News & Views for Southern Sailors - Southwinds Magazine

egatta. We sailed fromsouthern Florida inearly March and tooksome long tacksthrough the inky GulfStream and turquoiseBahamian banks tovisit favorite anchoragesat Frazer’s Hog,Little San Salvador, CatIsland, Long Islandand Little Exuma,depending on the reliableExplorers’ ChartBooks. George Town is adestination for manycruisers. At the heightof its “season,” the“cruisers’ regatta,” therecan be 400 visiting boats in theharbor. That’s a few too manyfor us, and we staged ourselvesin the wide sandy channelsof Long Island’s remoteDollar Harbor, diving forconch and exploring theempty little cays before headingnorthwest for a slightlyquieter George Town. It hadbeen 10 years since our lastvisit. Most things seemed thesame with the addition of anextra volleyball court or twoon Stocking Island and severalInternet cafes in town.Inflatables still criss-crossedthe harbor, their occupantsstanding in prevailing GeorgeTown style. The VHF crackledwith invitations, announcements,and inquiries. It’s a villagewithin a village—thecruisers and Bahamians interdependentand friendly.Bahamian sailboat racesare unusual in many ways,the most bizarre being thestart. All boats anchor alongthe line with sails down.Picture a Le Mans start at anautomobile racetrack. Thescene is serene with sloops orsailing dinghies gently bobbingin the clear water. At thestarting siren, the bowmantakes up the anchor (on a longrode) as fast as he can, giving the boat forward momentum.All boats must retrieve their anchors. As the enormousmainsail is raised, the helmsman drops the bow and—sometimes before the anchor is aweigh—she’s away. It’spandemonium! All boats, except the boat in the first position,must start on starboard tack, but that’s a committeerule, not a law of nature. Boats are on starboard tack, porttack, or in irons; skippers yell at their crew, crew yell atopponents; someone gets clean air, then another, thenanother, and they’re“checkin” to windward.If there’s a jibe atthe windward mark,one boat’s boom mightsweep someone offanother boat. Theheavy pry boards areshifted, the huge saillet out, and they’re“beddin’’ for the leewardmark. If a mangoes overboard, theskipper is required togo back for him. If aboat falls short of aHiked out on Eudeva.mark and misses it,two points are automaticallysubtracted from hisscore. The first boat to finish isawarded as many points asboats that finish. If 14 boatsstart, but only eight finish, thewinner gets eight points—unless the skipper missed amark!It’s a downwind finish,and those boats cross likefreight trains at full throttle.No one polices the huge spectatorfleet, bobbing and weavingin inflatable dinghies, cigaretteboats from Nassau(with men and womendressed and coifed in the latestflamboyant fashion),Whalers, and cruising boats.We followed some races inour dinghy and others aboardNew Moon, a friend’s trawler.We nearly got cut in half onone occasion when a celebratingwinning skipper let go thetiller in wild abandon, seeingour terrified expressions atthe last possible moment.Also on New Moon was ourBahamian friend, HarryHarding, past owner of theold champion from Salt Pond,Long Island, Running Tide.Like every Bahamian inGeorge Town, Harry knowsevery boat and every skipper’sstrength and weakness.Running Tide, one of the older boats in the regatta.When Running Tide missed a windward mark, Harrymoaned, “She might as well just check for home.”When the last race was over, the focus turned to thefood and drink shacks on land. We adjourned for a coldKalik beer and a hot sheep tongue souse. The RoyalBahamian Police marching band put on an elegant showfor the governor general of the Bahamas and all the restof us. The music, the dancing, the celebrating, and thesecond-guessing went on all night.46 October 2006 SOUTHWINDS www.southwindsmagazine.com