News and Sip Sip

News and Sip Sip

If you have additional news to share or know of upcoming events, email me.

(Click on pictures to enlarge them.)

Wed 7/27

It's a big homecoming weekend in Eleuthera this weekend. Here's some of the schedule of events:

Governor's Harbour
Thu - Music by DJ Snow, GHB Marching Brass Band
Fri - 7:30pm - opening ceremonies by Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe
        9:00pm - live music by Elon Moxey and KB
Sat - Daytime fishing tournament, noon sailing race, 2pm 3/4 mile swim race
         8pm Junkanoo Rushout by the Harbour Boys and music by DJ Snow
         10pm - live music by Extra Band (they have the song Xtra on Keep the Vibe Alive vol 2 and Dog House on Best of the Best vol 4)
Sun - Family Day musical extravaganza, 4:00pm Live music by Landlord, Devine Praise and Brenda Lee Petty
Mon - Family Day, kids swim

Hatchet Bay
Wed - Church service and march to homecoming site, music by DJ Justin
Thu - 8am Stalls open for breakfast, music by DJ Justin, 6pm watermelon eating contest, 7pm hot dog eating contest
          8pm opening ceremonies, 9pm Text Messaging contest, 10pm Talent Search, 11pm Jump and Dance
Fri -   Stalls open 8am, 5pm Hatchet Bay marching band and Live Rake 'n Scrape music, 8pm Fashion Show
          9pm Skit by Loni Rolle and Company, 10pm Jason & the Cool Survivors, 11pm Jump & Dance, midnight Jason & the Cool Survivors
Sat -   7am - Fun, Run and Walk - Homecoming site to Rainbow and back, 8am stalls open and music by DJ Justin
           7pm - Rake 'n Scrape music, 8pm - beauty pageant, 10pm Jason & the Cool Survivors, 11pm Skit by Loni Rolle, 11:30 Jump & Dance
           midnight - Old fashioned wake Hatchet Bay style, 1am Jason & the Cool Survivors
Sun - 8am stalls open, music by DJ Justin,11am Church of your choice, 2pm stalls reopen and DJ, 3pm Hatchet Bay youth band
         4pm Gospel music, 6pm marching band competition... midnight raffle
Mon - more entertainment

Tarpum Bay... TBA

Thu 7/21

Put 2 more properties up for sale on the "For Sale by Owner" section of this page. One is a really nice piece of land up near Gaulding Cay. Check it out!

Then... on to some wild video footage. I remember people chatting about sharks and what the likelihood of seeing one was, and many said, you wouldn't likely come across one unless you had fish on you. Well, when I was south near Tarpum Bay I saw a rather large one patrolling right along the shore. I didn't capture that one on video. Luckily (or some might say unluckily) a friend of mine saw the same exact thing and caught it on video. Here you go... watch the shore!

Click here for video

Mon 7/18

I'm back in the states now - I have lots more pictures to share... but not tonight... too tired, trying to catch myself after the trip. Anyhow, I wanted you readers to know that I have 2 more pieces of property for sale on the For Sale by Owner page. There is a lot in Rainbow Bay with a stunning view of the cliffs... and a wonderful waterfront house in Palmetto Point. I have uploaded pictures and information on these properties. Check it out here or click on For Sale by Owner on the left of this page.

Fri 7/15

It's amazing how time flies here on the island. I've been living on 6 hours or less of sleep per night. But I've been having a blast! It seems necessary work never gets done when there's fun around. I discovered a really fun bar in Wemyss Bight, and the bartender Terry is a hoot! It is absolutely worth a stop at Veronica's if you are in Wemyss Bight (maybe on your way back from Lighthouse Beach) just to meet Terry - maybe you can get her to sing thru her microphone to the reggae tunes they play there. Tonight Veronica's is hosting a pool tournament with a $200 first prize. If you shoot pool, this is the event to enter. Sign up costs $20 and needs to be done by 7pm. The games begin at 8pm. Come on down and watch if you don't shoot pool - she will have lots of food all evening. I'm thinking of going to help her tend bar - so see you there!

I also stopped by the new location of Dolcevita - they've done a nice job with the new restaurant and the location is spectacular. It is right at Runaway Bay Marina. I've also gotten some info on Runaway Bay Marina for you boaters out there who keep asking for particulars. Look for a link soon. In addition to the above, I came across a wonderful house for sale in the Rogue's Cove/Palmettos Shores area of Palmetto Point. It's a 3 bedroom/ 2bath home with 100 foot of water front. I'll be doing a page on it soon - look for this!

We had an impromptu beach party on the north side of Winding Bay last night. About 20 people showed up for good food, music and a bon fire.

The GH water tower - sip sip says it was struck by lightening	New sign outside the GH police station
The new Dolcevita in Palmetto Point	Dolcevita	Workers are busy completing the Tarpum Bay community center in time for Homecoming at the end of this month

Mon 7/11

It's a Monday holiday here for Bahamian Independence Day. There are some beach parties going on around the island. The weather has calmed down and the skies are a beautiful blue with some white puffy clouds. The seas are mostly flat again.

We chose to go back to the Rock Sound Mission House fund raiser Saturday instead of the other homecomings. Being that we were in Tarpum Bay, Bluff was a little too far, and I've seen Nita before - so this was my chance to check out Funky D. We checked out the site during the daytime and it was really nice. There were about 12 stalls selling everything from food to arts and crafts to custom photo t-shirts to hot sauce. There were paddle boat rentals on the sound. The families were really having a great time. We then went home, freshened up, and returned for the evening's entertainment. We caught some of the junkanoo contests - the individual beller contest and when groups of 5 competed. Then there was a full junkanoo rushout. Funky D. hit the stage around 10pm and entertained everyone until midnight. That man can really move!!! It was hard to get pictures because he was so active. He performed for the crowd from stage for a little while and then jumped down into the audience and got everyone involved! Afterwards, we went to Club 9000 in Green Castle and continued dancing for a few hours. I think I'm getting old... The DJ didn't even start playing until close to 3am - and I was dancing until close to 4:30am... the folks I was with seemed full of energy still, and I was pooped! Hey, but it was fun!

Yesterday, we went exploring a beach I'd never been to before. I'm keeping its location a secret because we found all sorts of wonderful treasure on it, and if I give it away, there may not be treasure for me next time. Our treasure consisted of all sorts of floats. We then went to a BEC party at Venta Club and got to munch on some wonderful barbeque chicken, fried fish, and gin & coconut water.

Today's plans are still somewhat up in the air. Tarpum Bay is having some kind of parade and gathering on the beach. There's also supposed to be a beach party in Wemyss Bight or Green Castle... no one can confirm which location.

RS Mission House Fund Raiser	The Bar!	Ready to go paddle
Paddle boat	RS Junkanoo Rush	Funky D
Funky D. sings Poundcake	Funky D teaching us how to shake our bungee, wine our wastes and jook	BEC barbeque
	Beach treasures!	Independence Day parade - TBay
Raising the Flag		Oswald Ingraham, MP

Sat 7/9

Went to Sound homecoming last night. There wasn't a very large crowd but everyone was in good spirits. Eleuthera Express played Bahamian music - The Y2K dancers took the stage and performed their moves - wish I could move like that! And, the fire dancer did her routine. I had swore that I would NOT get on the stage - but, alas, I ended up there again. They were begging for folks to get on stage and do the electric slide. I felt bad that there was such poor audience participation so I got the ball rolling by getting up there.

The wind is still blowing, but not as strong. I think these outer bands of Dennis will be gone by tomorrow. I had forgotten to mention about the 2 water spouts I saw in Rainbow the first day I reach. I got a lousy picture, because my camera was in the car - and by the time I got it, they had pulled back almost all the way.

Oh - and back to that shark discussion on eleu.net.... We went to a beach on the northside of Tarpum Bay last week - and within 10 minutes I see this BIG shadow moving along the shore - looked to be about a 6 foot shark - only 15 feet or so from shore in about 3 to 4 feet of water. Needless to say, I didn't go swimming for about an hour, until I was really sure he was gone. And even then, I was continuously looking over my shoulder. The reef was teeming with life - lots of small fish.

If anyone is interested in my building progress.... I went onto my property and burned my pile of brush from when we cleared it. We also figured out the elevation above the road (14 feet at the highest point). We used rebar and twine and marked out the house and driveway and we got Robert Thompson to give us an estimate on excavation. He's one of the few people down north who has a machine big enough to do the job. It looks like my architect out of Nassau is done with my plans, I hope to submit them to the board this week for approval so I can start getting permits.

Water spout over Rainbow Bay - it was quite a bit larger but I missed the good picture	Burning my brush pile
The Extremers playing at Tippy's	The Islandia "Hilton"	The bulletin board at the Governor's Harbour Airport
The bar at Savannah Sound... I liked the beach decorations on the ceiling	The Y2K dancers strut their stuff

Fri 7/8

Well, I'm finally near a computer. Been in Eleuthera since last Saturday. Will upload some pix tomorrow. Getting ready to go to Savannah Sound homecoming tonite. Hurricane Dennis is affecting Eleuthera. Around Rainbow Bay the winds are blowing a sustained 25 mph or so. The winds are coming off the sea in that area and the sea side is really kicking up. In Tarpum Bay right now, and the wind is off the ocean side here due to the curve of the island. The bay is fairly calm since it's in the lee of the land. The skies have been blue with lots of hazy gray clouds. It's extremely humid on the island right now.

I spent last week in Rainbow Bay. The seas were flat calm until yesterday. The water temperature is very warm on both sides - a sign that (as we can already see) the hurricanes may be really bad. I went swimming at Twin Beach several times and the water was delicious! Last Saturday night I had dinner at Tippy's. The food was wonderful - although I do have a couple of criticisms... (1) they need more fans or citronella candles - the bugs were horrendous (and they are so all over the island right now for some reason) - and there was no way to get rid of them while eating. I do need to say thank you to Eddie Lauth and his family for sharing their bug spray! and.. (2) for the price, Tippy's should give you a basket of bread. I got the most delicious salmon and roasted pepper pasta - and it would have been nice to dredge some bread thru the sauce. (3) I guess you need to make reservations. We hadn't and I got the impression the owners were not happy with us... although, we did get seated rather quickly.

There was a band playing at Tippy's Saturday night - this band usually doesn't play there. They were called the Extremers. They're from deep south. They were absolutely excellent. Probably the best I've heard on the island. They played the current bahamian and reggae hits and the oldies. They do play at Worker's House on Thursdays. This is a band I would definitely recommend hiring for parties. I will post their info on my music page shortly.

Wed 6/29

28 hours and I'll be back in Eleuthera. Don't laugh... I'm sure others of you do the same thing... count down the days and hours. I'm making my lists and doing my shopping - this trip I will actually not be carrying anywhere near the amount of stuff I normally do. Amen! Last trip I (alone) had over 200 pounds of luggage!

This Saturday Savannah Sound is hosting a "Steak Out" - Come on down to the ball field on the sound and have a meal of steak or chicken. The bar will be open too.

Homecoming Info
Savannah Sound:
Thu 7/7 Opening Ceremonies - stalls and bar open - DJ music
Fri 7/8 Live music by Eleuthera Express, Fire Dancer, Limbo Dancer
Sat 7/9 Live music by Eleuthera Express - live performance by Nita and her dancers
Bluff:
Thu 7/7 Opening Ceremonies
Fri 7/8   DJ Music, live music by Mighty Pencil, Fashion Sho
Sat 7/9 Live music starting at 2pm by local Rake 'n Scrape bands - evening entertainment by Elon Moxey and KB

I have been having the most fun with a site called DaBahamianTing.com. They have live streaming music all day from 3 different radio stations and they also have videos on their "Internet TV". I absolutely love the Boom Pineapple Wine video. You must check it out!

Tues 6/21

Happy First Day of Summer to all!!! And also, FYI, today is the summer solstice - the day with the longest amount of daylight during the year. Although, from how rainy and overcast it's been on Eleuthera, many of you may not notice. Anyhow... get out and enjoy the longest "day" of the year!!!

Here's something I thought was funny...

"What's this?" you ask. Did the school bus break down? "Why is it parked on the side of the road?"...

Why, Crabs crawlin' of course!!! With all the rain, da crabs, dey coming out. School bus driver Wilton didn't want to miss this opportunity when he saw lots of them along his route... so he parked the bus and went crabbing... (above Wilton and a student's parent put crabs in a sack)...

The students and parents exited the bus and got in on the action too!!! Only in the Bahamas!!!

Got to get up early for this one... a spectacular sunrise!!!

Fri 6/10

Got a neat perspective of the glass window bridge... check this one out...

The wind has picked up again - the skies are overcast - everyone is wishing for rain. There has not been much rain lately and the crabs crawl better after rain (not to mention reducing the bush fire potential and providing relief for the farmers!). I've heard that Bluff is getting organized for their homecoming and that this will be a much better event this year than it was last. I'll let you know what they have planned as soon as I find out.

Mon 6/06

Doing some revamping of the site in order to get it better recognized on search engines... also updating some links, etc. I'm adding a bunch of pictures from the Palmetto Point Homecoming to this page. But, due to space issues, I will be deleting them at the end of this month. So... if you see any you want, copy them quick!

I met a fun person last week. I met Bob Camis, a distributor of Bahamian music and owner of www.bahamaislandmusic.com. After ordering some music from his website, I discovered he lives only blocks from me! Oh.... he has too many good CDs and great prices! Cheaper than you'll find on island - even with shipping included. He was a real "mean" person, in that he called me from Miami on Saturday so I could listen to Geno D. singing live at the Bahamas Goombay festival in Coconut Grove - torture!!!! I should have been there! Argh!

Some more fascinating people I've met recently... The authors of The Eleusive Beaches of Eleuthera, Geoff and Vicki Wells. They've moved full time to the Gregory Town area and are finally getting to really enjoy all the beaches they've written about.

Something else I forgot to mention when I was over in Eleuthera in May... Papa George ended up having an impromptu 1am barbeque one night after homecoming. He put out a spread of steaks, burgers, and hot dogs. Well, he cooked the steaks, and cooked the steaks, and cooked the steaks. And, being that I like mine moo-ing rare, I was scared of them. But let me tell you - those steaks were absolutely delicious! And, in his conch salad, he had huge chunks of conch - definitely a taste treat. So... I would recommend highly steak or conch salad at George's in Tarpum Bay.

And, while I'm at it... let me elaborate more on the Island School. We had gone south to pick up a friend to go fishing. This is Dennis, who teaches diving and assorted other things at the school. Well, he couldn't leave until he finished teaching a class on Junkanoo, so we got the opportunity to tour the grounds. This place is pretty interesting. They grow most all their own herbs here. The school is off the power grid - they generate their own electricity thru solar and wind power. And, what I thought was pretty cool, they convert used cooking oil from the cruise ships into diesel fuel.

Friends attended the Pineapple festival and sent back a good report. They said that Eleuthera Express sounded great both at the homecoming and at Elvina's. And, the Brilanders put on a good show at homecoming and at Cush's Place. The Snapshot band played way into the night at the homecoming site and everyone danced.

As for web site updates... As many of you noticed, I've added an intro page to this site... That's so that I get better recognition with search engines. Also, I've added a link to http://www.bahamalouie.com/ on my links page. Louie is a young man living at Gaulding Cay who is very environmentally aware, alert and intelligent - in addition to being very computer literate. His site is quite good and worth a check out every now and then. I've also added information about Robert Thompson, from Gregory Town, who does a great, reliable job land clearing and is looking for your business! I'm looking for more pictures from you, my readers, for the food, flora and fauna page... and for the fishing page - please - send me the good stuff!

And... one more thing... as you hear from the music - CRAB CRAWLIN'!!!! It's that time of year again - the big, yummy land crabs are crawling. And, if you really want a taste treat - the stuffed land crabs are wonderful! Many of you have experienced Spiderman's cooking at Elvina's or at homecomings... Spider is a cook on a crawfish boat out of Spanish Wells and one of the best cooks on the island. Well... he's taking orders for stuffed crabs... you've got to try these! Yumm yummm... These normally go for $8.00 a piece or more at restaurants and homecomings - but he's selling them for $4-5 each (depending on the size). You can call him at 242.335.0368 to place an order for anywhere from 1 to 100. He will give an added discount for a dozen or more in an order. Spiderman is located in Rainbow Bay - he'll give you directions when you call.

Hank comes to the floating bar - Hank is the organizer of Point's Homecoming	Locals gather at the floating bar	Piggy back to shore to keep dry
Point view	Cape Eleuthera marina	Relaxing in a hammock at Islandia
Junkanoo class at Island School	Cooking oil from cruise ships	Where the oil is made into diesel
Eleuthera Express at Elvina's