Hog Cay, Ragged Islands, Bahamas

 Rita agreed to do another basket-weaving class in the morning.  (A couple of new boats in the anchorage wanted to learn - I needed a refresher on how to start a new basket).

Since we only have one "car" - I dropped Duane off at the other end of the island so he could do a long shore walk by himself.

 

Back a few miles to the anchorage by myself.

 

I enjoyed the hour or so chatting with the ladies and doing our handwork.

 

I decided to finish the basket I had been working on by tying the loose end off down the side of the basket.  Fun first attempt!

 

Several new boats in the anchorage came in for sundowners - sorry, I didn't catch all their names.  They originally are from far away - Germany, Portugal and England.   Mostly they've been down in the Caribbean, just checking into the Bahamas in the past few weeks.

Later at sundown, the crews rolled up the sunshade so we'd all have a nice view.

 

Nice to hear new stories and a pretty sunset!

Hog Cay, Ragged Islands, Bahamas

 Early in the morning we waved a good-bye to What If.  We'll see them again in a month or two in Oriental.

 

 

Rita called on the VHF and asked if Dee and I would like to go on a shore walk and find some more silver palms for our basket making.

She picked us up on their fun dinghy with a sun awning!  Fancy!

 

Dee enjoying the ride.

 

We walked to the pathway along the bay.

 

Rita took us to some coconut palms that were left over from a long-ago small plantation.

 

There was a makeshift ladder nearby so Rita climbed up and took a few coconuts.

 

And we all sampled the wonderful cool coconut water.  Wish we'd thought to bring straws!

 

Dee got in on the harvesting as well!

 

 

And we did all get several fronds of silver palms for our baskets.  (You harvest just the emerging frond, not a fully opened frond.  They're easy to store and supple.

 

Here's the bounty for the day. 

The usual sundowners on shore visiting with a few boats that are new to the area but have been in the Raggeds a while.

Hog Cay, Ragged Islands, Bahamas

 Rita announced on the VHF that she would do a basket making class at the cruiser hut at 10AM, so I decided this year to participate.  

It's a bit tricky to get the basket started, but once you've got the hang of it, things move along pretty nicely.

 

 

Rita and Dee busy with their baskets.  The palm fronds are special "silver palms" that grow on the island and are particularly soft/pliable.

 

 

Rita brought along some examples of her work.  Obviously, she has excellent basket weaving skills from many years of practice!

 

We stayed under the cool shade of the hut for several hours, just chatting and weaving.

 

Here's what my basket looked like around noon.

 

Later in the day, we all met Maxine at the crusier hut.  She is going to Nassau for a couple of weeks and we will likely not see her again this season.

 

By the end of the day I'd made quite a bit of progress with my basket.

 

Good fun but I don't think I'll do this for a living!!! (My thumbs are a bit sore!)

 

 

We went in to the hut for sundowners - sadly Ed and Cathy are going to head north to the states tomorrow.  We had a farewell dinner on Sojourn for them with Dee and Nicholas.  Hate to see them go but understand.  We'll see them at our dock in Oriental later in the spring though!

Hog Cay, Ragged Islands, Bahamas

 There was a flurry of planes visiting Ragged Island yesterday - the prime minister and administration officials were visiting the island to survey recent improvements like the school building construction and solar farm.  Several large planes departed directly over the anchorage at Little Ragged cut.  They published this pretty airborne shot of the anchorage.

And you can make out our little boats in the anchorage!

 We all decided it was time to move out of our sweet little anchorage.  It will be pleasant to be at Hog Cay for a while with some protection from the coming week of 20+ knot steady winds.

 

We had a great motors-off sail - tacked several times and dropped the sails just as we arrived at the anchorage.

 

Just 5 boats in front of the cruiser hut - and we know all of them!  Sojourn, plus Mesuggha, What If, Bluejacket and Como No. 

 Rita from Como No came over before lunch on her kayak and we had a nice visit.  Then Jerry from Bluejacket dinghied over and suggested we all meet on shore for another cookout since they will be heading back to Oriental tomorrow morning.  

 

The cruiser hut is looking sharp after Maxine and some of the locals re-thatched the roof.

 

Everyone gathered in the evening, Jerry had already started the cookfire.

 

Was nice to have the relatively small group.  Fun catching up since it's been over a month since we'd been at Hog Cay.

 

It feels like the winter is ending as so many boats are leaving or making plans to leave.  We'll stay a bit longer and work our way north when the weather gives us a great opportunity.

Little Ragged Island, Bahamas

 Time is winding down here - we've decided this is our last day at Little Ragged.  We'll move tomorrow up to Hog Cay for a while, then start a slow trek north in a few weeks.

 

Going to miss these beautiful views every day!

 

 

Duane and I went on a nice walk to find the "fresh water spring" that was in the advertisments about the island being for sale.

 

Along the western shore.

 

After a short plunge into the brambles, we found the fresh water spring!

 Much bigger than I was expecting - lots of ducks and birds but they were very shy.

 

 

And one of the many rock walls in the area.  This was apparently quite the complex in the late 1800's. 

 

 

While walking back to shore, we spied this homemade boat in the brambles.

 

It's made of corregated roof sheeting, sealed with roofing tar.  We suspect it's from some smart Haitian or Cuban wanting to immigrate!

 

 

Duane was interested in the engine - looks like an air-cooled diesel with 2 cylinders.

 

There was also a small mast made of bamboo and a couple of long homemade oars.  Definitely a crafty person made all this out of household items!

 

Walking back to the boat.

 

May be the last hike into Little Ragged Island that we are allowed if someone buys it in the next few days at auction....

 

And one last sunny view out the Little Ragged Island cut.

Back at the boat, I looked up this really cool bottle Duane found at the fresh water spring.  It's labeled Barry's New York Tricopherous for the skin and hair from the late 1800's.  It originally had a cork or something as a closure, not a screw top.  One of the coolest things we've found out here!

We did a farewell cookout - invited the friendly crew from Duende to join us - Sandy, Kevin and their daughter Leslie.

 

The usual culprits otherwise.  Ed and Cathy.

 

Dee and Nicholas

 

And us!

 

A roaring fire and great company to share the evening!