Stranded Naked

June 29, 2012

This is one of those rare times I am writing the blog “real time”.  Today is really June 29, and I will be talking about what we did today.  If all goes well, we will be able to post this tomorrow.

After we left Hope Town harbor yesterday, we had a four hour run northward, including transiting the Whale Cay Passage again.  All was mostly calm and uneventful.

Since it was already past 6:00 p.m. when we rounded the Whale and were back in the Sea of Abaco, we decided to anchor in Crossing Bay, on the north end of the Treasure Cay beach.  Winds were forecast to be light out of the NW, so we thought we would be fine there.  We never did get enough west wind so gentle rollers rounded the northern tip of land off the beach making for too much roll to suit my comfort level.  Plus, around 3:00 a.m. no-see-ums started to attack.  Turning on the fan helped ward them off, but sure didn't help with the roll. 

I couldn't wait to pull up the anchor this morning and move north to Manjack, one of our favorite anchorages where we would have an easy dinghy ride over to the Stranded Naked party on Fiddle Cay this afternoon. 

Wayne and Ursa at the main sign

I think if you looked in the previous blogs where I have talked about this event you couldn't tell much difference from the photos I'll post today.  The sponsors reuse all the same “props”, tents, transportation vehicles, cooking gear etc.  We even recognize many of the same people year after year, and many people remember Ursa.  The whole party is very family oriented, including a big welcome for dogs.

Stranded Naked is the kick-off party for the annual event known as Regatta Time in Abaco.  Over the next week, sailing regattas and their accompanying award party celebrations will be held on several islands here in the Abacos.

Recognizing patriots

Even though this is a Bahamian party for their annual event, Stranded Naked is a swimwear line owned by an American couple who have sponsored this party for years.  Plus, mostly tourists attend the parties, so showing some American patriotism is acceptable.

Lines of people and boats

It is amazing what a great job the party goers do getting their boats all lined up in an organized fashion around the big sandbar on the west side of Fiddle Cay.

There are 3 main lines:  the food line, the bar line, and the merchandise line.  Believe it or not, the merchandise line is the one that moves the slowest.  Once the bar gets open, drinks fly out quickly until there isn't a line left, and you can just walk up and grab a drink.  Alcoholic choices are a rum punch or margarita.  There is regular punch or ice water for the non drinkers.

The food line moves at a moderate pace, while people choose between a total of two cheeseburgers or hot dogs.  Today, they didn't remember to thaw out the hot dogs ahead of time, so they put big blocks on the grill to try to thaw them.  So, people moving through the line early didn't even have a choice of hot dogs.  It looked like the hot dogs were really taking a beating by the time I got there.   After you get your meat, you move over to the french fryer and then on to the condiment table.  If you don't like what you got, you can't get your money back, because all of it is FREE!

The spa

People cool off before and after eating.  Some set up umbrellas and chairs right in the water and eat their food at sea.

THERE IS A LOT OF EXPOSED SKIN visible and sunburning in progress.  You can't be bored with all the people watching there is to do:  good, bad, and ugly.

Haul in the anchor

There are games and contests for the kids.  The sponsor is a HUGE Jimmy Buffett fan and his appropriate island music blares loudly from the big speakers.  JB memorabilia is strung up around the bar tent.

Safety first

The Green Turtle Cay Fire & Rescue had a booth this year soliciting donations and advertising an upcoming benefit steak dinner.  I thought their new logo was cute.

One more for the road

We made an early exit before the onrush of people who stayed and helped drain the bar supplies so there would be less to clean up decided to leave. 

Everyone had to notice that this was the most beautiful day of weather in 3 weeks: scattered clouds in a bright blue sky, moderate temperature, and very light wind.  A perfect day to start the Regatta Time in Abaco festivities.

We hope that this weather continues.  If all goes as planned, tomorrow we will back track a bit to nearby Green Turtle Cay to try to connect to the internet.  We hope to post this and run a couple of land errands in the morning. Then we will move north and westward, leaving behind our internet connection opportunities.  I'll keep writing about our adventures, but probably won't be able to post until we get back to Florida, within a month, depending on weather conditions.