Friday
May 28th
In
Port -
The Atlantis Marina, Nassau,
Providence Island
Dee Light
The Atlantis
Bananas Foster
|
In
Port -
The
Atlantis Marina,
Nassau, Providence Island
( 242-363-6068 ) - Diesel Fuel $3.71
... another beautiful day with light
winds and temps in the mid 80's -
what a great day !! ..
in
the morning while we had the outside
of Dee Light cleaned we used
the time to catch up on the domestic
chores inside of the boat ie
vacuum, garbage detail, etc. .. we
have not had the opportunity to
really wash down the boat since
leaving Fort Myers ... Mario did a
wonderful job for us and when he was
finished she just sparkled!
and she's "lookin' pretty
sharp for an older boat" ...
in the afternoon we walked over to
the Water Park for a leisurely float
on the Lazy River ... it was so nice
we ended up making the loop twice
... finally decided to call it quits
and headed to the bar for a cold
drink ... not very busy so we had a
chance to chat with the bartender
and talked about the Gulf Oil Spill
- seems they are also worried about
the future impact if it comes here
and are beginning to make plans to
eventually cope with it ... the
economy and people here are so
interconnected to the sea ...
in the evening we walked up to the
Marina Village and stopped to chat
with a group of boaters on
Devil Dogs
from the Marco Island area ... they
have 2 dogs hence the name of the
boat and the black terrier was in
doggy quarantine this evening for
trying to jump ship earlier .. they
have recently purchased the boat and
would like to take it up to
Tennessee ... on the way to dinner
we noticed the new yachts that had
arrived and admired all the floral
arrangements, balloons and uniformed
staff as they waited for their
guests to arrive for the evening's
festivities ...
ended up on a couple of barstools at
Bimini Road Restaurant where we
enjoyed a nice Caesar salad while we
visited with a young honeymoon
couple from California ...
afterward we took the glass elevator
up to Cafe Martinique to be served
coffee in a silver coffee urn and
Bananas Foster prepared for us at
our cocktail table in the lounge all
the while listening to some great
live music ... oh - life can be so
"civilized" ...
|
Saturday
May 29th
In
Port -
The Atlantis Marina, Nassau,
Providence Island
Mario detailing Dee Light
The Atlantis
|
In
Port -
The
Atlantis Marina,
Nassau, Providence Island
( 242-363-6068 ) - Diesel Fuel $3.71
we
had a light early morning rain but
by 9:00 am it was clear again
... Mario stopped by to clean up
part of Dee Light that had some
streaks from the morning shower ..
we
took the dinghy from Paradise Island
to the Main Land and docked in front
of the Poop Deck Restaurant .. to go
looking for a new stapler gun for a
small project Carol was working on
and the parts to repair Dee Light's
throttle linkage .. after a couple
of dead ends we resigned ourselves
to returning on Monday morning to
resume our quest ... as we were
getting ready to leave in our dinghy
we talked with a local mechanic
named Jason and told him what we
were after .. he not only offered to
drive us up to a huge NAPA Store but
went to the parts desk with Marv to
try to locate what we needed ... in
the meantime Carol found the stapler
but we ran into another dead end on
finding our parts .. we decided to
have Jason drive Carol back to
Atlantis Marina while Marv took Lil
Dee back to Dee Light ... once there
Jason removed our 'patch job' and
took the broken parts back to his
shop to get exactly what we need to
finish the repair .. he will be back
on Monday evening to repair the
linkage ..
the
weather continues to stay warm and
dry so before dinner we walked over
to the pool area by the condos
to use their Spa hot tub ... we
enjoyed a cold drink and while
watching the sunset we visited with
a nice couple from the Daytona/Palm
Coast area who own a time share at
the condos ... after showering
and changing we walked over to The
Green Parrot at Hurricane Hole
Marina where we had a Caesar Salad
and grilled fish for dinner at their
bar overlooking Nassau Harbour .. |
Sunday May 30th
In
Port -
The Atlantis Marina, Nassau,
Providence Island
Christ Church Cathedral
yup .. we found it
one of our treasures
|
In
Port -
The
Atlantis Marina,
Nassau, Providence Island
( 242-363-6068 ) - Diesel Fuel $3.71
...
after inquiring about local church
services at the Marina office we decided
to catch the 10:30 am Water Ferry to
Nassau .. we ended up at Christ Church
Cathedral for their 11:15 am service ...
after the service we were invited to
stay for brunch served in an area
adjoining a pretty courtyard next to the
church ... with about 50 or so
parishioners we had a lovely meal that
consisted of chicken drumettes and rice,
roast pork with casaba, mini meatballs,
fresh fruit and crudités with dip, fruit
punch and mimosas! ... we enjoyed
visiting with the local folks ...
unfortunately a lot of their
conversation revolved around the Gulf
Oil spill and they remain very worried
...
...
after we left the church we walked down
Bay Street for coffee on the balcony at
Starbucks and then set off for a little
shopping ... made a stop at Cole's of
Nassau where Carol was once again
successful at finding a bargain on their
sale rack!
and tried a new Edy's Ice Cream Parlor
before heading to the Straw Market
across the street ... the market was
very slow it being Sunday and only one
cruise ship was in port today ... most
of the booths were closed with the rest
closing before 4:00 pm .. as we
left the ferry dock for our return trip
to Paradise Island we watched a huge
freighter called Hoegh Autoliner drive
car after car off the ramp onto shore
... we were told the boat comes from
Japan and brings all the new (and some
used) autos to the islands ...
... once
again we decided to spend some time in
the Spa Hot Tub before having
dinner at Bimini Road in the Marina
Village at Atlantis .. the line at
the Ice Cream Parlor was way too long so
we had our dessert on the boat instead
... |
Monday
May 31st
In
Port -
The Atlantis Marina, Nassau,
Providence Island
The Atlantis Marina
Conch
Stand - Potters Cay
Carol's favorite fish dish
|
In
Port -
The
Atlantis Marina,
Nassau, Providence Island
( 242-363-6068 ) - Diesel Fuel $3.71
after finishing up some morning
projects on the boat (including 2
loads of laundry) we got the dinghy
ready to head over to Nassau ...
before we left a couple of local
fishermen stopped by with 2
beautiful mutton snapper for sale
... unfortunately we decided we
didn't have enough freezer space to
accommodate them ... too bad! -
guess we need to work on eating more
ice cream for now ...
... we took the dinghy to Potter's
Cay which is located under the
southbound Paradise Bridge and were
headed to the Blue Wave where Leslie
makes some of the best Conch Salad
on the island but he had taken the
day off ... ended up next door
instead and while we watched the
locals playing an energetic match of
checkers we waited for our conch
salad ... we also picked up some
fresh veggies at one of the produce
stands and a 12 pack of cold Kalik
Beer at the liquor store .. with our
packages in hand we dinghied back to
Atlantis ... we took it pretty slow
as the ICW was rough with the tidal
current and winds funneling thru ..
... our nice mechanic Jason
Turnquest (his cell phone is
242-557-1991) showed up at Dee Light
just after 5:30 PM with the part
needed to repair the port throttle
linkage ... in less than 30 minutes
he had everything in place ... for
"peace of mind" it sure beats fish
wire and plastic wire ties!
Jason also gave Carol a great and
easy recipe for a fish spread/dip
...
...
after all our talk of fresh fish we
decided to go to The Poop Deck for
dinner where one of their
specialties is whole grilled snapper
... we took a cab and got a table on
the outside deck right away .... AND
we got the LAST snapper of the
evening ... with the coleslaw and
plantains we ended up eating every
last bite! ... |
Tuesday June 01st
In
Port -
The Atlantis Marina, Nassau,
Providence Island
first time since getting here
dinner at The Point
|
In
Port -
The
Atlantis Marina,
Nassau, Providence Island
( 242-363-6068 ) - Diesel Fuel $3.71
in the
morning we watched as several large
yachts left and new boats arrived
... a family
from St Petersburg pulled into the
Slip next to us .. their young
daughter Elaine took an immediate
liking to Autumn and the attraction
was mutual because Autumn really
liked the headband with bright
purple 'bobbles" she gave her to
wear ... with 3 children they have
been liveaboards for the past 11
years on Miss Enna ..
after stowing the dinghy and getting
the boat ready for our departure in
the morning we walked over to Scotia
Bank to get some "change" and then
did a little shopping ... for the
first time the Ice Cream Parlor at
the Marina Village did not have a
line so we stopped in for a small
treat ...
when we walked back to the boat
around 3:00 PM the overcast sky
finally turned into a very light
rain .. this being the first day we
had rain ...
...
by 6 PM the rain had passed and we
got ready to head to dinner ...
before leaving a boating couple from
the Jacksonville area stopped by to
let us know they were also headed
for the Exumas on Friday so we
exchanged info and will hopefully
meet up again later ...
we
walked up to the The Point again for
a light dinner at the bar ... Carol
asked the bartender for a Mojito but
they were out of mint leaves so he
suggested a Pitty Punch instead
... will have to "google" the recipe
but it had loads of lime (which I
love) - not too sweet and very
refreshing! |
Wednesday June 02nd
Travel -
Nassau to Highbourne
Highbourne Cay
end of Fuel Dock
|
Travel -
Nassau to Highbourne - 38 nm ..
at
0845 AM we left the dock at Atlantis
(after Elaine gave Autumn a final
scratch behind her ears) ... the day
was slightly overcast with low fast
moving clouds overhead but no rain
... the sea buoy reports had called
for 2 to 3 foot seas and they were
right on ... right on our nose ...
after an eventless cruise we arrived
at Highborne at 11:30 AM .. we first
docked at the Fuel Dock and filled
all 3 tanks with fuel before heading
to our slip (turns out we have the
same slip as last year ) ..
Highborne is a smaller Marina but is
a very popular stop-off because of
it's close proximity to Nassau (less
than 40 nm) ... this weekend is also
a Bahamian Holiday - the first
Friday in June is Labour Day (or
Labourless Day as the locals refer
to it) so when we arrived the Marina
was busy "juggling" a lot of
reservations - many of them are
locals from the Nassau area
... it also becomes tight when
the 100 foot+ yachts come in as they
take up lots of dock space ... but
it is a great marina and the staff
does a great job of getting it all
done!
after launching the dinghy and
getting settled in we opted for a
casual dinner aboard wich included
our Potter Cay Conch Salad ...
|
Thursday June 03rd
In Port -
Highbourne
Plantation
dinghy to Normans
view from the
Office
always time for
ice cream
|
In Port -
Highbourne
Plantation ( 242-356-1008 ) ..
we awoke to another sunny, warm
day at Highborne Cay ... after
walking Autumn we loaded up the
dinghy for the trip down to
Norman's Cay and McDuff's
Restaurant for lunch ... the
winds were down but we had a few
large rollers so we took our
time and arrived at the beach in
front of McDuff's at about 1:30
PM ...
... as we were beaching the
dinghy we realized we were very
close to low tide which would
eventually put us right on top
of the rocks so we decided to
head around to the other side of
the island to tie up to the old
fuel dock (one of the few things
left over from the notorious
drug-running days) ...
as we came into the harbor we
counted 7 boats at anchor in the
harbor - the most we have
recently seen here ...
... after chatting with a
sailboater as he cleaned some
fresh caught conch we took the
short walk up the old asphalt
road and across the airstrip
runway to McDuffs ... it's a
slightly further walk but we
worked up an appetite for lunch
on the way ...
... after greeting the resident
dogs Salt and Pepper along with
a new addition Brandi we enjoyed
some of the best conch fritters
around and a great grilled fish
wrap with Caesar Salad for
lunch/dinner! ... while having
lunch the TV was tuned in to CNN
... everyone in the Bahamas
remains keenly interested in the
continuing coverage of the Gulf
Oil Spill and how the outcome
will affect their way of life
...
|
Thursday June
04th
travel -
Highbourne
to Warderick Wells
welcome back
Mooring Field
RPYC members
Tim, Monica, Tom
and Rodie
RPYC members Tim & Monica and
Paul and Bev
dinner on
Serenity
|
Travel -
Highbourne
Plantation
to Warderick Wells - 37 Nautical
Miles
Autumn had a LONG night .. an
electrical storm moved thru the
area during the night .. it
started at 0230 and didn't let
up until 0500 .. however it did
provide enough rain to rinse
most of the salt off Dee Light
and by 8:00 it turned into
another sunny beautiful day with
light winds ..
(later we heard that 60+ MPH
winds had been clocked off
Norman's and Shroud Cays)
... after checking out at
Highbourne and paying the fuel
bill (Ugh!!!) we pulled
out of the marina at 0845 am and
headed to Warderick Wells at
Exuma Park ... at 10:00 after
radioing the Park Office we were
advised that the Mooring Ball
#15 was still occupied and check
out time was noon so we slowed
our speed ... when we arrived at
the cut to the Park entrance we
continued to just "hang out" at
idle as the tide and wind was
keeping Dee Light
right in one spot ... as we
waited we observed our fellow
club members on Serenity
and Way Gone
enter the cut from the ocean
side on their way into the park
(.... while we STILL waited ...)
finally at 1:30 the boat Perfect
decided to leave (and even
managed to throw us a nice wake
as they roared by us)..
after a very good cruise to The
Exuma Park and an easy pick-up
at our mooring ball we launched
Lil Dee
and helped
Meridian Magic
pick up their mooring ...
several boaters have asked us
for the Mooring rates at the
Park so here they are (these
cover all of their mooring
fields i.e. Shroud Cay,
Hawksbill Cay, Warderick Wells,
Emerald Rock, Pirates Lair and
Cambridge Cay) and all
reservations are first come,
first served
Mooring Ball Rates per Night
40 foot and less - $15.00
40 to 49.11 feet - $20.00
50 to 59.11 feet - $30.00
60 to 69.11 feet - $50.00
70 to 89.11 feet - $75.00
90 feet and up - $ $100.00
after checking in and getting
settled we invited the crews of
Serenity
(Tim & Monica Wonnenberg)
Way Good
(Tom & Rodie Gibson) and
Meridian's Magic
(Paul and Bev Behrens) for cocktails
aboard our boat Dee
Light
... after wine and cheese, conch
salad and lots of good conversation
we ended up on Serenity for grilled
Turkey Legs ala Tim with stuffing,
mashed potatoes and gravy courtesy
of Monica ...
we putt-putted back to Dee Light
under a mostly clear star-filled sky
... with no city lights to obscure
them the stars were so brilliantly
close we felt we could almost reach
out and touch them ... a truly
spectacular ending to a glorious
night ... |
Friday
June 05th
Mooring Ball - Warderick
Wells
on Mooring Ball
15
Boo Boo Hill
RPYC atop Boo
Boo Hill once again
a
swim at Pirates Lair
|
Mooring Ball -
Warderick Wells ( 2423578344 ) - $50.00
per night
again a good wind storm moved thru at
about 05:00 am and Autumn was not a
happy camper and stayed on high alert
until it had passed ... but again the
morning dawned clear and bright ...
at 10:00 am the group met at the Park
Office and we headed up the trail to Boo
Boo Hill .. the RPYC sign board
left in 2007 was still in place and Marv
found the old burgee lying in the pile
of rubble and reattached it to the top
of the pile ...
after lunch we again met and took our
Dinghies south .. we stopped for a swim
at Pirates Lair and were going to go to
the Sea Aquarium but on the way we
spotted a good size rain cell ... as it
looked as if some weather was going to
move in we decided to stay closer to the
anchorage ... on the way back we spent
some time at another nice beach closer
to Warderick where we picked up a great
tip from Tom on how to attract fish ...
he took a plastic bottle and punched a
hole in the top of the cap and filled
the bottle with cooked rice ... as you
squeeze the bottle underwater a few
kernels of rice come out for the fish to
feed on ... works real slick! ...
on Saturday evenings the Park hosts a
bon fire on the beach that starts about
7:00 PM ... tonight we met aboard
Way Good
for cocktails and hor 'd oeuvres before
hand ... as the evening progressed we
all decided we were just too comfortable
where we were so decided to forgo the
"beach shindig" ...
after returning to Dee Light we had just
settled in for the evening and just as
Marv got ready to serve up our evening
ice cream our Generator died .. UGH !!
Pitch Black ..
UUUUFFDDDDAAA !!!! ...after
checking out the generator he found the
fan belt had to be replaced ... after an
hour in the engine room it was just too
hot, too dark and plain too tired to
fight with it any further ... finally
came to bed exhausted deciding to "slay
that dragon another day" ... which
brings to mind an adage of one of our
fellow boaters - "boating is
traveling from Port to Port doing
repairs in exotic locations" ..
|
Saturday June
06th
travel
- Warderick Wells to Compass
Cay
the Sharks and the Dock Hands
greeted us with 'welcome home'
our friends Susan and John
dinner with Bev and Paul
|
Travel -
Warderick Wells to Compass Cay - 18
nautical miles
after a less than restful sleep we
were up at 06:00 am and watched the
sun rise on yet another beautiful
morning ... unfortunately without
the generator we not only could not
have our morning cup of coffee but
we knew we would not be able to
hoist the dinghy onto our deck with
the davit ... so we dug out the tow
line from the cockpit storage, took
Autumn to shore for her morning walk
and prepared the boat to leave the
mooring field ... fortunately the
Garmin Unit is powered by the
battery bank and the Nobel Tec
computer is powered by the inverter
so all of our navigation equipment
was up and running ...
...
we had a very uneventful cruise to
Compass Cay traveling at around 8
knots with the dinghy nicely in tow
... at 10:00 am the Sharks and the
Dock Hands greeted us with 'welcome
home' ... after a beautiful job of
backing Dee Light
into her berth at Compass and
plugging into shore power the first
job for the Captain was brewing a
fresh pot of coffee ... second job
for the First Mate was a nice long
cool nap in the stateroom ...
AAAHHHHHH !!
..
about noon we heard Paul and Bev
Behrens ( Meridian's
Magic
) on the Marine Radio and they
joined us on the North Dock ...
after our naps and showers by
late afternoon we were feeling
back to normal and invited the
Behrens for dinner on Dee
Light
... Bev contributed a great
salad with balsamic dressing and
we put together a chicken and
veggies pasta dish along with
the last of our Staniel Cay
bread ... |
Monday June
07th
in port
- Compass Cay
Tucker
love it
|
In Port - Compass Cay - Tucker (
242) 355-2138
after our early departure yesterday
we all slept in this morning and
enjoyed a leisurely breakfast ...
Bev and Paul are leaving today to
spend a few days at Staniel Cay
before heading back to the States
with their boat ... before they left
we all took a walk over to the other
side of Compass Cay to enjoy the
beautiful white sand beach ... we
left Autumn curled up in a ball
catching up with her sleep on the
back deck ...
used our down time in the afternoon
to refill our fresh water tank with
the water maker and in the afternoon
our friend Bill stopped by to help
Marv replace the
Fan Belt on our Generator ...
later we walked up with Autumn to
the covered dock/picnic area ... it
was high tide so we watched the kids
swim with the sharks and enjoyed
some evening conversation with the
crew of Totem
from the Melbourne, FL area ( Donna
is presently commodore of the Eau
Gallie Yacht Club and they are
traveling with Scooter their 1+ old
Jack Russell puppy ) ... one of the
boaters had caught a shark so he
prepared shark tidbits wrapped in
bacon on the grill and we brought up
the remainder of our conch salad to
share for a casual dinner ... |
Tuesday
June
08th
in port
- Compass Cay
Carol and Shyvette
swimming pigs
love it
|
In Port - Compass Cay - Tucker (
242) 355-2138
after walking Autumn we loaded up
the dinghy for a ride to Staniel Cay
... on the way we stopped at Fowl
Cay and met the new managers of
Royal Plantation Resort - Yves and
Marta Verhoustraete ... while we
were there we confirmed our
reservations for our farewell dinner
while our RPYC group is here and
also met the chef ...
.. after leaving Fowl Cay we
met up with Paul and Bev at the
Thunderball Grotto and then we all
headed over to Big Majors so they
could see the swimming pigs at the
beach ... watching the pigs swim up
to one's dinghy is a hoot and in
general they are pretty docile
however they are big (in excess of
200 lbs. each and usually there are
at least four of them) and can
become fairly aggressive when going
for the "goodies" that we humans
like to bring ... every year we hear
of kids and adults being bit or
otherwise injured during a close
encounter with the pigs ... last
week a young man visiting his
parents had to have 32 stitches to
close his arm and elbow from an
incident ... bottom line
- please STAY IN YOUR DINGHY while
you feed these critters ! ...
we left Big Majors and the pigs and
met Bev and Paul for lunch at the
Staniel Cay Yacht Club and
after saying so long we met with
Shyvette at the new Reception Office
to finalize some arrangements for
the arrival of our RPYC group in a
couple of weeks ... walked up to the
Bread Shop for a couple of loaves of
fresh bread (Whole Wheat and
Cinnamon Raisin) .. on
the way back to Compass we stopped
at one of the sandy coves along Pipe
Creek for a refreshing dip in pool
... |
|
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the End of
Log B
.. "click" on
Log C
to continue with our cruise
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