Conchs, Quilts & the Abacos

Conchs- the Rite of Passage

 Like sailors of old wearing a gold earring as a statement of rounding one of the world's Southern Horns, blowing a conch horn at sunset is declaring to the world (at least those that can hear you,) that you have Crossed the Gulf Stream.  Since David, Me & Alice Mae are true champions of the crossing, I was bound and determined to make my own conch horn and learn how to blow it.  Easier said than done.

   Getting a conch in these Bahamian waters is easy.  There are literally mounds of them.  But these conch shells all have holes punch into them in order to get the conch meat- I needed a no-hole shell.  The solution was to purchase a solid shell. 

   
      With my conch shell on board, we proceeded to hacksaw the tip in order to make a blow hole.  Here's where the tricky part comes in....
I thought you are supposed to count 3 rings in and then cut.  So we did.  For a sweaty, hard hour we sawed away.  (the hack saw was old, rusted and dull, the conch shell was shiny, new, and VERY solid.)   Then we realized, maybe it should have been  4 rings in before we cut. Damn.  So, more sweating more groaning, more cutting. 

 But success finally came.  (I think I needed a second drink to finish)  Getting a clean sound from a conch is a learned talent.  At least, I have to learn and I am not very talented.   So, here are my learning pictures.  Try to invision a bloated frog being slowly flattened- that's my first sounds.  But I'm getting better.  The frogs are getting smaller and quieter.  I can eventually hit the clean sound, but by the time I manage, I'm out of breath.  Like I said, I'm not too talented.

Quilting

While we were in Eleuthera, we spent some time in Spanish Wells.  A clean, tidy town with colorful concrete houses packed tightly up & down both sides of this narrow, rocky spot of land.  This is a strong fishing community of blond-haired Bahamians.  Their unique accent sounds almost Irish.   

While in this quaint village I met a wonderful older lady, Oliviad, an island quilter, born & raised on Spanish Wells. All 3 children are married and living right in Spanish Wells.  Amazing!  Oliviad invited me into her home to show me her work.  She said "It's just me & my sister now that quilt.  The other women are too old and no young people want to learn the craft".  She looked at me and said "It'll die out after we're gone." 

Waterways &Wildflowers - Winter 2010

So, just to prove her wrong, I am sending you some current pictures of my latest quilt.  I am also including a picture of the boat quilt I made last year.  Hand quilting is still alive and stitching aboard the Alice Mae.



using a template to mark my pattern on this latest quilt



Crossing to the Abacos

Tuesday, April 19

Eleuthera to the Abacos

8:25 

 Finally! dropped our mooring line, skimmed by Ridley Head Point, through the coral channel (thank you Alice Mae for your shallow draft!) and out into the wild blue of the Atlantic.  Hope we have fair winds and following seas. We have a 45 mi. crossing to do.  My stomach is in a knot.

11:00 

  32 mi to go to the waypoint for Little Harbour- the southernmost entry into the Abacos.  The day is beautiful.  We're motor-sailing, doing 6.6kts.  That's REALLY good for Alice Mae.  My stomach feels better.

Here are some pictures of Little Harbour and the "famous" Pete's Pub  and Art Gallery.  Pete advertises as being in the heart of downtown Little Harbour.  That's good since Pete's Pub is Little Harbour. 



not sure if that's David or the dock that is crooked.





  David paying up at the beach bar




walkway to the windward side

And just in case I haven't mentioned it before...............these Bahamian waters are truly clear and beautiful.  I found this starfish in the shallows where we were anchored.   Life is good.