Conch Penis & Caving at Farmers Cay – Exumas Sailing Report – Part 8

IMG_3700One of our best discoveries at the Farmers Cay Festival was the guys making conch salad out on the dock in the harbor.  I am no expert on conch salad, and maybe it had to do with our drink consumption, but we all agreed it was the best conch salad we had ever tasted.   The mix of fresh conch, mangoes, citrus and peppers was fantastic.  These guys were also a lot of fun and put on a good show while preparing the conch.

They also made sure to uphold the tradition of eating the conch penis from all the conchs they prepared.  It is rumored throughout the islands to be an aphrodisiac.  Brandy was feeling brave and volunteered to give it a try.   We made sure to document the action.

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We also found a really tasty island treat from the nice couple selling the woven handbags. I think they called it coconut crackle. It is a sweetened smoked coconut snack, and it was fantastic. We enjoyed it with our lunch spread the next day.
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After a slow morning recovery from the festival parties, we moved closer to the nearby caves and an area that we heard was good for conch diving.  After having the great local mango conch salad, Jenn was excited about trying to make us some using the pepper mix she got at Black Point Settlement.  Conch diving was a blast, but it was not easy.  The conchs were sparse and often we would dive down to find an empty shell or a conch that did not have the developed shell lip needed for harvest.

We took the dinghy over to oven rock to find a cave on the island. We missed the trail leading up to the cave and ended up walking all the way to the other side of the island, but the views were nice.  We circled back and some fellow cruisers helped us find the right trail to the cave.

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We went back to the beach and enjoyed the crystal clear water while John worked to clean the conch we caught. IMG_2802IMG_2801IMG_2804IMG_2805

 

We had a relaxing last night on the boat enjoying our conch salad and a great sunset. Jenn did a fantastic job on the conch salad. We still feel guilty about all the time she spent in the galley making us food. Everything was fantastic, we were always excited to see the next creation that popped out of her serving porthole into the cockpit. IMG_2309

 

These were also the last pictures captured by my iphone before it succumbed to the watery elements. Even though it was in a Lifeproof case, and I kept it out of direct contact with the water, somehow the moisture from my damp swimsuit pocket made its way into the phone. Fortunately, the phone was easily fixed when I got home and all my pictures were saved.

The next morning we sailed back to Staniel Cay early to be sure we would make our afternoon flight.  We were sad to be leaving and very jealous that John and Jenn had a few more weeks of cruising planned before they had to head back for work.  The trip just got us more motivated to work toward our own plans to sail over the horizon someday.

 

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We had a great lunch and cold Kaliks sitting by the windows at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club overlooking beautiful water. We took a last stroll around the island and went to the airport for our quick flight to Ft. Lauderdale. As we flew over the islands surrounded by white sand beaches and turquoise water, we knew we would be back some day on our own sailing vessel.  We own a very special thank you to John and Jenn for inviting us to share in part of their amazing 2015 Bahamas adventure.  We made memories we will never forget.
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