Junkanoo!

 Junkanoo originated in the Bahamas back in the 17th century as a form of celebrating Freedom from Slavery. It is distinctly Bahamian with perhaps a few other occurrences elsewhere. Junkanoos occur several times a year around major holidays and most have judges awarding prizes to the best groups. This particular Junkanoo had three major players with a couple of beginner groups.
 The people here take this celebration seriously by creating brightly colored costumes that are larger than life.  They form parades at night with groups of brass and drums pounding out the beat for costumed people to dance to. And wow do they dance. I haven't experienced this much energy since I was passed closely by a freight train.
 Here's one man working it out -



And more -

 He was one of the more interesting male dancers but I will say everyone had their boody wound up. Each team approached the area we were standing at led by people in brilliantly colored costumes. They would bounce up and down encouraging the extremities of the costumes to gyrate and swing about. Given the heat it was good to see there were people carrying cool drinks for the performers. Plenty of them were taking advantage of the offer and it was no surprise they needed the refreshment. It's good to see people celebrating their advancement in such a colorful, noisey, stampede of smiles.

None of us expected anything as elaborate as this to be displayed.

Moving about

 Last Tuesday on the 15th we looked at the weather forecasts and wondered if we would be able to get out on the Sea of Abaco with the dink. The wind was predicted to be out of the South East but clocking around to the North as the day progressed. After mulling over the choice between a walk and time in the dink we decided to go out in the dink and if it was rough we'd go up to Hope Town and walk around up there a while.
 Once out on the Sea we were treated to calm water and not having been along the West shore of Lubber's Quarters I stuck the nose of the dink at the North end and moved on. Once around the tip of the cay we were greeted by shallow clear water and a number of live shells going about their livelihood on the bottom. We could clearly see Tulips and a few conch. Given they were alive we left them alone and moved on. Eventually we ran into very shallow water so Deb had to move to the bow and I stood in the middle. With the engine set to the highest operational angle we were able to bounce along the bottom without grinding the propeller up.

 Eventually the water deepened and we made our way over to Witch point on the West shore of Abaco. There were several beaches over there and we spent some time scouring them for shells. It's been my experience that the shores of Abaco don't offer many shells of interest because there usually are no reefs encouraging their growth and this area lived up to that expectation. After a while we drove down to Snake Cay and looked at the water life under us. There are some really large spotted rays down there and they get close enough to warrant caution since we have seen them jump clear of the water several times. As our luck would have it the sun hid behind the few clouds in the area and this put an end to our viewing since the water is deeper here.

 Along the way back to Lubber's Deb took a sudden move to the starboard side of the dink when she saw a nice shark swimming along with us. Pleasant looking fish they are. Especially when their mouths are open and headed your way. Since we were going past Cracker P's on the way back to Sea Spray, and it was lunch time, well, we pulled in for a bite and the next episode of "Everyone Loves Tobi". "Dan just smile and nod ok?" Next time I'll bring my hearing aids but we may not laugh as much.
 Today it's February 18th and Freedom was tied up here at Sea Spray for over a month without moving. her bottom was starting to get shaggy with growth. Coincidentally the Royal Marsh Harbour Yacht Club was sponsoring a seminar on the passage to and cruising of the Central Bahamas. Since this is one of our goals we elected to move Freedom over to Boat Harbour at the Abaco Beach Resort for a night. Our membership in the club provided us with a docking discount so the pain of a daily fee was reduced a bit. It was worth it.

 We attended the seminar and picked up a number of pointers from several people that had experienced the trip to Eluethera and Exumas. Afterwards, we hooked up with the other members of the Club at 5 pm for the evening happy hour out on the peninsula. These people know how to make an hour happy. Everyone brings their own beverage and a snack. The picnic tables fill with goodies to munch on while chatting with friends. Having been reminded that our attendance was appropriate on the way back from town we picked up a pint of fresh conch salad from George the conch salad man. He hangs out at a small booth next to the Harbour View Marina and chops up conch. Darn good salad. It didn't last long on the table. A few of the ladies got together and made up conch fritters the likes of which we had never experienced. I'm hopeful we'll get the recipe for these but I suspect it's going to take some investment in beverages to loosen up the security system.

 Today we hauled out of Boat Harbour a well protected and high class facility, and made our way back to Sea Spray to finish our time here. Since we had not run Freedom in a while I opened her up and with a puff of black smoke she struggled up onto plane at 17 knots. Fully 2 knots less than what she normally can do with a full load. Certainly the growth on the bottom was holding her back. But the gauges looked good so we ran her at speed a couple of minutes before settling down into a casual 7 knots or so. Fortunately we left with some tide and ran fast because by the time we reached Porgee Rock we were stirring up sand as we traveled. Back in the slip we were happy to see most of the shag was gone.

The one that got away

 Early yesterday we were hailed on the radio by Bob. He has a great view of the Atlantic from Atlantic Horizons http://www.hopetown.com/rentalsearch/atlantic-horizons so he knew the ocean was in a cooperative state for fishing. I think I hesitated about a millisecond before saying well..... ok.... if you insist. Since we don't have a center console here invitations like this are really appreciated. We can get around on the dink but the weather has to be perfect, and Freedom is not a boat to take on the Ocean for the purpose of fishing. In 2-3 foot seas a fishing drift will rock most into a state better left near the side rails or a bucket. So we dug out some gear and waited. 
 After a while Bob showed up at Sea Spray with Ridge Runner which is a 24 Stamas with a 250 Suzuki 4 stroke outboard. We loaded up and set out for Tilloo cut at a good pace. The engine was smooth and quiet and the ride was good. Passing by Cracker P's we could see the cut over the beach at Tahiti and it looked a bit rough. After going around Cooper Jacks Cay and arriving at the cut we were greeted by 3 to 4 foot swells about a couple of seconds apart. Just enough to get a roller coaster scream out of Deb. But these soon passed and we found ourselves out on the Atlantic with gentle rollers passing under the boat smoothly. The water and sky were clear and the sun was up. We hoped the fish were biting.
 After a short ride Bob shut everything down and we started a drift. As we drifted North East (see http://home.roadrunner.com/~danmapes/Voyage1011.kmz track named Out Tilloo Cut Fishing and In Tilloo Cut from Fishing) luck was with us and we hooked up several grouper and stashed them away in the live well. One was rather small and foul hooked so we decided to use it for bait.
 After a while my line went tight and heavy. After about a minute or so I had a 3 or 4 foot lemon shark next to the boat. At this point Deb decided the other side of the boat was a more appropriate place to sit. But the shark shook the bait loose and went about it's business of looking for another bit of food. Since the bait was still on the hook and Bob thought the shark was good eating we elected to re-hook the fish since it was loitering in the area. While we were talking about it the fish passed within a few feet of the boat several times. So Bob and I both put our lines in and sure enough I re-hooked the shark. This time the hook was well set and the fight resumed.

 The shark ran off line a few times and then predictably tired. It was perhaps 5 feet under the boat in front of me and moved towards the bow and under the boat. So I ran forward to resume the struggle and turn the shark back. Just as I had it turned the leader snapped and the shark got away. Steel leaders are a good thing, nylon leaders are not. 

 After this we returned back to Tilloo cut which at first appeared quite imposing with waves breaking across the cut. As we approached it though the water appeared to lay down but I think the initial impression was probably caused by the angle we originally viewed the cut from. It looked like it was breaking all the way across but soon enough as we got closer the center opened up and we rode the waves back in. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zzk9u2HClLA
 Once inside the cut Deb's face lightened up considerably. All in all her first experience in a small boat on the Ocean went really well and she enjoyed it. It left her thinking that running down to the Exumas on Freedom might not be such an ordeal after all.
 After all of this adventure Deb fried up some fish and we had a bit to eat. Then it was off to the SOTs get together for a libation and gathering of friends at the end of a great day in Abaco. The folks at Sea Spray put on a terrific spread of appetizers and there was plenty for everyone to have. And people have to ask why we like staying here...

 I've loaded up some more photos at http://s252.photobucket.com/albums/hh40/danno53/Boating%202010-2011/ and the GPS tracks link is available here as well.