The main reason we came to Little Farmer’s Cay was to see the regatta at the Five F’s, which stands for Farmer’s Cay First Friday in February Festival.  It includes the local regatta, booths of crafts and food from local residents, a barbecue on the beach, contests such as a couple’s egg toss, and much more.  The regatta is done in small sailboats which must be built by Bahamians, skippered by a Bahamian, crewed mostly with Bahamians (cruisers are sometimes included when needed), and specific guidelines are included for the boats.  There are no motors, the sail must be canvas, and tacking is controlled by the crew standing on a long board to make the boat heel.  The race was short, but fun to watch. 

We’ve had a lot of excitement since arriving here on Wednesday.  That began with our sailing companions Ultra drifting on two different moorings and going aground.  The mooring balls were fouled and not in any condition to hold any boat, let alone a fifty foot trimaran.  Our next surprise was when a 10 ft + hammerhead shark was caught at the dock we are near.  Apparently he was swimming near our boat for awhile in the company of several other sharks, a tiger shark and another hammerhead.  When he got near the dock, a local Farmer’s Cay man threw a line out with a big hook and tied it to the dock.  He caught the shark and when we came to the dinghy dock, it was hanging there!  (picture coming soon)

Another surprise was quite unpleasant.  We are on a mooring ball but when the wind comes from the west we have little protection.  It did last night at 25 kts and higher.  We woke up at about 1:30 am when we heard someone calling on VHF channel 16.  Looking out, we saw that a 55 foot power boat which had been moored in front of us was on the shore, against some rocks.  The owner of the mooring balls was in a boat and pull them out.  That was successful and Terry, the owner of the field, lead Prime Time V to an anchorage.   Of course it was very dark and this area is full of coral and couldn’t be negotiated without local knowledge or very bright sunlight. 

After the regatta, we got in the dinghy and headed back to the boat.  Mark took four jerry jugs to the yacht club to get diesel.  I couldn’t find Mark’s good camera, so I called him on the VHF radio to see if it was still in the dinghy.  It wasn’t, so he rushed back to the dinghy dock.  Almost two hours had passed, but unbelievably the camera was still there!

Even though we have had an unusual number of unpleasant experiences here, we aren’t complaining.  As the Bahamians say, “No Problem.”