From Hog Cay we motor sailed back south of Ragged Island to Southside Bay. From the anchorage it is about a mile and a half walk to Duncan Town. Duncan Town has a population of about 80 and is the only settlement in the Jumentos. As you can see by the map it is quite far south in the chain in the Bahamian Islands. From where we are it is only 60 miles to Cuba.
I spent some time in the morning doing internet and talking to my mom in the post office/town hall building. Both the town hall and school have internet that they let the cruisers use; however using internet here is not like using a signal at home. The signal can come and go and depending on the number of people it can be a long and onerous task getting things done; however I did manage to do three postings without totally going crazy. Besides we were waiting for our grocery order from the mail boat. Maxine's order seemed to be the last delivered and by late afternoon we still didn't have our groceries. We were determined to wait so we joined a group of other cruisers in the local bar and had a drink to put in the time. We trundled our bundle buggy and back packs back to the anchorage as the sun was setting. It had been a loooooooonnnnnnnnggggg day but a good day.
Our refrigeration system has been acting up and we were afraid that we were going to have to change our cruising plans and head to Nassau. You can well imagine the fear one gets when you see your freezer start to melt. We talked to some other cruisers and got some suggestions for trouble shooting. I am both relieved and happy to say that we seem to be back in business. Rob soddered one of the wires and we are hoping that the problem was electrical and has been solved.
We spent a glorious day paddling out in the ocean from Southside and doing some shelling and snorkelling. The limestone rock in this area is quite stunning and in the picture of Rob in the kayak it almost looks like snow. Today we are going to trek back into town to go to the school lunch fundraiser. It will be Bahamian staples of peas and rice, macaroni, coleslaw and conch or chicken. It should be fun and Lynn and I hope to do a little computer work before the BBQ.
From here we hope to make our way north back up the Jumento's chain visiting some cays that we have not seen and returning to some favourite spots with First Edition. I think we are planning on staying in the Jumentos until Valentine's Day when there is a big party in Hog Cay. After that we will head to Long Island for provisions and to do five weeks of laundry. I do what I can by hand but two sets of sheets and towels are all we have so we have to make due. Sometimes Celebrian's lifelines look like a clothesline. It is all just part of life living on a sail boat.
Why is this man smiling? He was so delighted that I wanted to take his picture. This is my favourite picture taken in Duncan Town.
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