Trying to be Civilized

June 19-24, 2010

Seeing the Light

I'm going to try to do this entry after spending the afternoon on a bar stool at Cracker P's, where Eddie ordered an additional special rum drink of the house, that I didn't need (he didn't need one either!). Our first toast was to “freedom” since we didn't have Captain Wayne around to give us the evil eye about drinking the rum punches. We don't get out on our own very much, for obvious reasons! I'm under a tight time schedule since the internet service that we bought for $35/week will run out tomorrow morning, and we want to get another post done before that.

Since we had to go by Tilloo Bank to get to Marsh Harbor, we decided to drop the hook near the Bank for a couple of nights. Every cruiser should stop at Tilloo Bank, preferably at low tide. It may be the largest sand bank in the Abacos, and I think they have declared it one of their national treasures. It is visible from the Space Station. Vacationers come from all the nearby cays to wallow in the crystal clear, shallow water with the purest of white sandy bottom. It is so bright, you need to wear sun glasses under the water!

Tilloo's Bar

You would have to wonder what is so great about this wallowing I'm speaking of. Well, it is a good way to cool off. You can get some exercise by trying to swim against the current as is spills over the underwater sand dunes. I wear my snorkel and look for natural treasures on the bottom and sea life, which is abundant.

There are lots of small flounder. You have to look carefully to see the first one, but once you do, you are hooked. They are so flat against the sandy bottom, and they change color to blend in with the sand. If you don't startle them, you can see small circles of little blue dots on them that actually make they look pretty. However, their most remarkable feature are their eyes, both of which are on the upside of their flat body. You can see them rotate in their sockets, like with a ratcheting motion which is very comical when they are looking at you.

The other interesting inhabitants are the razorfish, from the wrasse family. These fish, usually under 8” long, are oddly shaped, with a wide head (in the up and down position) with a body that tapers down to the tail. They have long fins that run along the top of their backs that are always moving, so I think they look like they would be slippery. You can get really close to them to the point where you think you can reach out and touch one. However, when they finally get spooked, in the blink of an eye, they are gone, under the sand. I've watched so many of them, trying to see the hole they go in, but it just isn't visible. They are an undersea magic act in their own class.

The biggest attraction to the Bank are the sand dollars. Everyone knows you can never have too many dollars, so I'm not sure anyone ever visits the Bank without picking up more dollars. They range in size from smaller than a dime to larger than a baseball. You should only take home the white, dead ones, not the olive green live ones. If you break that rule, King Neptune will punish you in unpleasant ways.

Dollars and Cents

Another reason for anchoring at Tilloo Bank is that it provides easy access to Sandy Cay, an area that is a designated park (even has small boat moorings to tie up to), most noted for its excellent snorkeling and diving opportunities. I delighted in snorkeling Sandy Cay reef because it is a beautiful, vibrant reef with a variety of colorful underwater plants and animals. People feed the fish, so when you first jump in the water, hundreds of sergeant majors and yellow-tail snappers surround you hoping for a handout. There are a lot of large fish that hang out in the deeper drop off area, waiting to eat the smaller fish. Preserve areas like this are so wonderful in that they allow even novice water enthusiasts the opportunity to easily view sea creatures they may not get to see any where else.

The W & E Marine Maintenance Co. cleaned FLUKE's heat exchanger. The engine has been running a bit too hot, and we are still trying to figure out what may be the problem. See all that grass blocking half the cooling tubes? It isn't supposed to be there, and the tubes had a lot of residue in them. Each tube had to be cleaned using a rifle barrel cleaning brush.

FLUKE's Dirty Radiator

After leaving Tilloo Bank, we headed over to Marsh Harbor area, anchoring in the outskirts of the harbor at a place called Fanny Bay. We thought we would be cooler here, and we didn't relish the idea of having to anchor in the more confined conditions of the busy harbor. Fanny Bay proved to be too exposed to the wakes of the passing boats that were going in and out of the harbor, but fortunately we weren't aboard for most of the one day we spent there anyway.

Our trip into town got off on somewhat of a disconcerting state. When we pulled up to the public dock, a local came running over to “help” us tie up to the dock. Well, we really didn't need any help, but what are you supposed to do when you know that you are going to be gone for a few hours, and there are several of these “helpers” left behind with your dinghy? Having not been into town for a few years, we didn't know if they were part of the New Way or what. So, reluctantly we gave the guy $2 and our bag of garbage to deposit in the nearby dumpster and went into town.

It took the W & E Refer Maintenance Co. 7 trips into several stores to get the freon and fittings that they thought they needed in case our refer takes another nose dive and we aren't within reach of Donnie. Ursa and I waited for them under a tree while the guys went to most of the stores, and I laughed as I looked down the street and could see Wayne walking back and forth across the street, with Eddie-san trailing about 30 ft. behind all the time.

We were sharing the solitary roadside tree with a native lady farmer who was selling water melons and okra from her farm. The melons ranged in price from $5-20, depending on the size. I bought a $5 one, thinking it was small enough to get in the refrigerator. Besides the farmer lady, there were 5 other people (2 adults and 3 kids) that rode into town in the melonmobile. You can see in the photo that the trunk is full, but there were also melons in the back seat, so I think a couple of the kids must have had to sit on top of some of the melons. They were eating, authentic island fare, Kentucky Fried Chicken and fries, the whole time I was standing there. Ursa was drooling at the smell of the chicken.

The Melonmobile

We got up at sunrise to exit Fanny Bay before the morning “rush” hour began when the boat wakes would be constant for a couple of hours. Even though we couldn't read the water colors very well in the poor morning light, we didn't worry much because we were only going over to Elbow Cay, about 7 miles, where we have been many times before. We dropped the hook between the Parrot Cays and Elbow Cay with a perfect view of the lighthouse.

We decided to take a stroll around Hope Town, the little community located on Elbow Cay. It is very picturesque and colorful, with friendly people. We ran into a couple of little girls around 10 years old who wanted to pet Ursa. One of the them was blind and was being led by her companion who exclaimed what a cute dog Ursa was. The vivacious, bubbly, blind girl, Annie, got all excited and exclaimed “let me see her” and held out her hand for me to guide it down to pet Ursa. We ended up running into Annie two more times that morning, and each time she would want to pet Ursa and would say what a cute dog she was. It was touching to see what a joie de vivre outlook Annie seemed to have despite her handicap.

Our land visit was primarily focused on food: eating lunch, buying some tomatoes, and buying a key lime pie from Vernon's Grocery, which seems to have made key lime pies ever since the first key limes were ever harvested. There were no tomatoes (the food barge wasn't arriving for another day), but Vernon said the pies should be out at 1:00. On our previous visits they were usually out by 11:00. So, we decided to go have lunch and then go back for the pie.

Island Color

We sat down at an outside table at Harbour's Edge overlooking the harbor and ordered our traditional island meal: conch burgers and fries. The servings were generous to say the least, so we wouldn't be cooking any dinner later that night; a piece of the key lime pie would be enough to top off the day.

However, when we got back to Vernon's, the 1:00 pie time had been moved to 2:00. We decided not to wait, thinking we may stop by another day and try our luck again. We went back to FLUKE and made brownies instead.

After two nights we moved 2 miles south along Elbow Cay to an area called White Sound. It is most noted for Tahiti Beach, a beautiful beach and sand bar area right at the southernmost tip of the cay. The homes that are along the waterfront are newer: modern, large, and sprawling. I like the older, quaint homes in town proper better. Cracker P's is across the waterway, located on Lubbers Quarters, so it is an easy dinghy ride for us to get there, and more importantly, to be safely able to get back to FLUKE after our “visit”.