Wednesday, April 8, 2009

We Be On "Island Time" Mon

Tide Hiker crossed the Great Bahama Bank on Sunday, leaving Cat Cay at 0500 (that's 5:00 AM for you land lubbers or O-Dark-Hundred for you late night party-ers.) We witnessed a beautiful sunrise heading the pointy end of our boat East toward the Berry Islands. Eleven and 1/2 hours and 81 miles later we arrived Frazer's Hog Cay. We asked for a mooring ball at the Berry Islands Club. Herbie, the proprietor offered us dockage for the same price, ($15), since the depths at the mooring balls would not accommodate our boats. What a deal. Herbie also has a full service restaurant and small restaurant on the premises in addition to the marina. And, Herbie's aunt, Hilda, is the cook at the restaurant. She made us fantastic from-scratch Conch Fritters and Rum Punch on Sunday night. Needless to say, we were sacked out early after a long day.



The winds picked up on Monday to 25-30 mph, as expected, and we had to wait them out. These winds and high seas stayed with us for 3 more days. Fortunately, we had Herbie and Hilda to care for us. We took long walks on the back roads to distant beaches in search of the perfect conch shell. It is a custom to blow the conch shell, like a horn, at sunset each night putting the sun to sleep. But we need a perfect shell to make the horn. Hence our search. Also, Norm had time to build our Bahamian Lookie Bucket. It's a sheet of plexiglass glued into the bottom of a 5-gal pail. Works great!!
A couple fishermen from Key Largo were docked next to us. They were very successful each day and had an abundance of Mahi Mahi. Yes, they shared their spoils with everyone on the dock. We gave ours to Hilda and she rustled up a great Mahi-Mahi, veggies and mac and cheese dinner for us last night. Of course the wine and Gin/Tonics were also flowing pretty steady. The music was also good so dancing was on the event list.
Tonight we have been invited to go over to Legacy, another 44 DeFefever anchored close by. Ron and Pam Sweezey luckily cruised in here for a brief rest. They are heading West back to the states after being in the Bahamas since last Thanksgiving. It seems they have a new grandchild to meet--their first.

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