Dear Diary, we spent today in paradise again (Little Farmer's Cay)

I suppose this is really a travel journal not so much a blog, huh?  You probably already figured that out.  It is so easy to get behind on updates because we get completely caught up in where we are and the amazing things we get to do; not to mention people we get to meet.   I believe in our last episode, Stray Cat was anchored someplace beautiful and the crew was swimming or snorkeling in crystal blue waters oooohing and aaaahing over the variety of coral and rocks and sea life.  Errrr, I guess that really doesn't narrow it down since we have been spoiled being here these last six weeks.  Is this really happening?

Ok, we had anchored in Isaacs Bay off Great Guana and needed to find a good place to wait out a 30 knot blow that was starting up a day later.  After a good amount of consideration, we decided to take a short hop down to Little Farmer's Cay because it was going to offer pretty much excellent protection and why pay for a marina with no services when you can anchor for free about 50 yards from a famous beachfront bar?  No brainer so up we got and off we went.

We have a catamaran as you know, but that still doesn't make us immune to shallow depth nerves and anxiety.  That morning was no exception because to get to the anchorage we wanted, we chose to go in from the north versus the more "safe" route that would require us to go out and around then back up.  Besides, we are a shallow draft vessel, right?  Easy.  Well with Jon and I up front and basically not being much help due to the sun angle, Mark drove us through the deepest of the shallow path.  We saw another cat there and they were dear enough to hail us and give advice on how to best get up close to the beach (near then) and the depths they had seen being there a few days.  Looking back now, we would have been perfectly fine and there was no cause for concern, but you know what they say about 20/20 hindsight.  By midmorning we were nicely anchored with Ty's in front of us and a wonderful anchorage around us...so of course we did hours of chores!  Laundry, linens, bike cleaning, engine bay cleaning, interior boat cleaning.  The boat looked fine with queen sheets drying in the wind up front and clothing hanging in the back!  We could only do one set of linens a day due to water making needs and drying space.  I am proud to say that we are in no way dependent on laundromats anymore!  I will probably never hand wash anything ever again, but for now, we are laundry masters and it is pretty nice to save the money and time by doing it ourselves on the boat.  Admission time:  I not so secretly wish we had a washing machine--or at least something to help me wring out the wet stuff cuz my microhands get tired quickly.

See all that yellow and white on the north west side--that's what we needed to get through

He's smiling on the inside, I'm sure of it

Cleaning engine bays is super fun...this is the comfortable position versus hunched over ass up with your head in the bay (no wonder his back hurts)

The Famous Ty's

Our reward for over four hours of boat chores

Happy Jon

There are a million things I'd like to write about Little Farmer's but let me pick a few highlights from the though swarm in my head.  First night happy hour/sunset: Ty's. Awesome.  Beyond the rum punches, we had the best $12 burgers anywhere--hands down.  They can't even be called burgers because they were huge meat patties that had to have been a half a pound each and that is no exaggeration.  Super nice people there and it was a perfect place to watch the sunset.  We met the couple from Symmetry (with a dolphin) who had helped us get into the anchorage.  Great people--he was a former controls engineer in Canada, go figure, so tech talk ensued.  We also briefly met a nice young couple on a boat named Tara who have also taken time from their professional careers to live and sail and experience...good for them! 

The next day we went ashore and Jon got some R&R and WIFI at Ty's while Mark and I went for a jog around the island...it was a nice way to see where things were situated and we "met" some local dogs along one road.  We took another path back to Ty's that went by the island cemetery that had graves of the Nixons, Browns, Moxleys with some of the departed being born in 1865 and 1872.  The Cay was founded by former slaves from what I read so those dates were pretty meaningful.  I like visiting cemeteries, especially ones with old markers.  It's like touching history.  I like to pay my respects as best I can, perhaps replace a flower or two.  It was also the road to the Farmer's Cay Yacht Club.  Yacht Club means something different here than in the States by the way.  We poked around and were greeted by a nice older man who served us some Kaliks (refueling after the run of course) and got to talking with him.  As expected it was the owner, Mr. Roosevelt Nixon.  Mr. Nixon is the great great great grandson of the original founders and he and his uncle and son are the only Nixon's left on the Cay...everyone else married in he told us.  We also found out his daughter lives in Germantown Maryland and he was just there on his way to Albany for his grandson's wedding...we laughed about all the snow and he said "get me on a plane and get me out of here".  We also learned about how his building the yacht club and first section of the airstrip was a catalyst for development of the Cay and the expansion of the airstrip by the government.  Sweet gentleman and a peace of history himself.  So we made dinner reservations for that night.  I already knew that his wife would be cooking whatever we ordered and we all ordered lobster.  When we returned for dinner, we were presented with lobster about the size of the plate along with peas and rice and a little salad.  I will admit that Mr. Nixon's rum punch were my favorite too.  So about those lobsters--not like Maine lobster at all, and did I mention they were huge and literally melted in our mouths.  I was pretty happy that we can now say that we ate dinner prepared by Mrs. Nixon at the Yacht Club!

Taxiing down the runway

He's got a ways to go...not the imaginative wind sock

The place that started it all, including the first part of the airstrip and that gazebo

What a striking bar--he got it in Nassau

Biggest lobster tail I have ever seen, let alone eaten (couldn't finish it all)

Still no green flash but who cares

I think at some point that blow did happen but we were so protected that I barely noticed.  We also were completely spoiled by being able to swim off the boat here as with other spots and there was even a sunken fuselage a few yards away where Mark and Jon snorkeled (saw another Lion Fish there).  I feel like I do not give our days due credit and may sound blase at times but that could not be further from the truth.  It's just that we are so blessed by this slice of life and golden fire sunsets and clear blue seas and swimming off the boat are part of our daily routine.  Oh Lord how will we go home?  I don't want to think about it and want to stay in the here and now.

So, on our third day at Little Farmer's Jon did the jogging and Mark and I walked around.  We met up with Jon over by Little Harbor and most likely we had a drink, enjoyed the view, basked in the sun, swam around the boat, or all of the above.  I am embarrassed to say that I don't remember the last day other than wishing we didn't have to go but knowing that we needed to move on.  Oh wait!  We went back to Ty's for early supper and had some killer ribs that "Coach" had made earlier in the day for a buffet set up for a lot of boats visiting.  Um, they were soooo good and that's not the three rum punches talking either.  Ha.  Little Farmer's Cay--great stop, Ty's is THE place, kind people, interesting island/family interconnections, mark a smiley face on the charts next to it!

That ship should NOT be there

Very choppy in the Harbour--glad we anchored in the protected west side

A view of the Cut

Little Harbor--saw two sea turtles there that day

View of a much calmer Harbor as we made our way to the cut

Ummmmm, so out we go

These next three pictures are from the front of the boat and my camera did not move so those are the huge rollers we went through on he way out.  Seriously, imagine the feeling your tummy gets on a roller coaster--that was it on the way out.

And we did it!  Our first time in the Exuma Sound! Next stop, Lee Stocking.