Save a Turkey, Eat a Cornish Game Hen

November 24, 2005

Friday, November 18, 2005 - Lynyard Cay, , Abacos
By Tom

We left the bonds of civilization this morning and headed out in 5 knots of wind for the 10 miles sail down to Lynyard Cay. As you can imagine it took quite some time with only 5 knots to push us. I drug both fish whackers the whole way, but to no avail.

We anchored in 6 feet of pure white sand a mere 200 yards off a deserted beach. Once the boat was put to bed, we piled into the dinghy and took our Koob game ashore. I dominated the 3 game set and Amy came home winless!

Dinner was a grilled steak with some sort of non identifiable vegetable medley and homemade french fries. Milo and I did not partake in the medley.

PS - Today is my brothers birthday. Happy birthday pud monkey.

Saturday, November 19, 2005 - Little Harbour, Little Harbour, Abacos
By Amy

We listened to the Cruiser's Net this morning over coffee and breakfast and heard that Tropical Storm Gamma is on its way to the Bahamas, arrival expected sometime Monday night. We really do have targets painted on our foreheads.

The wind was already blowing like stink, so all thoughts of diving were abandoned. After debating the best course of action, we headed to Little Harbour three miles down. It offers good all-around protection and there are fewer boats there than in Hopetown. It was a quick sail under jib alone and a rough ride in through the cut. When we arrived, the harbor was full of charter catamarans, but they fled almost immediately--probably ditching their rental boats before the impending storm.

In the afternoon, we headed to Pete's Pub for the pig roast to celebrate Pete's return. There was no sign of Pete and we skipped the pig, but beers and rum were enjoyed under the thatch roof while the rain pounded down. I wandered to Pete's gallery (he's a sculptor)--not bad, but I like his dad's stuff better. Thomas made friends with the owner of Cornish Cay and his buddies who'd come in on a small skiff and now couldn't make it back out of the harbor because of the swells. Power boaters never listen to the weather.

Pizza for dinner and a quiet evening with the ferrets

Sunday, November 20, 2005 - Little Harbour, Little Harbour, Abacos
By Tom

Let me just say, I really hate the Abacos. At least the part of it south of Greene Turtle. Every possible anchoring spot in all of the good anchorages have mooring balls put in. This will be the last time we come to the Abacos.

We checked the weather again this morning and it looks like we might be out of the woods with Tropical Storm Gamma. We'll know for sure in another day or so, but NOAA seems to think it will not be a real weather event here. Yeah.

By the way, the ass hole named Bob who runs the mooring balls here is a world class idiot. Half of the stupid balls are so close to each other that if there is a boat on both of them, they will touch. I woke up this morning to the sound of us bouncing off the adjacent mooring, thankfully it was empty.

Nice job Bob, dick.

It rained off and on most of the day so we stayed below decks and listened to football games and played with our ferrets. Dinner was spaghetti and garlic bread. Early to bed

Monday, November 21, 2005 - Little Harbour, Little Harbour, Abacos
By Amy

We're still bobbing around on Bob's mooring. The rain continued. Even Pete's Pub isn't open. So it was a day of computing and reading. No weather to cross to Eleuthera in sight

Tuesday, November 22, 2005 - Little Harbour, Little Harbour, Abacos
By Tom

The rain stopped for the most part today. I got Amy to take me and my bozo deluxe wet suit action gear ensemble out to the cut in the dinghy where I tried to find a fishy friend to invite for dinner.

It was pretty rough and the visibility was poor. I swam around for 15 minutes and then gave up.

On the way back in we stopped and spoke to a couple on a charter boat moored in front of us and we invited them over for happy hour.

Happy hour was ok, but the rain showed back up and put an end to our festivities. Will we ever get a window to leave for Eleuthera ?

Wednesday, November 23, 2005 - Hopetown Harbor, Hopetown, Abacos
By Amy

Thomas made bread yesterday, and we found out that that was the last of our flour. With crossing weather still some time away, we decided to make a run for Marsh Harbor for flour supplies.

The weather was generally shitty, with the chop hitting us head-on. That slowed us down. In addition, the "cavitation prevention thingy" (that's the official name) on our port engine is broken. As a result, she tends to cavitate (go figure) and we have to back off the throttle and then ease her back up. After 100 times of that, we decided to pull into Hopetown for the day.

We headed to the laundromat but were informed that they were out of water. At that building? On the whole island? I have no idea. We headed for the bar to await word on whether the water guy would be delivering. Although we didn't tell laundromat lady our destination, she called while we were there to say no water today. Guess we were the only ugly Americans in town.

Another quiet evening on the boat

Thursday, November 24, 2005 - Marsh Harbour, Marsh Harbour, Abacos
By Tom

We left Hopetown early this morning for the 6 mile motor over to Marsh Harbour. I tried to find someone to pay for the mooring we used last night, but nobody was home. Score a free one for us.

I swear if I see another mooring field here I am gonna swim out after dark in my commando night time army stealth bozo outfit and start cutting the bobbers free. Viva la resistance ! Down with Bob!

Freedom for the Floats !

Oh yeah, happy Thanksgiving. Gobble, gobble.

I'm not sure how you all spent your holiday, but ours was spent blowing $200 on a lot of fresh food, beer and laundry. We kept busy for the better part of the day.

In the afternoon, I found another reason to hate this place. Get this, the local marina, known as the Jib Room was having a Thanksgiving Day potluck. For those who don't know, a potluck is where everyone attending brings a dish and we all share.

Anyhow, I asked another cruiser we were talking to about what time it started and she said that she had been told that only the boats in the marina were invited. Now think about this for a second. As a business owner, why would you not want as many people in your establishment as possible? I mean, we all bring food, so it's not like it costs the owners anything extra. Actually it helps the owner because everyone buys their drinks from the bar. I'm not sure someone really thought this one out and we will now be boycotting the Jib Room.

Turned away from the evil establishment, we took our Thanksgiving Day dollars over to Snappas and had a few drinks and watched Thanksgiving Day football before we returned to the boat and I cooked Cornish Game Hens for our feast.

Cornish Game Hens you ask? I'm not sure what they are either, but the little Cornish bastards come two to a pack for $7 US. What the hell does Cornish Game Hen mean? Is that like a small chicken with a Scottish accent? Maybe it's a midget chicken? Perhaps it is a small fowl that plays board games exceptionally well? Hell if I know.

Anyhow, we decided to deep fry one in the pressure cooker and grill the other one out back (on the grill). They were both really good, but the consensus is that the grilled italian-lemon-pepper blend hen was better. If you are able stalk and successfully apprehend the wiley and ever elusive cornish game hen, I wholly recommend trying them.