A Robinson Crusoe Like Story

I think over 50 years ago there was this guy who was an art professor at a univeristy. It was the time of the cold war. He was in a town which was marked for a soviet missle. So rather than tempt fate and see if a missle would in fact end their lives, he proposed to his wife and children that they buy a sailboat, sail through the bahamas until they found a nice place to make their new home and go off grid. He was done with society and wanted a different kind of life. Clearly he had an amazing wife because she agreed to this. So they left their comfortable American home made apple pie lifestyle and moved onto a boat. Apparently he had also never sailed before which adds to the drama of the story. Now all of this was recited to me through Renee who is a local potter in Abacos. So I may gloss over a few details and the accuracy may be questionable based on the number of Goombay Smashes I enjoyed while listening to this tale. So back to the story. They sailed around the Bahamas and unfortunately their boat ended up on a reef in a place called Little Harbour. Back then there was nobody there. So they took the pieces of the boat and erected a small home. During the storms they lived in a very large cave which of course I explored while there. So you have to wonder how this all went down. You are on your boat with your wife and family, the boat hits a reef, you are marooned on some beach, you build a little house. I wish I could hear the conversation between wife and husband at the time. For the kids it must have been an amazing adventure. When you are that young, the thought of mortality never really comes to mind. Somehow you will survive. I suppose as bad as things get, it would never be as bad as being wiped out by a cold war Russian missile. They did survive and eventually flourish. Ralph was a sculptor. In the early days he would make trinkets for local cruisers who came through and even set up a little gallery. The turning point came when his ten year old son Peter, started selling cold beer to the boaters. Cold beer in the bahamas is as close as you can get to gold in the hot Bahamian sun. It takes energy to cool a beer. The energy required to cool a beer under a hot sun is significant. Peter's beer sales organically manifested a beach bar which has now become infamous. If you were to imagine the perfect beach bar, this would be it. Born out of no plans, thought or pre conceptions. Built of whatever resources are nearby. Decorated in a whimsical fashion by the hats, shirts and other mementos that adorn every possible surface from passing cruisers. The central hub is a triangle shaped bar which has expanded outward in chaotic fashion as the popularity grew.

The desire of this individual to leave the comforts of home and seek a self sustaining life on an island has created a beautiful articistic legacy. Being a sculptor he built a kiln and began forging bronze pieces whcih adorn the gallery. Many of these pieces are inspired by the immediate beauty of the ocean, sealife and landscape. He passed away and Peter adopted his father's artisitic creativity and continues making beautiful pieces. I never had the chance to meet him however many describe Peter as part artistic genius with a dash of pirate. You have to believe that if you grew up on an island selling beer and living in a beautiful bay with dophins and turtles, you are going to evolve into a special kind of person that can only be a gift to humanity.

I found out about PEte's Pub while talking to another sailor in Nassau. He said I had to check this place out and I am so happy I did. Pet's Pub is on the Eastern shor of a very small bay called little harbour. You enter it through the cut and then take a hard turn to port. The cut is quite wide however you see menacing breakers form the swell along both sides as you enter. Always daunting so I never go in without lots of power to avoid getting overtaken by possible current or swells. It is a magnificent natural harbour. There are beautiful homes along the shore and up on the hillsides. One of note was built high up on the Western coral buttress flanking the Western side. I ended up meeting the owner at the bar. A guy named Chris. While sitting at the bar he told me he had a magnet making company. Nothing special. Then one day he got a call from Steve Jobs who said he needed magnets for this thing called an ipad and Chris's magnets had the properties they were looking for. The rest of course is history and Chris retired early. I spent some time with him while there and had the good fortune of being invited for dinner at their beautiful place. The main building was octagonal featuring the living area and kitchen. You had to walk outside to get to the master bedroom. What distinguished this place was the view. As it was situated on a pinninsueal you had water views from three compass points. The home was built such that you can enjoy the views of the sunrise and sunset. Looking East out into the Ocean, there was nothing between you and Portugal except the vast ocean.

It takes a special kind of person to live there as there are still no utility systems. It is much like living on a boat, accept you are on land. Power comes from solar

and diesel generators and stored in deep cycle batter banks. Water is stored in cisterns and much of it collected from the rain. with todays technology you would not be missing in the comforts of modern life. Still with all of this tech there is always something to fix so you have to be someone who is resourceful and can deal with repairs. This is compounded by how difficult it is to get any kind of material to the island.