After two nights of near total isolation at Bitter Guana Cay, we moved south to Black Point Settlement and anchored in the bay with about 60 other cruising boats. This settlement is quite impoverished and clearly counts on the cruiser's dollars to survive. The restaurants would announce specials on the VHF radio and offered happy hours.
After two nights at Black Point, it was on to Little Farmers Cay for the Five F's. This is the 26th annual First Friday in February at Farmers Festival. We had heard about this festival when we were in Vero Beach, Florida and had decided if we were in the area in time, we had to check it out. The festival is a big deal and attracts a lot of cruises, but also a lot of Bahamians from throughout the Exumas.
On our first night at Farmers, we were invited to dinner aboard the luxury yacht, M and M. The boat is owned my Mark and Martha Thompson from our hometown in Midland. They were gracious hosts and we truly enjoyed our evening with them.
There is a lot of music, dancing, street vendors and activities, but the highlight of thefestival seems to be the C Class sailing regatta. C class boats are about 18 foot long racing boats that carry a crew of 4-5 men. They have ridiculously large sails and are kept upright by putting as much weight as possible out on two long planks, called prys.
On Friday morning the mail boat came in carrying many of the boats, from around the islands, and we watched from our boat as the crane unloaded them and the crews stepped the masts and rigged them.
The racing took place on the other side of the island and we walked over to watch.
Martha, Laurie and other spectators sitting on the deck of the bar waiting for the race to begin.
The race boats are anchored off the beach and skippers and crew are shuttled out to the boats.
At some point in time, a cannon is fired and the crews begin pulling on the anchor line and raise the sail. Amid much yelling and swearing, the race begins.
On the second day of racing, Dan walked over to watch and was sitting on the deck waiting for things to get started. A captain walked up and yelled, "we need one more man." Dan shot out of his seat and volunteered. Minutes later he was delivered to the sailing vessel, "Don't Touch This." Stepping aboard, he began to wonder what he was in for. There was not a life jacket in sight, the boat seemed in ill repair (probably explains why they needed crew) and one of the men was frantically trying to wire a bilge pump (amid much yelling and swearing) to a battery that had been pilfered from a nearby motorboat. He repeatedly was getting shocked from the wet wiring, which caused more yelling and swearing.
No sooner was the pump wired when there was more yelling and swearing and the starting cannon was fired. The anchor was hauled, the sail was hoisted and the skipper, Captain Buzzy started yelling at Dan to, "get out on the f***ing pry Mon!" This meant sliding out on a long 2X8 suspended over the water and hanging on for dear life. Each time the boat tacked, the level of yelling and swearing would increase and the crew would dive into the boat from out on the pry, switch the prys to the other side and scramble back out on the pry, over the water, as Captain Buzzy yelled, "ride the f***ing pry, ride the f***ing pry!"
About half way up the windward leg, the level of yelling and swearing increased and Dan looked back and saw that one of the crew had fallen off the pry and was swimming for all he was worth. Captain Buzzy's volume and language came up a level, and he kept the boat sailing as the crewman was picked up by a motorboat and soon delivered to back to the boat. This caused a tremendous amount of yelling and swearing, directed at the soaking wet crewman.
The sailing vessel, Don't Touch This, completed two races, finishing near the back of the pack. During the third race, the rip in the sail (it was there from the start of the day) increased to the point the boat could not continue and the race was abandoned.
Nothing in Dan's 40 years of sailing and racing can compare to this racing event, but if given another chance, he would go again in a heartbeat.
We plan to move on Sunday as the Festival winds down, but plan to stay in the same general area.
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Location:Little Farmers Cay
