Special Days during November include: November 2 – Vanessa’s Birthday; November 6 – Tucker’s Birthday; November 14 – JP’s Birthday; November 22 – Rick’s Birthday and November 27 – Thanksgiving (Kellie’s favorite holiday)
Saturday, November 1 (BD2-0030) – Arrivals: Monica’s luggage! CMS Marine Construction dock builders boat “Final Frontier”; Seas the Moment (an 85 foot Pacific Mariner, similar to Sea Clef) Departures: The dock builders said that it was going to be too windy for them to get any work done for about a week, so Rick took the three of them to Staniel Cay to catch a flight back to their homes in Eleuthera/Spanish Wells.
Sunday (BD2-0031) – Arrivals: Mano, the Haitian handyman who works on the island, returned after a two-month visit home with his family. Also returning to the island was Tyrone Rolle, aka “Terrible”. He got sick just before we arrived and had to go to the hospital in Nassau. He is obviously doing better.
Monday (BD2-0032) – Projects: Rick finally gave up on fixing the boat’s icemaker and just replaced the ice-making mechanism.
Tuesday (BD2-0033) – Weather: Still windy. Problem: I live on this approximately 50 foot boat. Since it is my home, I tend to use non-nautical terms when I describe it. For example, we have a living room (salon), kitchen (galley), three bedrooms (staterooms), two bathrooms (heads), an office (pilot house), and a back porch (aft deck). But my terminology is not the problem! Our master bathroom is a little different from most (on a boat) because it has a tub with a hand-held shower. When Rick tried to take his shower, he discovered that when he pulled the “button” to divert the water from the spigot to the shower head, very little was diverted and most of that was the cold water leaving the hot water pouring out on his feet. This was the problem. He spent a couple of hours researching how to solve it via the internet and finally was given the name of someone to contact. Looks like it will take a while to solve this problem, but we do have a shower in the guest bathroom as well as one on the back porch with both hot and cold water (you just have to keep your clothes on when you use that one.)
Wednesday (BD2-0034) – Rick and Monica took one of Tucker’s small boats up to Staniel Cay to meet a plane bringing 30 pounds of ribs and a birthday cake from Nassau. This was a special order that Jamaal had his girlfriend, Lisa, arrange. We plan to have a group supper tomorrow night. We have had one each Thursday since we’ve been here, with the exception of last Thursday (Halloween). Anyway, it just so happens that it also falls on Tucker’s birthday, hence the cake. Tucker went to Staniel Cay in the afternoon to pick up the dock builders who were returning from Eleuthera. Weather: At times it was very windy and we got some showers in the later afternoon.
Thursday (BD2-0035) – Departure: Seas the Moment. Projects: The dock builders worked on the “walk bridge”. Rick and Marino helped on various projects at the Boaters Grille. Fourteen of us had dinner at the Lodge to celebrate Tucker’s birthday. Rick grilled ribs, Marino made peas and rice, Bonnie made dinner rolls and pasta salad, I made baked beans, the dock builders brought a pasta dish and Jamaal had a birthday cake for Tucker. Unfortunately, Tucker said he wasn’t feeling good and did not attend. Jamaal said that his Dad was celebrating his 69th birthday for the third time. But then he told us that Tucker was born in 1945 – so that would actually make him 69 years old. (Although, I’m sure he told me he was 69 last year.) At any rate, he has never wanted to “celebrate” his birthday with others, so we were all hoping that his illness was a little fib.
Friday (BD2-0036) – Departures: Monica. Arrivals: Temptation, a 123 foot Palmer-Johnson with a dark bottom; Equinox, an 81 foot Cheoy Lee Motor Yacht. Projects: Rick worked on replacing a fuel filter on one of Tucker’s small boats. Dock Project: The marine construction crew put down additional pilings on most of the Docks to give them more stability. I have attempted to draw the marina layout as it now exists. The picture below is definitely not to scale.
Saturday (BD2-0037) – Departures: Rick took four women from the M/Y Kristina in the skiff to the Staniel Cay Yacht Club where they had lunch before going to the airport. Three of the women flew out on Watermaker Air and the owner’s wife waited for additional guests to arrive on the same plane. Tucker went back in the afternoon to pick her and her new guests up. Boat arrivals: Amitié, a 130 foot Westport which charters out of Nassau. Weather: It was dead calm today. The water was like glass. The bugs were out early! We watched FSU play Virginia in the ‘Noles homecoming game on ESPN. FSU won again.
Sunday (BD2-0038) – Departures: Equinox, Temptation and Amitié. Also, Rick took Tucker along with Pinkie and some others from nearby Chicken Cay to the airport on Staniel. Tucker is headed to Florida. Arrivals: Ubiquitous, a 112 foot Westport Motor Yacht and a new puppy dog for Jamaal. He has named her Bella.
Monday (BD2-0039) – Departures: Ubiquitous. Arrivals: Amitié (with Captain and crew only).
Tuesday (BD2-0040) – A salute to veterans today. Rick, his birth father, my father and his brother all served in the Navy. My parents met in Sebring, Florida. My mother’s father helped to build the runways at the base and my father’s stepfather was a Sargent in the Army/Air Corps stationed at the base during World War II. Those runways are now used for the 24-hour race at Sebring. Arrivals: Top Dog, a 2014 Westport Motor Yacht which is 96.1 feet long. Projects: Rick ordered the parts needed to fix the shower in the master bath. Since we’ve had so many days of wind, with very little rain, the windows were covered with salt, so he washed all of the outside windows. What a difference! Daytrippers: Every day I mention the boats that arrived or departed, but I don’t mention the many daytrippers that come to the cay. Compass Cay is known as the place where you go to “swimming with the sharks”- in a good way. The sharks are nurse sharks and are very used to sharing their water with people. The marina has a special dock which is lower than the other docks. I call this the shark dock because at high tide, the sharks congregate on top of it. This dock gives visitors a great place to interact with the sharks before getting into the water with them. You can click on the picture below to enlarge it.
Tour boats come from as far as George Town on Great Exuma Island so that people can have this experience. Tenders also come in from yachts that are at anchorages in the area, like Big Majors Spot (just to the south of us) and the Exuma Land and Sea Park (just to the north of us). In addition, people staying at nearby Fowl Cay Resort and Staniel Cay Yacht Club come to swim with the sharks and many also come to have one of the famous “Tucker Burgers” that whichever Rolle on the dock that day will cook on the grill. Burgers, hotdogs and an occasional fish sandwich is all that is served here. Everything must be cooked on the grill. Today, there were at least 50 daytrippers here at the same time. Compass Cay charges a $10 per person landing fee to help offset the maintenance that comes along with daytrippers. Once you pay your landing fee, you are free to swim with the sharks, snorkel anywhere in the marina or hike over to Crescent Beach to swim and enjoy the several pavilions or picnic table as well as explore Hester’s Ruins. Hamburgers are $15, hotdogs are $12. They also have soft drinks and beer for sale. Beer is $5 a bottle and wine is $25 a bottle.
Wednesday (BD2-0041) – Departures: Top Dog. Arrivals: Lady D – carrying the captain of Kristina. Weather: Although the Windfinder website says that it is blowing between 10 and 15 mph out of the northwest, all of the flags on the boats are standing straight out and the boat is rocking and rolling. The morning was sunny but some clouds appeared in the afternoon. Project: When our friends, Ken and Jackie were here with us in October, he found an old plastic fishing float on the beach which was filled with water. He brought it back with him to the boat and plans to use it for a remembrance token to hang along the concrete path that leads up onto the cay from the marina. So, Rick’s project today was to drill a couple of holes in the bottom of the ball to let all of the water drain out.
Thursday, November 13, 2014 (BD2-0042) – Departures: Kristina and Amitié. Arrivals: Tucker returned via Watermaker Air’s afternoon flight. Rick and I made an occasion of the trip to pick him up by going to lunch at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club and then walking up to Burke’s Blue Store to buy milk, eggs, lunchmeat, fresh vegetables and Off. The locals say that this is the worst mosquito infestation that they can remember. In fact, we had to spray some of the Off we had just purchased on me just to get back to the boat. I took some pictures of the remodeling which is still in progress at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club. David Hocker, the owner, told us that he hopes to have the new dining room open by Thanksgiving. They have enclosed the back dining room, making it into the new kitchen, and the new dining room will be glassed in and overlook the water where diners will be able to see Thunderball Grotto (made famous by the 007 movie.)
Friday, November 14, 2014 (BD2-0043) – Arrivals: After dark a 60+ foot Horizon catamaran motor yacht La Manguita came into the marina. Happy birthday to our son, JP, who turned 35 today.
Saturday (BD2-0044) – Departures: M/Y La Manguita. Dock Project: The marine construction crew put down additional pilings across the basin near His and Hers Cay. Tucker says he intends to use them during a storm to allow a boat or two to tie up there when the marina is full. Departures: Charlie and “Boo”, Jamaal and Bella left the island today to return to Nassau where they have homes. Their various building projects around the cay have been completed. Jamaal plans to return in a few weeks. He will spend some of his time away, visiting his mother, Winnie, who is recuperating from eye surgery in Florida. College Football: We didn’t get to watch the game, but got up in the middle of the night to see that FSU beat Miami, in Miami, and remains undefeated this season.
Sunday (BD2-0045) – Arrivals: a Sailing Vessel with 4 couples on board; the motor yacht Kristina returned; and, the lumber needed to complete the walk bridge. Also arriving were the winds and some rain.
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Monday (BD2-0046) – Weather: The wind was blowing around 20 mph all morning, but died down some in the afternoon. It is predicted to be over 20 both Saturday and Sunday. Projects: The marine construction crew worked on the walk bridge.
and toward the end of the day, they added boards to the structure I am calling the “port in a storm”.
These pilings will be used to tie up boats when there is a weather emergency and the marina is already full
Mano and others worked on installing electrical conduit on A dock. They hope to have all of the wiring completed on that dock by the first of the year.
Mano running conduit and wire
Also, folding doors have been installed at the two main openings into the Boaters Grille. A lot of progress was made today.
Bi-fold doors on the entrance to the Boaters Grille
Arrivals/Departures: In the afternoon, Captain Andrew of the 4-C’s tour group brought Mat and Kate to see the Cay. They are family to Captain Dave who spends every winter here on his motor yacht, Living Large. Kate and Mat are spending their honeymoon in George Town on Great Exuma Island. Dave is due here around the first of the year.
Tuesday (BD2-0047) – Arrival: 85’ Celsa Gongora. Projects: Work continues electrifying Dock A. Announcement: JP sent us a short video clip of our granddaughter, Emma, walking!
Wednesday (BD2-0048) – Departures: M/Y Lady D and the tender for Mustang Sally, called Ride Sally Ride. The tender was damaged when Mustang Sally came in last month. They left it here expecting an insurance adjuster to come and inspect it, but today the crew came and are taking it up to Nassau for an inspection. Arrival: Ride Sally Ride – This tender has four engines but only two were running when they left. Shortly after leaving one of the two quit working, so they decided to bring the boat back here and make arrangements to have it towed to Nassau.
Thursday November 20, 2014 (BD2-0049) – Thursday (BD2-0049) – Departures: M/Y Celsa Gongora ; the two men that came to the Cay to take Mustang Sally’s tender, Ride Sally Ride, have decided to move to Staniel Cay until the mail boat can tow the tender to Nassau. Rick and I took them up to the Isles General Store (which also has rooms for rent) and then we had a late breakfast at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club before returning to Compass. Projects: The marine construction crew continues working on the walk bridge.
Friday (BD2-0050) – Arrivals/Departures: Brand New 100’motor yacht Sha Sha Sha. Adventure: Tyrone Rolle aka “Terrible” went to Black Point this morning to pick up his sister and another lady to prepare the rentals for expected guests. Rick and I, along with Bonnie and Marino, took the cleaning ladies back to Black Point on Great Guana Cay. On the way, we stopped at the government dock on Staniel Cay where the freight boat, Captain C, was unloading cargo. We picked up some fresh vegetables; chicken feed and some building supplies for Tucker and then continued to Black Point. The four of us had lunch at DeShamon’s Restaurant in Black Point, then headed back north, stopping at the beach where there is a marine iguana sanctuary. Then, we returned to Staniel Cay to do some grocery shopping at the blue store. They were still trying to restock their shelves with items that came in on the morning freight boat, but we were able to find what we needed. After that, we walked down to the Staniel Cay Yacht Club, where the boat was docked, and had a drink before returning back to Compass Cay. We noted dark clouds around as we started back and were sure we were going to get wet, but, thankfully, it didn’t start pouring until about 5 minutes after we arrived. Bruce, of the marine construction crew helped us tie up the boat and he said that it had already rained a couple of times during the afternoon.
Saturday (BD2-0051) – Today is Rick’s 65th birthday, November 22. It rained off and the winds picked up as the day went on, gusting over 30 mph. The wind is predicted to stay over 20 mph until next Tuesday. Departures: Sha Sha Sha. Projects: With the rain came, once again, our leaks. Rick went up top during the rain last night to investigate the source of the water and he believes that some of it is coming through the wiring chase. So, as soon as it stops raining, he will see if he can fix it. Arrivals: Equinox. Of Interest: Thanks to friends and family for the happy birthday wishes. FSU beat Boston College by 3 points remaining undefeated. It is said that we have the best college football kicker in the nation and he won the game for us today.
Sunday (BD2-0052) – Arrivals/Departures: Rick went down to Staniel Cay to pick up the crew for Ride Sally Ride. They will be meeting the Captain C freight boat later today with the tender and will be towed to Nassau. Also arriving the motor yacht Contigo and Sweet Escape . Projects: The marine construction crew laid down decking on the “port in the storm” dock as well as an extension to Dock F at the end of the “main” dock. It is windy, but dry today.
Monday (BD2-0053) – Departures/arrivals: Rick took Tucker to catch a plane in the morning. He went to Nassau to learn some more about the recently passed VAT which will go into effect January 1. I believe that VAT stands for Value Added Tax. All businesses will now have to start collecting an extra 7.5 percent on the price of what they sell (similar to a sales tax in the States). From what we hear, there will be a boatload of complicated paperwork to go along with it. He returned at dusk along with Trevon. Trevon will stay here to help his grandfather run the marina until his Uncle Jamaal returns. Equinox left in some very windy conditions. And, the construction crew flew back to Spanish Wells. They expect to return in about 10 days. Before leaving, they cut off the tops of pilings (to even out the heights) along the new walk way and the existing Dock G, which used to be called the storage dock.
Tuesday (BD2-0054) – Departures: Contingo and Sweet Escape. Arrivals: Amité and a Lazzaro named Rise Above. Project: While cooking supper, I discovered that my stove top was not working.
Wednesday (BD2-0055) – Departures: Kristina and Amité and Rise Above. Arrivals: A sailboat tied up to Dock A with a husband, wife and two daughters from Hilton Head, South Carolina, and another one came in and tied up directly across the main dock from us with about eight people on it from Montreal. Projects: Rick fixed the stove top. Believe me, that is a very good thing on the day before Thanksgiving. My project for today is to bake a pumpkin pie for our gathering tomorrow. I have found a recipe, using Bisquick, which is supposed to create its own pie crust. I am keeping my fingers crossed!
Thursday (BD2-0056) – Departures: The sailboat with the folks from Montreal left around noon headed to Shroud Cay in the Exuma Land and Sea Park. It rained all morning but cleared in the afternoon. Arrivals: Sabiha, a 40-foot Mainship. Around 6 p.m. fourteen of us shared a Thanksgiving dinner in the Boaters’ Grille. Bonnie baked the turkey and made gravy; Marino made peas and rice; I cooked yams in the crock pot, made green bean casserole in the oven and fixed a double-big batch of stove top stuffing. Others staying on the island contributed a fruit salad and a pot of lentils. The whole meal was topped off with what I called my pumpkin pecan pie cake. It turned out to be really good. I got the recipe from www.bisquick.com
Friday (BD2-0057) November 28, 2014 – Departures: Sabiha. Arrivals: 104-foot Redosada. Projects: Supplies for connecting electricity on Dock A have arrived, so more work is continuing on that project.
Saturday (BD2-0058) 11/29/14 – Today’s weather is sunny and breezy. Arrivals: Equinox, Gypsy Spirit. Departures: Sumo, the sailboat with the family from Hilton Head. They are moving down to Big Majors Spot until the wind lays down and then will head to Eleuthera, where they are meeting friends for the holidays. We watched the Florida State University vs University of Florida football game. FSU is now the only undefeated college football team this season.
Sunday (BD2-0059) 11/30/14 – Weather: The wind is blowing steadily over 25 mph, gusting over 30 (and there are a lot of gusts). The bright sunshine is interspersed with heavy rain showers. The weather prediction is for winds like this for an entire week! Departures: Redosada. Arrivals: A Defever, named Atlantic Ranger and a motor yacht named Domino which we have seen here many times before. We had an impromptu pot luck on the dock in the evening. Jeff and Leigh arrived here about a week ago in their 33-foot intrepid. They have been staying in the Lilly House. She provided the “fixins” for crab cakes and a lovely big salad. I brought some appetizers. We joined them, Bonnie and Marino, Tucker and Trevon for a delightful, light supper.
