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A little note: Thanks to Bob R. who sent me in the right direction. The photos from now on will be in the .jpeg format and will download in about 1/10th the time of the .bmp format.

On cruises, you nearly always get your best information from other cruisers regarding places to visit with special interest. Several people had told us about the Five Fs which stands for 'Farmers Cay First Friday in February Festival'. On that day, Little Farmers Cay goes all out to attract cruisers. There are yacht races, Tee shirt sales, street food, Tee shirt sales, local music and yes, Tee shirt sales. Our timing was just about perfect so we decided to leave the beautiful Big Majors / Staniel Cay area and head south again.

As it turned out, the anchorages at Little Farmers Cay were all full. There must have been a couple hundred vessels scattered around the cay in all manner of questionable security from the wind. The Festival was in full swing. Excitement was fever pitch. We continued south another few miles and found a really nice spot at Galliot Cay. Our cruising guide books had not been very complimentary about this area, but we found it to be excellent and with only one or two other boats anywhere near. Hurridly we set the anchors, dinghied over to the Hiede and then, all four of us took the Heide's fast 17', 70 hp dinghy?/tender back up to Little Farmers to become as one with the masses.

Upon approaching Little Farmers, the BOOM BOOM BOOM of the music was so
intense that it caused cavitation in your abdomen. It felt like your heart was skipping a beat over and over again to mixtures of rock, raggae and local fare. The speaker assemblies that were used were immense beasts easily 8 feet high and 6 feet wide. And, the festivities were of such a significance that the most popular DJ from Nassau was spinning the vinyl. We like music, but this felt more like being in a war zone. To minimize the physical damage (maybe that is why my memory is so bad), we moved to a bar that was situated behind the speakers. Sign language to the bar keep got us a beer and in a short while nerve endings were somewhat more tolerant of the abuse.

Tee shirt sales were in full swing, but I'm afraid this mecca for the brain dead was not particularly to our liking. We hung out for a bit waiting for the grease to get hot for some street seafood, but, after about 1/2 hour, gave up (or surrendered) and headed back to the peace and sanctity of our homes at sea.