While in Bimini we met a journalist and filmmaker who were sailing with 4 Haitians to Florida. Sailing is a literal term here since their open boat has no engine. They have oars and poles and sails. The trip, is being done in a traditional open boat to draw attention to the hardships of present day Haitian refugees. In the Bahamas, there seems to be some animosity toward Haitians. Bahamians do complain about the way Haitian fishermen raid Bahamian lobster traps, fish in Bahamian waters and use bleach to capture lobsters and thus ruin the reef. Many people say that there is great prejudice against Haitians, but we did not witness that first hand. The journalist told us stories of fights and intimidation but we did not see that. The sailors completed so much of their journey over open ocean crossing passages with strong currents renowned for nasty conditions. I cannot imagine 6 people in this boat in those waters. There is no cabin only a tarp which they pull over the boat when sleeping or trying to escape the rain. Bimini must have seemed like a great safe haven. At dinner, they went conching and wow you should have seen them get the conch out of the shell and onto the grill. They have conch acumen. We wished them well as we headed out. They were waiting for calmer seas and more favorable winds. I hope they get them.
Conch is plentiful in the Jumentos but I came up empty during my first few hunting expeditions. I found shells inhabited by sea urchins and small fish. I found empty shells. I couldn’t find an edible conch at all. Finally , we went snorkeling with Steve and Kim from Fine Lion. Steve pointed out about a dozen conch about 10 or twelve feet down. I surfaced triumphantly holding the one I thought he indicated only to have him take it from my hand and toss it back. "The big one" he said " not that one". I found the big one and four more that were acceptable. I was now a successful hunter. I had conch acumen . Almost. The bigger deal is once you have these guys what do you do with them? Making these tropical escargot relinquish their homes is a bit of a project. The first step is to make a hole in the shell with the claw of a hammer. The best place is on the back and up fairly high. Then a sharp knife searches through the hole for the parts that hold the conch in its rather lovely home. Then cut and cut and cut. It was a bit gory but cracked conch and conch fritters were a good incentive. After the cutting, I tried to grab the conch from the front of the shell and yank. Easier said than done. The Bahamians make this look really simple. It is not. But maybe some day it will be. I used pliers. Eventually I yanked the conch from it’s home and handed it to Tom pliers and all. He cleaned it. The guts and head etc. are truly disgusting and so slimy. The rest though, is as good as a bay scallop, if prepared correctly. After trimming and peeling and trimming, the conch still needs to be pounded into a tenderized treat. We beat it with a wooden mallet until it sounded like we were building a house. Finally, we had a conch feast. Cracked conch is just breaded with cracker crumbs and pan fried. Fritters are made with lots of conch, onions and peppers in a batter and fried in a fair amt of oil. A bit of hot pepper seems to be in order for almost all these dishes. Next Conch chowder ........
Jumentos Cays
A trip to the Jumentos takes a couple of days from Georgetown. As a first stop we headed to Long Island. We were quite relaxed about this sail and didn’t weigh anchor until about 10:00 AM. That may have been a mistake. It takes about 3 miles to exit Georgetown and there is often a big swell at the south end channel . The swell was a bit more than expected but ok. Once out of the harbor we noted that there was a bit more wind than expected but still ok. Soon we got on our heading for Long Island, SE at about 122-126 degrees. The wind was from about ESE at about 100 degrees blowing about 15 – 20 knots. We just can’t sail 22 degrees off the wind so we tacked and we slogged and we motor sailed and we made about 3 knots into a stinky 4 foot chop. How we managed to sail against the tide for 9 hours is a mystery to me but as we watched the sunset behind us we were still fighting to make more than 3 knots and the harbor was about 5 miles away. We watched the stars dance a bit before arrived in stealth mode and set the anchor. The weather forecast the next morning gave us about two days before another stretch of windy, windy days. We set out , earlier this time ,for the northern Jumentos cays about 45 miles away. The Jumentos are unpopulated. There is one settlement to the south in Ragged Island with about 100 people. We visited only the northern cays, Water and Flamingo, before the wind began to howl. Our anchorage was well protected and one beautiful and happy week sped past. There are no stores ,no marinas, no beach bars . It is wonderful. Our friends in Fine Lion were the only other sailboat in the anchorage. A few fishing boats came and went in coves to the north and south. One morning, at about 730 we heard a knock on the hull and a small fishing boat pulled along side. They were interested to know if we had heard a weather forecast; as in strong wind it is difficult to pull traps. After discussing the weather a bit one fisherman asked if we had anything on board to make his mouth taste like a man. I didn’t get it so he said , with the best of Bahamian lilts, “My mouth is just like a Bahamian dog’s I need something to make it like a man and get me going. “ I offered coffee and he looked horrified. Laughing he said that when a Bahamian father gives his son a glass of rum he will say” here’s something to make your mouth taste like a man”. We were way too low on rum for sharing but we found a bottle of wine that was acceptable and were promised fish in return. The Bahamian defense force maintains an occasional presence in the area too. After a couple of days stuck in weather they invited the fishermen and us to a “grill out” on the beach. We had fabulous steaks and chicken , great peas and rice, a Bahamian specialty similar to fried rice but better, and stories of barracuda stealing fish from spears . As the fishermen go t involved in the conversation, there were tales of hammerhead sharks and a showing of scars that was reminiscent of “Jaws” . It was almost enough to keep me out of the water but the snorkeling was amazing. While searching for conch and fish we saw a moray eel, cow fish with their funny horns , puffy porcupine fish and rays. I saw no sharks. Thankfully! After a week the wind moderated and we turned our bow north, gently. We had water on board from our friends on Fine Lion which is equipped with a watermaker – handy item- but we were out of rum and beer.
