbour and picked our way through about 150 boats to drop anchor in row 4 in front of the Chat ‘N Chill at Volleyball Beach.

Chat 'N Chill

Another view of Chat N Chill

Kind of Magic, second boat from back, slightly to left

George Town is cruiser headquarters for the Bahamas. Most of those boats flowing south from the Great Lakes and the Erie Canal, from Montreal and Lake Champlain and the Hudson River, from the Chesapeake Bay and the Carolinas and Florida are going to the Bahamas (some after stopping in the Florida Keys and some want to go to the Bahamas but for a host of reasons don’t.) Of the boats going to the Bahamas and no further, George Town is THE DESTINATION. Some boats will get to GT for the season and stay, others will take side trips and come back for recharging water, fuel, provisions and will reconnect to the “permanent contingent.” Of the boats going on south, for a time, everyone stops in George Town.

GT is located on Great Exuma Island and has an International Airport. Air Canada flies in once or twice a week in the season via Nassau and it is a 3 1/2 hour flight. The population of the island (Baretarre, Stevenston, Rolleville, Rolle Town and George Town) is about 3,000. The cruisers are a big business here and so are the fly-in tourists (there is a Sandals resort and lots of rental units – in our opinion they would be the best way to go, and also 2 reasonable hotels, the Peace and Plenty and Hideaways.) The town is a great laid back town and there are lots of fundraisers going on, all well attended by, and contributed to, the cruisers.

St Theresa's BBQ

Bake sales, 50-50 draws etc are funding a commercial oven at the high school, St. Theresa’s had an afternoon BBQ and with fundraising activities, etc etc. There are about a dozen restaurants in GT and just north at The Fish Fry (a very small town just north of GT.)

After 1 week here (arrived January 27) we have the lie of the land and have been in and around all the spots (Exuma Yacht Club, best bar view – close second is St Francis resort on Stocking Island just past Chat N Chill.) Top II Bottom is the General Store with everything from boater’s supplies to hardware to houseware to children’s toys to fishing supplies to… Two Turtles is a budget hotel right on the main strip with a little cabana bar overlooking the road. Duane Deveaux is the young man tending bar who waves as you walk by.

Go up and have a drink and ask Duane to sing some of his music. He is a singer, rapper and sticks to the romantic themes. The girls love him and Edi for some reason keeps suggesting stops there for a beer. Duane’s looking for some help with his career especially making a Youtube video.

GT central is the Victoria Lake (aka The Pond) accessed under an 8’ bridge. There is a road which runs all around it where most of GT businesses, court, government, medical clinic, supermarkets, churches etc are located. When the tide is running the waves piling up on the outside are truly powerful (the level of tide ranges about 3 feet +/- and that is a very large volume of water inside the pond (the 8 foot wide bridge here is the ONLY inlet/outlet so it can be interesting especially if the wind is in line with the bridge!)

Entering Lake Victoria

Leaving Lake Victoria

Dinghy dock in Lake Victoria at Exuma Market (grocery store)

Up from dinghy dock with Exuma Market to left and Bikini Bottom to right. Where else would you put the welcome sign?!

Exuma Market street side

The main anchorages on the Stocking Island side are, north to south, Monument Beach, Volleyball Beach and Sand Dollar Beach (yes there are several sub-anchorages there to.)

Volley Ball Beach anchorage (we're back there somewhere)

Monument Beach anchorage

Hamburger Beach (named for now-clsd restaurant)

Us at Volleyball Beach Chat N Chill just to left of the Conch Shack

On the other side, there is an anchorage close to the Pond and a little further south on that side is Red Shanks anchorage which is a little further away and a bit more isolated. Current boat count is 225. Regatta is coming up February 21 to March 2 with races, fund raisers (the cruisers really try to partner with GT and be a positive and beneficial force and not just be remote holidayers) baseball tournament, 4 on 4 beach volleyball tournament etc.

The cruisers have a morning net on VHF Channel 72 at 8am starting with emergencies, weather (recap of Chris Parker’s 6:30 am so we are sleeping in!!), local business announcements (lunch and dinner specials, BBQs, happy hour specials, texas hold’em poker tournament etc), community announcements and activities such as: yoga class every morning, beach church, fund raiser at…, bake sale for…, kids volleyball tournament, kids net after morning net, electrical seminars for alternators/solar panels/wind generators bring your questions, conch horn making, palm weaving, Rockin Ron’s Rock and Roll Party (longtime cruiser with partner Kool Karen!), ARG (alcohol research group) on Hamburger Beach bring an appetizer and a beverage, alcoholics anonymous – 2 meetings a week… Well we could go on but we have to get to Volleyball beach for our next class.

George Town has been described to us as a love it or hate it place and as winter camp for overgrown teenagers. Well, yes, it is all that and more. Pick and choose, get involved or don’t, go to one and skip the rest, stay a while and go to another island and come back until you need another break. There really is something for everyone, for cruisers and land-based sunseekers alike. The Bahamas is a really great country and the Exumas Cays are the crown jewels anchored by GT, the big town and party central. Air Canada flights are $6-700 and an efficiency can be rented for about $1000 / week. Meals can be had for $10-15, beers are $4 and there are stores for beer and liquor and well-stocked supermarkets (2.) Why haven’t we heard of this place before?

6-7 years ago there were over 700 boats for GT’s Regatta. This year the hope is for 300+. We are enjoying ourselves and will be here until after Regatta. Edi’s dad arrives next week for 7 days and then the day he leaves Homer and Kerrie and their boys arrive for 9 days. We are looking forward to these visits and especially the “goody bag” Joseph is bringing for us and the boat. We have a few repairs to effect after 5,000 KM and 5 month’s constant motion have done their work and GT is a great place to be to do those jobs.

Oh, one last item, we had a visit from a local fishing guy, who ended up being the highlight of our travels so far.

who's the pretty dolphin, you are

Blair and Jaws

We noticed Flipper the dolphin beside the boat and then realized he was swimming around the boat. Afterwards, we decided that the sound of our fuel pump going thump thump thump through the hull while scrubbing our diesel through the filter/water separator likely attracted him. Well, after 10 minutes and about 5 laps we decided to go swim with him.

Edi, swimming with Flipper

He kept swimming in a counter-clockwise direction around the boat and within about 5 feet and closer to the boat. He noticed us and let us swim with him. Blair swam first for about 30 minutes and Edi then for about 15 minutes. We got close enough to touch him and he seemed interested in us. When we swam away from him or didn’t swim fast enough he would turn around and come back to us as if to say “Come on, keep up now…!” Now how kewl is that?! :-)