The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

LITTLE Harbour, Abaco, Bahamas...  four words that made up a big part of our lives in the early nineteen-nineties. We sailed in with our three-year-old boy, intending to continue the journey South. 

We happened upon an annual fishing tournament, fell in love with the small spit of land and the people who lived there. We bought a ramshackle cottage and over six winters tended, improved and lived a simple but rich life alongside the sea, sand, sea grape and people. We came back for eight years during holidays.

Circumstances have taken us elsewhere, but we still maintain a small cottage which we named The Kajooks...a word that Vashti of Cherokee taught us. We think it means “in the middle of nowhere”.

“Nowhere” - meaning that most residents eschew the modern conveniences; meaning houses are small; meaning you live lightly on the land next to the sea.

We all know that you cannot shut the door of paradise after you. We have seen a lot of growth in Little Harbour since our arrival. But our son, who is now 26, still has the heart of a beach child and comes back to be with his Little Harbour family, to re-taste that simple life. 

We have become aware that a developer has arrived (again) with plans to extend a dock at a single family home to create a marina for people in Winding Bay.

The small enclosed harbour where our son used to catch mangrove snapper for dinner; where he brought up conch for fritters, where he learned the value and fragility of the island environment is in peril if this project goes through.

Developers come with dollar signs in their heads and won’t keep promises to protect our harbour. We have seen it before. We hope to fight them again.  It is a good fight. 

Please join with us.

ZEF and OONA FESSENDEN

The Kajooks

Little Harbour, Abaco

Monticello, FL

zefanoon@yahoo.com

February 7, 2015