Regatta butterflies

The traditional Bahamian sailing sloops move like graceful white butterflies, tilting left and right, crossing and racing over a field of blue.  Encouragement is shouted from small boats following the fleet.  On land spectators line the shore rooting for their favorite sloop.  Sea wall sailors yell instruction and dismay as would the armchair quarterback or backseat driver.

This year the National Family Island Regatta celebrates its 60th anniversary and the very young nation of the Bahamas celebrates is 40th year of independence (July10).  Maintaining national unity in the archipelago of nearly 700 islands and cays that separate the country can prove challenging.  Those challenges have given Bahamians both strength as a nation and a cultural legacy of life on the water, of sailing and reaching out to their nearby neighbors.

The  National Regatta is held each April in Georgetown, Great Exuma. The event brings participants and spectators from Family Islands throughout the Bahamas.  Boat builders and sailors from Acklins, Ragged, Andros, Great Guana, Staniel, Long, Cat, Abaco, New Providence and other islands begin arriving on mailboats and ferries the weekend prior to the event.  

The camaraderie is there, but also a fierce competition among the participants.  The sailors of Staniel Cay have been highly successful over the years with their sleek white and blue Class A boats, The Lady Muriel and Tida Wave.  On the back of a T-shirt the message was clear, "On land, We friends."  

Along  Kidds Cove, and road leading to the government dock and Regatta Point, food shacks and conch stands spring up overnight.  Souse, steamed mutton, cracked conch, conch fritters, plantains, peas and rice and other native Bahamian dishes draw lines at dinner time.  

Friends reunite, hug and catch up.  Strangers don't remain that way very long.  The nation may be separated by islands, but Bahamians are not strangers.  Each person seems to have a relative or friend on each island.  The festival of Regatta continues all over Georgetown. At Regatta Park, vendors sell homemade goodies and souvenirs.  The straw market boasts a variety of  T-shirts, hats and straw work to commemorate the event.  All along the one way road throughout town, vendors sell their goods.  Visitors and Bahamians smile, nod, and have a great time.

The tension and excitement builds as Georgetown's population swells.  Music plays a large part in the five day event.  Across Elizabeth Harbor, on Imagine, we can hear the bass from powerful speakers begin a thump, thump in the morning that lasts through the wee hours of the next.

Regatta goes out with a bang on Saturday with music by the Royal Bahamas Police Force Band which just happens to be celebrating its 120th anniversary.  Leading up to the finale, the Barretarre Performers, the Exuma Youth Marching Band and other  Bahamian entertainers will keep the festivities going.  Bahamian children climb into trees and on rooftops to get a great view.

The Bahamas Office on Tourism reports that an estimated 65 boats compete in the five classes which are A, B, C, D and E.  About $325,000 is spent facilitating the Regatta. The Government is a major sponsor together, committee fundraising, and help from a number of corporate entities and local businesses.

Bahamian history recalls that Regatta began as the age of sail began to wane, giving way to motorized boats. The working fleet of Bahamian smacks and sloops were not in good repair.  A group of Bahamian and American Yachtsmen came up with an idea to hold a race for the working craft throughout the Bahamas.  They knew that Bahamians were up to the challenge and many would upgrade their vessels for a chance of bragging rights and glory.

According to the history of the National Family Island Regatta by Harland Bottomly, In April 1954 nearly 70 Bahamian sloops, schooners and dinghies gathered in Elizabeth Harbor for three days of sailing  An Out Island squadron formed after the successful regatta to make this an annual event.  That organization lasted through 1987 when it became the National Family Island Regatta Committee.  

Today, Danny Strachan leads as Chairman and Commodore of the committee.  He said that while the event began humbly to test the skills of the workboat owners, the regatta has turned into a premier sailing event in the country that brings visitors and people from all strata of society in harmony and friendship.

Each year the committee honors Bahamian sailors who have led the way and distinguished themselves in the growth and development of sloop sailing.  This year's honorees are Captain Emmett Monroe of Ragged Island, Brooks Milller of Staniel Cay, Captain Harry Harding of Long Island and Eleazar Johnson of Acklins. All have left their name in the annuals of regatta fame.

The sailing sloops of modern day are now made for racing and not carting fish, sponge, sisal, or goods.  The boats are sleeker, the masts taller and the booms longer.  When the start gun blasts, anchors are pulled, sails are raised and the aquamarine harbor is decorated with colorful sloops and flowing white sails.  The butterflies of regatta flit along, seeking advantage and the finish line at the end of the course.

The regatta celebrates sailing history. It is a cultural event. It is a celebration of  boat building skills of Bahamians living throughout the islands. It is most definitely an  authentic Bahamian celebration.  It is a time to experience how others live and a time to make new friends.

Long Island, a Tropical History

Deans Blue Hole

On its way to Long Island the 30-year old sailing sloop moves slowly south lifting and settling with the waves. There is no fanfare, no bells, no whistles, no mile markers, nor billboards to welcome as we cross the invisible but well recognized latitude known as the Tropic of Cancer.

Suddenly, in the midst of deep aquamarine waters, I am a middle school student  answering questions about the Tropic of Cancer. The Tropic of Cancer is officially the most northerly latitude where the sun appears directly overhead at noon on June 21. It dissects the Bahamas at 23 degrees north, 26 minutes and 76 degrees west.  It crosses through Little Exuma, Exuma Sound and the shallow banks of the southern Bahamas.  As the line circles the globe, it also  passes through Mexico, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, India and China.  

The seasons at this latitude are not as noticeable as in northern climates.  Weather hovers in the low 70's during winter and low 80's during the summer.  In the Bahamas, the summer season brings humidity, black face gulls and bugs.  Exotic fowers bloom. 

Tropical storms and hurricanes become a dangerous reality for Bahamians living on either side of the invisible line. 

Sponging was once a large industry

Most of Long Island lies below the Tropic of Cancer. Casuarina pines, sea grape, palmetto, and silver top palm cling tenaciously to the sandy and rocky landscape. On the banks side of the island, the shoreline provides beautiful sandy beaches interrupted by shelves of iron rock jutting out of the calm blue waters.  The splashing crystal water echoes under the shelves where schools of  small colorful fish hide in the shade.  

The long 80 nautical mile island is aptly named.  It is seldom more than four nautical miles wide which makes it appear as a long narrow strip of land curving slightly as it rises from the sea.

On the Atlantic side, rocky weathered reefs line many of the beaches.  Light blue aquamarine water of the near shore area turns dark becoming a brilliant royal blue as the waters deepen.  Many of the Atlantic side beaches require a hike across the island.  Paths are carved out by machete through jungle like foliage.  These paths usually include a rocky incline that gives way to sand as one descends to the ocean. Cruisers keep the beach paths marked and open.

Imagine's captain, Ed, hacked through the overgrown foliage clearing Path108, named for the telephone pole number along Queens Highway where the three-quarter mile long twisting and rocky path begins.  

Unfortunately, many of the hard to reach Atlantic side beaches are filled with plastic debris.  Shoes, bottles, lines, headless dolls, buckets, medical waste, wood, and other trash litter the high tide line.  The remote areas make it nearly impossible to clean these particular beach expanses.  

Life on the Island is laid back.  It is easy to hitch a ride from one end of the island to the other. Employment is limited and many of the young move to Nassau to find work. Long Island is one area of the Bahamas where farming is successful.  Not only do the people depend on it for their own use, but much is exported to other Bahamian islands. Sheep and goats are prized and raised on Long Island.  A mutton festival is held each winter on the island.

The island's history is rich with both tragedy and adventure.  The Lucayan Indians  were  probably the earliest inhabitants of this island they called Yuma.  Lucayan artifacts date back to 500 A.D.  The fifteenth century brought Columbus and opened the era of exploration.  The Spanish used the gentle native population as slaves and brought disease that would eventually wipe out the Lucayans.  


The period of 1750 through 1838, is referred to as the Loyalist Period.  Loyal British citizens living in the Americas wanted  no part of the Revolution.  Many  were given land grants from England. They left plantations and homes in the colonies to begin anew in British controlled lands.  Slavery made little difference as the immigrants learned that the rocky soil would not grow the cotton or tobacco that grew prolific in the fertile soils of the American colonies.

By 1900 those who remained on Long Island took up small farming, pineapple growing, sponging, sisal making and salt harvesting.  A 1926 hurricane washed the 10-to-14 foot deep water out of the Salt Pond and Thompson Bay area.  All people could see was sand to the horizon. Locals rushed out to gather stranded fish.  More than 200 died that day when the winds died and the water rushed back before thegatherers could run back to shore. 


Long Island has so much to offer in both history and scenery.  It is home to Deans Blue Hole, the deepest blue hole in the world. It dips down nearly 670 feet opening into a 4000-foot deep underwater canyon. The location is the home of the AIDA free diving championships each year.  Amidst the shallow aquamarine water surrounding it, the blue hole appears as a small dark blue pond surrounded by rocky cliffs and native foliage on one side and a white curving beach with ocean waves lapping the shoreline on the other.  The water is cold in in the hole.  The drop off is dramatic from a couple of feet to nothing.

Long Island is a mix of modern establishments and historic family settlements.  Wild pigs roam the southern end of the island while marinas and resorts bring an influx of  visitors to the northern end.  Acres of abandoned salt ponds left by Diamond Salt Crystal, old churches dating back to the early 1700's, straw making, and regattas all speak about the culture and history of this welcoming and beautiful Island.  Living on a boat not only brings back memories, but can be quite educational.