Saba Day weekend celebrations dampened by weather

The 38th Saba Day weekend celebrations were drastically dampened by strong winds and pouring rain showers, a blessing in disguise as the downpour was also appreciated by locals dependent on rainwater cisterns. This reports The Daily Herald.  The well-advertised festivities mostly involved outdoorsport competitions, many of which had to be cancelled. Undeterred by the choppy sea and the worsening forecast, Saba’s fishermen and visiting competitors in the annual Wahoo Tournament left at midnight and in the early morning hours on Saturday.
The Saba Day weekend booths at Fort Bay enticed a good number of people Saturday, with their tasty “soul food.” Family-recipe dishes on sale included conch stew, grilled mahi-mahi, salt fish or pigtail stew with provisions, sweet goat soup, grilled cuts and other local specialties. Several families showed up for the planned kite competition and took advantage of the strong winds at Fort Bay harbour. All fishing boats came back by 4:00pm, and the weighing of the catch attracted many curious observers. A passing rain shower convinced many to leave before the long delayed final results were announced. Commissioner Bruce Zagers participated with his own boat this year and said: “It was fun, but very wet and very rough.”
The first prize went to the Black Fin crew from Nevis with a 72-pound wahoo. Ryan Hassell from Saba won second prize for the most overall weight of 10 wahoos. The third prize went to last year’s top winner: the crew of the Bridgette from Saba. They also caught 10 wahoos. “Overall it was a good fishing day, but a very cold, windy and wet day too,” said Commissioner Zagers.