Sunday, February 23, 2014 – At 12:35 we were tied up to the Highbourne Cay Marina’s fuel dock (147.7 gallons of diesel fuel at $5.50/gallon) and soon after that we took our place in slip number 6.

Click the link below to see our new location:

 http://fms.ws/FiYlH/24.70972N/76.82217W    

When we told the dock hand, “Big Chris” that we had just left Compass Cay, he told us that Tucker is his cousin. (Another example of what a small world it is.) Rick paid 50 cents a gallon for water to wash the boat down and $15 for 24 hours of internet. We enjoyed a dip in the designated swimming area (new since we were last there in 2012).

Although it is hard to see in the above picture, there are white floats roping off the swimming area in front of the restaurant (32 steps up from the beach – on the right) and the office and general store in the middle of the picture.  Remember that you can click on any picture on the site to see a larger image of it.

Monday, February 24, 2014 – We left Highbourne Cay Marina about 9:00 headed for the east entrance to Nassau Harbor.

View leaving Highbourne Cay

We were cleared by the Nassau Harbor Control to enter the water between Paradise Island and New Providence Island and proceeded to enter from the east. As soon as we went under the Paradise Island Bridge, we turned into the entrance for the Atlantis Marina.

Click the link below to see the location.

 http://fms.ws/FjKFl/25.08184N/77.32370W

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Rick was registering at the marina office just before 1:00. Turns out that the WIFI that I thought was going to be free is now $21.95 for 24 hours, so we opted to do without. Mid-afternoon we walked through the Marina Village Shops and then took a cab over to the shopping center across from the Nassau Harbour Club where we stayed in March of 2012. Rick had visited a liquor store in the shopping center several times and was confident we would get good prices. The boat is docked in Slip number 10 which is the tenth slip in the basin from Nassau Harbor, which means we were just about as far away from the Atlantis Resort as you can be and still be in the marina. It also means that we were in a nice, quiet area which we enjoyed. The marina office provides complimentary golf cart pickup at your boat and they will take you to the front door or the resort if that is where you wish to go. We went to the resort and tried to eat at one of the many restaurants there. But, we found several of them closed on Monday and the ones that were open were full with folks having made reservations, so we each had a giant slice of pizza and hit the casino. A few hours and a few dollars later, we walked back to the boat and said goodnight.

Tuesday, February 25, 2014 – When you stay at the Atlantis Resort, whether in a room or in a slip, you use your room/slip card key for everything purchased at the resort.  Also, all of the amenities are available to you.  Today, we took advantage of one of the largest water parks in the world, Aquaventure.  We walked through the casino and through several of the other towers to get to the spa, then outside past the Mayan Temple slides and the Grotto Pool to find an area where we could enter the mile-long Current/Rapids River Ride at the western end of the water park (Number 1 on the map below – courtesy of the Atlantis Resort).  We left our towels and shirts on a beach chair, grabbed a large inner tube and proceeded to float down the river.  Almost immediately after we started our float, the river narrowed and we went down through a gradually descending, rapid filled tunnel.  As our journey continued, we went through more rapids; found that the tube protected you when you hit the walls; worked our way out of a few eddy’s; enjoyed surfing on the waves created by the wave machine; and even went up and down a conveyor belt.  We enjoyed it so much, we went around three times before we decided to stop for lunch.  We walked past the Power Tower slides and around the Bath Colonnade Pool to get to Breakwater’s Bar and Grille; but it was closed.  So we continued on around the pool to eat at Beach Bites.  We both had the “Sun Dog” meal consisting of a good-sized, meaty hotdog with chips and a soft drink for $9.00 each.  We sat at a table on the patio in front of the walk-up eatery and enjoyed seeing the Cove Beach.  This brought back pleasant memories for us.  We had flown to Nassau for a weekend with my parents back in the 1970’s and stayed at the round Holiday Inn which was torn down to build part of the Atlantis Resort Complex.  The Cove Beach was the beach for the Holiday Inn at that time and we enjoyed swimming and exploring there all those years ago.  After lunch we decided that we’d switch from the rapids river to the Lazy River Ride.  Of course, it was at the far eastern end of Aquaventure.  To save ourselves a few steps, we turned in our towels and got back in to the rapids (with our shirts on, this time) and traveled around one leg of the river to get back out where we had originally started.  Then, we walked along a beautifully landscaped concrete path that skirted the beach until we found the Lazy River.  This is Number 2 on the map.  Here we again put ourselves into a couple of tubes and floated down the river.  This one was not nearly as long as the first one, but was very pleasant.  There was dappled sunlight through the large trees along the river and the vegetation was a delight to observe.  The life guards along the route were pleasant to talk to as we floated along.  After our third trip around, we decided it was 3:00 and time for an afternoon libation!  We walked back along the beach path until we found the turn off to the Lagoon Bar and Grill (number 57 on the map.)  This is a huge, round, concrete pavilion sitting on an island in the Paradise Lagoon.  Inside, the ceiling is painted with all kinds of sea creatures.  I thought of our friend Joy, as I enjoyed a very large frozen Pina Colada.  While walking through this really nice water park, we saw turtles, stingrays, and sharks in small pools as well as huge tanks with larger fish.  The last time we checked, they were charging over $100 per person for a day pass to this park, so we figure our time spent here today effectively made our slip charge half price and it was one of the reasons that we chose to stay here this time.
Our dinner at Café Matisse that night was very nice. The Café is downtown in an old house. We arrived about 20 minutes early, but they seated us very quickly at a table for two on the upstairs veranda overlooking a courtyard filled with lighted trees and about 20 tables of diners. We felt that we had a great location as there were only 6 to 8 tables on the veranda. I ordered pumpkin ravioli and Rick had spicy lobster over linguine Alfredo. After dinner we went back to the casino for a short time, but we didn’t stay long because the smoke bothered us much more than it had the night before.

Wednesday, February 26, 2014 – The seas were pretty calm as we headed for Chub Cay about 35 miles away on the south end of the Berry Island chain. We arrived at the Chub Cay Club fuel dock just before noon and put approximately 161 gallons of diesel fuel in the boat at a rate of $6.80/gallon.

We are now at Latitude:25.41002 and Longitude:-77.90466 Click the link below to see this location.   http://fms.ws/FktMj/25.41002N/77.90466W

The dockage rate was $4.35/foot plus $30/day electric and 40 cents per gallon of water. Even though their “high season” started on February 18, they had just started a construction project on the building by the pool and the pool bar was not open. No problem, we took our trusty Tervis tumblers with us as evidenced in this picture of Rick in the infinity pool overlooking the picture perfect beach.

Chub Cay Club’s marina provides free WIFI as part of their amenities and after checking several weather sites late in the afternoon, we decided to stay here two nights anticipating a seven-hour ride from here to Bimini. We ate dinner at the Harbour House Restaurant after having a drink at Harry’s Bar. (I thought of Gail on ATA Marie as I enjoyed my vodka and cranberry juice.) Rick had Bahamian Paella. Instead of Spanish or yellow rice, they use Bahamian Peas and Rice as the foundation. I had coconut encrusted fried grouper pieces. It was all delicious.

BD783 – Thursday, February 27, 2014 – We spent the morning on the boat and I did some research into the history of Chub Cay. Through the 1950’s to 70’s, this Island Paradise was home to the Crown Colony Club, where Hemingway and many others plied their fishing boats across the waves. It was the perfect get-away-from-it-all destination for the rich and famous, home to fishing tournaments and boating rendezvous. In the early 1990’s, investors with visions of mega-wealth flocked to the Bahamas with their eyes on white sand beaches and azure water resort possibilities. They began buying up what the Bahamian Government would allow them to take – Chub Cay was one of those. Chub Cay was badly hit by hurricane Andrew in 1992, but little evidence of the devastation remains. It is now privately owned and home to the Chub Cay Club fishing resort and marina which opened in 2006. In 2009, the Cay went into receivership. There are nice floating docks here and although the pool facility is a little run down, it is still usable. We went to the pool just after 1:00. Unfortunately, the rain came about 5 minutes later, so we returned to the boat. That gave Rick the opportunity to go “next door” to talk with the owner of the S/V Blue Pearl. He and his wife and grown son are on a several month trip from Canada. He wanted to get information about the Exumas from Rick, which, of course, he was glad to share. Around 3:30 we went back to the pool. It was still very windy but we enjoyed ourselves for about an hour before coming back to the boat. While I was prepping dinner, Rick said he was going for a walk. He saw someone with fish to be cleaned and followed him around the marina to the “fish cleaning house.” When he went in the house, he found quite a set up. There was a table along the wall and a bucket to leave what you didn’t want from the fish. There was a drain in the middle of the room and lots of water spigots. It sounded to me like a really nice set up. Then the fellow told Rick that they didn’t have a freezer on their boat and offered him a nice portion of the mahi mahi that he had just cleaned. We gratefully accepted!

BD784 – Friday, February 28, 2014 – We had planned to leave the Chub Cay Club at 7 am, but nature had other plans.  It started raining around 3 in the morning and continued for several hours.  At 7, the wind was blowing and it was overcast and Rick was mopping down the boat.  I had just put on a cup of coffee when the power went out in the marina, but it was only out for about 15 minutes.  When the power was restored, we were able to check the weather prediction and have decided to play it safe and stay here for a few more days.  It is supposed to rain here all day.

BD757 – Saturday, February 1, 2014 through BD763 – Friday, February 7 – Saturday morning, Rick took Tucker down to Staniel Cay to catch the Watermaker Air flight.  Barry, Janine and Natalie took Tokkie’s guests, Josie and Tobi, to the airport and picked up his sister and her husband, Kerry and Jason, who are visiting for a long weekend.  Sunday started out with Dave’s Wonderful Waffles for breakfast, then everyone had to think about their food preparation for the big party on the dock to watch the Super Bowl Game.  Monday was another beautiful, sunny day – but breezy.  On Tuesday, we went to the Staniel Cay Yacht Club for lunch and then moved Tucker’s boat over to the airport to pick him up.  We walked over to Crescent Beach later that afternoon.  Wednesday found most of the regulars were on the dock for “sundowners”.  We decided that we’d all fix appetizers for tomorrow’s sunset.  On Thursday, Gail’s other daughter, Crystal, along with her husband and two kids arrived for a visit today.  We spoke, briefly, with our son, JP.  He was feeding Emma.  She was 5 months old on January 31^st and has now eaten cereal, carrots and squash along with adding water to her daily intake.  Rick was making water this morning and discovered a problem with one of the pumps – so now we are waiting on another part before we can start our trip back to the States.  It’s a good thing we built in a lot of “weather-delay” time in our schedule.   In the afternoon, the 83 foot motor yacht “Where’s Waldo?” came in to the marina.  It was built by Ferretti and can accommodate up to 8 guests in 4 staterooms.  It is powered by 2 MTU (12V2000 ) 1,823 hp diesel engines.   “Where’s Waldo” can carry around 7,400 gallons of diesel on-board in her fuel tanks. Her water tanks store around 1,321 gallons of fresh water.  Barry went to Staniel Cay in the afternoon to pick up a delivery of parts for his tender and surprised us by bringing back the part we have been waiting on for our little outboard.  Rick thinks he may have been able to fix the water maker’s pump late this afternoon, so now, we may only be waiting on our customs sticker and the wind!  Thursday’s “Appetizers at 5” was a smash hit.  We had about 20 people and a great variety of foods, including a couple of desserts.  It was even suggested that we might do this every Thursday.   Friday, February 7, was my niece, Melissa and her husband, Randy’s wedding anniversary.  We wish them all the best.  They have been married for 16 years and Melissa is just finishing up her Bachelor’s degree with graduation planned for May.  Then, she will go on to seminary.  All of our extended family is very proud of her and her husband and son, Michael.  Rick had disappointing news this morning.  While he was able to fix the water maker on the boat, he was not able to fix the outboard motor on the dinghy.  So, we have decided to leave the dinghy in storage here at Compass Cay and take the engine back with us for repair.  We took Tucker’s boat to Staniel Cay to deliver a package to Watermakers Air for Tokkie.  Then we had lunch at the Taste & Sea Restaurant.  It has always been closed whenever we have been on the Cay, but just as we were pulling in to the dock, we heard someone call them on the radio, so we knew that they were open.  After lunch we returned to the boat and headed for Rachel’s Bubble Bath.  The resident sting ray is still hanging around, but doesn’t seem to bother any of the people that are there.  Just as we got there, a group of six people also came up from a sailboat that was anchored just off shore.  I assume they were French Canadians, because they were all speaking French.  We enjoyed our afternoon immensely and will really miss this place when we leave.BD764 – Saturday, February 8 – Friday, February 14 (BD770)

On Saturday, we joined Barry, Janine and Natalie in the Sea Clef’s 32 foot Boston Whaler tender and headed south to Little Farmer’s Cay to attend their regatta.  Rick and I had wanted to go to it last year, but the weather was so windy that we decided to put it off.  We visited Little Farmer’s Cay last May when Joe and Casey were staying at the yacht club there.  The owner of the yacht club gave us a tour of the island at that time and we drove down the airstrip that parallels the beach where the regatta is held.  Joe and Casey were pretty much the only people staying on a sailboat anywhere near the island at that time.  But, today, as we approached the area we saw over 80 sailboat masts!   The picture below doesn’t even show half of them.

 As we got a little closer to the crowded area, a small boat approached us and yelled something we did not understand.  Very soon after that, another boat came our way (which turned out to be the committee boat) and they told us to get out of the race course!  There was no way for us to know that we were in the race course because there were no markers set out.  Apparently, after the boats make a turn, the committee boat hauls up the marker and then speeds ahead of all of the racers and drops it somewhere in front of them for the next turn.  As best I could count, it looked like there were ten small boats participating in the race.  Shortly after we arrived the race ended, but there was a final race scheduled for later in the day.  We beached the Whaler and walked up to the pavilion to buy tickets for lunch and drinks. 

Rick and I shared a lunch of BBQ Ribs.  They were so big, he said that he thought they must be brontosaurus ribs.  But they were delicious.  We saw lots of people that we have met since being in the Bahamas, both locals and cruisers/sailors.  There were also a number of the tour boat operator’s from George Town in attendance with boat loads of tourists and locals.  We watched most of the last race while enjoying the water near the boat.  The racers seem to just weave through the anchored boats.  And, it is apparently OK for people in dinghy’s or other small boats to run along nearby.   Just before the end of the last race, we loaded back up in the Whaler and went out just a little way from the beach where they had just dropped the blue float in the water to indicate the finish line.  So we stayed there to see the end of the race.

Tucker had asked us to deliver a package to one of his relatives on Little Farmer’s Cay, so as soon as the last race was over we went around the north end of the island to go to the government dock.  As we passed the Little Farmer’s Cay Yacht Club, you couldn’t help but notice that one of the two freighters that go back and forth between Nassau and George Town, “The Captain C” was tied up at their dock.  When we passed it again later, they were loading up four of the racing boats.  We did not realize that the participants came from that far away.

Barry and Rick had both heard about a cave on a nearby island, so on our return trip we dropped anchor and everyone went on shore to explore except me.  I stayed on the boat and read my book while they started on a trek across the island to what turned out to be a cavern.  Rick and Barry actually went swimming in the spring within the cavern.  They said that it was quite a hike to the other side of the island and I was glad that I stayed in the boat.  Just as we were leaving, we were witness to a pretty sunset, and we all saw the “green flash” as the sun went below the water!  Wikipedia says, “Green flashes and green rays are optical phenomena that sometimes occur right after sunset or right before sunrise. When the conditions are right, a green spot is visible above the upper rim of the disk of the sun. The green appearance usually lasts for no more than a second or two.  Because of the length of the occurrence, Rick calls them a green wink.  This is the first time we have seen one.  We arrived back at Compass Cay in the dark, but we were very satisfied with this day on the water.

We stayed close to the boat on Sunday.  I did laundry and Rick started cleaning the bottom of the boat.  On Monday, Rick went off shore fishing with Tucker and Barry while I cleaned “house”.  They were gone for over three hours and all they caught was one barracuda (which, of course, they didn’t keep).  February 10, was Rick’s mother’s 89^th birthday.  Rick’s brother, Edward, sent us a picture of her opening her gift from us.

Later in the afternoon, Rick did some more cleaning on the bottom of the boat.  Tuesday morning Rick had a shock.  His brother sent an e-mail with the following subject:  “ORMOND SHOOTING 9-1-1: ‘She’s bleeding pretty badly. Hurry up’ | News-JournalOnline.com.”   When Rick opened the e-mail, there was no information, just a link to a news article.  Of course, Rick was worried that the woman in the headline might be his sister or his mother, but when he clicked on the link to the news article, it would not work.  He then tried to SKYPE his brother, but that didn’t work either.  Rick was ready to call and get plane reservations for the afternoon Watermaker Air flight, but first, he got the satellite phone (a gift from our friends, Bill and Ruth) and called his mother’s home in Ormond Beach, Florida.  He was quite relieved when she answered the phone.  Then, she and Edward explained that the woman in question was a former relative.  She was married to Eileen’s step-son many years ago.  They had divorced and the last time we saw her was at his funeral.  None of the family has kept in touch, but they thought we would be interested to see the story.  I finally got the link to the news article to work and it indicated that the gun shot was a result of something like a domestic dispute and that her injury was not life-threatening.  So, all is OK with Mom and Sis and his heartbeat was able to return to normal.  Wednesday was a busy day at the marina with boats coming and going probably because the weather tomorrow is predicted to be rainy with wind over 20 mph all day. 

The boat, shown in the picture above, coming in to the marina is called the Black Knight.  According to a 2010 article in “Restoration Quarterly”, it was built in 1968 and completed a nearly 3-year refit in 2010.  She is 83 feet long with a 20-foot beam and is made of wood.  She was built for Richard Mellon, president and grandson of the founder of Mellon Bank.  The Mellon family’s main purpose for the boat was swordfishing, and she was originally built with a very long harpooning platform off the bow. She lacked the tall towers often seen on sport fishing boats to spot fish because the Mellons would fish accompanied by a spotting airplane.  When New York Yacht Club member William H. Combs bought her, she was ensured a place in the history books.  He offered Black Knight to the NYYC for the 1983 America’s Cup races and they accepted. That year, it turned out, was a memorable one for the America’s Cup. When Australia II crossed the finish line marked by Black Knight, the longest winning streak in all of sports, 132 years, came to an end. The New York Yacht Club, represented by Dennis Conner sailing the ill-fated liberty, lost the America’s Cup. The New York Yacht Club Race Committee, dressed in crisp, white flannel trousers, dress uniform jackets with gold bullion crests and mohair trifoils and topped off with traditional yachting caps, acted in a most sportsmanlike manner, saluting the ecstatic Aussies who had just taken their beloved cup, thus becoming part of the portrait of the greatest loss in sporting history. The moment the gun was fired signaling the finish, thousands of cameras on spectator boats, helicopters and blimps exploded in unison, capturing forever a moment on the water off Newport that became the inspiration for and subject of a thousand or more books, films and paintings.  Black Knight’s next owner, in 1986, was a Swedish businessman and yachtsman living in New York who came from a European tradition that honors antiquity and tradition.  The Swedish owner of Black Knight passed away in 2002, but his family cares for her now, and they share the same commitment to tradition and heritage as their father did. They chose to restore her properly, addressing every need with the quality and skill that a yacht of Black Knight’s pedigree deserves.

Also today, a barge arrived to begin installing the new dock.  They unloaded the supplies, then the tug boat, that brought the barge in, moved around to the area on the south side of the marina where supply boats load and unload.

In the afternoon, Rick and I took Tucker’s boat down to Staniel Cay to pick up some groceries (the supply boat came in this morning).  Gail and her daughter, Crystal went along with us.  When there are a lot of boaters in the area (as there are now) you have to plan your trip to the grocery store around the arrival of the supply boat because the stores will be out of most of the fresh vegetables by the next day.  Tucker asked us to take a couple of people to the airport, so when we dropped them off, we went to the Isles General Store right across the creek from the airport.  I have never seen so many people in that store!  We got most of what we wanted and I left the three of them in line while I went back out and sat in the boat.  About an hour later, they came out of the store.  We went to the Staniel Cay Yacht Club for a much needed drink and Rick walked up to the Blue Store to buy a few more things.  We got back to Compass Cay around 5:00.  This marina is full.  I counted 24 boats in this “18-slip marina”.  The largest is about 130 feet and the smallest is probably about 35 feet.  Thursday, February 13 – Today is my sister-in-law Tammy’s birthday.  We hope she and my brother, Rick are having a great day.  The wind here is blowing about 25 mph and gusting higher when a rain squall comes through.  Despite the weather, the dock project is proceeding.  They set four pilings (of approximately 40 needed) in the morning and by sunset they had set 11.

Ed and Karen, the owners of Sea Clef, returned to Compass Cay, along with a couple of guests this afternoon.  They said that they got out of the Boston airport just before it was shut down for bad weather.  We had a short visit with them and a number of others on the dock while the sun was setting and then went back to the boat for supper.  Friday, February 14 – Happy Valentine’s Day.  We took Loan to Black Point in his boat and dropped him off.  The wind had died down and the water was as smooth as glass.  Then we went to the Staniel Cay Yacht Club to pick up something that came over for Tucker on Watermakers Air.  There were only two other people in the Fowl Cay Resort lounge when we arrived just before 6:30, but it soon filled up.  There were a number of people there for the evening that we knew.  Mark and Mart from the motor vessel M & M were there with guests as were four folks off of the motor vessel Autumn.  M & M are frequent guests at the Compass Cay Marina and Autumn had been in storage at the marina for about a month until last week.  Much to our surprise, our new friends Herb and Chris O’Neil walked in.  We met them about two weeks ago when they stayed several nights at Compass Cay.  Their boat, Easy Going, is a Meridian 490, and our boat is a Bayliner 4788.  Brunswick (the company who owns Bayliner, Sea Ray, Hatteras, Sealine, Maxum, Boston Whaler, Cabo, Mercruiser, plus many other boat lines and even Cummins diesel) discontinued the Bayliner series of Motor yachts and Pilothouse Yachts in the spring of 2002 and they were “reborn” as Meridians for the 2003 model year with only very minor changes, such as the portlights on the Meridians being oval shaped.  All the 49′ – 58′ Meridians were built from the same molds in the same factory by the same people as the Bayliners in Washington State. The Meridians have higher grade fabrics, hardware, bedding, faucets, etc., than the Bayliners, but many of the standard items offered on all Bayliners were options on the Meridians.  So, because our two boats are so similar, we naturally shared lots of boat information every time we saw each other. 

Herb an Chris

A quick conversation with the manager of Fowl Cay, Yves, made it possible for the four of us to be seated together for dinner.  Herb and I had veal for dinner and Chris and Rick had ordered the seared tuna.  Everything was delicious and the meal was topped off with a heart-shaped apple tart accompanied by vanilla ice cream with caramel sauce.

Heart-Shaped Apple Tart

 
This person may have been the victim of a malicious cracker attack at least once in buy cheap cialis on sale at drugstore their life.

Chris and Herb asked us to come by their boat which was anchored very near there for a night cap to thank Rick for giving them some information that resolved a problem they were having on their boat, so we visited a little longer and then returned to Compass Cay around midnight.  A very good time was had by all.

BD771, Saturday, February 15 through BD777, Friday, February 21, 2014 –

By Saturday morning the winds had returned.  Rick took Gail with her daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren to the airport on Staniel Cay in the morning.  The dock project continued until about 12:30.  They have had equipment problems and have had to take the barge back up to Eleuthera.  The foreman has also gone off the island to attend a wedding.  So, the men that remained here finished as much as they could do and are now awaiting his return.

You can see in the picture above that the new dock connects to the outside deck of the Boaters’ Grille.  On Sunday, February 16, we moved the boat around the dock into a slip to make it easier for us to leave when the time is right.  Actually, this is the same slip where we were originally docked in August of 2012 to ride out Tropical Storm Isaac.   After we moved, while we were eating Dave’s Sunday waffles, Tucker received a call from the 70+ foot M/V M & M.  They are coming in to the marina for a 10-day stay and requested the dock that we had just vacated.  So, Tokkie said that he would move his boat as well as they intend to leave here in a week or so.  The picture below was taken while the ATA Marie, a Norhaven Motor Sail,  was directly behind us across the dock.  They have now moved to where the little boat is in the picture.

On Sunday afternoon, Tucker was having trouble with one of his generators and with the island’s water maker.  He had an electrician from over at Pipe Cay looking at the generator and Rick went to see if he could do anything with the water maker.  On Monday, February 17, the wind returned.  We stayed on the dock most of the day.  Tokkie invited us to join him and Gail on the dock for whatever Tucker was grilling.  The three of them had hot dogs and I had a burger.  He had 11 orders in front of us and several following.  Yesterday before M & M arrived, a couple, Bob and Sandy came in to the marina in a catamaran sail boat.  Tucker has hired them to run the operations of the marina for the next two months.  They seem very nice and were kept very busy today. Rick moved the tomato plant off of the boat in the afternoon.  It has been in a 5-gallon bucket on the boat, but Gail is going to re-plant it and she thinks that it will thrive with room to grow.  We watched the sunset on the ATA Marie and then had a late supper.  Tuesday morning Rick took Tucker up to Staniel Cay to catch the morning Watermaker Air flight.  Tucker is going to Florida to see his doctor and have blood tests run.  They resumed setting pilings for the new dock in the morning.  Rick told me that one of the pumps on our water maker burned out last night as he was flushing it, so that means we can only make 7 gallons an hour now until we get back to the States and have it repaired.  A boat named Island Time from Virginia came in this morning.  They put her on the dock by the marina office and literally squeezed her in between Tokkie’s 56-foot Nordhaven and a large Lazzara named Mojo. 

They had thought that the boat was 56 feet long but it turned out to be 64 feet plus, plus.  They had to pull it into the dock using lines, but they got it in with no incident.  Around noon, Tokkie, Gail, Rick and I went to the Staniel Cay Yacht Club for lunch and to await a couple of their guests arriving on the afternoon flight.  Kevin and Karen are from the Annapolis area.  On the way back to Compass Cay, we swung through the anchorage at Big Majors to check out the swimming pigs and they saw two boats at anchor that they knew from Maryland.  We also saw a 70+-foot Nordhaven at anchor.  We drove by it, taking a close look, because Tokkie has one on order just like it.  Wednesday morning Rick took a couple of men to the airport in the morning.  They had been on the island installing repeaters and another antenna for the satellite WIFI.  Then he and Loan went back up the hill to check on the island’s water maker.  On Thursday morning we took Tucker’s boat up to the airport to pick up a mechanic who will be working on one of the generators.  The dock project continued with the crew getting all of the pilings set.  They also dredged out a little more at the end of the dock to make sure there would be enough room for the big boats to maneuver into the new area and also at the beginning of the dock, to make sure that they can use every one of the 200 feet.  Friday, February 21, 2014 was my brother Rick’s 60^th birthday and our 777^th day in the Bahamas.  Hope you had a very special day, bro.  We took Tucker’s boat to the Staniel Cay airport with couple from Atlanta, Mark and Janine, who had been staying on the M/V Wings and dropped them off to take the afternoon Flamingo Air flight to Nassau.  From there we went to Black Point to pick up one of Tucker’s grandsons, Ethan.  Ethan was a “no-show”, so all we picked up there was a couple of beers while waiting.  We then returned to the Staniel Cay airport to pick up Tucker.  Just before Tucker got there, a couple came up from the yacht club and said that they were hoping to catch a ride back to Compass with us and Tucker.  This couple were the owners of the boat Wings.  So we loaded them on board and then Tucker and we headed back home to Compass Cay.  The rest of the afternoon was spent getting ready for tonight’s pot luck supper.  I made a version of our friend Ann’s kidney bean, egg and onion salad and chopped green pepper and onion for Rick to use in his conch fritters.  Rick made another trip to the Staniel Cay airport to take the foreman on the dock project to catch a flight to Eleuthera – he was going home for the weekend.  With planning or no planning, the pot lucks just seem to fall into place and, once again, we had a great crowd and great food. 

BD778 – Saturday was our last day in Compass Cay for a while.  We spent the morning getting the boat ready to move tomorrow, had one final meal from Tucker’s Grill, and then went to Rachel’s Bubble Bath in the afternoon. 

World Famous Tucker Burger

 Tucker’s burgers have become so popular that they now have T-shirts.

Tucker Burger T-Shirt

We have decided to leave our wooden bistro set here.  Rick took it down to the Boaters’ Grille.  Dave, from Living Large, loves to do wood work.  He plans to refinish it.  Rick lifted the dinghy to the top deck and secured it for traveling. 

BD779 – Sunday  – We said goodbye to Tucker Rolle and others and left Compass Cay at about 8:45 am.  Next stop.  Highbourne Cay at the top end of the Exumas.

Bahamas Day 726 through BD730 – (Wednesday, January 1, 2014 – Sunday, January 5, 2014) – I watched the Rose parade on TV and Rick cleaned the bottom of the dinghy.  He had put it up on land when we went to the States, so he wanted to give it a good cleaning before returning it to the water.  We had a traditional southern New Year’s Day dinner insuring health, wealth and happiness.  It included ham, Hoppin’ John (black-eyed peas and rice), greens and corn bread.  Black eyed peas are supposed to bring you luck if you eat them on New Year’s Day.  The meal traditionally has collard greens for wealth but we substitute spinach.

Traditional Southern New Year’s Day Meal

We talked with JP via SKYPE Thursday morning.  Rick helped Loan with boats coming and going while I started to get together the information we will need for taxes regarding our medical expenses for 2013.  Our friend, Janine, the chef on Sea Clef, brought over some crab cakes and coconut Panna Cotta (Italian custard) which we ate for lunch. Thank you, Janine, they were delicious!  We ate left overs for supper while watching Oklahoma beat Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.

Friday, January 3, is my niece Shay’s birthday.  Today she was in third place in our family group playing  ESPN’s College Bowl Mania.  I love the name she picked “Your Worst Knight Mare”.  She graduated last year from the University of Central Florida.  They are the Knights and they just won the Fiesta Bowl – Congrats!  Today, Rick was the shuttle driver for the marina.  First, he went to pick up a fellow to work on the Compass Cay water maker.  Then he took guests to the airport that had been staying in two of the villas.  Around 1:00 I went along with him to take Tokkie’s family to the Staniel Cay Yacht Club to have lunch and await their 3:30 Watermakers Air flight.  A number of boats have left the marina – there were seven (7) here when I looked out of the pilot house this morning.  The tide was so high this morning that we had to get off of the boat from the swim platform.

On Saturday (BD729), we watched a little football and had left-over gumbo for supper.  Things finally came together for us to be able to take a walk around the island which we thoroughly enjoyed. We received e-mails from Joy and Steve telling us about their New Year’s celebration and letting us know that they are on track to leave next week to go back to their boat which is in Trinidad.  We’ll keep up with them over the next six months via e-mail and updates to our websites.

BD730 – Sunday was the last day of our second year of the boat being in the Bahamas. Upon arrival, visiting boaters must clear Customs and Immigration at the nearest designated Port of Entry in the Bahamas.  Only the captain is permitted to leave the boat until your vessel has been cleared.  We checked in at the customs office in Bimini in January, 2012.  The Bimini Sands Marina has a satellite office, but it was not manned at this time of year.  So, Rick took a cab from the marina to the airport with all of our documentation while I stayed aboard.  We have since had our cruising permit extended twice, which is the maximum number of extensions allowed. We ended the day sitting out on the dock with a number of the friends that we have made here.  Tokkie, Gail and Brittany, Barry and Janine, Loan, Tucker and Preston all shared the sunset with us.  It had been blowing all day and overcast, but we got a little bit of pink at the end of the day.

The Last Sunset of Year Two

BD731 – Monday, January 6, 2014 through Saturday, January 11, 2014 – On Monday, we had a group dinner on the docks.  Janine fixed food for her and Barry (Sea Clef’s owners, Ed and Karen, left the Cay yesterday) as well as Tucker, Preston and Loan Rolle and their hired man, Mano, while Rick grilled steaks for the two of us and Gail made fish tacos for herself and her daughter Brittany and Gail’s boat owner, Tokkie.  After dinner, we settled in to watch the BCS National Championship game in the Rose Bowl where #1 Florida State University beat #2 Auburn in a very exciting game that ended around midnight with FSU scoring the winning touchdown in the last few seconds.

BD732 – Tuesday morning found me checking the rankings of our family’s group in the ESPN Bowl Mania game.  Congratulations to Mary and her brother, Lee, for tying in first place.  One point behind them, was our son, JP, and one point behind him was me!  It was amazingly close, when you consider that we had to choose the winners of 35 bowl games and place confidence points on each game from 1 to 35.  I ordered some victory wear from the Garnet and Gold store in Tallahassee.  This is the third national championship for FSU in the “BCS Era”.  I couldn’t let this last one go by without getting something to remember it by. 

A Perfect Football Season for my alma mater, Florida State University

Above picture courtesy of www.garnetandgold.com

In the afternoon, Barry, Janine, Tokkie, Brittany, Rick and I loaded up in the Sea Clef tender and made our way down to the Staniel Cay Yacht Club for lunch and to await the afternoon Watermaker Air flight.  Barry, Brittany and Tucker all took the flight to Ft. Lauderdale.  We picked up a few groceries and then returned back to Compass Cay.  I made two pots of bean soup for supper along with some yellow rice.  Janine provided some Bahamian coconut bread and vanilla ice cream.  The weather was blustery, so the choice of food was just right.

BD733 – It rained off and on Wednesday morning.  The sun came out in the afternoon, although the winds kept blowing over 15 mph.  We ate comfort food (tomato soup for lunch and a mac and cheese casserole for supper) and planned a trip to Rachel’s Bubble Bath tomorrow. 

BD734 – It rained a little bit on Thursday morning, but after we checked in with JP, we were in the dinghy and headed to Rachel’s Bubble Bath at noon.  As we were going around the west side of the island, we notice the engine was making a clacking noise and by the time we got to baby conch bay, it was obvious that something was wrong.  We talked about beaching it and walking over the jungle trail to return to the marina, but Rick thought it would be OK if we just idled back.  So back we started.  When we got to Janet’s beach, we went in so Rick could take a look at the lower unit.  He thought that we either spun the hub on the engine or we had a problem in the lower unit.  We haven’t used the engine since early December.  I had made sandwiches, so we sat in the pavilion on the beach and ate and then we went swimming for a short while.  When our glasses were empty, we decided it was time to return to the marina.  One the way back, we passed Tokkie, Gail, and Janine headed out to Rachel’s.  So, when we got back to the marina, we beached the dinghy and got in one of the marina boats and headed back to Rachel’s.  The Bubble Bath was about as rough as we’ve ever seen it.  The water was cool, but not uncomfortably cold.  We had not been there five minutes when a wave caught Rick by surprise (from behind) and washed over his head taking his hat and sun glasses with it.  It recovered the hat, but his prescription sun glasses were somewhere on the bottom.  On a normal day, there would be enough time between waves for the water to clear and we would have found them, but today was rougher than normal and there was pretty much constant bubbles.  So, Rick walked back to the boat and got his mask.  While he was gone, Gail, Janine and I all looked for the glasses but had no luck.  He returned with the mask and found the glasses in about one minute!  So, all is well in the world again.  We had a wonderful afternoon.  Those of you who have been keeping up with our blog known that JP and Kellie had a baby on August 31^st.  Emma Grace was born 7 weeks before her due date and weighed just 3 pounds.  Kellie especially liked one of the premi outfits that they got for her, so she bought the same outfit in her current size (she is 4 months old and weighs 11 pounds now.)  You may be amazed at the difference shown below.

Identical Outfits – One for a three pound baby and one for an eleven pound infant

BD734  –  On Friday morning, Janine, Tokkie, Rick and I set off for Staniel Cay to pick up some provisions that Janine’s husband, Barry, was sending over via Watermakers Air.  We decided that we would also have breakfast at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club while we were there.  Unfortunately, there had been a mix-up in Ft. Lauderdale.  The Watermaker people thought the provisions were for Tucker, who is also in Florida right now, so they put them in the cooler instead of on the plane.  So, they are now scheduled to come in on tomorrow afternoon’s plane.

BD 735 – Saturday afternoon found us headed back to Staniel Cay Yacht Club.  This time we were going for lunch and we had a couple more people joining us.  We had a nice lunch, several drinks, a walk up to the blue store (because you can’t pass up a chance to buy something you need or want).  The picture below shows all six of us at the luncheon table.  Captain Andrew of the 4-C’s tours company had brought in a group from George Town for lunch, so he joined us in this picture.  From left to right:  Rebecca, mate on Serque’ , Janine, chef on Sea Clef, Tokkie, owner of ATA Marie, Captain Andrew, Rick and Charlene, owners of On the Hook, and Gail, mate on ATA Marie.  Thanks to our waitress, Vanessa, for taking the picture.

Group Lunch at Staniel Cay Yacht Club

BD737 – Sunday was a beautiful day.  The sun was shining, it was 77 degrees, and there was very little wind.  Rick was finally able to take the dinghy’s engine apart and determine what the problem is.  Mid-afternoon, we walked over the crest of the island to the crescent beach.  With the good comes the bad – little wind means lots of bugs!  While Rick was walking the beach, I was sitting in the pavilion fighting off the “no-see-ums”, so we headed back to the boat after a rather short stay.  We enjoyed the quiet day.

BD738 – Monday morning found Rick waiting out a quick rain shower before going to Staniel Cay to pick Tucker up at the airport.  There was no rain the rest of the day and we stayed busy with miscellaneous chores on the boat.  Late in the afternoon, Loan, Preston and Mano went out fishing.

BD739 – It was decided that we should cook the fish that the guys caught yesterday as part of a pot luck supper on Tuesday.  Although it was predicted to rain most of the afternoon, we didn’t see a drop.  There was a beautiful full moon hanging over our dinner table. 

About 16 of us participated in the supper.  We had loads of great food and a very nice visit.

BD740 – Captain Barry of Sea Clef returned on Wednesday.  Rick and Janine went down to Staniel to pick him up.  About 5:00, Barry loaded up a group on the Sea Clef tender and we took Loan to Blackpoint to prepare to fly to Nassau in the morning.  Then we went to the Staniel Cay Yacht Club for supper.  A new couple came along with us, Chris and Mary.  They said they had such a good time at the pot luck supper the night before that they felt like they should follow our lead and join us for this supper.  Along with them were Barry and Janine, me and Rick, Tokkie, Rebecca and Gail.  We all enjoyed a great dinner at SCYC and a much nicer ride back to Compass Cay than the bouncy trip down to Black Point and back to Staniel from there.

BD741 – On Thursday I started inventorying all of the food that we have on board.  We expect to leave here to start our trip back to Florida within the next two to three weeks.  I want to use up as much of our food as possible before we get back to Florida and take the boat out of the water for inspection, maintenance and repairs.  The weather has turned cool.

BD742 – On Friday, I completed the inventory of food and entered everything into the computer so that I can plan our meals for the next two to three months using what we have on hand.  It was overcast and cool all day long.  The predicted high was 71 degrees and we didn’t see the sun all day.  Rick is actually wearing jeans and a sweater – of course he is still bare foot!  A number of us sat out on the dock at the end of the day enjoying a social hour, but even with the cool weather, the bugs came out and we went in.  One of the boats that has been in the marina for a few weeks is the 135 foot long Serque’.  This boat was here last October and I posted a picture of it then on the website.  It didn’t stay too long last year because they were having engine trouble and had to return to the States to get it repaired.  The boat is owned by a company that also owns Talon Airlines.  When someone comes or goes from the boat, or they need supplies, a small float plane lands very near to the entrance of the marina.  They were here today.

Float Plane at Entrance to Marina – Click the picture to enlarge it.

BD743 – On Saturday, the chef from Sea Clef, Janine, was scheduled to fly to Ft. Lauderdale on the afternoon Watermakers Air Flight.  So we joined her and her husband, Barry, the captain of Sea Clef, along with Tokkie and Gail, from ATA Marie, and went to lunch at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club before she took off.  Janine is returning to Ft. Lauderdale for about ten days because the person who watches the two dogs that they left there has to leave town for a short time.  So, Janine left one of her potcake dogs here, Tilloo, to return to another potcake dog, Morgan (who has three legs) and their golden retriever, Buddy. 

Tilloo

Wikipedia says, “The potcake dog is a mixed-breed dog type from the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Bahamas. Its name comes from the congealed rice and pea mixture that local residents traditionally fed dogs.”  Barry and Janine got “Tilloo” from the northern Bahamas on an island southeast of Great Abaco’s Marsh Harbor named Tilloo Cay.  Morgan came from Great Exuma near Barratarre which we visited last summer. 

Sunday BD744 through BD750, Saturday, January 25, 2014 –

Last week, Dave, on the M/V Living Large, returned home to Compass Cay and with him returned Dave’s Sunday waffles.  Everyone at the marina is welcome to join him.  Today, he had not only his waffle maker, but a second one loaned by Gail.  The waffles and warm maple syrup were once again delicious.  He brings a pitcher of waffle batter and starts cooking at the marina office on the picnic table at 10:00 and returns to his boat, with the empty pitcher, around 11:00.   Dave has his own recipe for the waffle mix which he says includes lots of butter and sour cream.  Also, he brings 12 quarts of maple syrup with him – he says one bottle for every Sunday that he plans to be here.  Just one waffle each fills both Rick and me up and takes the place of lunch as well.  Welcome home, Dave! The ten-day weather forecast says that today’s high will be 70 degrees and the low will be 69.  The temperature is not expected to exceed 75 for the next 10 days and the wind will be over 10 mph each day.  This is about as cold as it’s going to get so we are definitely still in paradise.  After breakfast, Barry cleaned out the refrigerator on Sea Clef of the fresh and healthy foods that he will not eat when Janine is not here.  I took most of a head of cabbage and some fresh strawberries.  You can see that I put the strawberries to good use in the picture below.
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Strawberry Cake

BD745 – Monday morning the sun was shining brightly, but it was still cool.  Rick did some volunteer work in the boaters’ grille, putting up some lights that just came in while I started our supper in the crock pot.  Signs are a bit of a big deal here.  Tucker encourages people to find drift wood, or use anything they want, and paint a sign to remember them by.  Our sign has been up on the marina wall since 2012.  I updated it in 2013 and it was time again to update it to include 2014.  Rick took the sign off of the wall, as he has decided it should be relocated in the boaters’ grille, since that has been one of his pet projects ever since we arrived here.

Our On The Hook Sign now hangs in the Boaters’ Grille

BD746 – I got up earlier than usual on Tuesday and after completing my morning routine, I went up to the boaters’ grille to see what project Rick had found to keep him busy.  He had put our updated sign up inside the grille.  I think that is quite appropriate since he’s put so much else into it.  He was measuring to see where three ceiling fan/lights would fit best.  Pretty soon thereafter, people started coming in on small boats with more calling in on the radio saying they were coming in and needed a slip.  Tucker and Rick spent the next few hours tying up boats.  Later in the afternoon, Tucker’s grandson, Trevon, returned.  He had been visiting his mother in the Abacos, but has returned to Compass Cay to help out at the marina and in the store for the next several months.  We were very glad to welcome him back. 

BD747 – Wednesday was windy, around 20 mph most of the day, but sunny.  The marina is nearly full (because of the wind.)  Around noon, it was suggested that we have a pot luck supper tonight, so I started baking cupcakes.  Preston cut up some conch in the afternoon, so Rick made up his conch fritter batter and started frying them early, so that the fryer could be used for fish, closer to supper time.  We decided to have the pot luck supper in the Boaters’ Grille.  More than 25 people participated and we even had some entertainment.  As always, the food was great.

Pot Luck Supper in the Boaters’ Grille

BD748 – Thursday was a pretty day.  It seems, although we are in the middle of winter, things are growing all around us.  The number of occupants in the marina grew when Captain Barry’s friend brought in the 95 foot motor vessel called Far Horizons.  Gail has planted a garden up by the wash house.

Beets and Onions growing in Gail’s Garden

We have a new tomato growing on the boat.

Tomato on Board

And, Tucker’s goat herd has grown in size with three new goats being delivered to the island today.  I have a picture of two of them below.

Two of the three new goats

BD749 – Friday’s predicted high temperature was 71 degrees and the wind blew out of the northeast around 20 mph all day.   Around noon, Barry was taking a crew member from Serque’ to the airport on Staniel, so we joined them for lunch at the Yacht Club, then walked to the Blue Store and the Pink Store before returning to the yacht club to await the call for her flight.  The wind had picked up by the time we returned to Compass Cay, so we had a bit of a wild ride back.

BD750 – Saturday.  Today is our nephew Mat’s 40^th birthday.  We wish him the best.  We spent a very nice afternoon on a secluded beach on the west side of Pipe Cay.  As we left the marina, we saw all three of the new goats up on “goat hill”.  That is encouraging.

BD751 – Sunday, January 26, 2014 through Friday, January 31 (BD756).  We are thinking of our son, JP, as he runs his first full marathon today in Celebration, Florida.  Although the day was overcast and threatening rain, Rick and I walked to a part of the island where they have been making some improvements.  I posted a picture of the proposed bridge across to the Jungle Trail last year.  Now, they are improving the road to get to the bridge and creating a boat ramp near it. 

BD752 – Monday – We received an e-mail from JP telling us about the marathon that he ran yesterday.  He said, “Saturday evening Vanessa and I ate with the rest of the group (27 people in total) at Carabas – runners need to eat a lot of carbs before a race.  We brought food back to Kellie, who stayed in the condo with the baby.  Sunday morning Coach came to pick me up for the Town of Celebration’s First Annual Marathon and Half Marathon.  Eight people in our running group participated, with the other two men running the half marathon.  The course was nice, marked well, the volunteers were good, and the water/bathroom stops were never more than 3 miles apart, which is very nice. Katie and I ran together the whole time, as planned, and finished in 4 hours and 15 minutes (which was 15 minutes faster than we expected). We definitely could have done it faster, but that wasn’t really our goal; we talked the whole time and just enjoyed it.  Coach won the Masters division, Meagan won the women’s 20-24 age group. Laura was 3rd in the women’s 40-44 group. Her time was 3:36, which qualified her for the 2015 Boston Marathon. It doesn’t guarantee that she’ll get in, there is a cap, so if 9,000 women qualify they would then go by time. Her time is very good though, she should still be in if it goes to time.” 

JP has already signed up to participate in half-marathons in the Tampa Bay area in February and March.  Congratulations – well done, Son.  –  Back in the Bahamas, Rick scrubbed the top of the boat today.

BD753 – Tuesday – Rick put new waterproofing on the top canvass today.

BD754 – Wednesday – Rick went with Loan to Staniel to discuss some work with “Bush Man” and they ate lunch at Big Dog’s.  This is the first time Rick had eaten there and he said that he had some very good mutton fish and very spicy peas and rice.

BD755 – On Thursday, I printed flyers to announce a Super Bowl Watching Party this coming Sunday night.  I also printed a grid that we could use to try our luck at choosing the lucky numbers of the scores at the end of each quarter.  In the afternoon, Rick went with Loan, Barry and Tokkie diving.  They came back with about a dozen lobsters.   While they were out, Rich and Karen returned to Compass Cay on their boat the M/V New Horizon.  When they were here last year, Rich lost his wallet while riding in his dinghy to Staniel Cay.  He retraced his route but wasn’t able to find anything.  A month or two after they left, the wallet was found and returned to him with all the money and credit cards still in it!

BD756 – Friday morning Rick took Preston to the Staniel Cay Airport along with Barry and Janine and their new stewardess, Natalie.  Mano went along as well to pick up some things that were coming in on the freight boat.  They saw Preston off, bought some groceries (you don’t pass up a chance to buy something when you’re on the island) and had a nice breakfast at the yacht club while Mano was getting the things for Compass from the freight boat.