![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.argoknot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/2-27-13-019.jpg\" "\\"OLYMPUS")
<\/a><\/p>\nWe sailed east to the tiny island of Concepcion that sits out in the Atlantic. Ocean.\u00a0 Concepcion is an uninhabited island, now designated a wildlife preserve, so it is pristine and teeming with life in the coral reefs.\u00a0 While we set our anchor in the crystal waters, where the visibility was truly about 100 feet, a large puffer fish came right up to the stern of our boat.\u00a0 Either these fish are extremely used to people and know they cannot be hunted, and\/or they know that boats often offer tasty treats, like bits of unwanted vegetables. This fish was quite happy to get some lettuce and broccoli cuttings. Rays and turtles also swam by the boat.\u00a0 The beaches were full of exquisite shells.\u00a0 Bob snorkeled on the reefs with friends, while I sat in the dinghy talking to others who sat in their dinghies along the reefs, looking at the fish through our \u2018look buckets.\u2019\u00a0 I saw so many tropical fish in these reefs, and so many interesting types of reef life\u2026 sea fans, anemones, sea cucumbers\u2026. Other things that I have never seen before so I cannot name them!\u00a0 I saw live<\/em> brain coral which is even more fascinating than the bleached dead corals I have always thought is so beautiful.<\/p>\n And speaking of brain coral\u2026 the main reason I was interested in visiting Rum Cay, which is also sitting out in the Atlantic Ocean, far from what I would feel is the protected water of the Exuma chain,\u00a0\u00a0 there is a man who is simply known as Bobby, who does wonderful carvings on brain coral.\u00a0 We saw quite a few examples of his work aboard Cat\u2019s Meow <\/em>whom we met at Concepcion.\u00a0 The treasure trove of carvings that they bought from Bobby would sink our boat, but I came here hoping to find a little something to bring home to my garden terrace in Connecticut.\u00a0 Well, either Cat\u2019s Meow<\/em> cleaned him out, or he has taken whatever was left to a gallery in Georgetown.\u00a0 I\u2019m a bit disappointed, but I have enjoyed looking at his large works that grace the grounds of Sumner Point Marina, where we are staying.<\/p>\n I love this one and wonder how much it weighs…. very tempting! If only you could see how much patterning there is in the coral! \u00a0Bobbly uses different grinders to create these wonderful pieces.<\/p>\n Rum Cay suffered some severe damage in hurricane Sandy a few months back.\u00a0 The entrance to the very protected harbor was silted in, and is not yet fully opened again.\u00a0 Getting here through the maze of coral reefs was quite challenging, and then when we finally got to the harbor entrance we\u2019d been warned that unless it was full high tide most boats have to wait on a pier because there is still so much dredging to do!\u00a0 Luckily, when we arrived two hours after high tide, there was a crew of other visitors ready to help us dredge our own path through the sandy bottom to the pier.\u00a0 At full low tide we were really hard aground, with our bow completely out of the water and about 15\u201d of our bottom paint visible along the whole side of the boat!\u00a0 As the next tide rose, we were slamming down into the sand on our keel.\u00a0 I\u2019ve never felt anything like that before, and never thought we\u2019d purposefully run ourselves this hard aground to visit a location.\u00a0 But when the next tide came up the following morning, we were able to move into the little protected basin and get a deeper spot along the dock.\u00a0 This marina is not yet open for business after the hurricane damage, so this year all dockage is free.\u00a0 Repairs to this marina are somewhat on hold right now, and we have heard that ownership of the marina is in question.\u00a0 Bobby is in residence here and might soon become the legal owner, but he has no real desire to run a marina.\u00a0 At the moment the large restaurant is his gallery and he generously offers use of the restaurant\u2019s kitchen to boaters who create large communal pot-luck dinners several nights a week.<\/p>\n The sailors who visit this island are as interesting as the people who live here.\u00a0 This is a group of adventurers who strive to get as far from civilization as they can.\u00a0 They want to be off the grid.\u00a0 Most of them are headed further south to more remote destinations.\u00a0 There are a group of young people on boats here that is refreshing since the majority of sailors here are all retirees, like Bob and me. \u00a0A group of young people goes out snorkeling and spear fishing every day, and when they return in the afternoons to clean their catch, hordes of nurse sharks, lemon sharks, and bull sharks come in to this tiny harbor for the trimmings.<\/p>\n This is some BIG lobster!<\/p>\n A beautiful golden spotted grouper!<\/p>\n One young couple will certainly be memorable to me for a very long time.\u00a0 The young man is 25 and the young woman is 22.\u00a0 Wow.<\/em>\u00a0 In real life they live in Alaska and work as crew on a salmon fishing boat out of Prince William Sound.\u00a0 She runs the nets while he runs the small boat \u2026not sure what it\u2019s called.\u00a0 Other than the two of them, the only other crew is the captain.\u00a0 Tanya was born in Cypress to parents who were circumnavigating on their sailboat.\u00a0 Her older sister was born in Panama.\u00a0 Tanya\u2019s family is from Norway, and sadly I didn\u2019t get to ask Jumel (not even certain how he spells his name!) about his background.\u00a0 They fish in Alaska from May to October, and take the rest of the year to sail together on their pretty sloop Rainbow Connection<\/em>.<\/p>\n Rum Cay has a very small settlement.\u00a0 We\u2019ve heard that the mail boat comes once a week with provisions for the small general store (called the Last Chance Food Store), and that any fresh produce that arrives on that boat is gone within moments of arriving. I believe it\u2026 we took a look in that store that is about the size of a small backyard garden shed, and there was nothing but a few canned goods.\u00a0 There is one restaurant that looks a bit questionable, and when Bob asked about getting something for lunch yesterday, the owner Ruby, said she hadn\u2019t prepared anything.\u00a0 (I have to admit that I was relieved). \u00a0She said she prefers people to give her at least one hour\u2019s notice if they want lunch or dinner.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 When you get your food, you take it outside to a little covered structure, open to the weather, with old picnic tables where you can sit and look out at the bay with its maze of coral reefs and varying shades of blue and green waters.\u00a0 Rougher than any dining spot I\u2019ve ever seen, but also with a view more beautiful than I could have ever imagined!<\/p>\n We walked a couple miles of this island, and what sights there were!\u00a0 Beautiful little canals where salt water used to be captured in pools to dry for making salt\u2026 \u00a0a stunning little whitewashed church with a lovely garden\u2026 \u00a0the small, colorful, ramshackle houses of the inhabitants.\u00a0 We saw a few men around, but mostly we saw lots of women sitting in the shade here and there, always in groups.\u00a0 Most people here keep chickens and goats.\u00a0 At one small house we saw a huge black Hummer II parked in front with two goats tied to the vehicle.\u00a0 What a sight!<\/p>\n Five week old baby goat!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The pretty little Anglican church just beyond the center of town.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n