leaving Nassau

'Allure of the seas' was here today, one of the biggest cruise liners in the world. 6300 passengers, 300m long, cruising speed 22 knots. She left at 2pm, 3 new liners arrived this morning.

Today we leave for Andros Island, Morgans Bluff. We have to wait for the liners to be berthed before we can leave, as we have to go past them and Harbour control close the chanell while they come in.

15 knot wind, 1.5 m waves with 6 second interval. The wind and waves will be behind us so that will be more comfortable.

Paradise Island

We walked to the Versailles terraced gardens on Paradise island yesterday. Stopped at small lake to see all the Turtles, they are so inquisitive, the heads all pop out and stare at you.

The gardens are very pretty, this is the view from the 'One and Only' hotel poolside. We were stopped here.

Then had lunch at a 'dinner' style restaurant. The waitrons all danced to a tune for the patrons. Adds to a fun atmosphere.

Nassau traffic police

We are back in Nassau, anchored near 3 huge cruise ships. This town survives on tourism.

On our walk in the town we came across the very smart traffic police! Every button and buckle shining!

Warderick Wells

Warderick Wells is the head office of the Land and Sea Park. Its so beautiful! We walked to the top of Boo Boo hill, thats Rob admiring all the boat names at the top. Its traditional to leave your boat name up there. Apparently, at night you can hear the cries of the sailors who lost their lives when a ship was wrecked there many years ago.

The skeleton is of a 57 foot Sperm Whale, it has been re-created right on the beach.

As this is a conservation area I was able to enquire about the life cycle of the Conch shell, it takes 4 years to grow to maturity and can get to 40years of age.

Shark visit

We are making our way North again through the wonderful shallow water. This shark of about 6 foot came close to our boat. We did a U-turn to follow him for a while, really creepy watching him moving slowly through the water.

No snorkeling here.

Bahama ferries

We have been in Geogetown, Exumas for 2 weeks now and every few days a ferry arrives. The Bahama islands are all visited by these ferries which provide all sorts of good to the islands, from cars to sand to lettuce.

Had a interesting 'fireworks' display, as something offloaded was too high and shorted the overhead electric cables. The sparks ran up and down for at least 30sec until the cable fell to the ground.

Last night we treated ourselves to dinner at St Francis Hotel, Rob got his favorite...Hamburger. I had a shrimp salad.

Rob has learnt to play Texas Hold'em Poker here, a good way to meet all the other cruisers.

Conch Shells

We went for a long walk on the island and came across little stalls near the harbour. Nearly all sell Conch salad. The old shells are thrown infront of the stalls on the edge of the sea. In season you can imagine how many Conch salad/fritters are eaten, there is a limit on size but nothing on numbers. No one knows how long it takes for them to grow. One wonders how much longer nature can sustain this. The one good thing is that they are kept in water and eaten fresh, so nothing is waisted.

Looking for Conch

Yesterday we went to islands just south of here to very shallow water. Two fellow cruisers joined us and Dennis showed us where to look. The water was about 1.2m deep and there were no Conch. Quite a few old dead shells. We had some fun in the tender boat That's Rob showing us his fins.

We then sat in the tender boat and just let the tide move us over the shallow areas. Motor off looking into the clear water was magical.

Note the water droplet on the camera lens/photo. I still have to learn to wipe the lens dry when I take it out of the water.

We caught 3 Barracuda and 1 Spanish Mackerel, so the freezer is full again and I made some pickled fish.

Coconut & Manatee

Our friends have returned to South Africa and have now sent some photos of our holiday together. I have a few that I must share.

This was a huge Coconut that literally fell off the tree as we walked pasted. After much sawing, hammering and cursing we got it open only to find it was rotten inside!

Here I am hanging over the side of our tender boat, videoing the Manatee, she was so gentle and I got to touch her nose. It is so special to see one this close and in clear water. She was about 2m long. They eat the greenery growing in the rivers.

Sunday Spit

Back on line again, internet connection can be rather pricey so we have to wait to find free wifi areas.

Last Sunday we went ashore to 'Chat & Chill' to eat some of the Sunday Pig Roast. Rob had a great burger $4 and I had the special $20. Good plate of food, roast pork, black rice and peas, macarony cheese (a standard here), baby carrots, and coleslaw (made with cabbage and tomato with mayo). Relaxing lunch on the beach!

Afterwards we took a ride to a 'hole' that runs under Stocking island. Its a tunnel under the island that opens on the other side, there are always interesting fish here swimming in the current as the water rushes in or out depending on the tide.

George Town

We went into George town, access to the dingy dock is under this bridge into a small shallow lake called 'Lake Victoria' Named after the British Queen. The town is very cruiser friendly with all the shops that you may need. There is a large (by Bahama standards) store with fresh goods and meat. Its goods are double the price of USA, but then everything has to be shipped here. This town is popular for restocking as the yachts head south to the Caribbean, or just stay here for the season.

Stocking island

We are anchored opposite George Town, in the lee of Stocking island near this Chat n Chill restaurant/pub. Its also called 'volley ball' beach as he has nets up that anyone can use. In season Dec to April all this area is FULL of yachts. About 6oo! Its a popular area to escape the N American winter.

There are colourfull plastic chairs that folk sit on with their feet in the water. Its a wonderful place to sit and relax in the shade of the trees and listen to the Bob Marley and tin drum music.

The owner was pleased to chat to South Africans as he has visited the Cape Town area and reads the SA paper every day.

Farmers cut

This was taken when we left Black Point and went through Farmers Cut to the deep water, Exuma Sound, to sail south to George Town. Note the clear water, it was about 9am.

Then we were out, in the flat sea. Sadly we caught no fish!

George Town

We are here in George Town the southern part of the Exumas. It was an amazing calm trip in the deep water East of the Exumas. No wind and flat seas. Sadly no fish!

We arrived and went for a walk on this pristine beach. I commented that there is no one about, now we know why! It took a few minutes and we were eaten up by no-see-ums, small biting flying bugs! They come out at dusk and dawn, my legs are covered in itchy bites. Rob felt them bite but has no no further reaction...not fare.

The other photo is taken from St Francis marina and hotel. We went to meet the owners who are ex South Africans and the agents for St Francis yachts.

The enclosed bay is a perfect 'hurricane hole' , a place to leave boats for the hurricane season. Its well protected from the sea and easterly winds.

Black Point

This is the sign that greets you as you come off the dock. Every town/village has one. There used to be a fancy sign here but it seems a hurricane must have taken it.

Anchor check

Each time we stop we snorkel down to check the anchor is well seated to hold us. Both these held in 20 knott winds.

We ate dinner at a local restaurant in Black Point last night. Went with new friends from catamaran 'Sail la Vie' French speaking Americans. Had a good time eating fresh Dorado served with rice and peas. They gave us Conch fritters as a starter, always good. Washed down with local beer 'Kalik'

Tomorrow we leave for George town. There will be no wind and flat seas so we will travel on the deep East side and hope to catch a few Dorado!

Thunderball grotto

This inside Thunderball grotto, where some of the James Bond movie 'Thunderball' was filmed. We snorkled it at low tide and its full of many colourful fish. The cheeky 'Seargent Majors' come looking for food as you enter the water.

Rays

Well we have been lucky enough to see two rays here, one Southern Stingray and a Spotted Eagle ray. The Spotted one was taken while standing on our dingy, we got realy close and could see the spots and its very long tail.

Off course we had to back and feed the pigs again, this time going ashore. They are very friendly and one nearly got into the dingy.

Staniel Cay

We are in Staniel Cay. After days of solitude and uninhabited islands its good to be in a busy island. We walked around the little town of about 80 permanent inhabitants. Its a popular spot for short stays so the airport is busy.

The landscape is shrubs on what seems like solid lime stone. Rob is standing next to big blocks of it. How anything grows here is a wonder.

Last night the Yacht Club had a Mexican evening to celebrate 'Cinco de Mayo' (5th of May). Its a famous battle where the Mexicans fought the French and kicked them out of Mexico.

There was great buffet of Mexican delights and a band for entertainment. A fun evening!

Big Majors Cay, swimming pigs!

This island has pigs on it. As we came up to the shore, they started swiming to the boat for food. I had old carrots and butternut that they were happy to eat. Its so funny, there were about 8 that came out looking for food. Not all were brave enough to swim to us, some waited on shore. They are a popular attraction and get many boats coming to feed them.

Nurse Sharks

We anchored in Compass cay and went to the marina to see whats there. They have 'pet' nurse sharks under the jetty, obviously feed by the staff there. Its a small marina with a $8 landing fee for non marina guests. We admired the sharks and left.

Back at our boat we found a Nurse shark under our boat! No swimming today!

Allans Cay, Iguanas

The first Island we stopped at was Allans Cay, which has a population of Iguanas. They are about 80cm to 1m long. This is the only island that they are on! As we came closer to the beach they all came out waiting to be fed. The signs all say dont feed them, we didn't.

The water is that wonderful blue, but that also means its getting shallow. The other photo shows the route into Compass cay, the slightly darker water to the right of the green marker is the way to go. Either side of that we could get stuck. So we go slowly watching the depth gauge.

Most boats travel at high tide to ensure the deepest possible water. The sea floor is sand and lime stone, this is also why the water is so blue.

30 April 2011

Today our dear friends Lionel and Debby left us to fly home via USA. It has been wonderful having their company on the boat.

Now we head south to the Exuma islands, a chain of small islands, 120 miles long. The Exumas have a shallow bank on the West side and very deep water on the East side. We will travel south on the West side to get protection from the Easterly winds.

Atlantis aquarium

The best thing at the Atlantis Resort is the Aquarium. It is huge and you walk though a series of tunnels to view it from all sides. Then you can go outside and view it from above which was great viewing of the Manta Rays, thats one in the photo, its huge. Don't know what the silver fish are called but they do look serious.

A visit to Atlantis

Thats Atlantis across the bridges, the traffic flow is so heavy they built 2 bridges. We took our dingy into the Atlantis Marina and tied up and walked in. Its very similar to the Lost City in South Africa just larger. Debby and I got to sit in the Big chair! The hotel/casino is very busy and a popular spot for all the cruise ship visitors. It was dark when we returned to our dingy and we cruised around the huge expensive boats in the marina, another world.

Nassau, 'Its a Bahamian Ting'

Nassau is the capital of the Bahamas and the most heavily populated island, with 250,000 people. New Providence is 20 x 7 miles and next to it is Paradise island, the home of the Atlantis Resort.

At the base of the bridges that cross over to Atlantis are many stalls all selling Conch salad and conch fritters. This is a real Bahamian traditional food. The empty shells are lying under the table ready for removal. The raw, white flesh of the Conch is diced up and mixed with green peppers, lemon, onions and orange juice. Really tasty!

Florida Pompano

We crossed from Andros Island to New Providence (the island that Nassau is on) and anchored in West Bay. On the way from West Bay to Nassau, Rob caught this 80cm Pompano, gave him a good fight. It had blue lips when it was landed, great eating fish.