Voyage 2002-2003: Chapter 6

3 Mar 2003, On to Little Farmers Cay, 23 57.802 N/ 076 19.301 W

We checked out of Exuma Park at 0850 headed for Little Farmers Cay. We hoped to meet up with S/V Celena and S/V Legend there. Again we had an uneventful motorsail with mostly head winds at 10-15 kts. The islands appeared to be mostly uninhabited with the occasional settlement in the distance. Celena and Legend recommended the north entrance to Little Farmers harbor and indicated that there was 'plenty of water'. Yeah, at high tide maybe. We came scraping into the harbor with inches to spare. Of course we came in at low tide. Don't we always.

Little Farmers Cay has a small settlement of 55 people. The population is extremely friendly and helpful. We found places to leave our trash, we landed in a nice dinghy dock, and Bob got some excellent cigars at the Ocean Cabins. Life is good! It was rather late in the evening so most folks were about ready to have dinner.

Terry from Ocean Cabins gave us a tour of his establishment after we bought the cigars. He had a fully stocked bar and a very clean restaurant area. Terry is quite famous with the cruising community and his hospitality is reported in many of the cruising guides.Terry sees many cruisers during the season as Little Farmers harbor is pretty well protected.

We then searched out JR the wood sculptor. Terry told us to follow the dirt road which we did. Sure enough, there was JR ready to show us his talent. Ann could not resist a little wooden owl while Bob was interested in three polished conch shells. It didn't take JR long to sell us this 'stuff'. JR indicated that his art work is sold in George Town and Nassau. It is not hard to believe that his products sell well.

4 Mar 2003, Little Farmers and the Exuma Sound, 23 57.802 N/ 076 19.301 W

That night, we heard S/V Something Good ask anchorage information from Legend. Could this be S/V Tell Me Something Good from the Dry Tortugas days (Voyage 2000)? We will have to find out later. Today, we drop our moorings, along with Celena and Legend, and head for the cut to the Exuma Sound. We are fortunate that it is slack water and high tide when we leave the harbor. We each zig and zag a different course, but all manage to reach the sound without incident. Not sure I would want to do this at low tide or opposing wind and current.

Yet another day with the wind on our nose. The seas were 4-5 feet which made for a bumpy ride. Legend opted to tack the course while Jule III and Celena motor-sailed the rhumb line (sorta) to Conch Cut. By late morning, the waves subsided to 3 feet making the rest of the passage relatively easy. However, still motorsailing. Very little real sailing to date. The guide books say that Conch Cut can be nasty. Fortunately, today it was kind to us.