Barefoot Man

This is the Barefoot Man and his band at Nippers on Great Guana, Cay. And yes he really did have bare feet! His band members had on flip flops

3/3/09 We had ridden out the mild front snug in Treasure Cay, but the weather was improving and it was time to head back to Marsh Harbor. We were able to sail part of the way to Marsh Harbor but the wind was not blowing enough to keep the sails full. After anchoring at Marsh Harbor, we walked over to the Customs office to renew our fishing permit. Our cruising permit was good for a year but they had only given us 3 months for our fishing permit. When we got there the Customs officials explained
that it would be $20 a month to renew our fishing permit. Since we had not caught any fish since we had been here, we decided we could buy a lot of fish and lobster for $20 a month and decided to let our fishing permit expire. We stopped at the store for fresh produce and bread.

3/4/09 Happy Birthday Mom!
It was a chilly, windy, overcast day and we had good internet reception so it was a good day to tackle our income taxes. We had done our taxes online last year and it worked great and online is the ideal way to do taxes from the Bahamas. After all was said and done we get a nice refund from the fed and owe a little to NC so it was a good day. While Wayne was busy double checking our tax numbers, I worked a little on sand dollars. Sand dollars are very brittle. We had been told that "painting"
them with a solution of ½ water and ½ white glue would make them stronger. I can't tell yet if they are less brittle but they are shinier. After calling Mom to wish her a Happy Birthday, we spent the evening playing Farkle and Mexican Train Dominoes with Karen and Earl on Temptation.

3/5/09 Born to Cruise carries three 20 pound propane tanks. We had tapped into the 3rd tank while we were at Treasure Cay and did not think that one tank would be enough to last us until we got back to the US. In Marsh Harbor you can take your tank to the hardware store before 9:00 AM and they will fill it and have it back before noon. Wayne took one tank in to be filled and as promised, it was ready before 11:00. We had lunch and decided to head over to Great Guana to find a good anchoring
spot before the crowd arrived. The 6th, 7th and 8th were going to be busy days on Great Guana; the Barefoot Man was going to be in town! Everyone was SO excited; we had to see what all the fuss was about. We had heard his music, thanks to Sunspot Baby, but we had never heard him live. We were able to get our favorite place to anchor in Fishers Bay, but it was already getting crowded.

3/6/09 The concert started at noon. We packed a bag and headed to shore at 11:30. Karen and Earl on Temptation pulled up as we were getting out of our dinghy. We headed to Nippers where the concert was being held. Stone McEwan and his band were the first to play. They were ok. Nippers was a little crowded and also smoky. Cuban cigars are legal in the Bahamas, and it seemed like all of the male students who were there for spring break had to try a Cuban Cigar. I personally think they stink.
We decided a good place to sit was on the beach, where there was no smoke and the music was at a nice volume. Wayne had to see if there were any more messages in bottles on the beach so we took a walk. There were no messages and no shells, but the walk was nice. Flash II joined us on the beach. The Barefoot Man finally started to play around 3:00, so we all moved from the beach back to Nippers because it was getting chilly on the beach. His music is kind of like Jimmy Buffet but with a Bahamian/Caribbean
type twist. His latest CD contains all of his songs that mention the Bahamas. We enjoyed his music but again the cigar smoke was too much so we left. On the way back to the boat we stopped by Milo's Fresh Produce for zucchini, avocado and bananas. We had an enjoyable evening on Temptation. Karen fixed a new recipe for dinner, which was very good and then we played games. We were tired after a full day.