Heading to Little Farmer's Cay
Amberisle2
Valt & Sandy
Sun 24 Feb 2013 16:19
23:97:642N. 076:32:986W
Laundry complete, veggies restocked, enjoyed anniversary dinner of cracked conch at Lorraine's Cafe, visited Bertram and Verneice Brown. We learned that the government cut the supply boat run from 4 per month to 3 due to high fuel costs. This means that the stores have little to sell. While inconvenient for us, I fear some of the shop keepers will go out of business due to the cut in revenues. We spoke with a Bahamian woman who just opened a produce stand, then found she could not get stock. She cannot buy more each time because she has limited cash and limited storage.
A swell from the south wrapped around the point and made for a lumpy morning. The 10 mile trip south was also lumpy but the waves lessened as we neared Little Farmers Cay. We planned to anchor off Oven Rock, but opted for the calmer area closer to Little Farmers. We hopped into the dinghy with the glass bottomed look bucket to check the set. The anchor was buried. Too bad we cannot check the anchor set anywhere else. Only here in the clear Bahamian waters.
An emergency call came in on the VHF radio from nearby Musha Cay. Musha Cay is owned by magician David Copperfield and rents for some $250,000 per week. Seems they'd lost 7 parrots. Soon all cruisers in the area began watching for them. Sadly, as of this writing they had not been recovered. I doubt they could survive on their own.
A "Hello" sounded from out back. It was Don from Little Farmers Cay, asking if we wanted to go on a cave tour. I declined and he regaled me with facts about the island. He said he was grandson to the woman who originally bought the island.
Terry Bains, owner of Ocean Cabins restaurant and mooring balls announced a hermit crab race, fashioned after a major horse race. Bets were $.25 and we picked from 8 contestants. Entertainment is highly prized here, so soon several dinghies were tied up in the harbor. A bulls- eye shaped track was painted on the porch. After all bets were placed Terry dumped the bucket of crabs in the center and we cheered for our favorites. There were three heats and Valt won two and placed in the last. A fellow race fan was a Latvian woman, Maruta. Born in Latvia, she immigrated to America 13 years ago. Terry was especially tickled to hear them speak Latvian together, begging them to stay and speak more.
Heading back to Amber Isle, we saw friends in a sailboat. They had mechanical problems, and Valt promised to return tomorrow to help, either with needed hardware or consulting.
It had been a long day and we were glad to tuck into our boat and relax.
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