Times of the Islands Spring 2021

astrolabe newsletter of the Turks & Caicos National Museum
When Michael first arrived in the Turks & Caicos as
director of the national museum, he was amazed with
how similar but different the cultural traditions of the
Turks & Caicos Islands are compared to The Bahamas.
One of his main goals as director was to explore and
experience these cultural traditions so that the museum
can do a better job of presenting them to residents and
visitors to the Islands. One of these traditions is the building
of native Caicos sloops.
This journey started on February 16, 2019 at the
annual Valentine’s Cup, hosted by the Middle Caicos
Co-op on Bambarra Beach, Middle Caicos. The Valentine’s
Cup is a regatta using model Caicos sloops enjoyed by
locals and visitors of all ages.
While waiting for the event to begin, I walked around
to interview attendees. Fortunately, the first people I met
are both members of different TCI boat building families,
Wing Dean and Brodie Forbes. They both spoke with
fondness of childhood memories of building model boats
out of gum elemi trees with their friends. Historically,
children would gather logs from the gum elemi tree and
carve smaller versions of Caicos sloops, complete with
sails and rigging, and race them in sheltered waters.
That evening I called Vanessa excited about the
information I had gathered that day. I expressed shock
that we didn’t have something similar in The Bahamas.
However, Vanessa was surprised as she thought it was
a common childhood practice. While both of us are from
The Bahamas, we had different childhood experiences.
Similar to most Bahamian families, we can trace our familiar
history to various family islands, Michael (Cat Island
and Berry Islands) and Vanessa (Andros and Exuma).
However, multiple generations of Michael’s family were
born on New Providence whereas Vanessa’s parents were
both born on Andros.This is similar in that many children
who grow up in Providenciales do not have the same cultural
experiences as those from the other islands.
Vanessa recounts stories similar to Wing and Brodie’s.
She recalls, “The most exciting part of getting my own
model boat was choosing the tree it would be sculpted
from. I excitedly watched and helped my uncle, knowing
upon completion the best part of the summer is the
model boat regatta and I always wanted to win—which
child doesn’t? Model boat regatta day was the highlight,
nobody slept the night before and you kept your eye on
your boat in case one of the cousins tried to sabotage
Top: Pastor “Gold” Williams sails his model sloop.
Above: “Wing” Dean (left) and Brodie Forbes speak with fondness of
childhood memories of building model boats.
you. We barely ate breakfast since we were so excited to
get down to the bay to race our boats. There’s nothing
quite like seeing the wind catch your sails and your boat
take off; you couldn’t hear much from all the excitement,
sound, colour, smell of the food and the sea. The buildup
to the regatta made summering on the family islands
the best part of getting sent there from the capital of
Nassau.”
Times of the Islands Spring 2021 59