Bahamas Day 695 -Sunday, December 1 through Tuesday, December 10 (BD 704) – We finished decorating for Christmas on Sunday, December 1. I added ornaments to the tree and stockings were hung while Rick put up lights on the outside of the boat. Dad spent several hours sitting on the dock by the marina office visiting with Tucker and guests who came by tour boat from George Town as well as small boats from the surrounding area. I haven’t been doing much walking since Dad came to visit, but on Monday, Rick and I walked over to the crescent beach by way of the low tide airport. We went by a pretty blooming orchid and an orange tree full of fruit just turning color.
We continued past the Crescent Beach house to the pavilion on the beach, where I took a short rest before returning back to the boat.
Tuesday morning the three of us set off in Loan’s boat to visit the settlement of Black Point on Great Guana Cay. Black Point is about 10 miles south of Staniel Cay, which is about 6 miles south of Compass Cay. Rick has been to Black Point with Tucker and Loan several times, but I had never been there and, of course, neither had Dad. We tied Loan’s boat at the Government dock and started walking west, up the hill.
One of the first places of business that we came to was Adderley’s Friendly Store. We went in and found out that we could rent a golf cart here.
We got in the golf cart and continued heading west to see the sights. We came upon a turn in the road and found a pretty park. Black Point has a regatta in the springtime and this park is where the regatta takes place. There were several buildings on a bluff and several observation towers around the beach.
We continued down the road from here passing the local power plant and then coming to the end of the paved road. So, we turned around and headed to the “World’s Famous” Lorraine’s Café for some lunch. See the sign on the outside of the café below.
While I’m not sure that I would go so far as to say it is world famous, it is certainly well-known among cruisers in the Exumas (who do come from all over the world.) We enjoyed our lunch there, cheeseburgers and a chicken sandwich, as well as the pretty wall mural showing a church on the left, Lorraine’s in the middle and a pink building on the right with the regatta racing boats at anchor in the foreground.
Just before getting to the café, we passed the Garden of Eden where Willie Rolle has collected driftwood that he has arranged into a sculpture garden. Our friends, Joe and Casey McClash, visited it last May. They say that it takes a good eye to grasp the underlying image but with some help from Willie and the right perspective it is fascinating. Unfortunately, we did not have time to stop today but I did manage to take a picture as we passed by.
After finishing our lunch, we got back into our Adderley’s rental golf cart and headed east.
But, the cart started having trouble getting up the hills and it finally died. The three of us pushed it a couple of blocks to Adderley’s and then walked to the boat. So, after just a couple of hours at Black Point, we started on our return trip to Compass Cay. On the way back, we stopped at Bitter Guana Cay to take another look at the protected marine iguanas. We didn’t get out of the boat, but counted at least 10 iguanas on the beach – looking at us while we were looking at them!
Next, we swung by the pig beach on Big Majors Spot Cay to check on the piglets. We saw two sows and one piglet. We think he was the runt of the litter that we saw several weeks ago. But, we also saw two chickens on the beach with the pigs. We had been told that there were chickens on the island, as well as the goats and pigs that we had already seen, but this was our first sighting of the chickens. I took a few pictures, but they were small white chickens on the white beach and not “web worthy.”
We returned to Compass Cay about four hours after we left. There was very little breeze, so hardly a ripple on the water, making for a very smooth and enjoyable boat trip. Of course, we were a little disappointed that we didn’t get to see more of Black Point, but I know, for Rick and me anyway, there will be plenty of other opportunities for us to return and explore.
On Wednesday morning, Rick and I took the dinghy up to Rachel’s Bubble Bath. The sky was clear with very little wind and the sun was shining brightly. We had the Bubble Bath to ourselves and, although the water was cool, it was not cold. It had been an extremely high tide earlier in the morning and the lagoon was full with big waves crashing over the rocks into it. Today, for the first time, we saw a stingray in the Bubble Bath. We estimate that it was nearly three-feet across – so no small specimen. But, the ray stayed around the edge of the lagoon. It must have been eating something off of the rocks. On the ride back to the marina, we saw several large starfish. In the afternoon, Dad and I continued watching some of the DVDs that JP made for me a couple of Christmases ago. Today, we were watching family occasions and outings which took place from 1960 to 1964. Dad took the movies originally on 16 millimeter film. A number of years ago, he had all of the old film converted to VHS tapes and then I asked JP to convert the tapes to DVD. Dad has been watching them with me to help me identify people that I might not remember. We are enjoying seeing the old films and reminiscing.
On Thursday, December 5th, the wind picked up again and was blowing between 15 and 20 mph out of the East. Occasional gray clouds passed over the sun, but generally it was a nice day. The M/V Sioux Empress came in to the marina to stay for a few nights and we were visited by the 4-Seas tour boat and Sugarland Adventures tour boat. Dad spent some time on the dock, enjoying meeting new people. Friday was spent much the same as Thursday. It was raining just before 10 on Saturday morning, but Rick and I loaded up in Loan’s boat to take the couple who had been staying in the Mango House to Staniel Cay for their afternoon flight. We also picked up another couple who had been on Staniel for the past couple of weeks and were now coming to Compass Cay. We got wet going and coming, but it was warm so not too unpleasant. We spent the rest of the day watching various college football games. Most of the games were for conference championships. FSU, who is now ranked #1 after Alabama’s loss to Auburn last week, played against the Duke Blue Devils in Charlotte, North Carolina. Now, it looks like FSU will play against Auburn in the BCS National Championship Game in California in January. Sunday found Rick and me back in Loan’s boat headed to Staniel Cay. We went for lunch and to get fuel for the boat. There was big news here on Compass Cay on Monday. One of the goats that Tucker had ordered arrived. Rick had a chance to get a picture of her before they took her over to the part of the island where the “big goat” lives.
We will spend the rest of the day getting ready to leave tomorrow, Tuesday. We fly out of Staniel Cay on the 3:30 Watermakers Air flight and will return on December 28th.
Florida (BD 705-BD722)
On Wednesday, December 11, we left Dad at his cabin in the Ocala Forrest and traveled east to Ormond Beach to spend a few hours with Rick’s mother, brother and sister. Then we stopped by to see my youngest brother, Bill, for a half hour before heading west to Manatee County, Florida and the City of Palmetto. On Thursday, we did some shopping and ended the evening by attending a Christmas concert at Palmetto High where our granddaughter, Vanessa, was part of the choir. On Friday, Rick had a dentist’s appointment. The dentist sent us directly to an Endodontist for a consultation. So, now Rick has a root canal scheduled for Tuesday morning. Friday afternoon we stopped by Steve and Joy Fredrick’s for a quick visit and then we went to the Bradenton Yacht Club for their Harbor Lights event. Boater’s in the basin and on the wall provide snacks and drinks and people wander from one boat to another for a few hours. The club has judges who go to every participant to taste their offerings and then choose winners for the best food and the best drink. It is high competition and a whole lot of fun! But best of all, it is a great opportunity to see many of your friends and acquaintances that you haven’t seen in a while. On Saturday, we did more shopping and then met Ken and Jackie Sosville for supper at the Blu Mangrove Grill at the marina where we used to live, Riviera Dunes. After supper, we went to the yacht club. The boat parade was this evening. The boats had already passed the club for judging by the time we got there, but they were returning for the awards ceremony and fireworks. The fireworks were terrific! We spent Sunday afternoon at the tiki bar at the BYC watching the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’s loose another game while visiting with Joy and Steve and Ken and Jackie. We went back to the house to spend the evening with the family. We brought all three of our laptop computers with us on this trip because two of them were not working due to getting some kind of virus. We had managed to resurrect the newer of the two at home, with JP’s help, and had dropped off the older of the two with an IT specialist on Thursday. Rick went to pick it up on Monday morning. The IT guy reported that the mother board was shot but he had managed to get the information off of the computer and onto a thumb drive for us. We haven’t used it in a while but Rick had downloaded charts on it to use as a navigational aid on the boat, so we were glad to get them back from the “black hole.” Thanks, Ken. We were at the Endodontics office early Tuesday morning. The procedure went as planned and we were out of there in about an hour. We dropped off three prescriptions at the drug store and went to the house. Rick was told to rest for the balance of the day, which he did. Because of Rick’s recovery from the root canal, we did not go to see Vanessa cheer at the Palmetto High men’s basketball game that evening, but her Dad went and enjoyed the game.
We left Palmetto on Wednesday morning headed to the Ocala Forrest. To spend a few nights with Dad. Rick was still in some pain and his jaw was still swollen, so we took it easy again. Thursday was much the same, but we received an e-mail from Kellie just before 8 pm telling us that JP’s car had been broken into while he was running at the green bridge. The criminal(s) smashed in the passenger-side front window and took a bag he had left on the front seat. Luckily, he didn’t have much of value in the bag – he had left his valuables in the console of the car. Just being broken into was enough of a problem, as they were supposed to take that car to Ormond Beach the next afternoon! So after a few e-mails and phone calls, a plan was made for them to have a company come to the house Friday morning to replace the window and have it all ready to go by 3:00 in the afternoon. As soon as Kellie gets home from work and the baby is fed and feeling good, they will hit the road – to Grandmother’s house they go. Of course, when Friday actually rolled around, the day didn’t go exactly as planned, but they eventually did get to Grandma’s house around 11 pm.
Saturday morning, Rick, Dad and I drove over to Ormond Beach from the Forrest and arrived about 10:00 in the morning just as Eileen and Vanessa were leaving to go for a walk. We visited with the family for the rest of the day. In the afternoon, we checked in to our two timeshares at the Outrigger Beach Resort on Ormond Beach, just a few blocks away from Rick’s mother’s home. Dad stayed on our pull-out couch Saturday evening and Vanessa stayed at her Great-Grandma’s again that night. We spent a few hours together on Sunday and enjoyed a short visit with my niece Melissa and her son, Michael.
JP, Kellie, Vanessa and Emma started on their trip back to Palmetto about 2:30 in the afternoon and Rick and I left around 4 to go pick up some drugs for him and return to the timeshare for a short rest. At 6:00, we left the timeshare and drove down A-1-A to the Drive-In Church where Melissa works. They were having an event which they called the “Drive-through Bethlehem”. I had trouble getting the camera to work, so I didn’t get as many pictures as I would have liked, but I have included one of the “Inn” with the animals in the yard nearby. There were live geese and goats as well as a donkey – you might be able to tell, though, that the cow was not alive!
As we were leaving, we were stopped by a couple of very pleasant “tax collectors” to whom we happily gave a donation. And finally, we were wished a Merry Christmas by a Roman Guard who was standing at the gate.
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Monday, December 23, started with Rick taking his sister over to the Sanford Airport to pick up her son, Mat, who flew in from Knoxville, Tennessee, to visit for the week. Dad spent the morning visiting with some of his friends while I baked cookies. We all had lunch together and then Rick and I went shopping for food to take back with us to the Bahamas while Dad returned to the timeshare to rest. We met at Ruby Tuesday’s for supper and learned that they are based out of Knoxville. Mat, who works at an art gallery in Knoxville, told us that they use Knoxville artists’ work to decorate all of their restaurants.
Tuesday, December 24th, is my nephew, Tim Cambre’s, birthday. My brother, Bill and his wife Mary, are enjoying this week with all three of their children, near West Palm Beach, Florida, and will spend Christmas with her brother’s family this year. Happy Birthday Tim!
Dad, Rick and I spent Wednesday, Christmas day, at Rick’s mother’s home with her family.
Thursday, December 26th, found Rick and me back on the road driving over to Manatee County again. We had a short visit with JP, Vanessa and Emma and then took care of some banking business and made another trip to the SAMs store before returning to Ormond Beach that evening. Emma weighed just 3 pounds when she was born prematurely on August 31st, but she is now up to almost 11 pounds and the doctors say she is doing well. She has just about outgrown her “newborn” clothes! While on the road, I got a call from my brother, Rick, saying that he and his wife, Tammy, would be coming over to see us on Friday afternoon. She was looking forward to seeing the beach. They live outside of Sanford, Florida. Friday morning, December 27th, Rick and I went over to his Mom’s around 9 am while Dad went to a doctor’s appointment. So, Rick fixed bacon and eggs for all who wanted to partake. We were back at the condo before noon and shortly thereafter my brother arrived. He told us that Tammy wasn’t feeling well. The temperature was in the low 70s and there was very little sun to see, so she didn’t miss a particularly good beach day. I took a picture to send to her along with get well wishes.
We had a very pleasant visit with my brother that afternoon.
We said goodbye to Dad. Rick and I packed up some of our stuff in preparation for an early departure tomorrow and then went to spend the evening with his mother, sister, brother and nephew.
We checked out of the Outrigger Resort at 7 am and drove south on I-95 to Ft. Lauderdale on Saturday, December 28th . We arrived there in time to make one quick stop at a grocery store to pick up a few more things that we had forgotten to get and then went to the Ft. Lauderdale Executive Airport and to the Watermakers Airline hangar to check in. Tucker was waiting for us at the airport and we loaded up into his boat and returned to the Compass Cay Marina. When we left, we were the only boat there and now it is full! We saw several friends that we had made last year which have returned. The weather was terrific. The sun was shining; there was just enough breeze; and the natives were friendly! We surely enjoyed getting to see so many of our family and friends, but we are very glad to be back on our boat in paradise.
BD723 (Sunday, December 29, 2013) – Rick is back out on the docks today. We had four boats leave and six come in; they had to turn some away because we are full. I spent most of the day cleaning and organizing. It will take me several more days to finish those tasks. I roasted a turkey breast for supper which we enjoyed along with mashed potatoes and gravy, asparagus and glazed carrots. Around 9 pm, one of the guests shot off fireworks for about 10 minutes. It looked as good as most professional fireworks displays. There were lots of oohs and aahs and it ended with a lot of boat horns honking in appreciation. It was almost as if they were celebrating our return.
BD724 (12/30/13) –When I stuck my head up into the pilot house about 10:30 it had started to sprinkle rain. We didn’t get much – it was a sun shower. I checked the local weather and it said that the temperature is supposed to be 78 degrees every day this week. The marina has been crowded. Not only do we have lots of people staying here on boats and in the various houses for rent, but we were slammed with day visitors. I counted over 30 people at the marina office and they were all moving around so much I lost count – there could have been 50 or more! We had at least 3 tour boats come in from George Town. I spoke briefly with Captain Andrew of the 4 C’s. He said that they had been very busy since Christmas Eve.
No matter if you’re in the water or on the dock, the sharks are impressive.
I posted a notice today that we are planning to have a pot luck supper on the docks for New Year’s Eve. I didn’t have room to include the fact that we will have more fireworks after dark that evening as well.
BD725 (12/31/13) – Rick worked on his gumbo for tonight’s pot luck on and off all afternoon. I made 20 servings of white rice to go with it. We put it out at 6:00 when the pot luck was supposed to start, but no one else brought anything else out until closer to 7:00. The food was all delicious and we even had some entertainment. There was a family of Mexicans on the Tigers Eye yacht and one of the fellows sang several songs for all of us. He had a beautiful voice.
After supper, Captain Barry from the M/S Sea Clef, set off a great fireworks display. I have created a collage of the pictures I was able to take.
At midnight, Rick and I walked to the south end of the dock and watched another fantastic fireworks display being shot off at Staniel Cay. Happy New Year to all!
Our journey has been inspired by Joy and Steve Fredrick. You can see more of their story at