Tabitha’s Tales

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See http://www.audience.co.uk/adventure_files/Trip2/Pics6.htm for new photos.

Sorry, thought we posted these ages ago!

We parted company with ‘Dream Catcher’ who sailed on to George Town =
where they want to be for the Junkanoo celebrations at New Year. We =
chose instead to take more time over the delights of the Exuma islands =
which are one of the best parts of the Bahamas.

We came sailed just 5 or 6 miles south to Black Point on Great Guana =
Cay. This is community of around 300 people - very friendly - with one =
or two grocery stores (both smaller than Skoulings store in our =
village at home) and a fabulous laundrette. While Sue did the laundry, =
(I did it all on our 5 month trip) the girls and I were were collared =
by a local artist who gave us a tour of his life’s work. A sculpture =
garden he has created from driftwood found over the last 30 years. It =
was quite an experience and we came away with hands full of Tamarind =
seeds and Papaya fruit.

These island settlements are amazing. The houses are mostly single =
story and wooden. The ground is mostly stone and the climate is very =
dry. None the less, most gardens have small pockets of cultivation =
though not in the regimental rows that we are accustomed to at home. =
We see very few people about. This community has three churches and a =
small school but though it is the school holidays, we have seen very =
few children - quite different to Bimini where they were playing =
everywhere and took quite an interest in us.

We visited the store today but as the mailboat doesn’t arrive until =
tomorrow we were unable to secure any bread or other fresh produce so =
Sue has again baked bread which is in any case, better and cheaper =
than the shop bought stuff.

The wind continues to blow quite strongly but at least it is from the =
direction which provides us with some reasonable shelter.

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Christmas in the Bahamas started with a beach party. People bought =
food to share and their own drinks. We built a fire during the day =
around which the more enthusiastic sang carols and Christmas songs.

Elspeth and Peta put their seaboots out in the cockpit for Santa (he =
came on the VHF several times during the day to say he was on his =
way). Someone read out ‘the Night before Christmas’ craftily adapted =
for cruising folk as we settled down for the night.

There was no snow but on Christmas morning the girls found their =
seaboots full of presents. At noon we braved a rather rough sea in the =
dinghy (fully togged in foul weather gear) to head for the sailing =
club at Staniel Cay for their annual children’s party at which of =
course Santa made an appearance. The girls came away with some =
worthwhile presents (Peta an Etch-a-sketch and a )

There is free wi-fi internet access so we were able to view our online =
Christmas cards and Skype (telephone) home.

Christmas lunch - served in the traditional manner at about 5pm - was =
a small but absolutely delicious chicken cooked in our tiny oven with =
roast potatoes. It was one of the best Christmas meals we have had and =
despite its modest proportions there was still too much for us to eat =
in one sitting. Sue made an absolutely delicious baked cheese cake to =
follow.

Among the girl’s presents were three videos which we picked up at a =
bookswap shelf in a marina in Florida. One of these was ‘The Sound of =
Music’ so in keeping with British tradition we all sat down to that =
Christmas staple while we waited for the chicken to cook.

Even the Queen’s Christmas speech featured in our Christmas day as it =
was rebroadcast in Radio Bahamas in the morning.

Today is Boxing Day which I think is also observed by the Bahamians - =
another legacy of British colonial times. Junkanoo - the Bahamian =
carnival - which should have taken place today was postponed due to =
the bad weather that we are currently sheltering from (a meeting at 12 =
noon on Christmas Day between meteorologists, the Junkanoo organisers =
and the Prime Minister no less, took the decision). The Bahamians are =
unbelievably excited about Junkanoo which is highly competitive and =
taken very seriously by all. The main event is in Nassau which of =
course we left in our wake some weeks ago.

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More school and more hunting yesterday (Friday). This time I didn’t =
manage to spear any fish but I did find a conch and Robert from the =
French Canadian catamaran speared a lobster which we have enjoyed =
aboard their boat. The Atlantic lobster found in these parts differ =
substantially from the American variety found in Maine and Nova =
Scotia. They have no pincers and therefore rely on defensive maneuvers =
(hiding under rocks) to survive during the day. They are very =
difficult to spot.

The big event of the day was to dive at Thurderball Grotto. This is an =
underwater cave that featured as a location in the James Bond films =
‘Thunderball’ and ‘Never say never again’. You dive through a hole in =
the rock to enter a large cavern within. The light filtering through =
the various caves into the grotto make a most impressive site and =
masses of colourful tropical fish top off the experience. We all dived =
in and Elspeth and I spent some time swimming in and out of the =
underwater caves. A truly memorable experience.

More spear fishing today and more lobster caught but sadly not by me. =
They really are very hard to spot.

I got back to find that the girls had decorated the cabin. We have a =
twelve inch Christmas tree and various decorations that they have =
made. It really does look very festive. Tonight we will pull out our =
strings of colored lights and decorate the cockpit.

We have managed to buy a small Bahamian frozen chicken for our =
Christmas lunch which looks as though it will be a modest affair (no =
sprouts!). Our Christmas normally starts at 3pm on Christmas Eve when =
we tune into the service of nine lessons and carols from Kings =
College, Cambridge. It is broadcast worldwide on the BBC World Service =
so I had looked forward to tuning in as usual this year but sadly - =
due to the time difference the service is in the morning and we can =
only get the World Service in the afternoon.

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It has been a good day. It started as usual with school which went =
reasonably well. The I was called away to go ‘hunting’ with Dave and =
DJ from Dream Catcher. We were after lobster and took our spears out =
to a nearby reef but we didn’t see any. Dave managed to bring back a =
large conch while I managed to spear my first fish. A sizable Queen =
Parrot fish. I think we could have got more but he tide was strong and =
it was hard work swimming just to stay in position. we ate him for =
supper - grilled on the BBQ with rice and lentils.

The girls spent the day at the beach with the swimming pigs whilst I =
went into town with Dave. We left gas (propane) bottles to be filled =
but of course they hadn’t been done - we are on ‘island time’ now! I =
managed to buy a tiny frozen chicken which will become our Christmas =
lunch. I had hoped we would be able to find a fresh bird but the =
Bahamains seem to do very little subsistence farming. I guess it must =
be the lack of rainfall but we see very few areas of back-yard =
cultivation.

Later I dropped the girls off at the beach and was able to see the =
swimming pigs for myself. They live on the beach and readily swim out =
to greet dinghy’s arriving at the beach. The females seem to be of the =
pink domestic variety whilst the males have a more wild boarish look =
to them - I am not sure whether that makes sense or not. I guess the =
real coup would have been flying pigs but swimming ones do make =
another first to add to my sailing experience!

The girls have built a den on the beach which has already been invaded =
by the pigs. Not that the girls seem to be worried by that. They are =
more concerned with the ongoing war between them and the boys from the =
French Canadian catamaran + DJ of course.

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This way of life certainly has a way of offering up plenty of new =
experiences. For instance, yesterday was my first time taking the =
dinghy into a dock with sharks swimming around just beneatht he =
surface of the water. They were nurse sharks so no threat but it still =
quite a bit different to the River Deben back home.

Today the weekly mail boat came in so rather than the stock of just a =
few tomatoes, potatoes and cabbage, the store had lots of fresh veg to =
choose from. The arrival of the mail boat was announced on the VHF =
radio so when I arrived at the shop I found quite a clutch of cruisers =
waiting while the shop restocked its shelves. Things are quite pricey =
but prices aren’t marked so we ended up buying a cucumber for nearly =
$5 and a pack of three Romaine lettuce for $7. We are paying the same =
price that the islanders pay so one can’t grumble.

Also announced on the VHF was an invitation to ‘happy hour’ on the =
beach (bring your own drinks and nibbles to share). It was a good =
opportunity to meet some of the peopke with which we will be spending =
Christmas. In addition to DJ and Nichol from ‘Dream Catcher’ there =
were two boys from a French Canadian catamaran.

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We sailed south east along the chain of Exuma islands and came to the =
Exuma National Park. This was the world’s first marine nature reserve =
and it certainly fits the bill with pristine beaches, astoundingly =
clear water and beautiful areas of coral.

We are in the company of the American catamaran Dream Catcher so the =
girls are happy. Yesterday we anchored close to an area labeled on the =
chart as an aquarium. Snorkeling down we were amazed to be completely =
surrounded by thousands of colourful fish of up to 50 different types =
of brightly coloured tropical fish. After we had left, ‘Dream Catcher’ =
found we had also been in swimming in the company of a small nurse =
shark.

We have had some wonderful sailing in 18 - 25 knots of wind. Sheltered =
from the ocean by the islands we are sailing in relatively flat seas =
and thus getting speeds of 7-7.5 knots which is great fun. Elspeth =
sailed aboard Dream Catcher this morning and is still aboard as we =
have ended up some distance from each other and the weather is not =
suitable for a long dinghy ride.

We have now come to Staniel Cay where we will be for Christmas. It is =
a popular spot and we find there are quite a few other boats anchored =
in the same bay including several we know. There more Canadians than =
Americans, I suspect because the Americans will want to spend =
Christmas in the States before crossing over. We are the only British =
boats we have seen for a long time but I did hear a British voice on =
the Radio this morning. In fact I notice they have just anchored =
behind us.

We may see more British boats towards the Spring when some boats may =
come up from the West Indies before crossing home.

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We stayed an extra day at Allen Cay and hopped straight to Norman’s =
Cay. The distances are now much shorter making for easy days.

Norman’s Cay was once a stronghold of a Columbian drug baron and =
walking ashore, it is very easy to imagine bandits smuggling drugs =
into the States from the airstrip on the island. We dived today on the =
wreck of a plane which was shot down by the American drugs enforcement =
agency. It was amazing to see the plane - fairly intact with fuselage, =
both wings and tailplane and cockpit all intact but encrusted with =
weed and coral beginning to form.

There are few facilities on these islands and we ran out of bread =
yesterday but Sue today produced two wonderful loaves. Her first ever =
bread!

We met-up again with Dream Catcher and walked ashore. On the dock a =
group of Bahamian fishermen were butchering a beautiful giant sea =
turtle. A protected species I suspect, though they said they were =
allowed to take one a year. They live to a grand old age and it was a =
sad sight.

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Elspeth and Peta worked hard to complete school early yesterday so =
that they could spend the day exploring this wonderful setting on one =
of the few precious calm days. They are good friends with the children =
on ‘Dream Catcher’ and played all day in and out of the water. Being a =
catamaran with much more space to play, as usual that vessel became =
the host to the days activities which extended into the evening with a =
conch feast.

I spent more than three hours snorkeling among the reefs, a 4′ spear =
in hand, hunting for our supper. In the event, all we were able to =
find was some large conch which in the evening became conch fritters =
and conch chowder. The array of tropical fish and different types of =
coral was of course stunning.

‘Seaduction’, a boat we first met in Maine in August, joined as as the =
only other boat in this idyllic anchorage.

Today we will move on only a few miles south to Highborne Cay. It =
seems we have two or three days of reasonably settled weather before =
the wind blows up again from the north east.

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