Sailing from Staniel to Little Farmers Cay

Day 64- Great Sail South to Little Farmers Cay

Today is Wednesday, February 4, 2009 and time to press on to Little Farmers Cay. From our anchorage at Staniel Cay, we can see both routes south— the outlet to the dark blue ocean side and the light blue bank side. The choice is easy as the wind is still blowing at 15 to 20 mph out of the North—it sounds like a terrific sailing day down the shallow Exuma Banks.

We weighed anchor at 10:00 am and headed down the banks. With one reef in our mainsail (which you can see in some of the pictures), we had a glorious downwind sail for about three and a half hours to Little Farmers Cay. You can tell from the pictures that it is still a little chilly in the cockpit. We are definitely looking forward to warmer and calmer weather south of here.

The weather at Little Farmers Cay was neither calm nor warm. We anchored in the lee of the island but the wind and choppy waters made getting to shore in the dinghy a challenge. Wrapped in our foul weather gear, we went ashore to see if things had changed since our last visit ten years ago. The dinghy dock and little harbour all looked the same—well, maybe some new concrete around the lagoon—but Little Jeff seemed to still have the corner on renting mooring balls and selling conch out of his fenced-in lagoon corrals. The restaurant – Ocean Cabin—was still perched atop a grassy knoll looking out at the ocean. We climbed the hill and pulled up bar stools to order conch burgers and the Ocean Cabin drink special. Nothing inside Ocean Cabin seemed to have changed —walls still covered with yellowing charts and maps of the States and the Caribbean. Perhaps a few more people had signed their name on the walls---we’re not sure why this is done so much here in the Bahamas, but we don’t do it. My mom’s little adage about “Fools’ names like fools’ faces always appear in public places,” scares me off every time—thanks Mom. We did sign the Ocean Cabin guess log – that’s okay isn’t it Mom?
The conch burger was average but the drink special was exotic—it was dark, ocean blue and contained who knows what! Ocean Cabin did have some internet connections, but the laptop was back on the big boat. Ocean Cabin did not have an ATM and the lady said there was not one anywhere on the island. Hummmm, a cash-only island and we are just about out of cash. Looks like we need to press on to George Town where there are ATMs, laundry mats, fresh water, and hopefully warmer weather.