FINDING FOXTOWN

We took off early in the morning, from Allens-Pensecola Cay, to find FOXTOWN on Little Abaco Cay. This is where our fisherman live. Uncle Junior and Kirk, although in FOXTOWN he is known as 'Kirkie' Darville. Flat calm seas, motored all the way. (Double-click on the pics). Worked our way through a maze of reefs and shallows and anchored outside of 'town'. Asked the folks for the highlights of FOXTOWN and they said " Well, there's the school at this end, about four hundred yards down the road this way, just past the clinic and the police station, which is also the post-office, and it also goes a few hundred yards that way....". FOXTOWN is very, very small. So off to the school end we went. Barely were we there, when the Principal, Mr Austin Mills, a very dedicated Headmaster and a really wonderful person, called us in to his office, for a most interesting talk on everything 'Bahamian'. This was the kids's last day of school, and everyone was busy with exams (and, no doubt, holiday dreams). Check out the photos below,(and double-click on them) and you will see, that if you never leave town, the distance separating your Primary Education and your final resting place, is only one hundred yards. Talk about 'from the Cradle to the Grave......'.

The Queen found this public phone, just near our landing dock. The connecting line to the box is only 5' 10" off the ground. Guess how we know? Obviously, there are no large trucks in town, that need to make urgent calls.........
Offshore, there are little bits of very hard rock sticking up everywhere. Going fishing is not 'dodgem cars' but 'dodgem rocks'. Everywhere in 'town' we saw lots of boats with busted engines............ you do the maths..........



The joy on the students's faces is genuine. "Yes, school is over!". For the rest of the day, students everywhere, would come up to us to chat. The cars in the background are bringing student lunches. Way to go .........



CONCHING is the main industry together with fishing, when the gathering of crayfish is out of season. We went to "DA VALLEY" restaurant for lunch. A quaint little place. The only one that serves the best 'cracked conch' in town. (Of course,..... it is the only restaurant in town). "Cracked conch", is when you take some conch, and beat the living daylights out of it with a hammer, as shown above, and then lightly fry it in oil, after first rolling it in "Robin Hood" brand flour. Seems it is the only brand of flour that realy works here, based presumably, on the theory 'of robbing the rich and giving the best taste to the poor'. By late afternoon, we had met so many really nice people, that we felt like 'Royalty', which is very new (to me, at least). A wonderful experience, amongst so many friendly people. Crayfish season opens on August 1st each year. Everything could change....... but we doubt it........



The sheets of corrugated iron nailed to a couple of 2" x 6" timber, is a crayfish trap. You put it anywhere on the sea-bottom, on the sea-grass, near a reef, and the crayfish will make a home and a hidey-hole under it. There are some traps out in the water, in the photo above. It kills the grass eventually, so they have to shift them regularly, but crayfish, is where the money is. The 'crayfish' season is what keeps FOXTOWN alive. The tails are frozen and sold to overseas markets. You don't need to use corrugated iron, however, to do this. We have seen TOYOTA and MAZDA car bonnets being used, for the same purpose. In fact, this could ultimately be the financial rescue plan for General Motors. Imagine all those bonnets, trunks, and tail-gates, becoming 'crayfish' traps. It could be the best crustacean rescue package yet. Just imagine putting that on the Boardroom table (with garlic butter to soften the deal), as a "Bankruptcy Avoidance " package for GM and Chrysler. Even the Italians at FIAT would say....... 'Magnificento'............."Supremo".........



We needed a few groceries, so the very friendly people of FOXTOWN sent us to Rodney's house. Yes, we found the place. FOXTOWN is very small. We gently knocked on the front door ............... Rodney and his wife were busy in the lounge room, watching TV. " Come in and go on through to the kitchen, and help yourself ". Wow,....... and in the kitchen, on all the shelves, and in the pantry, were the goods. We made our selection and Rodney finally came out to settle up. And Oh, did we laugh and then some..... First time, ever, when we've raided someone's kitchen and fridge, and had to pay for it.............. He showed us out, through the back door........................ We doubled back to show him where to plant tomato seeds, under the gutter drip...................... Try doing that at your local supermarket... Laurie even used his kitchen sink to wash her hands......, we could probably have had a nap in the bedroom while shopping..................... Now this is 'grass-roots' cruising.............