We spent over two weeks on Cat Island having a good time on one of our favorite Bahamian islands. I often describe Cat as like a Bahamian island that you imagined before you came here. It does not have the hordes of cruisers that you find in Abaco and Exuma; the island is relatively undeveloped with great beaches, and the people are incredibly friendly.
Our hangout here, as always is the 'Sunshine Take-away' at the Regatta Park. Run by Ceedee Hunter and her mother Cordell King and featuring a cast of regulars it is a great place to hang out. Cordell was in Nassau during our visit helping her youngest daughter with a new baby.
One of the regulars here is Pompey (Bo-hog) Johnson, a rake & scrape musician of note, who performs regularly backed by Ceedee on goatskin drum and Crystal on saw.
Mark Knowles' 'boat yard', where he is building a Bahamian Sloop (see previous post) is across the street and Mark and his wife Lori are regulars here as well.
Our visit spanned Palm Sunday and Easter. On Palm Sunday, we climbed to Mt Alvernia, the 'retirement' home of Father Jerome - extraordinary church builder. It rests on the highest elevation in the Bahamas (206') and offers a spectacular view of the Bight (harbour).
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| Mt Alvernia (The Hermitage) |
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| Station of the Cross |
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| Sttaion of the Cross - empty tomb! |
On Palm Sunday we had a time of worship and praise on the steps of the Hermitage using Psalm 104 as a framework. The view brought many of the words alive!
On Easter, we attended the Mt. Sinai Native Baptist Church in New Bight, another great Bahamian church.
Cat Island has some spectacular beaches - all virtually isolated and empty.
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| Beach at Shanna's Cove - 'Down' North |
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| Our dinghy off the beach at Old Bight Barefoot way in the background |
As I write this, we are docked at Emerald Bay Marina on mainland Exuma. We returned here from Cat Island on Sunday. We had hoped to travel further east to Conception, Rum Cay, and possibly to Crooked/Aklins Islands but the steady east-southeast trade-winds were unrelenting and we finally decided to give up and return to Exuma - maybe next year, earlier in the year.
We had one of our best sails of the year as we traveled from Cat Island to Emerald Bay, Exuma on Sunday. Wind at 14-18 knots on the beam with 3-4' seas (with an occasional 6 footer) gave us some great boat speed flying all three sails, but the boat was crusted with salt when we arrived. We did not see another boat as we crossed Exuma Sound until we were within 5-6 miles from Exuma, when the 'cruiser's highway' (boats headed north and south along mainland Exuma) gave us numerous boats to contend with as we approached the mainland.
We plan to stay at Emerald Bay for a few weeks as we hopefully tackle a few maintenance projects to get a jump-start on 'summer' maintenance. This will also span the 'Family Island Regatta' in Georgetown which we have never attended. We hope to see Mark there as he races his "A Class" sloop 'Rupert's Legend' and probably other boats as he feels like it. Almost all the boats love to have Mark as their skipper - he is a very good sloop sailor.
Tom
Docked Emerald Bay Marina
Mainland Exuma
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