15 February 2015
Little Farmer’s Cay, Exumas
Happy belated Valentine’s Day to everyone.
We spent two more days in Staniel Cay after moving the boat between the Major’s cays waiting for a front to pass. Thursday we decided to move south. We watched the cut to the ocean side and noticed large breaking waves. We watched a catamaran go out that rocked and rolled a lot so we waited for the tide to slacken before venturing out ourselves. The breaking waves seemed to be coming in sets of three. So we timed it just right and after three came through we committed… well there were three more right behind (kind of like a sneeze). These waves were huge and as we motored out they came crashing over the boat, not just over the bow but over the boat. The boat literally speared through the waves and the waves crashed over the boat. Once outside the cut the ocean had large gentle swells and we sailed to Blackpoint Sound.
After anchoring we explored islands to the north. Gaulin Cay South is a protected island with many, many iguanas who were very curious but kept their distance. We walked around the island to a huge limestone white rock and small inlet from the ocean with emerald green water and white surf breaking on the rocks, one of the most beautiful sights we’ve seen (sorry no pictures now, but we will return). We were invited to “Sundowners” on Greg and Paula’s boat “Kanga”. They are from Havre de Grace and keep their boat in Middle River.
Two days in Blackpoint Sound then we sailed south to Little Farmer’s Cay. A perfect sailing day on the banks with a 15 knot breeze on our starboard quarter. This cay is 1 1/4 miles long and 7/8’s mile wide. It has a small airstrip and has about 80 residents.
We went to a Valentines Day dinner last night with about twenty - twenty five other cruisers and about 10 or 15 locals at Ocean Cabin’s Restaurant. Dinner was Conch Chowder spiced with Old Bay, Grilled Lobster, Fried grouper, veggies and baked potato followed by Guava Duff for dessert. The proprietor’s were were a gracious couple and very entertaining, the husband was hilarious and acted as MC. After dinner everyone sang the local anthem and the husbands were required to answer questions about their wives on paper. The papers were collected and scored to determine accuracy with the wives. Then each husband was asked to come up to the microphone to express Valentine’s wishes to their wives. The husband with the most correct answers was rewarded with a small stuffed bear, Bella thinks it should be hers.
We may have painted a wrong picture of the out islands of the Bahamas. There are large cities, Nassau and Freeport but we love the out islands, the real Bahamas. The beaches, waters, and sights are as described, beautiful and breathtaking. The cruisers scene is a lot of fun, we meet new people every stop. The Bahamian people are pleasant and have a desire to be helpful in any way they can. They do realize the importance of cruisers and tourists. There is a degree of poverty here. The people don’t lack for food and the necessities. They in general are not ambitious. There are usually a few men standing around drinking and shooting the breeze. Many places the litter is terrible, but other than burning there isn’t anyplace for it. They throw trash anywhere. The housing is the barest necessary to keep the rain out. There are many abandoned houses, many partially built. Some of the houses partially built are waiting for money to continue or shipments of materials. Some settlements have paved roads, some don’t. Some are brightly painted and very clean others are not. We have not felt unsafe anywhere we’ve been, any theft by a local would bring the wrath of the town. Until recently there was no tax on the citizens making less than $100,000 per year. The government income was mostly from tourism and duties. Anything brought into the country was once subject to a 80% duty, recently reduced to 45%. If they bought a $10,000 used car from the states it cost them over $20000 or more because the duty is also applied to the shipping. They instituted a VAT (value added tax) on January 1st of 7.5%, the Bahamian merchants hate it. Each level of sales from wholesale to retail is taxed then there are rebates in a complex manner. Groceries are not as hard to find as we were told. Many of the islands have a “mailboat” or supply boat that comes in once a week. If you find out what day that is you can get fresh vegetables, eggs and milk. It’s hard to find “conveniences”, boat parts, jewelry, cameras, flashlights etc. Toilet paper and potato chips are very expensive. Bring what you need or pay heavy shipping and duties. Rum is cheap, local beer is about $40 per case, sometimes you can find our vodka and liquor fairly cheap and sometimes very expensive. I’ll share some of the history of the islands another time. All that aside we are loving it. Temps currently 75 during the day, 68 at night.
