Cat Island stuff

One of the nine boats anchored at Cat was the very first boat we docked next to when we arrived in Bimini, so we stopped by to compare trip notes.   The boat is a 30+/- year old Allied someting - a ketch with an aft facing steering wheel.  Help us out here, Mark, I'm sure you know what it is.  The crew are a middle age couple and their 8 to 10 year old daughter from Maine.

We were anchored right by the settlement of New Bight.  Not really a whole lot there, at least within walking distance.  A police station, a house where the owner sells home baked bread, and a Batelco office and cell tower.  Neither of the pay phones we found worked, but when we went to the phone office to inquire we noticed a phone in a closet.  Eventually the Batelco lady said we could use the closet phone.  It turns out the closet was actually a phone booth - just not sure why Ms Batelco didn't suggest it in the first place.  We also didn't have any cell phone or Kindle signal, but I'm thinking we might have been TOO close to the tower - about 3/8th of a mile.

Probably the most interesting thing at New Bight, and on the trip so far, is the home of Father Jerome.  Father Jerome was first an architect who designed churches all through the Bahamas.  Later he became a Catholic priest.  His house is on top of Como Hill (Mt Alvernia), the highest point in the Bahamas (206 feet).  The small house is a steep climb up a rocky path and  had four rooms plus a bell tower.  There were two other small buildings, a cooking area and a pump house/cool storage building - we think.  The buildings were all local stone and concrete.  Very small rooms at slightly different levels, and facing west over the water.  On the path up he had carved stations of the cross and just before the house there is a small replica of Jesus's tomb, complete with the stone rolled away.

Half way to the hill top we met a farmer.  He was clearing brush and branches from the field with a machete.  Later he would burn off the brush to create more "field."   There were more rocks than field or plants, and it took us a while to realize there were tomatoes, corn, cabbage and okra growing there.  We bought a couple pounds of fresh-off-the-vine tomatoes for two bucks.  We only wanted a dollar's worth, but he gave us so many...

This morning we were going to sail to Conception Island.  It is a national park and is reported to have beautiful reefs to dive and snorkel on and is also home to nesting  and growing turtles.  We picked up an escort of three dolphins first thing.  They were a slightly different variety than we've been seeing, with mottled side markings.  Once we got to open water the wind was right on the nose.  Depending on which tack, and the wind speed, our ETA was either sundown or 8 PM, so we had a nice sail back to a different spot on Cat Island.  For perhaps the first time here in the Bahamas we have an anchorage all to ourselves!