After a really good breakfast at Staniel Yacht Club we headed out. We are definitely on our own out here. We haven’t seen any other sailboats. I guess all the sailboats are back in Florida. We head into Little Farmers Cay, our last stop before Georgetown. Little Farmers Cay is a unique island, surrounded by white sandy beaches. It was originally settled by a woman named Chrisanna a freed slave from the island of Great Exuma, who moved there with her two sons and daughter. They bought the island from the English and willed it to their descendants as family property. The land can only go to descendants of the original family.

The town numbers about 60 people, and there are several youngsters we saw when we pulled up in our dinghy. They were having a great time jumping off the dock, trying to keep cool in the oppressive heat. Most of the islanders in the small town farm or fish. They take such pride in their island and their heritage that they even designed their own flag, giving thanks to the sea, the environment and to the oneness of all creation. I love that! And even though it is pretty small and quiet here, there is an airstrip. Most of the islands in the Exumas have an airstrip. This probably accounts for the several submerged planes we have seen. We were lucky to see a plane make a safe landing shortly after we pulled in.

We headed into town in search of groceries and laundry. The guidebook said to call the Ocean Club on the VHF if you needed anything, but we decided to walk into town first and see if we could find it. It was easy to spot, a little blue building at the top of a small hill. It was pretty nondescript from the outside but we were pleasantly surprised when we went in. It was a bar/restaurant, with cream colored walls and deep dark wood tables and trim. Hung from the ceiling were different boat flags yachties had left from their last visit. Narrow archways lead to a small bar where we were greeted with a big hello and bright smile from Meghan who was tending bar. She had just moved back from Nassau When I asked her why she told us about it being a family island. A family or generation island means she is guaranteed free land on which to build a house. She seemed a bit young to be worrying about a house, but she was tired of living in Nassau.

A young man sat at the end of the small bar, the only other person in the place. I noticed he had some kind of badge around his neck and I asked him about it. Turns out he was the police; the only policeman on the island. Meghan laughingly added that he was a policeman with no car and he had to walk to the scene of the crime. There was very little crime there, lucky for him.

The prices looked good so we decided to hang around for an early supper. We have been so hungry for lobster. Lobster season doesn’t start until tomorrow, but they had one 16 oz tail in the freezer. We ordered that and a steak and sandwiches for the kids, and set a time for 5:30. It was about 4:00 now and we didn’t feel like heading back to the boat so we hung around looking at all the memorabilia on the walls. Meghan put in a movie for the kids “Arthur and the Invisibles”. It is not really out on DVD yet so she must have her own “Geno” who can get DVD’s. When the food came it was delicious. We couldn’t decide which was better, the lobster or the steak. The lobster tail was huge and they only charged us twenty dollars for it. The Ocean Club had such a great atmosphere we hated to leave. I asked her about getting bread at the grocery store and she said they didn’t sell bread there, only a few canned goods and no milk. I asked how the restaurant got their food and she said the boat came from Nassau. Then she added that the boat hadn’t come for 3 weeks!

As we left to head back to our boat we saw another Osprey resting on the beach. As we got closer to him he flew off. That night sitting in the cockpit we saw a beautiful, orange moon rising up on the horizon. We were the only ones on a boat in a big harbor to enjoy it.