When I asked Cephas Maycock how far back his family’s connection to boating went, he just laughed. There has never been a time when the Maycocks weren’t connected to the sea. Cephas, who works as First Mate aboard the Captain C mailboat, explained that his forefathers ran wooden sailing schooners, trading with Cuba and Haiti.
Salted fish, dried conch and salt raked from the flats of Duncan Town would be bartered for plantain, bananas, mangoes and all manner of fresh vegetables to bring back home. Because of their remote position, Ragged Islanders had always had to be self-sufficient.
Another question, and a rather stupid one at that; “Where do you live?” Well, spending five or six days a week aboard the Captain C, it’s pretty clear. However, when there is time to stop, Cephas and his brother Etienne can be found in Duncan Town, Ragged Island where the family own the Ponda Rosa Bar right next door to the family home.
Their father, Captain Cephas Maycock, passed away in 2022 at the age of 93. He ran the ‘Emmett and Cephas’ mail boat along the same route; Nassau, Staniel Cay, Black Point, Farmer’s Cay, Barraterre, Duncan Town and back.
The old boat was high-maintenance. The wooden hull required dry dockage at Spanish Wells every six months, which was extremely costly both financially and in time. Sadly, in 2000, a freak squall caught the boat 3 miles off Elbow Cay in the Exumas. The engine room filled quickly and the boat broke apart. Having served the route for 11 years, it was time for a replacement. In the meantime, the Captain Moxey filled in while a brand new boat was commissioned.
Mariners Shipyard in Louisianna had already built other mail boats for the Bahamas, and in 2001, The Captain C was up and running. The 120-footer is manned by a team of eight; Captain Etienne Maycock, First Mate Cephas Maycock, Engineer and crane operator, Marvin Carp, four deck hands and cook, Anicka Armbrister. A renovation of the Captain C will be made this year in Louisianna, where it was first built.
They work three weeks on and one week off. That’s not to say that ‘off ‘means they are away somewhere resting up. There are running repairs all the time with a boat as busy as the Captain C.
Having so many hours at sea gave us plenty of opportunity to chat to Captain Etienne in the wheel house.
We were keen to find out what the future looked like with regards carrying on the family’s long tradition. Amongst the offspring of Etienne and Cephas, there were plenty of younger family members getting experience in a whole range of different maritime positions, some locally, others in international waters. Hopefully one or more of them will be taking up the important role the family play in keeping Ragged Island supplied with the essentials for their regrowth. The means of doing that may change over time, but the need will always be there.
Written by: Jane Popov
Photos by: Nicolas Popov