S/V Solitaire 2010 Cruise Log #4

Leaving Little Farmers

 

 

Sunday, December 27, 2009

 

Departed:       Big Majors Spot, Exumas at 11:16

Arrived:          Black Point Settlement, Exumas at 12:48

Enroute:         1 hour 32 minutes

Distance:       8.7 nautical miles

 

After spending a nice Christmas with friends on Fine Lion, Sapphire and Veranda, we decided it was time to start moving south.  We stopped for one night at Black Point Settlement awaiting favorable tides for the approach to Little Farmers.

 

Monday, December 28, 2009

Departed:       Black Point Settlement, Exumas at 13:07

Arrived:          Little Farmers Cay, Exumas at 15:43

Enroute:         2 hours 36 minutes

Distance:       11.8 nautical miles

 

We’d only been back on Little Farmers for a few days when we received word that my son, Jon Fleming, had passed away unexpectedly on December 31, 2009. In a state of shock and disbelief, I left the Exumas for a long trip back to Washington State.  Jim stayed in Little Farmers Cay taking care of the boat. It has not been easy - returning to the Bahamas and trying to resume our cruising life.  We’ve spent the past six weeks at Little Farmers Cay – mostly keeping to ourselves and coming to grips with our loss.  As they say, each day gets a little bit easier.

 

This is our third year on Little Farmers.  We know just about everyone on the Island and have become honorary residents; although, we’ve got a long way before we’ll be on par with Jim and Stephanie who have been spending time on Little Farmers for the past twenty-three years in their sailboat, “Eagle”.  For this year’s “5F” (First Friday in February Farmers Cay Festival), Stephanie and I helped raise money to build a Little League field on the Island. We sold sand dollars that were decorated by the local kids and baked goods (cupcakes, brownies and cookies).  Before I could cook any foods aboard Solitaire for resale, I had to attend a day-long food service class with other cooks from Exuma restaurants and get a health certificate.  

 

Every time we visit Little Farmers, we stay on a mooring ball off Whiteland Beach.  The location provides good protection from strong winds and has kept us comfortable during the twice-a-week cold fronts that have plagued us this winter.  When we go ashore, we tie up to the government dock next to the settlement’s fish cleaning station.  Each afternoon, you’ll find the local fishermen cleaning their conch, lobsters, and fish.  A family of sting rays swims in the nearby shallow waters, waiting for the leftovers. A couple weeks ago, we approached the dock just as locals, Barry and Dion, were trying to land a ten-foot hammerhead shark.  When Barry spotted the shark in Little Harbour; he tied a huge hook onto a length of rope, baited it with fish guts and threw it into the water. The shark took the bait immediately and nearly pulled Barry and Dion into the bay.  They coiled the rope around a piling and waited for the shark to wear itself out.  Barry’s dad showed up with a shotgun and finished the job. I’m sure glad that I didn’t run into that guy while I was swimming and snorkeling in those same waters – gives you the creeps just thinking about it.

 

We had another interesting experience during our stay at Little Farmers – a sailboat filled with Haitian refugees came into the mooring field, accompanied by the Police and Bahamas Defense Force. Forty-two men and thirteen women were onboard, having left Haiti four days earlier bound for the United States. The cruisers in port rallied together and provided food, water, clothing and blankets for the Haitians. What an amazing feeling it was to be able to give help and have one-on-one interaction with these brave young people who were so gracious and thankful.  The heartbreaking part of the story is that, after all their efforts, they were taken back to Haiti the following day.

 

We awoke on the morning of our 50^th day on Little Farmers and decided it was time to go.  We were at slack high tide; there were one or two foot seas on the sound; and the winds (although still right on our nose) were light.  We’d said our goodbyes the night before, so we slipped out of harbor with the rising sun.

 

Monday, February 15, 2010

Departed:       Little Farmers Cay, Exumas at 07:27

Arrived:          Emerald Bay, Great Exuma Island at 12:27

Enroute:         5 hours

Distance:       30.8 nautical miles

Trip to Date:   435 nautical miles

 

Emerald Bay is an upscale marina situated on the northeastern coast of Great Exuma Island, about ten miles north of Georgetown.  The rates (.50 per foot per day until yesterday) and the amenities (free laundry, internet, shuttle, etc.) are hard to beat. It’s also one of those places where you are bound to run into people you know; such as, Jim and Gwen on Innisfree, who we spent time with on Cat Island last year.

 

We rented a car and drove into Georgetown on Wednesday for a trip to the Immigration office so that Jim could renew his visa.  Business concluded, we spent the rest of the day exploring Little Exuma and Great Exuma (connected by a one-lane bridge).  We love our road trips – wandering the Queens Highway and back roads, stopping to visit with residents and find out about local attractions.  We ran across old navigation pillars, abandoned salt ponds, loyalist ruins, ancient tombs, and a marker on the beach telling us we’d crossed the tropic of cancer. Along the way we stopped for Bahamian home cooking at an open-air roadside grill in Williams Town, Little Exuma.

 

Tomorrow the winds are favorable for a forty-eight mile sail across Exuma Sound to Thompson Bay, Long Island.