Tuesday, February 21 thru Friday, March 3, 2017

Tuesday 2/21 – We drove to Ft. Lauderdale and then flew to Staniel Cay, in the Exuma chain of the Bahamas.  We were met at the airport by Tucker Rolle and Marino.  Marino is a master carpenter who lives with his sweetheart, Bonnie, in Canada.  They come down for a month or so most every winter.  Marino does carpentry work that is needed on the island and Bonnie, who is an artist, paints whatever is needed.  After shopping for some groceries, Tucker took us about six miles north from Staniel Cay to his island, Compass Cay.  We were met at the Lodge by Bob and Kat.  Bob has had a long association with Tucker and he handles the on-line reservations for the rental units on the island. 

After getting settled, we returned to finish up “happy hour” on the dock.  We were very happy to see old friends, Gail and Tokkie, from Alabama and California; Karen and Ed, from Boston; and Rich and Karen from Punta Gorda, Florida.  Of course, Captain Barry, from Ft. Lauderdale was there as well.  He is the captain of Sea Clef which is Ed and Karen’s boat.  Both Tokkie and Karen and Ed are here in new boats this year.  Sea Clef is now a 112-foot Westport and Tokkie is in a new 76-foot Nordhaven named Ivanhoe.  

We also got a hug and a handshake from Germal, Tucker’s son.  I wished his wife, Lisa, a happy birthday and he thanked me for her.  They told us that she was here for the weekend, but had returned to Nassau where she works.  And, finally, quiet Tyrone – “Terrible T” – was also there to greet us and welcome us home once again.

Wednesday, 2/22 – The day started out overcast and a bit breezy.  After breakfast, we took the steps down from the lodge to the marina to see what was happening.  Bonnie painted a new sign for the “shark dock” and we noticed that there were three very nice fish there waiting to be cleaned.  Germal and Tyrone caught them this morning. 

While there, I asked Tucker about the history of the lodge.  He said that he is the third owner of Compass Cay.  It was first owned by two men who built the lodge as a club house in the early 1970’s.  Next, it was owned by a couple who converted the club house to a single-family home.  It is on the top of a ridge overlooking the marina.

It had one bedroom and one bath, but on the north side of the home, there was a second room, bright and airy, which was used by the woman as a sewing room.  They also installed a fireplace in the main living area. 

Tucker worked for both of the previous owners at one time or another before acquiring the island himself, in the 1990’s.  He converted the sewing room to a bedroom and added another bedroom next to it on the northeast side of the house.  This is the only rental unit with three bedrooms.  It also has a futon in the living room,  allowing the lodge to sleep 8.  There is a cotton plant growing outside.  I’m not sure if someone planted it, but we have seen cotton plants on many of the islands of the Bahamas.

In addition to the lodge, there are three other rental units:  the mango house (named for the color of the exterior paint); Lilly House, also on top of a bluff overlooking the marina (where we stayed last year); and the Crescent Beach house which overlooks Crescent Beach on the east side of the island.  Also, under construction is the Honeymoon House, so named because it is away from everything else and only has one bedroom.  This house has been under construction for more than ten years – but progress is being made this year.  Tucker told me that he will not do any more on the Boater’s Grill until he can find someone to run it and get a liquor license for it.   They have added a working TV, which is a plus.  We had Germal, Tyrone, Bonnie and Marino over for supper.  Rick grilled steaks and I fixed roasted potatoes and glazed carrots along with a tossed salad.  Everyone enjoyed the evening.

Thursday, 2/23 – It rained throughout the night, accompanied by thunder and lightning; but, we awoke to a morning with bright sunshine and high winds.  We were invited by Ed and Karen to join them on Sea Clef for cocktails this evening.  They had a total of 10 guests.  There was very good wine and cheese as well as tuna, crab and more.  We had a very nice visit with all.  And, Karen played a lovely classical tune for us on her baby grand piano.

Friday, 2/24 – Another overcast morning.  After fixing eggs, potatoes, ham and toast for breakfast, Rick went back to bed.  We went down to the marina around the lunch time, when most of the tourist boats come in to go swimming with the sharks.  We had a late lunch and then returned to the marina for “happy hour”.  Tokkie and Gail invited us to come aboard Ivanhoe for a tour of the boat.  It is beautiful, but they are still working out the bugs with various pieces of equipment on board.  We joined about 10 others from the marina for cocktails on the aft deck returning to the lodge about 7 p.m.  After a nice steak dinner, we turned in early.

Saturday, 2/25 – Finally, sunshine and very little wind.  We were invited to join Bob and Kat, Marino and Bonnie to go to the Staniel Cay Yacht Club for breakfast and then do some grocery shopping.  Marino cancelled out before we left, saying he had too many small projects he needed to complete today.  We had a nice ride to Staniel Cay in Tucker’s Albury boat.  Breakfast was good and we had a successful shopping trip – since the freight boat came in on Thursday, the stores were pretty well stocked.  I took a nap after returning to the lodge.  Then Rick and I walked to Crescent Beach and up to Hester’s Ruins.  It was very badly damaged in October by Hurricane Mathew.

Crescent Beach and Refrigerator Rock

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Hester’s Ruins

Sunday, February 26, 2017 – Around 3 or 4 am, the smoke alarm went off in the lodge.  We could not find any evidence of fire, but, needless-to-say, we had a hard time going back to sleep.  Rick headed down to the marina before 7 while I went back to sleep.   He returned about 10:30 telling me that our friend, Captain Andrew, from Georgetown, and his son, Anthony, were down at the marina.  We both went back down and had a nice visit with them.  Anthony said he has finished school and is now working for his father.

I spent the rest of the afternoon at the lodge while Rick “hung out” at the marina and Boaters’ Grille.  Tonight, we had a “pot luck” supper.  We had lots of good food and good company.  There are a couple of people missing from the picture below (Allison and Bob) the others are:

Marino, Shannon, Gail, Charlene, Germal, Rick, Tokkie, Barry, Bonnie, Nick and Kat.   Participants are staying on Ivanhoe, and Sea Clef, as well as at the Mango House, Lilly House, Lodge and Tree House Apartments.

After dinner entertainment was provided by Bob (playing spoons), Marino on guitar, and Bonnie singing.

Monday, 2/27 – We awoke to another bright, sunny day.  Rick fried conch fritters and fish bites for the pot luck last night, so his first task was to clean up the deep fryer and return it to the marina for use at the next pot luck.  We spent the rest of the day relaxing.

Tuesday, 2/28 – Bonnie and Marino left Compass Cay this morning to return to their home in Canada.  Pictured below are Bonnie and Germal.

I started a pot roast in a crock pot around 10 in the morning.  We had Bob, Kat, and Tucker for supper tonight and everyone seemed to enjoy the evening.  I struggled with a sinus headache all day, so went to bed as soon as they left.

Wednesday, March 1, 2017 –  Thankfully, I woke up feeling better this morning.  Tucker offered to let us do our laundry in the private washer and dryer so we took him up on it.  We also called Fowl Cay Resort to order dinner for tonight.  We had a choice of Mahi Mahi or duck.  While at the marina, we enjoyed a couple of hot dogs with Tokkie and Gail for lunch.  With laundry done, Rick decided to run some wiring for oscillating fans in the boaters’ grille and I enjoyed a quiet afternoon of reading in the lodge.  At 6:00, we met Germal, Captain Barry and his friend, Brit, who arrived today and went to Fowl Cay (a Sandal’s Boutique Resort)  by boat for a very nice evening. 

Thursday, 3/2 – Today is Kellie’s (our daughter-in-law) birthday.  We hope she is having a good day.  We had a wonderful ride up to Rachel’s Bubble bath today.  The water was a pleasant temperature.  We were there while the tide was dropping, so there were not too many bubbles, but the sun was shining and we couldn’t have asked for a nicer day.

When we returned mid-afternoon, we cleaned up and then started packing to leave early in the morning.

Friday – 3/3 – We left Compass Cay, saying goodbye to Tucker and Bob, and left in Germal’ s boat with him, Barry and Brit.  Barry’s sister and friend are coming in on the plane that we are taking back to Ft. Lauderdale.  We checked in for our Watermaker Air flight at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club and then the five of us went in for a nice breakfast before going out to the airport.  It was a little bumpy landing at the Ft. Lauderdale Executive Airport as there was a cold front coming through, but the flight was good and we arrived safely.  We drove from Ft. Lauderdale to Palmetto and, though sorry to leave the Bahamas, were glad to be home.