Compass Cay Marina
Latitude: 24.26085 Longitude:-76.51266
Bahamas Day 573 (BD573) – Thursday, August 1, 2013 – BD581 – Saturday, August 10, 2013 – During this time, Rick was on Compass Cay while I remained in Florida. He was kept busy working on the docks and taking Tucker’s boats back and forth to Staniel Cay and to Blackpoint transporting people and picking up things.
On Saturday, August 3, I co-hosted a baby shower for my daughter-in-law, Kellie, at the Bradenton Yacht Club, along with her good friend Rebecca Emma Stidham with the help of her twin sister Crystal.
The baby is being named after Rebecca and her husband Greyson (Emma Grace). I have known Rebecca, Crystal and Grey since they were children. Rebecca planned the whole affair and it was lovely. Kellie and JP were overwhelmed at the generosity of those who attended and those who couldn’t attend but sent gifts. I thank each of you as well. We were also very pleased that Rick’s mother and my sister-in-law, Mary, were able to come over from the East coast of Florida.
Kellie picked out the shower invitation and Rebecca ran with the “Tweet Baby Girl” theme.
Rebecca found a wonderful custom cake company in Bradenton called Matt and Dom’s www.mattanddoms.com (they are like the Ace of Cakes of TV fame) and they designed a cake to match the invitations.
We played several fun, and some unusual, baby shower games, including: “Guess the Size of Kellie’s Belly”, “Build a Baby”, and, for relatives only, the “Diaper Queen” game. See pictures below. The winning baby is on the left and the winning lady is on the left. Sorry if the pictures are a little fuzzy. Remember, you can click on any picture on the website to see an enlarged view.
“V”, Kellie and I could not see out of our goggles, but Great Grandma Geri had clear goggles and help from Crystal! In this game, we had to undress the baby doll completely, then powder her bottom and put on a new diaper and redress her. The first one finished was crowned the Diaper Queen!
After the games, Kellie opened her presents, which included a “diaper cake” decorated in lavender to match the baby’s room.
In addition to all of these lovely gifts, Kellie received lots of much needed diapers ranging from newborn to size 4. You can see many of them surrounding her “gift opening chair.”
During the next week, I finished up all of my required health insurance appointments, then went and visited with my Dad and Rick’s Mom and brother. On Saturday, August 10, I drove the rental car from Ormond Beach down I-95 to Ft. Lauderdale where I met my brother, Bill and his wife Mary at the Watermaker Air terminal. We took the 1:00 flight to Staniel Cay where Rick met us and brought us to Compass in one of the marina boats.
BD583 – Sunday, August 11, 2013 – Bill and Mary took the kayaks up Compass Creek in the morning and we all walked over to Crescent Beach in the afternoon.
BD584 – Monday, August 12, 2013 – We packed a lunch and the four of us took the dinghy up to Rachel’s Bubble Bath. We spent a very pleasant afternoon there and relaxed upon our return.
BD585 – Tuesday, August 13, 2013 – Tucker had to fly to Nassau today, and since both Loan and Preston are off-island, he asked Rick to help out where needed. Bill and Mary took the kayaks over to His and Her keys. They explored an area that Tucker calls the “swimming pool” and then did some snorkeling around the coral beds on the west side of those islands. When they returned to the marina, they snorkeled in the area that Tucker calls his aquarium.
We relaxed in the afternoon in anticipation of traveling to the Fowl Cay Resort for supper. Once used by the local community as an island where they kept their chickens for food – hence the name Fowl Cay – Fowl Cay first became a vacation destination in the 50’s when a French couple bought the island and built their home away from home. Over the years the island passed through two other families. Fowl Cay Resort was established as the first high-end luxury resort in the Exumas in March 2002. It is currently an all-inclusive Sandal’s Boutique Resort. Boaters and visitors to the surrounding islands are welcome to dine at their Hill House Restaurant which is located in one of the previous island owner’s home. You can find out more about it at www.fowlcay.com
We arrived by boat at 6:30 and were greeted at the dock by one of the employees. Then she escorted us up the hill to the restaurant/lounge. We spent about an hour in the lounge, with our choice of drinks, enjoying delicious chicken appetizers and visiting with folks who are staying at the resort. Bill and Mary and I had flown over with one couple from California and we had met many more of them when they came to Compass Cay on Sunday. Some of the people were from Palm Harbor, Florida (which is in the Tampa Bay area). They had relatives in Manatee County and had been to Bradenton (near our house) many times.
We were then seated in the dining room where we enjoyed our meals of duck or mahi-mahi.
At the end of our meal, we were surprised when the staff came out of the kitchen singing and delivering a “special” key lime tart to the table to celebrate Mary’s birthday.
After one more glass of wine, we set off in the small boat by moonlight to return to Compass Cay. It was a pleasant ride, with only one small bump on a sandbar, back to our home away from home.
BD586 – Wednesday, August 14, 2013 – This afternoon we took one of the marina boats north into the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park to O’Briens Cay to swim at the Sea Aquarium. It is a great place to go snorkeling and the park provides a guide to the best spots on their website at http://www.exumapark.org (then click on Exuma Park Guides).
When we left there, we went to the Baby Conch Bay on Compass Cay. We beached the boat and all got in the water. But, there were no conch’s to be found in the shallow water. We returned to the boat and moved further out into the bay. Rick shut the motor off and let the boat drift while he dove looking for conch and the rest of us looked over the side for conch. Below are a couple of pictures of one of the conch Rick found on the bottom which was not large enough to keep.
After supper, we played Mexican Train dominoes (a birthday gift from Mary Beth a number of years ago) until after midnight!
BD587 – Thursday, August 15, 2013 – Today started out overcast with a slight breeze, so Bill and Mary decided it was the perfect time for them to hike over to the “bat cave”. Rick stayed out on the docks and I planned and gathered what I needed to cook for lunch and supper.
Bill and Mary left the marina and took the first trail to the right which led down to the “Lowtide Airport” and a path across it to the South Cliff Walk. They saw the trail marker on the other side of the airport, but then couldn’t find another marker to indicate which way they should go. Bill knew that the bat cave was on the north end of the walk, so they decided to walk up the middle of the airport through the water and soft sand to get to the north crossing area. Then they continued on the trail until they got to the bat cave. Mary had just about given up finding it when Bill encouraged her to go over “one more hill” and showed her the bat cave. Needless to say, she was a little disappointed when she saw Tucker’s Black Bat hanging in the entrance of the cave! Bill remembered what kind of bat it was from reading the blog last year.
In the afternoon we sat in the chairs at the marina office and enjoyed the view and visiting with the people who came and went. After supper we played another game of dominoes.
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BD588 – Friday, August 16, 2013 – Staniel Cay is the closest place to get gasoline and diesel fuel for the boats. They have been out of gasoline for over a week, so we have to be very careful where we go in the boats. The fuel barge was supposed to come yesterday, but didn’t make it. We had planned to go to Staniel today and snorkel Thunderball Grotto, but changed our plans due to the fuel shortage. Instead, Bill and Mary took the kayaks up the creek to the Jungle Trail which goes over to Baby Conch Bay.
When they came back, a few hours later, they told me that the walk over the ridge from the creek to the Baby Conch Bay was hot and “buggy”, but the snorkeling in Baby Conch Bay made the hike worth it. It was awesome. The same place that they had snorkeled the day before and seen only sand was now filled with baby conch’s. They had a really good time.
BD589 – Saturday, August 17, 2013 – Since this was Bill and Mary’s last day with us, we tried to see as many of the “sights” as possible, while still conserving fuel for the boats. We started out early by taking 6 guests staying in the rental’s to the Staniel Cay Yacht Club to check in for flights back to the States. We left the Compass Cay Marina around 8:15. After dropping the folks off, Rick walked to the airport to check with the Flamingo Air agent about a flight for him and I to take to Nassau on Monday. When he got back we had a Bloody Mary and then went to the Thunderball Grotto. We all went into the grotto and then I returned to the boat while the three of them swam through the large opening on the east and then around the north side of the island to return to the boat. We have discovered that there are a lot of pretty corals on the east and north side and they really enjoyed the drift around.
We left Thunderball Grotto (made famous in the 007 movie) and headed south to Bitter Guana Cay to see the endangered Bahamian Marine Iguanas. These iguanas are not at all shy.
Bill was able to get very close the take this picture.
This big fellow seemed to be “king of the beach”. He was so long, we didn’t manage to get his tail in the picture! After visiting with the iguanas (I think Bill said he counted 18 on the beach at one time), we returned to the Staniel Cay Yacht Club for lunch. Then, on the way back to the marina, we stopped by Big Majors Spot to feed the swimming pigs.
We went through a little patch of rain on the way back to the marina. Mary and I napped in the afternoon while Rick and Bill sat on the dock watching the people come and go on the tourist boats. We played our final game of dominoes for the week after supper and were all glad that Bill won (finally!)
BD590 – Sunday, August 18, 2013 – Another early morning saw Rick and me taking Bill and Mary in Tucker’s Albury to the Staniel Cay Yacht Club to check in for their 9:30 a.m. Watermaker’s Air flight. We were thrilled to see the red and black fuel barge tied up at the dock pumping the much needed gasoline into the Staniel Yacht Club tanks. They are now the only source of fuel between Highbourne Cay and Cave Cay in the Exumas.
We rode in the golf carts out to the airstrip with them to say goodbye and take a final picture.
We put some gas into Tucker’s boat before returning to Compass Cay to spend the rest of our day just relaxing together (our first day alone since June) and getting ready to take a quick trip to Nassau, flying Flamingo Air from Staniel, tomorrow morning to take care of some immigration paperwork. We really enjoyed our visits with our granddaughter, Vanessa, and my brother Bill and his wife Mary; and we hope they get to come and stay with us again, but we don’t mind being alone in Paradise either!
BD591 – Monday, August 19, 2013 – When you come to visit the Bahamas, you go through Bahamian Customs and Immigration. When you fill out the form for Immigration, they ask you how long you intend to stay. Most visitors stay for a week or two or maybe three, but Rick and I stay for months before flying back to Florida. When we returned this time, we were both given permission to stay in the Bahamas for only 30 days. So, we needed to get to an immigration office to request an extension before the end of August. This is why we took the morning flight on Flamingo Air from Staniel Cay to Nassau. Tucker had called his son, Randy Rolle, who lives in Nassau and asked him to pick us up at the airport and take us to the immigration office. We are extremely grateful to Randy for all of his help (we might still be riding around Nassau looking for the office if it weren’t for him!) When we saw the immigration official this morning, she explained to us that some of the small airports in the Bahamas do not have immigration agents assigned to them. Rick cleared customs at one such airport, in Congo Town on Andros. The airport that I cleared through, when I returned 10 days later, does have immigration agents, but apparently there was not one available at that time because my paperwork was also handled by a customs agent. She told us that customs agents are only allowed to give a maximum of 30 days in the country and that is why we both got permission for 30 days.
With our business concluded much more quickly than we ever dreamed possible (thanks to Randy and some very accommodating Bahamian government employees) we proceeded out to Cable Beach and checked into the Wyndham Nassau Resort and Crystal Palace Casino.
On December 15, 1988, the most extravagant resort in the Caribbean (at that time), Carnival`s Crystal Palace Resort & Casino, opened at Cable Beach near Nassau. The 900,000-square-foot resort and casino complex had approximately 1500 guest rooms. Rick and I stayed in the Crystal Palace for our anniversary the following October.
In 1992, it was announced that the Riviera Towers section (the former Cable Beach Hotel) of the Crystal Palace Resort and Casino would revert from Carnival to the Bahamas Hotel Corporation. Carnival put the remaining facilities of the Crystal Palace up for sale but continued to operate both until the sale was finalized in August of 1994. Wyndham changed the name on the 850-room Nassau Marriott Resort & Crystal Palace Casino in 2002. Wyndham has now sold the Crystal Palace and it will become a part of a huge new development call Baha Mar, a $3.5 billion resort scheduled to open in December of 2014, 26 years after the Crystal Palace opened.
When completed, Baha Mar will encompass four hotels (Rosewood, Hyatt, Mondrian and the Baha Mar Casino and Hotel) and 307 furnished private residences.
Baha Mar will also include:
- An 18-hole, 72-par championship Jack Nicklaus Signature golf course
- 200,000 square feet of combined state-of-the-art convention facilities
- A 2,000-seat performing arts center
- An art gallery with a curated collection of Bahamian art
- More than 30 restaurants, nightclubs and bars
- Two spas, including the 30,000-square-foot destination at Baha Mar
- Designer retail boutiques
- A beachfront sanctuary with native Bahamian flora and fauna
- 14 distinctive pool experiences
- a private island
While the Wyndham hotel is a now shadow of its former self, it is still located on a very nice beach and the room was nicely appointed and very clean. And, because of the massive construction next door, they are offering some really good rates. Unfortunately, the casino (also a shadow of its former self) was limited to slot machines only during the week nights. Also, they no longer have big shows in their dinner theater – we remember seeing Siegfried and Roy’s illusion act with white tigers when we stayed here all those years ago. In 1990 they were hired by the manager of The Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas and they signed a lifetime contract with that hotel. This concludes the “old memories” section of today’s happenings.
In the afternoon we took the bus downtown to check out the prices in the liquor stores. Then we took another bus out near the airport to do some grocery shopping at the Fresh Market. We ate supper at an Italian restaurant on Cable Beach called Capriccio Ristorante. This is a family-owned restaurant that has been there for decades. We had a great bottle of chianti with our delicious meals, after which we shared an order of authentic Tiramisu and a cappuccino. From Capriccio’s we took a taxi to Paradise Island to spend a couple of hours (and a couple bucks) at the Atlantis Casino. We returned to the Wyndham and spent a little more time in the Crystal Palace casino before going to bed.
BD592 – Tuesday, August 20, 2013 – We ate a nice breakfast in the hotel and then waited a short time in the lobby for Mark, our taxi driver from last night, to come and pick us up. We made a quick stop at the liquor store next door to Capriccio’s and then went on to the airport to take the afternoon flight back to Staniel Cay. You can find out more about Flamingo Airlines at http://www.flamingoairbah.com The plane is very small and our flight was full. The pilot had Rick sit in the co-pilot’s seat. One of the other passengers, Tim Forrest, is a professional photographer and he took the picture below. You can see a little bit of Rick reading a book. Tim was hired to come to Staniel to take sunrise and sunset pictures for a new resort that is going in. His pictures can be found at www.islandsunrises.com
When we arrived at the airport, Samantha, the Flamingo Airlines agent, told us that Randy was waiting for us at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club. (Randy flew down this morning to stay on Compass Cay for about a week.) We made a quick stop at the Blue Store to pick up a few more groceries and then walked to the yacht club and Randy brought us back to Compass Cay in the boat. When we arrived, there were only three boats in the marina – two being stored and ours.
BD593 – Wednesday, August 21, 2013 thru BD600 –Wednesday, August 28, 2013 –
We averaged having four boats in the marina this week. We had a couple of short downpours. Tucker flew to Florida to see the eye doctor. I told him that Bill and Mary had wondered how the island got its name. He said that his great-grandparents lived and farmed on the west side of the island. He said his great-grandfather was called “Compass”, so he thinks that’s how the island became known as Compass Cay.
JP said that Kellie has started her 32nd week of pregnancy and from now on, she will be seeing the doctor twice a week. Vanessa started at Palmetto High on Monday and likes everything about it, so far.
Rick did a little volunteer building on the boater’s grill. Justin Beiber and his entourage were here at Compass Cay for a very short while. I didn’t see him. They were staying at Over Yonder Cay as a guest of Usher.
It was one year ago (August 24, 2012) that we first brought our boat, On the Hook, to Compass Cay. We moved here from the Staniel Cay Yacht Club Marina because of an impending tropical storm, Isaac, which later went ashore in New Orleans. Once we got here, we decided to stay for the rest of hurricane season – then we decided to stay for several more months, enjoying the beautiful surroundings and friendly people. We took a short “leave of absence” to travel south to George Town. From there, I flew back to Florida to pick up our granddaughter, Vanessa, and bring her back to spend some time with us on the boat again this summer. We came back home to Compass Cay just before the 40th anniversary of the Bahamas’ Independence (July 10), and here the boat shall stay through this hurricane season and through January.
Rick and I took one of the boats down to Staniel Cay for lunch and to pick up some groceries and gasoline. We stopped at a little beach on Thomas Cay for a quick swim before returning to the marina. This is an area frequented in “the season” by folks who are anchored nearby. They have left chairs and other memorabilia on the beach for others to enjoy.
Saturday evening, Loan, Randy and Trevon Rolle joined us on the dock for supper of conch fritters, fried lobster bites, barbequed ribs and yellow rice. But, I had to cut out early as the no-see-um’s were eating me for supper and every time I took a swipe at one, I got BBQ sauce in a new place!
We enjoyed an afternoon at Rachel’s Bubble Bath. Rick worked in the engine room doing routine air conditioning maintenance.
Trevon left the island headed back to Nassau. Loan had a friend staying on the island for a few days, so I fixed supper for all of us and we ate on the dock a couple of nights this week.
By Wednesday, we were the only boat left in the marina. I have to say that I quite like having the marina virtually to ourselves.
BD 601 (Thursday, August 29, 2013) thru BD603 (Saturday, August 31, 2013) – On Thursday, Vanessa cheered at her first Freshmen football game last night and Palmetto won. JP told us that Kellie was scheduled to have another ultrasound tomorrow afternoon to check on the progress of the baby. We received an e-mail from Dad today telling us that his friend, Beverly, has several blockages that will require surgery next month. We received an e-mail from Holly. We met Pat and Holly (a couple of forest fire fighters) last year when they were staying on Staniel Cay. She said that they are coming back the first week of September and hope to see us here again this year. I replied that we are looking forward to it and will put some white wine in the chiller in anticipation of their visit.
On Friday, we went with Randy in the boat to Staniel Cay to pick up a lady at the airport. We checked at the Isles General Store for some fresh vegetables, but the proprietess said that they were hoping that the supply boat would be in tomorrow. There were three other boats in the marina.
Saturday morning was overcast with some rain. One of the boats, Creative Edge, left in the morning. HOLD THE PRESSES! When we checked our e-mail between 10 and 11, we had three messages from JP saying that Kellie had been admitted to Sarasota Memorial Hospital on Friday evening and that they expected to take the baby by C-Section tonight or tomorrow. We quickly SKYPED his mobile phone and talked to him at the hospital. He said things were OK for the moment, but the baby was not gaining weight and they felt she would grow better outside of the womb. So, we called Water Maker Airlines and were able to book two seats on the 3:30 flight from Staniel Cay to Ft. Lauderdale. Then we called Enterprise Rental Cars and made arrangements for them to drop off a car at the air terminal for us to use. We were on the ground at 5:30 pm and called JP right away. He told us that Emma Grace was born at 11:37 this morning and that mother and daughter were doing well. We drove straight to the hospital and I was able to see the baby at 10:00 with JP and Kellie. She is in an incubator in the neo-natal ICU. She weighs 3 pounds and is 11 inches long, but she looks good and all of the hospital staff say that she is doing well. She wasn’t due until October 19th but she is here now and we are all very happy. No one could have anticipated, when we had the baby shower on August 3, that Emma would be born by the end of the month. We thank God for her precious life and the good health of both her and her mother and we thank all of our friends and family who prayed for her safe delivery and continue to pray for her steady progress in the hopes that she will be able to come home soon. Rick and I will stay in Florida as long as we are needed.
Our journey has been inspired by Joy and Steve Fredrick. You can see more of their story at