Chinese Port in Abaco

January 16, 2015

We recently took a car trip north to Cooper's Town.  Cooper's Town is a Bahamian settlement that does not see many tourists.  In addition to being the home of the former Prime Minister of the Bahamas, it is the location of a new commercial shipping port being built by the Chinese.

The story is that the current port in Marsh Harbour is at capacity and this will provide expanded capabilities.   Right now it is basically a construction site - no channel, basin, or docks have yet been built.

It is, however, being built and run by Chinese nationals, so it is a bit strange.

All the signs are in Chinese, then English

Notice Chinese markings on the buildings

For me, it is especially eerie in that I have just finished a couple of books ('Ship Breakers' and 'Drowned Cities') which are set in a United States that has descended into a 'third-world' state due to climate change.   War-lords battle for control of territory while people live in bare sustenance.

In the story, however, the Chinese, have become the dominant world power.  Their currency is the 'gold standard' that is desired by everyone, because it has a predictable value;  they are the 'world-police' - in fact they had a failed peace-making military mission that attempted to stop the fighting in the States.

I know I am reading too much into it, but it is still strange to see a Chinese port, only a couple hundred miles from the US - just saying.

The few Bahamians that we have talked to about the new port are as confused as we are.

Tom
Docked Harbour View Marina
Marsh Harbour, Abaco

Ju'novia's - Great Bahamian Food!

January 14, 2015

If you are in Marsh Harbour and want some authentic Bahamian food, particularly breakfast, you MUST come to Ju'novia's Diner.  It is located between Dove Plaza and the new BTC office.

Run by sisters Genova, Julia, and Jackie it is the local's go-to for breakfast and lunch.  They have the most comprehensive breakfast menu that I know and it is all good!

Just a short lesson in Bahamian cuisine:  'Steam' is a tomato-based sauce;  'Stew' is a roux-like sauce;  'Souse' or 'Boil'  is a broth-based dish.  Also don't be surprised by bones in your meat - Bahamians use the whole animal.

Chicken Souse and Johnny Cake
Note that the meat is bone-in wings and drumsticks
To 'die-for' Johnny Cake 

Sheep Tongue (Souse) & Johnny Cake
Don't be put off by where the meat came from -
surprisingly tender and tasty!

Friday's lunch feature is 'Pea Soup' (no picture) which we found to be a misleading name for Americans. We would describe it as a rich roux-based stew, with ham, conch, beans, potatoes, onions, and a home-made noodle.   A stick-to-the-ribs meal after which you won't want to eat for a long time!

We have become friends with the folks at Ju'novia's through church and they surprised us with a gift of  'small' pans of Johnny Cake and Macaroni & Cheese (they were huge  - 9"X 13"!).  The Johnny Cake was way more than we could eat before it spoiled, so we passed on the gift to some of the boaters in the marina. Unfortunately many boaters don't stray too far from the marina section and miss local places like Ju'novia's;  maybe these gifts will inspire them to venture out a bit farther.  Even though it is lot, we figure the macaroni will store well and we can use it effectively over time.

The Johnny Cake (right) was intact for the picture.
However, we didn't think to take the picture
before we sampled the Macaroni! 

Both of these dishes are are the best we have eaten, anywhere in the Bahamas. Thank you sooo much - Genova, Julia, and Jackie!!!!

Ju'novia's also has traditional American breakfast items like eggs, pancakes, and french toast as well - but be adventuresome and try some Bahamian dishes - you will like them!

Genova's husband George, also provides great conch salad from a stand near Harbour View Marina.

Bon Appetit!


Tom
Docked Harbour View Marina
Marsh Harbour, Abaco

Unraveling 'Our' Bahamian Family Roots

January 13, 2015

We have had two delightful dinners with Pastor Shawn and his wife Jackie of Grace Baptist Church during our stay here in Marsh Harbour.

Jackie and Shawn took us to dinner one evening at a new nearby restaurant and it was a fun evening. One of the major topics was Shawn's Bimini relatives.  When we first met Shawn, he told us he was a 'Bimini-boy', born and raised in Bimini, an island about 50 miles off the Florida coast.  That year we were planning to return to the States via Bimini and asked Shawn to recommend a marina. He recommended Weech's Bimini Dock and said that he was related to the owners - "You will see that some of my relatives are your color".

Well we did go to Weech's Dock at the beginning of the next season and it has since become our go-to marina in Bimini.  It is not the fanciest, but it is an integral part of the local community there, which we enjoy.

But after we had settled in there, we started to ask around if anyone knew Shawn Robins, now living in Abaco. But to our surprise, no one seemed to know him. We didn't know if we misunderstood Shawn or if he was 'pulling our leg', but it definitely seemed puzzling.  We did find one man, Tommy Weech, who seemed to recognize Shawn's name, but in all honesty Tommy seemed to be drinking pretty heavily at the time and we didn't know if we could trust the accuracy of his memory.

At dinner, we started to tell Shawn about our lack of success in finding his Bimini relatives; 'no one would admit to knowing Shawn Robins'. Shawn immediately identified the problem in that people there know him as Shawn Weech.   Shawn's father was a Weech, but he was never involved in his life, but Shawn was known there as a Weech.  It was only after he grew up and left Bimini that he started to use his mother's name - Robins.

When we mentioned Tommy Weech; Shawn recognized the name, but seemed very surprised at Tommy's drinking. He talked about how as young men, he and Tommy had frequently gone over to South Bimini together except when Tommy went Bonefishing.  That got both of us thinking, but Joyce was quicker at asking, you don't mean Tommy Sewell, the Bonefishing guide do you?  After some follow-up identifying questions we established that he in fact was referring to Tommy Sewell, who we know quite well from our visits to Bimini.  Tommy's mother is a Weech, and that was the name by which Shawn knew him.

Later in our visit, we invited Shawn and Jackie over to the boat for a Chicken Roti dinner.  Roti is a Caribbean curry dish that I have learned to prepare.  As we were walking down the dock to the boat, I mentioned the name of another man from Bimini that we have come to know, Hyram Rolle.  Hyram runs one of the water taxis in Bimini.  I almost fell off the dock, when Shawn responded that Hyram was his brother and that he had visited Abaco just recently.  In further discussion, we learned that actually Hyram was his cousin, but that Hyram's mother had died at an early age and Shawn's mother had raised both her and her sister's children, a total of 11 kids, so they considered each other 'brothers and sisters'.

This provides a great opportunity to talk about the incredible strength of extended Bahamian families. It is very common to see children living with family other than their parents.  Sometimes it is due to a death or other absence of a parent like Hyram's situation, but not always.   We have commonly seen children living with grandparents or other relatives, so that they (or their parents) can go to school somewhere other than their 'home'.  Sometimes it just 'happens'.  In addition to there youngest son, Shawn and Jackie have a grandson and a great-niece living with them.  Both of the parents live right nearby and are involved in the children's lives, but work very hard.  As Jackie said, it starts with 'sleep-overs' and sometimes they just 'stay'.   Although it can seem very different from life in the States, the kids are cared for and loved by an extended family that many American children may only see infrequently on holidays and at family gatherings.

So now we better understand 'our families' Bimini roots and know that names can be very tricky in the Bahamas.

Tom
Docked Harbour View Marina
Marsh Harbour, Abaco

Christmas Season at Grace Baptist Church

January 12, 2015

As we had hoped, we made it to Marsh Harbour in the Abacos for Christmas. We have great Bahamian friends/family here and it was wonderful to spend the holidays with them.

Our church home here is Grace Baptist Church in Dundas Town, a settlement in 'greater' Marsh Harbour.  The church was founded years ago by Clifford Henfield, who is still an overseer/bishop.   The current pastor is Shawn Robins, Bishop Henfield's son-in-law, and the Henfield family is prominent in the church.  We started coming to the church 3 years ago on our first visit to Marsh Harbour and our relationship has grown to where we truly call them family.

We arrived about a week before Christmas and had hoped to surprise them on the Sunday service before Christmas, but that plan quickly started to unravel as we ran into members of the family around town.  I think the only one surprised at our appearance was Pastor Shawn.

Pastor Shawn and his wife Elder Jackie

The services at Grace Baptist are lively and moving.  Congregation participation is a must at a Bahamian church - don't come expecting to sit on your hands and 'watch' the service - you are a vital participant in the worship.

While I was at a barber/beauty shop getting a haircut, we saw three young Bahamian girls getting their braids redone over the Christmas holiday.  We were amazed at how long a process this is.  First the old braids must be removed.  Then a 'relaxer' is applied to straighten the hair.  After the relaxer is thoroughly rinsed out, the hair is conditioned.  Then and only then does the braiding process begin.  We understand that the whole process takes nearly a full day.   The young girls looked just as 'excited' as the girl in the following painting.  We later learned that the parents like the braids, because it simplifies getting ready for school in the morning.

Grace did not have a Christmas Eve or Day service so Christmas itself was a quiet day on the boat. We had our traditional Slovak Christmas Eve dinner:  pirogi and sauerkraut & mushrooms.

New Years Eve was a very special night at the church with what is called a Watch Night Service.  The service starts at 8 PM and runs through midnight.  Our traditional New Year's Eve 'celebration' is a quiet dinner at home after which we often are not awake to see the new year in - how boring.  But with the help of an afternoon nap, we made it through with no problem - it was actually easy, the service was very interesting.

A first-time experience for us was the washing of the feet.  Pastor Shawn washed the men's feet and Elder Jackie washed the feet of the women and both Joyce and I both participated.  It was a moving experience as Shawn and Jackie demonstrated their humbleness and a powerful reminder of Jesus' doing the same.  After this we shared the Lord's Supper.

The speakers at the remainder of the service were members of the congregation, who gave testimony to the theme of the night "Our God is Greater Than That".

The Sunday after New Years featured a presentation by the church school kids.  I must mention that Grace has a lot of children - it is great to see a church filled with young people.  I don't normally take pictures in church, but Jackie gave explicit permission for picture-taking during the presentation - wouldn't you know that both Joyce and I did not bring our phones that day.  Trust me that the kids were incredibly cute!

We have extended our stay here even a little longer, so that we can attend 'Family Day' at the church next Sunday (1/18). which features an afternoon of food and fun following the service.  How could we miss it!   We have started to jokingly tell folks that 'You have to TELL US to leave after Family Day or we will never leave'.

We have had some great times with Pastor Shawn and Jackie and other members of the church family outside of church, but I will save that for another post.

Tom
Docked Harbour View Marina
Marsh Harbour, Abaco

Christmas in Marsh Harbour, Abaco

December 18, 2014

Well, this year we have made it to where we had hoped to spend Christmas - Marsh Harbour in the Abacos.  The biggest reason that this was our target destination this year was so that we could spend Christmas with our Grace Baptist Church family in Dundas Town.

The transit weather was great, as opposed to last year where we spent two weeks in Bimini and almost a week in West End traveling from Miami to Marsh Harbour.  This year we made the trip in less than a week with a 3-night stop in West End.  Great weather window!

We are docked at Harbour View Marina where we plan to stay at least a few weeks.

Time to take the fids off the coffee pot and tea kettle!

We have put up our Christmas decorations; we have a small wreath, instead of a tree.  When we were selling our house we gathered a small collection of ornaments to bring on the boat.  The criteria for selection were: small, relatively unbreakable, and of sentimental value.  In spite of a water dousing courtesy of a leaking water heater a few years ago, they have held up fairly well.  Our 25+ year music-box ornament still plays 'Silent Night'!

'Sled-bear' sliding down our cabin wall

Always remembering the true meaning of Christmas:

Wishing all a blessed Christmas from the crew of SV Barefoot!


Tom & Joyce
Docked Marsh Harbour, Abaco

Arrival West End, Grand Bahama

December 12, 2014

We have arrived in the Bahamas after crossing the Gulf Stream from Miami.

As planned, we departed Coconut Grove at 1430 on Thursday (12/11).  We like to leave so we can exit Biscayne Bay and start to get away from the coast before it gets dark.  After transiting across Biscayne Bay and out the Biscayne Bay Channel, we set a current sailing course for West End on Grand Bahama.  Because of the strong Gulf Stream (up to 3 knots) you must allow for the current in your course, essentially aiming somewhat 'upstream'.  There are calculations that help to determine your best course, but in the end it is always a bit of trial and error.

Wind was light and variable, so this was primarily a motoring trip. This was not a particularly fast crossing, but we were taking off speed for almost half of the trip to delay our arrival until after the marina opened and we still arrived too early. The wind picked up a bit about 10 miles from West End, but at that point we were really trying to slow up so as not get to the Old Bahama Bay Marina too early.

We still arrived at 0830 on Friday before any dock staff were on duty.  We temporarily docked on the seawall to await the opening of the marina and customs.  This docking was probably the most exciting part of the trip with a moderate wind blowing off the dock. With no assistance from the dock to handle lines, this is a relatively difficult maneuver, but after a couple unsuccessful attempts to get a line around a piling we finally snagged one.  Luckily, we had plenty of room.

After clearing customs and immigration, we moved to our slip.  Catching up on sleep and cleaning the boat after a month of Miami birds topped the activities list.

On Monday or Tuesday we will continue on to Great Sale Cay and then Green Turtle Cay, where we will spend some time.  We had planned to be in Marsh Harbour by Christmas, but it seems we rarely spend holidays where we thought we would.  We may or may not make it - that is the cruising life - you can sail or you can have schedule,but you can't have both!

Tom
Docked Old Bahama Bay
West End, Grand Bahama

Farewell Miami - Hello Bahamas!

December 11, 2014

It is with mixed emotions that we plan to leave Miami shortly and transit to the Bahamas.

It is with some sadness that we prepare to leave Miami.  We have been here for a little over a month, and have had a great time.  Miami is a vibrant and interesting city that we have grown to like very much.

When people imagine cruising on a sailboat, they naturally think about tropical islands and deserted white sand beaches - and certainly that is something that we experience in  the Bahamas.  But another aspect of cruising can be immersing in a city like Miami for an extended period of time - maybe call it 'urban-cruising'.   Seeing the sites yes, but doing everyday things like shopping, doing laundry, and riding mass-transit also makes you feel like a real part of the city.

Goodbye Miami -  we will be back!

But it is with gladness that we think about transiting to the beautiful Bahamian islands and seeing our many Bahamian friends.

Whether in Miami or the Bahamas, meeting people from other cultures is what makes travel special.  As we meet, spend time with, and get to know 'them' -  they magically become 'us'.

In the 'nuts and bolts' category - we plan to leave Coconut Grove on Thursday afternoon around 3 PM and transit the Gulf Stream to West End, Grand Bahama overnight.  This allows a daylight departure from Biscayne Bay and a Friday morning arrival at Old Bahama Bay Marina in West End.  Any Gulf Stream crossing must be taken  very seriously with the strong current and large amount of commercial traffic.  We will post some location updates while underway and another blog entry after arrival.

Tom
Moored Coconut Grove