Frank Minnia and the
Banana Boat Club

Mr. Minnia hailed from New York and arrived in Nassau in the late 1950s and took over the ownership of the Banana Boat Club, lending a new energy to the Bahamian Soul Train experience. “The Boat” as it was called grew up a generation in this era and the solid friendships made back then are still celebrated every year in a Back to the Boat Reunion Gala and Black Tie Affair. Located on the corner of Farrington Road and Horseshoe Drive was the teenagers’ Happy Days of the late 1950s early 1960s. Scores of international celebrities wandered through its door and thousands of Bahamians made the Boat their weekend experience to enjoy the local artists such as Ezra and the Polka Dots, Smokey 007, Wendal