There is a land beyond the Sea, where in my dreams I want to be - Dan Bawaka
A sailor has an intense bond with his boat. Like having a new baby sleep in the same room, when you sleep on this boat you become aware of every sound, some of which you become accustomed, unless when you are over tired nothing seems to keep you from sleeping the sleep of the dead. That is, until fenders rubbing along a dock when the boat shifts, causing that irritating habitual squeal, or that untimely repetitive drumming of a halyard on the mast. It takes a minimum of at least five "drift-offs" until you awake enough to muster up the courage to venture outside to fix it. Usually timed to happen during the deepest of sleep, it does take courage to wake up enough, to realize it isn't going to stop. But instead of just getting to it, you test yourself on just how long you can endure the annoyance before you fall over to the side of consciousness. But now the decision of whether you can throw caution to the wind and venture out quickly enough to fix it in your underwear. Not that anyone would notice you may not have changed them or showered for four days because they too may be doing the same thing; and wearing exactly the same apparel. You lay awake a few minutes calculating the risk and the severity of the problem before making the decision to venture onto the dew soaked, salty deck in your bare feet, which are magnets for anything stainless steel. When you finally target the area on the exterior of the boat, the high pitched squeal or the jack-hammer line on the mast, instantly falls into a range that even a fruit bat with sophisticated hearing could not detect. You stand there with your "dumb dog" expression staring in the general direction wondering now whether or not you were just dreaming. When you hear the faintest squeak up at the bow you dive for it like it is something alive. A few adjustments, but experience tells you, you better wait, because the boat just wants to be cuddled in the middle of the night. After listening intently for a few minutes you leave to go back inside. The boat looks happy and appears to be smiling. It is then you have to decide whether or not that smile is from contentment or "I will see you again in a few minutes."
Once back in the warm bed you have to decide whether another trip is warranted or the new pitch from the adjustment you just made will be enough to lull you off to sleep.
The measurement between the extra soft mattress to the underside of the forward deck is exactly two and a quarter inches shorter than that dimension between the top of my skull to my hip bone in a sitting position. I know that and have had it tested again, when the small former coast guard vessel, which serves as the Spanish Cay to the Great Abaco Island ferry, started up at 6:30 AM, three marina berths away. It is a "renovated" boat to deliver staff from the "mainland" to serve the "facilities" on Spanish Cay, such as the marina staffing requirements itself, and the customs official. One part of the renovated vessel that they didn't yet install, or may never, is a muffler. Coming out of a deep sleep, I am led to believe, after bolting upright inside a space which does not quite accommodate my upper torso, that I am at on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral. It only took five minutes to warm up and leave the dock but you could hear the boat clear across the bay for another 10 minutes, while it made its way southward. I was up for the day when it arrived back with its human cargo.
On the way south-east to Green Turtle Cay, I caught not one but two barracudas. Probably only weighing in at 7 to 10 pounds each, they are only a needle sharp set of teeth... with a muscular fish's body attached. They fight like the dickens, so much so, you think you have twice the fish on the hook. When you get one aboard you wish you hadn't. I was afraid if I couldn't get the hook out in a hurry I could lose my hand in just one bite.
After a small struggle I was happy to get the first one off the hook. Luckily the second one which I caught five minutes later shook itself free right after landing it. They are on top of the fish food chain, grabbing anything they crave which exposes them to ciguatera, a virus which attacks the human nervous system if consumed. Barracudas can be eaten, but why take the chance. Ciguatera comes up the fish chain from the smaller fish feeding on the reefs, which in turn are eaten by larger fish up the chain.
The walk around the settlement of New Providence is an education on how simply a life can be lived and more. Very clean and tidy, the houses are close together on narrow one way streets, of which there are two; one running east and one coming back east. The grocery and hardware stores are well stocked and the service there and at the little restaurants is personable, friendly and appreciative. For the size of the settlement there never seemed to be enough people, except the night of their Christmas parade and carollers. Notices were up and announced to cruisers over the VHF radio that this important event was to be centered around the basketball court. Everyone from our four cruising boats gathered early to get the best seats, along with lots of other cruisers from other boats. There were no seats so we managed a picnic table just outside the activity area. A line up formed for some very good breaded chicken complete with famous island staple of "mac'n'cheese". All the school children, black and white, lined up each with their paper lanterns, and in the heat of the evening started singing 'Dashing through the snow, Let it snow , etc.
The parade was led by their fire truck with a flashing red light up front. From a distance it looked like a half ton truck with a clear plastic 250 gallon water tank on back. Up close though, it was a half ton truck with a 250 gallon water tank; filled with 245 gallons of water. Following it was the rest of the parade; four golf carts, two of which were decorated, - one with Christmas lights. It went around the block and the whole parade of one fire truck and four golf carts went zipping by again.
Everybody was happy!
The best part of the whole evening was watching the children playing on the basketball court with a couple of balls and a toy jeep with three good wheels and one half wheel that must have become seized at one time and had been worn down to size, by constant use. The children all took turns riding inside while the rest pushed and pulled the contraption around the concrete deck. Among all the children there were big ones and small ones, there were dark and white ones with all shades in between. No one appeared to be any better than anyone else which reflected the spirit of the whole settlement. Although the parade was small and appeared simple, in it all they carried the spirit of Christmas which leads one to believe they do all year long. Which in all makes the trip to their island just to see that it still exists in the world. I'm sure places like this have problems, but I'm equally sure they solve them by helping each other.
We are off to Marsh Harbour, the main city of the Abacos.