What do rum and cats have in common? They both are islands in southern Bahamas where we stopped on our way north. After a stop in Mayaguana we sailed north-west to Rum Cay where we stopped in 2009 at the beginning of our trip. The place is just a postal card picture and really makes us appreciate the chance we have to be here. Nothing much has changed other than the consequences of Hurricane Irene which hit the area last season taking a few roofs in her wake.
A stop in Rum Cay necessarily means to stop for a beer at Kaye’s Bar and Restaurant where Dolores greats her patrons with good beer and local stories. At 80’ Dolores has seen the beautiful and the ugly of her island and keeps a collection of guest books that have been running since the 70’s. We actually saw our own comments we wrote in 2009 and Dolores was very proud to show us when Jackie Onasis KennWhat do rum and cats have in common? They both are islands in southern Bahamas where we stopped on our way north. After a stop in Mayaguana we sailed north-west to Rum Cay where we stopped in 2009 at the beginning of our trip. The place is just a postal card picture and really makes us appreciate the chance we have to be here. Nothing much has changed other than the consequences of Hurricane Irene which hit the area last season taking a few roofs in her wake.edy came in ’81 and signed her book. Now she would be able to show the signature of the “famous” Chocobo who sailed the area this year! We had a good time that day, thanks to Dolores who kept us company. For some reasons there were almost nobody else visiting the island while we were there so it was not quite a party town but sure it was relaxing to simply be there. While sipping our beer we couldn’t miss to notice the pile of lumber and shingles piled on the side of the bar. Those were to repair the roof that was damaged by the hurricane. The funny thing about this was that to get all the material here Dolores had to get them shipped to her from outside the island hence significantly increasing the cost. This adds up to 50% import fees collected by the government. We thought taxes were high in Canada! What I don’t understand is how this government tax works exactly? You see, import taxes are what we call protectionism and are intended to favor local products instead of imported ones. But there is no such thing as a local product, other than beer maybe, in the Bahamas and virtually everything has to be imported. Consequently, such a high tax is basically preventing the whole country from any tangible development and gets all prices up. In English this is called “shooting yourself in the foot” but like many other “mysteries” we encountered in this trip the 50% import tax of the Bahamas probably has a sort of rational that only locals can understand!
Next stop was in Cat Island where we could enjoy a dead calm anchorage, at least for the first two days, and go visit the only obvious attraction in the area; The Hermitage. Built by father Jerome sometimes in the first half of the last century the building is quite interesting to visit. While walking the kilometer or so leading to the place we thought, by the sight of it, that we would get to a giant structure a reminder of castles and cathedrals of Europe while in fact the building seemed to have been made for the sole purpose of offering a shelter to Father Jerome and a place of worship and prayer. Quickly we realized that Father Jerome was probably a dwarf for his castle had doors five feet (1.5m) high and even Danielle seriously hit her head when coming out of the tiny chapel. Her head didn’t even hit the wooden door frame but the stone placed on top of it! Once bells and birds disappeared around her and she was able to think straight, we were able to go back to the boat. No permanent damage here only a momentary pain that she will remember for some time but not too long for the day before, we had reached an agreement with buyers for the sale of Chocobo. Thus we are enjoying our last moments with this boat that took us in the most wonderful places in the world. A page of our life is about to be turned but nostalgia is for passive peoples. We are actually looking forward to our next life that begins.
I just couldn’t pass on this one. One night as we were relaxing while watching episodes of “Buffy the vampire slayer” we had the visit of a moth. Nothing special about that but the fact that the thing had probably been irradiated by radioactive elements in its youth and was humongous as moth goes. I obviously could get a ruler and measure it precisely but my guess is that from wing to wing the monster moth was 7” (18cm) wide! I mean, it is not a regular zapper that you need to get rid of that sort of beast but a flame thrower! But of course, we had no intentions to harm the butterfly and it just went away a minute later probably annoyed by attracting too much attention and camera flashes. As we all know moths are not too fond of paparazzis and yet we posted its naked picture on internet!
