TRADITIONAL LAUNCHINg - Caribbean Compass

DECEMBER 2008 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 22
The
DESTINATIONS
Exumas are a group of islands in the Bahamas and my personal
favorite. They were settled in 1783 by American Loyalists who
wished to retain their allegiance to the British king following the
American Revolution.
Allan’s Cay is famous for its iguanas, so we took the dinghy ashore to see them.
Before we even got to shore, they heard the motor and started down the beach. They
came right up to us, to see if we had anything to feed them. Then we went over to
the south cay. That beach was empty when we arrived, but before we were out of the
boat, one iguana came out of the reeds. Then another,
then another.... When we took the dinghy in to
the smaller beach on Leaf Cay, we came prepared
and fed the iguanas there some leftovers — potatoes,
The
Extraordinary
Exumas
lettuce and spinach.
Continuing south, we came to Norman’s Cay. Most
of Norman’s Cay was bought by the German-
Colombian drug lord, Carlos Lehder, in the 1970s.
He built an airstrip there to bring in illegal drugs.
The government apparently turned a blind eye to his
activities until an NBC television documentary in
1983 raised public awareness. We went ashore,
crossing to the outer beach and exploring the ruins.
The wreckage of a DC-3 drug-running plane that
missed the runway now rests in shallow water.
There are also the remains of a boat that capsized,
overloaded with Haitian refugees. We found the old
airstrip, apparently still in use by a small, private
plane. We also found the old beach bar, MacDuff’s,
which sadly is no longer open.
Compass Cay Marina is set in a delightful little
cove at, you guessed it, Compass Cay. The marina has “pet” nurse sharks — all their
names are on a sign on the dock. Some of the cruisers swam with them. I know
nurse sharks don’t bother people, but I didn’t want to do that!
We walked several of the well-marked trails on Compass Cay. Painted driftwood
signs humorously point the way to Low Tide Landing Strip, Land Crab Watering
Hole, etcetera. On the eastern side of the island is Crescent Beach, one of the most
captivatingly beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen, and totally deserted. We saw footprints
but didn’t encounter a single other person.
We made our way to Black Point on Great Guana Cay (not the same one that is in
the Abacos). It’s a small, very friendly community with a couple of stores, a couple
of restaurants, a laundromat, a post office, several people making straw products,
and not much else.
Underway from Great Guana Cay to Little Farmer’s Cay we put out the fishing line
and trolled and caught a mackerel — dinner! We took a mooring on the Great Guana
Cay side of Little Farmer’s Cay, then dinghied over to the town dock and took a walk.
It’s another tiny community with a friendly dog, Little Bit, who follows everyone
around. We visited the wood carver’s shop and met a driftwood artist. The wood used
by Jacquie Milman
for carving is tamarind; we had also seen items made from this wood in Nassau, too,
at the straw market. It has a dark core and a light ring on the outside, so when
carved, it is two-toned — very pretty.
The charts showed an anchorage on the Great Bahama Bank side of the island so we
walked over there to have a look. We found a lovely beach and several boats there; it was
a calm anchorage in the easterly winds. When the mail boat came in through the cut, half
the island came to the dock — to get mail or merchandise, or just to socialize. A small
twin-engine charter plane landed and took off at the little airport by the yacht club.
HART & STONE
We stopped at a little store just to see what they had. A heavyset, elderly lady was
sitting on a stool and told us we were welcome to look. She only had one shelf with
anything on it; she said she had just returned from Nassau (where she had gone for
medical reasons) and was trying to get the store started again. She chatted for the
longest time, and told me her name was Eugenia Nixon Percentie. “I’m a Nixon but
I married a Percentie. The Nixons and the Browns own this island.” She was sad for
us being so far from Guam, our home, and not going back. I explained that our family
is scattered and none are there, so we weren’t sad. She said she wasn’t sure she
could bear to be separated from her family like that.
At the settlement dock, a man was butchering a goat (they call goat “mutton” here,
and sheep, “lamb”) for the restaurant up the hill. We went to the restaurant, Ocean
Cabin, checked the dinner menu and decided to dine. The diners were all seated at one
long table (actually three tables pushed together), family style. There was good food and
conversation, lots of laughing — a fun evening. Dessert (ice cream) was included in the
price of the meal. When asked what flavors, Terry, the owner, said, “Any flavor you
want.” Whatever you asked for, he had it, but it all came to the table as vanilla.
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