On Little Farmers Cay
Smiling in the turquoise sea,
Lazing in the sun at noon,
Dreaming safe beneath the moon.
Where sky meets land and sea -
my precious island Farmers Cay.
This is home to me and it will always be.
This is the refrain in the song about Little Farmers Cay we group sang at Ocean Cabin restaurant following the lead vocals of propietors Terry and Ernestine Bain. Sums it up pretty well I'd say. This cay has a unique community (founded by a freed slave and second smallest isolated community in the Bahamas) and particular brand (the only cay in the Exumas with their own flag).
Little Farmers Cay anchorage has an extremely shallow entry route. Once we made it in we were still very tentative about actually anchor spots until Ian from Stormy Weather (Ontario) came planning over at high speed, standing in his dinghy and gave us the lay if the land (sea?). Within five minutes we were all sorted out and safely anchored.
The following morning Ian was kite surfing all around the anchorage. Jumps and flips in the air, coming within mere feet of boats and masts. The currents in the anchorage had us spinning slowly round 'n round so we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast with the most beautiful scenery streaming by our field of view and a crazy kite surfer flying through every now and again. A truly remarkable breakfast! (I made it too!)
Later we landed our dinghies the Farmers Cay Yacht Club owned & operated by Roosevelt Nixon. As he was literally pointing out points of interest to us (including his daughter's home where we should knock on the front door to see some woven basket for sale) he noticed one of his mooring balls floating past. JP & I jumped in my dinghy and zoomed out to retrieve it for him. We walked the island almost from end to end under a blazing sun exploring and finding the most interesting things along the way. An hour in though we were already in need of some cool rehydration and relief. We had heard about Ocean Cabin bar & restaurant and when we finally found it (of course right near to where we started) we stopped in for some cold sodas. We got to talking with Terry and Ernestine, politics, culture, religion, history. Menus were reviewed and we decided to stay for lunch. Jokes were shared, songs were sung and a great time was had by all. Terry even showed Cassandra a special stretch for back pain.
Later that day dinghied (my new favourite verb btw) further to an adjacent key to explore a secluded grotto. Impressive.
We weighed anchor the next morning and thus missed Ocean Cabin's Wednesday hermit crab races. Apparently there is strict enforcement and testing against performance enhancing substances, but these days who knows. We'll put the races on the Way Back Up List.
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| Hanging Out |
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| Right, Left , Center... I think we have a new font justification setting... Addendum! |
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| Pics of uniformed school children and Dexter... my blog statistics better shoot up after this! |
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| Preaching to the choir man |
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| Stalactites & Stalagmites... just kidding not stalagmites |
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| Yes we re-enacted the scene from Lion King |
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| Guess whose dinghy was FULL of water when we got back. Stupid valet parking |
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| Swimming lessons |
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| Swimming towards chicks in bikinis is his motivation |
Greetings from Belleville Ontario: We were surprised to come across your blog today. We are very familiar with your boat and can attest that you bought a beauty.
ReplyDeleteAfter a year of research and a lot of travel we made the trip to Stamford CT to prep the boat we had chosen for our own. She was owned by an older couple who had sailed her extensively but where in that time of life when health and strength cannot be trusted. Her name was R-sequel, a 1986 Endeavour 35.
With our crew of four we went over her for a day and sailed out of the harbour in Stamford in the morning, timing our trip through Hell Gate. Six days later she was in her berth in Belleville. Over the first summer we gave her a new head and water heater, fuel filter system, radio, repaired the mast step and stripped every inch of her britework and refinished it. We added teak steps to the stern ladder, added the MOB pole, rebedded all the deck fittings and rebuilt the winches. The steering cables were replaced (backwards the first time....tricky getting out when everything is reversed) and the holding tank was removed and welded (its fittings let go twice with a glue repair....yech!!).
Year two we changed all the deck drain hoses and head hoses, replaced the paneling in the head and V-berth, installed a new bilge pump and built a cool place for drinks in the bilge with oak slats. All the seals and gaskets in the heat exchanger were replaced and we rebuilt the strainer (keep an eye on this, any air leaks and she cannot pick up water....one weed in the intake and the engine just sucks air).
Year three we stripped her bottom and gave her a fresh coat of anti fouling. We installed an auto pilot that we never quite got working before we sold her.
The name was changed to Topanga the first season because I could never remember R-sequel and frankly never liked the name. Topanga suited her so well.
During the time we owned her I included her in two articles I wrote for Good Old Boat Magazine. Particularly one I did about changing her name. You can find these on their site or order the back issues.
We had a lot of fun on that boat and plenty of trials and adventures. We spent our summers on board with our four daughters sailing in the Thousand Islands and Lake Ontario.
We hope you enjoy sailing her as much as we did. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. My e-mail is cverra@xplornet.ca.
Best Regards,
Chris and Debbie Verra