Eleuthera, Abacos, and back to the Berrys (April 10 - 19)

From the hustle-bustle of Nassau, we were soon "in the middle of nowhere" with an overnight stop at an anchorage off of Finley Cay.  The green arrow on the map is pointing to our position.

From here, we sailed northward and stopped at Meek's Patch (below), another remote area, but still not as remote as Finley Cay.  If you look closely, you CAN see some land towards the left of the picture.  On a calm day, we maneuvered our dinghy through a cut in a reef and went to visit Spanish Wells, about a 4 mile trip.  You can just see Spanish Wells beyond the cut in the picture to the right.

We walked around Spanish Wells on a hot afternoon to find quiet streets, beautiful beaches, and a thriving fishing village.  After lunch, we headed back to the boat to swim and relax in the gentle breezes.



We left our remote anchorage at Meek's Patch to find better shelter for predicted windier conditions and found Royal Island a short distance away.  There isn't a community here - just a resort that has been under construction for several years and one hotel, long ago abandoned.  We found the remains of the hotel's dock and went ashore to explore the desolate, but beautiful landscape.

On the "ocean side" of the island, we enjoyed the peaceful beauty of an abandoned marina (below).


We spent several days here and were happy to meet other sailors who were seeking shelter as they traveled. Dave and Alice May (who had lived in Murray at one time) hosted an evening get-together on their boat "Alice May".  Dave hadn't lived in Murray for a long time, but he knew where we were from!

Finally, the weather was right for sailing again.  We went up to Sandy Point, Abaaco Island for a short visit before going back to Great Harbor Cay, Berrys.  One memorable moment was spotting a billfish (probably a sailfish) swimming at the surface as we neared the island.  The water was still very deep (300 feet) but not far off from the shore.

Ahh!  Great Harbor Cay, Berrys feels almost like home.  It was great to be back at one of our favorite places.  It was nice being able to use the internet from the boat with no time limits!  While we were here, we visited the beaches again and went to a dance at "The Backside" bar in the village.  There was a band playing that had horns, guitars, drums - the works!  We had fun meeting some of the islanders, AND dancing with them!


See my pet lizard to the right?  Two lizards shared their spot on the beach with us and became quite friendly!  He actually jumped up on me at one point.  I tried not to scream at him.  He was just trying to catch a fly, after all.

Chad and Becca are here! Nassau, Highbourne Cay, Atlantis, Rose Island (April 2 - 8)

Chad and Becca arrived on Saturday evening, April 2.  We watched the UK/UConn game at the "Double D" restaurant that night (we almost made it!) and then set out for Highbourne Cay in the Exumas Sunday morning.  We spent that day and evening here snorkeling, sunning, eating fish, and playing some password.  It was nice to see our friends, Jewels and Jeff again.

Upcoming weather forecasts didn't look good for snorkeling, so we decided to take advantage of the southeast wind and sailed back to Nassau to visit the Atlantis resort the next day.  We were there for two nights and enjoyed 'snorkeling' the Mayan Ruins.  The kids spent the day at the water park the following day and treated us to some awesome ice cream cones that evening!

After two nights at Atlantis, we went back to the Nassau Harbor Club just down the block.  That day we took the bus downtown to shop at the straw market, and we walked to Arawak Cay for lunch at The Fish Fry (Twin Brother's). We enjoyed watching the UK vs Ohio State game that Chad brought with him on DVD, and we got in some more games of Password, Scrabble, and Boggle during their visit.

The next morning we set out for nearby Rose Island for some more snorkeling and "Island Time".  Chad and Becca ventured to the little island near the reef to snorkel and explore.  They brought back a conch!  Back to the marina that afternoon to relax and get ready to fly home early the next morning.  We're glad you came and we'll miss you!

Nassau (March 24 - April 9)

The Nassau Harbor Club became our next "home" for awhile.  The pool was quite refreshing after a day of tooling around the island.  We walked to some nearby places (Starbuck's, City Market, and Potter's Cay), and rode the bus (jitney) downtown and all-around.  We got to know some of the other sailors at the Marina, including Jeff and Jules on "Baka".  They are traveling with their two schipperke (pronounced skipper-key) dogs, Ted and Emily.  Jules treated us to some homemade pizza and gave us some dim-sum appetizers to share with Chad and Becca when they came. Getting to know a chef has it's advantages!  We also enjoyed spending some time with Lee and Susan on "Door Number Three".


The Nassau harbor is a bustling place for boaters on the water, and cars and people on the streets.  Potter's Cay is a place where there are many food "shacks" and markets for produce, fish, conch, and land-crabs.  We enjoyed sampling the Bahamian food at various resturaunts including Double D's.  A typical Bahamin meal consists of Conch, fish, ribs, chicken, or pork, served with Peas and Rice (Pigeon Peas), Macaroni and Cheese, and fresh coleslaw.


The workboats (right) are located near Potter's Cay in the Nassau Harbor.


 The tailor shop to the left is typical of many of the Bahama island's stores and shops.  At the market, rice is abundant, and evidently sold in large quantities.


To go downtown, we take the bus.  Walking down East Street, you see the cruise ships, cars, people, and the traffic cop. 


There are shops of all kinds downtown:  Tee-shirt/souveniers, luxurious diamond and emerald stores, clothing stores, and the "straw market" where local vendors come to sell their wares.

Chad and Becca joined us during Spring Break, April 2-8.  The Straw Market wasn't the first place we went with them, but it was a "must-do" activity before they left.

Past the Straw Market and downtown, we walked to Arawak Cay and ate at The Fish Fry restaurant.  On the way, we passed Junkanoo Beach (below), a popular beach for cruise ship visitors and local islanders.

And, last but not least, here's the current installment of "Potcake Says...".  Potcake is known for his words of wisdom, which he displays as he rides his wheel-cover vending bike around the island.  So popular, he has a regular feature in the local newspaper.

(To be continued...)

Getting to Nassau (March 15 - March 23)

From Great Harbour Cay, we hopped down the eastern coast of the Berry Islands chain, anchoring off of Frozen Cay in Little Harbour the first day, and then Bird Cay, the next.  We took a mooring ball at the Berry Island Club at Frazer's Hog Cay, where we spent some time in the breezy east wind.

The picture to the left is from our boat looking at the bottom in 15 feet of water at Bird Cay.

We enjoyed meeting Nevil, a Bahamian conch-catcher, at the Berry Island Club who had just brought in a boatload of conch.  His small work boat had a huge pile of conchs which he had scooped up using a pronged stick in just one hour.  We chatted with him and his niece for awhile and he treated us to some of his catch, including the "sinew" as the Bahamian's call it, or the "pistol", which he informed us was the American word for it.  It looked like a 10-inch string, and it tasted like a salty gummy bear.

The main road on Frazer's Hog Cay is shown to the left.  We found that this was a good spot for reading (Genghis Kahn was one of our favorites this trip), working crossword puzzles, playing scrabble, backgammon, and reading (napping?).

 We became familiar with listening to Chris Parker's weather-net each morning at 6:30AM on the SSB radio.  When the strong east wind calmed down, we spent one more day on nearby, peaceful Bird Cay before heading southeast to New Providence Island (Nassau).

Great Harbour Cay, Berry Islands Days 2-6 (March 9 - 14)

We rented a car (the red Tracker) and put it to use exploring the island. It was a bit "rough" - just what you need for driving on coral roadways that lead to the beaches.  Distances are short - the island is about 7 miles long and 1 mile wide.

Dotted throughout the village are the police station, school, restaurants ("Until Then..." is pictured), two grocery stores, and the post office/government offices/hospital.  The population here is less than 800 people.  The airport is away from the village not too far from the marina and the "Beach Club" restaurant and bar.

We enjoyed meeting many of the friendly people who live on the island as well as other visitors.  Tammy, an islander who's been here for awhile, told us that the creatures here are very curious.  We had a sea turtle take us for a walk up the beach one afternoon, and at Shelling Beach the stingrays come right over to check you out if you splash around the shore.

The abandoned hotel was one of our favorite places to "beach it", but the caves of Sugar Beach, and the expanses of shallow water when the tide is out at Shelling Beach were also wonderful.

At "Until Then...", in the village, we found a 'cheesburger in paradise'. 

mmmm mmmm

Great Harbour Cay, Berry Islands Day 1 (March 8, 2011)

Here is a view of the beach on the ocean side of Great Harbour Cay.  We walked here from our marina and stopped at the Beach Club bar/restaurant for a Kalik (beer of the Bahamas) before we walked back to the boat.  The picture doesn't really capture how beautiful the water is. 

On our way back, we noticed that it really IS true.... Kentucky Wildcat fans are everywhere! 

The Rocky Hill Pool and Tiki Bar are only steps away from our boat. The pool is salt water - haven't tried it out yet, but probably will soon.  Last night we met Godfrey, a pilot for Bahamas Air who flies from Nassau to Ft Lauderdale.  He may be flying our kids over soon! 










Conch shells are quite prevalent here - they are used for erosion control in many places....

We're in the Bahamas now!

We had a calm sea without much breeze sailing over from Marathon, FL in the Keys to Great Harbour Cay Marina, Berry Island, Bahamas.  We left at 8:30 AM on Sunday, March 6 and arrived at 12:30 PM on Monday, March 7.  We got checked in with customs by 2 pm. Then we crashed for some much-needed rest.

So far, I haven't left the boat - but as soon as I have everyone back home updated, I'm outta here :)  Islands yet to explore, Kaliks with my name on them, and postcards to send!

More later....
p.s.  If you want to see where we are, click the "Where are we?" Link on the upper left of this page.