LITTLE FARMER'S CAY 1/7/2013

        

1/07/2013 THROUGH 1/13/2013











And the wind did come!!!! Since Algonquin docked into the wind at Little Farmer's Cay Yacht Club they fared a little better than Quest.  Dan had pulled around the dock and berthed with the bow to Algonquin, putting our flat stern to the wind.  Oh, and there appears to be a new post to tie your port side to, the idea being to help keep your starboard side from banging against the dock.  Our 15’10” wide boat left little room for movement and the wind was blasting us into the lone pole.  Granted, we did put fenders there but the boat’s movement kept pushing the fenders out and allowing the rub-rail to, well, to-‘to rub’ up against the post.  The first night we were up around 2:00 trying to pry Quest off the post and re-position the fenders.  The second night the wake-up call was a little later, around 2:30.  By the third night Dan had found the perfect tie-up for Quest to maintain a buffer while the bloody wind kept hammering.  It is not the ideal place for us to ride out this blow due to the nearby cut but we are now pinned to the dock until things ease up.  We could be in worse situations.  The groan of the ropes, the slapping water and the constant movement are annoying at times but we are safe and secure her.

QUEST ALL NICE AND TIDY AT THE DOCK AND THE
BAHAMIAN DEFENCE FORCE BOAT THAT JUST HAPPENS
TO BRING ROOSEVELT'S COUSIN

The Farmer's Cay Yacht Club is run by Roosevelt Nixon and his lovely wife Cheryl along with the help of son Julian and his wife Daryl.  They, along with everyone else on the island, do their best to make our stay here most enjoyable.

The walk to town can include a stroll on the airstrip and past the school and the church for the approximately 60 full time residences.  The post office is located in Hallan Rolle’s bright green house and all outgoing and incoming mail is dependent on the weekly mailboat.   We also spotted Little Farmer’s Cay’s lone police car that still sported the Staniel Cay identification.  You see, Staniel Cay has recently gotten a newer, 4WD police car and Little Farmer’s evidently reaped the benefit of their gain.  One afternoon we had lunch at Brenda’s Kitchen, the snack bar adjacent to the little store.  We could choose either fried shrimp or hamburger that day.  Not too bad!  The little store was filled with canned goods but no fresh food at this time.  I am sure she will have it well stocked when we return for the Five F Festival (Little Farmer’s Cay First Friday in February Festival). 

GARTH AND KATHY  CHECK OUT THE POST OFFICE

THE FARMER'S CAY NEIGHBORHOOD SAYS
STANIEL CAY ON IT REAR BUMPER

BRENDA'S KITCHEN FOR LUNCH

KATHY TALKS TO THE LUNCH CROWD

On one of our town visits we watched Carzel and Denzel preparing the conch for sale for cracked conch or fritters.  After the conch meat is removed from the shell it is pounded and pounded to soften it.  For cracked conch it will be dipped into a beaten egg then dredged in flour and fried.  For fritters it will be cut up and mixed into a batter then dropped by the spoonful into fat for frying.  Yes, frying is kind of a theme here.

AFTER CARZEL HANDS IT OVER,
DENZEL POUNDS THE
DEVIL OUT OF THE CONCH

Another way to town will take us along the beach and much time has been spent in that back breaking, bent over beach combing position.  We have found beautiful Stiff pen shells, Zebra ark, Sunrise tellin, colorful little coquina clams, a Bleeding tooth, cowrie, a helmet cowrie and scads of harvested conch.  Along with the natural beauties of the sea we have also found various rubble treasures. 

CONCH ON THE BEACH

BLUE SPINY LOBSTER TAIL SHELL

A LITTLE TRASH WASHED UP IN THE FORM OF
A DEAD OUTBOARD ENGINE 

TREASURE OR TRASH?
DAN AND GARTH ARE HAVING A FIELD DAY
 SCROUNGING THE WASHED UP NETS

The mailboat arrived on Thursday instead of its usual Wednesday but the wind was just too fierce for it to dock here to offload its cargo and two vehicles.  It hovered just out from us while local boats ferried fish, lobster, conch, mail and other things to be shipped off the island then returned with precious supplies and mail to the residents.    On Saturday, with the wind slightly down, they returned to dock at FCYG and offload the nurse’s truck and the principal’s car.  Now, in order for them to accomplish their goal Quest had to loosen her lines and be moved back about 10 feet.  Just when we had her all nice and tight!  Now the vehicles could be driven of the dock after being set down by the on board crane.  Luckily, it all went smoothly but there sure was a lot of excitement going there for a while.

SMALL BOATS SCURRYING TO THE MAILBOAT ON THURSDAY
TO PICK UP SUPPLIES OR DEPOSIT THINGS TO BE DELIVERED TO NASSAU

MAILBOAT DOCKING AT FCYC WITH ALGONQUIN AND  QUEST
"CATCH THAT LINE, JULIAN!"

NOW WE HAVE TO GET THE CAR OFF AND ONTO THE DOCK

TRUCK FIRST! AND HERE WE GO.

NOW THE PRINCIPAL'S CAR IS OFF TOO

MAILBOAT WORKER

Sunday afternoon found Garth and Dan kicking back and watching football while Kathy and I did some walking, beach-combing and blogging on our last full day here on Farmer’s Cay.  We were lucky to catch sight of a ray cruising the bay in town.

ALL NICE AND COMFORTABLE FOR THE FOOTBALL GAME

AH YES, BUT WE SAW THE RAY!