The Long Island Regatta

A highlight of the trip, the Long Island Regatta, our Bahamian adventure. Long Island gave us the opportunity to feel a part of the real community. The boats are all hand built of wood with sails of canvas. We were fortunate to be able to talk with Mr. Laurian Knowles, who, with his sons, built many of the beautiful wooden boats. There were four classes of boats, the largest 28 feet with about 900 feet of square canvas and a huge wooden boom almost twice the length of the boat. The race starts with sails down and all boats in a line. Each crew of 8 struggles to raise the sails and find the wind. Boats from islands all around the Bahamas send their best crews to race in the various regattas. Some arrive on a barge, some towed by power boats. We talked with the crews of several, including the 1st day's winners of the A and C class, both boats made by Mr. Knowles.

The four of us hung out at the Long Island Breeze Resort, a lovely hotel operated by two Americans and an Englishman, wonderful people. The hotel is the cruisers headquarters and they let us use their wifi and electricity for free and also the laundry for $2.00 a load, a bargain.

The races were great fun to watch, despite the exceptionally light wind the first day. We picked our favorites, cheering good tactics and criticizing errors in judgement.

The Regatta is also a homecoming for Long Islanders, from all over the Bahamas. It is billed as "A Bahamian Ting", and crowds waterside sell food and drinks, straw hats, and T-shirts.  There are Rake and Scrape bands, singes, prayers, and honors to be given. Sand Castle left for home after the first day, we will miss them.

The second day of racing, Rick and I returned to shore at night to participate in a real Bahamian event. Island music , called Rake and Scrape, was, in this case,  created by guitars, drums, tambourines, accordion, and saw and file. The beat is bouncy and watching the band and dancers joyous celebration brought us joy too. A dignified older man with skin the color of  creamed coffee, danced with an over-weight, grey-haired lady with the manner of a school teacher. Next to them, a skinny little guy in droopy clothes, sporting a Fu Manchu mustache, and a straw hat with a down-turned brim danced happily with  a plump, sweet-faced lady.  And there too, an older lady, one of the ugliest I've seen, danced. She had a forehead so high she appeared to be balding and her cheeks caved in as if there were molars missing. She wore a tank top and had a killer body and made all the right moves with a younger man, giving him a come hither stare as she danced to the beat.  Just behind them, a man with dazed eyes danced alone holding two beers, stopping to lean against a post for support between songs. A nicely dressed man in a straw cowboy hat swung his toddler son to the beat.  In the crowd. dozens of children raced past, some with parents coming fast behind them, arms out-stretched to catch the escapees.  Good times and big smiles all around. Truly a wonderful Bahamian day.