Staniel Cay 2
Ambler Isle
V and S
Thu 20 Jan 2011 16:33
|
We launched the dinghy and drove to try out the new
restaurant at Staniel Cay, the Taste and Sea Café. It is located right on
the water by the settlement park. Typical Bahamian "poor business"
thinking they had declared Sunday, "Beef Day." The offerings for dinner
were meatloaf with potatoes, steak with potatoes, or hamburger with fries.
What if I didn't eat red meat? Or potatoes? Oh well, but we are beef
eaters, and the hamburger sounded good. While we waited for our meal we
watched local kids play on the beach. Seven black Bahamian children, and
one very small white kid. They tolerated both his youth and color very
well. After our dinner, we took a walk, marveling that we'd become so much
better at walking around. Places that seemed too far to walk just a few
years ago were easier this year. Back at the boat a cruiser announced he
would beach his catamaran and play Avatar on his sails for anyone who wanted to
join them.
Next morning we were enjoying coffee hour when the VHF
crackled with an announcement. "Hot Bread." Not much
interrupts coffee hour aboard Amber Isle, but in not time we
loaded up the dinghy and headed for the settlement. Valt let me off on the
beach and I scurried ahead of another group of boaters with the same idea.
I picked up 2 very hot loaves of fresh coconut bread, $6 each. Next stop
was the Staniel Cay Yacht Club for dinghy fuel. We filled the inboard tank
with 13 gallons, two 5-gallon gas cans, and one 1-gallon can, total 23
gallons, $120.00. While Valt refueled, I took several bags of trash
to the dumpster. On the way back, I stopped at the dive shop, curious to
know where they took their guests diving. A bulletin board warned of the
Pacific lion fish invasion. Seems the lion fish has no predators and
is decimating the local fish populations. The dive shop owner said they
were promoting tournaments to hunt them for food, a slow
process. They are affecting the entire Caribbean, and committees have
been formed to study the problem. As usual, the Bahamian government is
behind the times and can't work up a plan. Their best plan is to
allow trigger spear guns to hunt them. A useless solution, since the lion
fish knows no fear and allows a diver to come right up to him to shoot. No
need for a more powerful spear. (And this would lead to using trigger
spear guns to hunt other species of fish.)They refuse to consider allowing scuba
to hunt them. They refuse to consider special permits to hunt them in the
sea park which is closed to all fishing. And Bahamians refuse to eat
them. They may have no choice when there are no other fish in the
sea.
Back in the dinghy, we took the long way home
through the Big Majors Spot and the Little Majors Spot. Although we have
occasionally anchored here, there were no boats. We passed the "Thorn of
Crowns." It is fun to compare the charts on our old chart plotter to the
new one we just installed on the dinghy. It is so accurate, we often plug
it into the helm station when we navigate Amber Isle. Along the
way we tore off hunks of fresh hot coconut bread and ate them. The
forecast is for the winds to clock around to the S-SW overnight. This
would leave us exposed, but the prediction is for only 15k winds. We sure
seem to obsess about wind, but it is the single most important factor in our
safety and comfort here in the Bahamas.
|