Time to Go

Our last few days in Lucaya passed by uneventfully. Pam did laundry and tried to donate a load of clothes to the local dryer raiders without success. They were too honest for her since the clothes were still there when she returned! I went fishing but not like you think. I used a bucket and a net. One of our port hole screens fell into the water and it became my mission to retrieve it so I borrowed a dip net from Donnie and used Pam's viewing bucket to search the bottom for the elusive screen.

It's down there somewhere!

My recovery mission was a success with the screen being as good as new once the saltwater was rinsed off.

We watched a few large yachts come and go and relied on Donnie (the mayor of Legacy Harbour and now Port Lucaya) to get the scoop on each one. One of them called Big Zip dwarfed all the others. When it arrived it was followed by a smaller (92') yacht also called Big Zip. They had been chartered by some corporation. I'm sure it was all business oriented since each boat had only men on it other than some female crew members.

Big Zip leaving before sunrise to take advantage of the high tide. This was the only time I could get a picture of the whole boat.

Of course docktails continued.

On our last night in Lucaya we got cleaned up and went to Luciano's for dinner.

Don't we take a good picture! Well, at least Pam does. (flower courtesy of Tom of M/V Long Aweighted)

We were joined by Donnie & Marilyn. Donnie from M/V Long Aweighted. And Urmas & Bunny. The food was great and Pam had Bananas Foster for desert.

Making Bananas Foster.

All too soon it was Thursday morning. Time for us to head to the Abacos. One last check of the weather showed winds 10-15kts out of the SE and 3' seas until we start onto the Little Bahama Bank.

Our send off committee. Marilyn & Chloe, Urmas, and Donnie. It's been fun!

The forecast was pretty accurate with winds from the SE and seas of a steady 3' with 4 & 5's thrown in until we reached Indian Cay Rock & Light where we turned onto the Little Bahama Bank.

Indian Cay Rock & Light. That's as good as it gets in the Bahamas for navigational markers!

The bottom came up to greet us quickly as we made the turn and the seas subsided to less than 2'. The next 5 miles required my undivided attention because of the shallowness and narrowness of the route. The route I had set on the GPS took us right through without a hitch with the shallowest spot being 6'6" for depth. I must admit it's a bit unnerving when you can see the bottom. We proceeded on past the Indian Cay Channel in depths that ran around 10' to 15' all the way to Great Sale Cay where we anchored for the night.

Along the way we came across these white streaks which make you think you're heading into shallow water. These are called fish muds and are quite common along the Little Bahama Bank. The most common theory as to the cause of these is schools of bottom feeding fish stirring up the sand.

The anchorage was a little bumpy causing Pam and myself to sleep in what we call our Bahama Bunk which is the pull out sofa in our salon.
The next day we continued on into the Sea of Abaco and anchored at Crab Cay. A nice anchorage but again a bit lumpy during the night.

Pam relaxing at our Crab Cay anchorage.

Saturday we pulled anchor and headed towards Green Turtle Cay and the Leeward Yacht Club (http://www.leewardyachtclub.com/) to spend a few nights and meet up with our "looping" friends Bru & Sandy from M/V Coconuts who have spent the past few months here.

It has to be a friendly place if they have a sign!

Leeward Y C from across Black Sound.

Bru & Sandy were on the dock to greet us when we pulled into our slip and once settled in we set off to explore the town of New Plymouth and find a lunch spot. Walking through town it became apparent just how long our hosts have been here. Everyone greeted them by name as we passed by. One little entrepreneur offered to take our picture, so we let him.

Reunited Loopers.

Our photographer who made himself a buck!

I  was quickly informed not to walk around like a Tourist with my camera in full view!

We had a good lunch at this spot. Hey Bru! Are you looking at Pam's butt?

On our walk back we stopped to buy some fresh conch salad and watch how they remove the conch from the shell.

He uses the small hatchet to crack a hole in the shell and then inserts a knife to cut the muscle that holds the meat inside the shell. A quick process if you know what you're doing.

Sandy was brave enough to pose for this picture along with one of the locals. Pam didn't want to touch it. Go figure!
By Saturday evening the winds had picked up into the 20's and by Sunday morning into the 30's with rain moving in. When the rain comes it comes heavy and fast so you need to keep an eye to the sky at all times. Fortunately it usually moves through quickly so you can resume whatever you were doing once it passes.

Looking out the salon doors of Tourist watching it rain. Not the weather advertised in the brochures!

The high winds caused a few boats to drag their anchors in White Sound a mile or so north of us. Most of us in the slips doubled up our lines and listened to the wind howl. The boat next to us clocked the wind at 48 kts Sunday afternoon and I heard reports of gusts as high as 60. I'm glad we're not at anchor!

We plan on staying here until Wednesday when if the weather cooperates we'll head down to Marsh Harbor to meet my son Ryan who flies in on Thursday.

They Found Us!

For the past week we have enjoyed the company of John & Jean Carlson who made the trek from back home to visit and relax in the Bahamas. Rather than being too wordy I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Sneaking into the country after dark.

Checking out the Dolphin Experience from the dinghy. This guy was outside the pen attracting business. He came so close that I could run my hand down his back while he swam by!

Saw this entryway made from conch shells while strolling the beach.

Had lunch at Bertha's Blue Dinghy beachside bar & restaurant.

The view from Bertha's.

Pam's lunch before she covered the head to avoid eye contact! All of our lunches were very good.

John & Jean toasting their daughter Sarah on her 21st birthday.

Our dock mate Urmas holding up the dolphin they caught off the shores of Grand Bahama. Marilyn later did her kitchen magic with some of the meat. Mighty tasty!

Count Basie Square where John & Pam did the Macarena one night. They did very well until the part where everyone turns the other direction and they became the group leaders!

Taking advantage of the pool (& bar) at Pelican Bay Hotel.

Oh Cabana Boy! Where are our drinks?

Penalty for not being attentive enough in the above picture. Dishes!

Shopping for souvenirs at the Straw Market.

The girls with Donnie & Tom from M/V Long Aweighted at docktails.

All dressed up for a last night on the town.

All too soon it was time to say good-bye.

Pam & I had a great time this past week with you guys. Hope you can come again!
(No living organisms were harmed during this visit with the exception of a few brain cells!)

Katelyn sharing popcorn with Nubbs.
While we were entertaining last week Katelyn, my son Addam's girlfriend's (Jeni) daughter turned 8 on the 11th.
Happy Birthday Kate! Hope you had a great party.

Happy Easter (a day late!)

Happy Easter from the crew of Tourist.

Our internet connection from the boat here in Lucaya is crappy at best. Just the time when I want to sit down and write a blog entry we have no connection. So Happy Easter a day late!

For the past week we've been getting to know our dock mates. We have the guy on a catamaran who leaked about 30 gallons of diesel fuel into the harbor. Quite the uproar while that was going on until he left the marina at 11:30p.m. one night only to reappear a couple days later to the same slip with no penalties or repercussions. The environmental response from the local authorities was to dump dish soap into a dock cart, stir it up with water, and dump it into the harbor to dissipate the fuel slick. A process that will get you fined back in the states.
Each evening this boat becomes a beehive of activity that lasts well into the night. Fishy!

On the brighter side we have met Urmas & Bunny from Texas on their 1978 Hatteras that looks like new and Donnie & Tom who are captain and mate on a 80' Lazzara.

80' Lazzara

We've been dividing our time between going to the beach and being lazy, to getting some of the routine maintenance done on Tourist that is required. And of course Pam always has laundry to do!

Bunny, Pam, & Marilyn (What is it about women never going to the bathroom alone?)

We spotted a couple of Manta Rays swimming behind the boat one day and tried to get a picture.

Boat stalker?

We also found this Bahamian moth holding on to the side of Tourist one afternoon. (Before docktails!)

Bahamian Moth

On one of the days Donnie & Tom took us for a ride through the Lucayan Waterway which is a navigable canal that cuts through Grand Bahama Island from North to South. This is a man made canal that has seen better times like so much of this island. Built with development in mind that never really occurred. A few homes scattered along it's shores and an old hotel that has been closed for years along with the Casaurina scrub brush is all that remains.

Old hotel now gutted but still standing.

Much of the waterway looks like this.

One of the few homes along the canal. All have high fences surrounding them and at least 2 large dogs patrolling the grounds.

Notice the swimmer in the water pulling the cooler. He's diving for conch along the edges of the canal.

The North entrance is marked but shallow. Not suitable for Tourist.

Saturday night we walked over to the casino across the street. It took me all of 43 seconds to lose the $5.00 Pam had given me to gamble with. She on the other hand lasted almost 10 minutes before losing it all. The only reason it took her longer was because she spent more time in choosing the proper mechanical charity to donate to. Fortunately some of our group actually won. Or so they said!

Moon rising over the marina.

We spent the rest of the night at one of the bars beside Count Basie Square watching white people try to dance!

Sometime during the evening the brilliant idea surfaced to have Easter morning Bloody Mary's on the Lazzara. So that's what we did. Thanks Donnie, Tom, and Pam, the mixologist!

Pam & Donnie behind the bar.

Tom, Urmas, & Bunny. (Tom caught in the act of digging into the candy bag that Bunny brought!)

In Pam's world it's not a holiday without a musical!

What else? Easter Parade!

Port Lucaya

Monday 3/26/12     Forecast for today seas 2' to 3' and winds 10 to 15 with gusts to 20 from the NW. That should work for us so we started getting ready for departure. Everyone else must have felt the same as it was a mass exodus from Old Bahama Bay.
Once out of the cut and headed South it was a comfortable ride with a following sea nudging us along. Before long we were passing by The entrance to the commercial terminals and to Freeport harbor.

Entrance to Freeport with Cruise ship in port.

Waiting on the Pilot boat.

Offshore oil terminal.

A turn to the Southeast just past Freeport and we were heading to the Bell Channel entrance into Port Lucaya. As we got closer activity on the water picked up with a Para sail boat almost pulling their victim right over Kasey's Choice.

Closer than it appears.

The marker for the Bell Channel entrance became visible in the distance and a look towards shore showed one of the hotels along the beach.

Port Lucaya Radisson beachfront hotel.

Bell Channel entrance.

Once through Bell Channel our destination was just around the corner. Port Lucaya Marina. Before docking I decided to top off the fuel tanks with diesel. $5.56 per gallon. OUCH! Actually not that much more than what it was selling for in West Palm at some of the marinas. Anyway we fueled and went to our slip for the next few weeks.

Tuesday 3/27/12     Work day. Well almost. First make coffee then check the internet connection. After plotting the days activities I got busy washing the boat while Pam checked on our credit card account. In checking she found that we had an additional pending charge of $200.00 at Old Bahama Bay. This was after she had read an e-mail from them thanking us for staying there! Not to worry. Bloodhound will get that straightened out.
Meanwhile Donnie was having trouble getting on his computer and came over to see if his reception was better on our boat.

Geeks

Once done with our chores we cleaned up and walked over to the marketplace and had lunch. The day continued later with docktails followed by lobster for dinner.

Lobster! It's whats for dinner.

After dinner we retired to the sofa to watch what else? White Christmas!

OK. Maybe we're a little strange.

Wednesday 3/28/12  through Saturday 3/31/12     Getting settled in to life here in Port Lucaya. Activity around the marina is either dead or bustling depending on whether or not a cruise ship is in port. Several of the snorkel/dive boats dock just a few yards away from us so we get to see all the white skinned tourists pass by on the way out only to return sunburned and tired.

Pam decided to use our washing machine on the boat rather than make the long trek to the laundry facility in an adjacent hotel. The down side of this is that our machine doesn't dry so we resort to the old fashioned way. A clothesline.

Are we now officially trawler trash?

The other day when we were approaching Bell Channel I noticed a floating platform anchored in front of the Radisson with parasailers taking off from it. The next afternoon a couple of the tow boats pulled it in and tied it off to the bank behind Tourist. They then dropped a 4'x8' sheet of plywood down to use as a ramp and began sliding what looked like sections of drainage tile stacked together in wooden frames. This continued for about an hour and then they started nailing them together. Hmmm? Once the construction was done they started dropping wads into them with a string on them. Fireworks? This continued well past sundown until around 9 p.m. when they towed the platform back out to sea. No lights on anything except for an occasional flashlight. Sure enough about an hour later we had a nice fireworks display.

Setting up the fireworks launch pad.

The end result looking from Tourist over the marina and hotel.

The days seem to run together and with my feeble mind I can't remember which day it was that we dropped the dinghy in the water and went for a ride through the nearby canal. What we found was the Grand Bahama Yacht Club Marina which was recently shut down. (where we were supposed to be staying)

Grand Bahama Yacht Club  CLOSED!

We also went past the Ghost. Supposedly used in movies at one time.

S/V Ghost

For the most part the canals are a development that didn't happen. A few homes along the shores. Some occupied. Some not. Most of the shoreline is grown over in scrub brush and small pines.

After snooping in the canals we went out through Bell Channel and just past Taino Beach we pulled in to shore. But not before getting sideways in the surf and taking on a little water. Nothing was damaged fortunately. We spent a couple of hours there soaking up the sun and walking the beach.

Dinghies in the surf.

Beach Walker

The end of March is also the end of lobster season in the Bahamas and the boats loaded with empty traps started coming in.

End of Season.

One evening at docktails we celebrated Chloe's birthday. (Any excuse to drink!)

Celebrating and solving the world's problems all at one time!

I was in need of a haircut by the time we left Ft. Myers but was a little skiddish about getting one after my last experience. The time came however, that I needed one and so I was excited when we found a salon just a short walk from Tourist.

"I'm sexy and I know it" or Forest Gump? You decide.

I'm not getting my haircut again until I get home to Cindy at the Ritz. I hope she can fix this mess. On the positive side, it is rather cool in this tropical climate.