Good-bye to another winter in the Bahamas

The last days in the Bahamas for us this year were spectacular, we look back at all we've done and how much fun we had. We had to pinch ourselves and say how lucky we are, to have what we do, to have each other, and to have the courage to do this, (although from time to time we think it's not courage but stupidity).

We met lots of new cruisers this year and ran into so many from years before. We explored familiar favorite islands and beaches, while also reaching new fishing grounds, islands and beaches.

This is a beach on the east side of the Lucayan Waterway that we drove to by car the last day the kids were there.

Once we saw the window of weather for crossing back to the states we started to look at things a little differntly; not know when or if we would ever get back. The beauty of the island started to come more apparent to us. The large flowering plants became bigger, the beaches cleaner, and warmer, the breeze warmer and beer colder. I started counting beers backward so that I would have just one left for opening once we got back to Florida.

This place with the loins guarding the gate is really something, talk about more,.. It is on a road that we would bike on our way to the Lucayan Market. Very well kept but MAN, Arline always wanted Lions on a post at the drive way, well she's over that now. There is something like 38 just on each wall and the interior looked like Lions and other stoned creatures rained from the sky for a month, Lion heads or faces on the wall too, really over the limit.

  

Blue is chasing a crab here and became pretty good at finding them, but She doesn't have the quickness for the kill like Sarah did.

The rented car had been returned after the kids left and the weather looked like it will be right in about 3 or 4 days for a crossing back to the states. So after everything is tied down, fuel polished, filters check, there is nothing to do except talk to other cruisers about watching and waiting for the weather, except go to a beach. So we biked to our favorite close beach, took the cooler and all the other things we needed, music, drawing tools, Blue's water and Arline's Chocolate.

We tried to eat at this restaurant a couple of weeks ago at Port Lucaya's market, it was a very busy day as several buses from cruise ships were there shopping and eating. They have a great lunch special, good food and we could really use some french fries. It was very busy, all seats were taken so we waited till near the end of the lunch special and went in. Tables were starting to empty out, not cleaned of course but we had Blue and wanted carry out to sit at the dock overlooking the marina. I went in and after 10 minutes of watching the confusion behind the counter of a line of frustrated customers trying to pay their bills I was up. I looked up and placed my to go order with her, . She rolled her eyes took a big breath, puffed out her cheeks and blew it out through her teeth and said (this is great). "It's going to be 45 minutes before I can even put your order in,...if you want to wait,...But I would suggest you go some where else,.."

And here's another story of backwards thinking,..and trust me I've heard my share of backwards thinking in the recent past and it always blows me away when it happens.

Another cruiser tells me he went to the store to get his favorite rum as he'd seen it and bought it there before. Upon not finding it he ask the clerk for it and got this answer,.."Yeah I don't order dat no more,..I can't keep it on the shelve,...everybody keeps buy'n it up,...so it's just not worth fo me mon,.." REALLY

Kids Week.

   

Jeremy, Amy, Dad, Mom, and Jill 

Well it was a very busy and fun week with the kids here. This is in Port Lucaya over where there are a lot of shops and restaurants  They bus the tourist from the cruise ships that come into Freeport here. This is also where most of the water sport tours originate; booze cruise, snorkeling, diving, fishing and more. Quite the tourist population is here. Blue was not happy as we left her on the boat. The kids room was right near the boat so we had A/C during some of the days when it was HOT, and Humid. Oh yeah I guess it's still not spring up north yet,...  There was a grill right in front of their room so we did all of the cooking there. We went to the beach several times, visited the  Grand Lucayan Waterway, and viewed all of the empty and abandoned sites. They had big plans for the island and again like Great Harbour Cay, it is the land of broken dreams. Jeremy, Jill, and dad went out snorkeling making it to the east of Bell Channel. There really was a lot of fish, we had taken the new and better dinghy of ours and made it to an area where all the glass bottom boats go. There was one that had a whole room under water for people to sit and look out. It was the size of a gondola that would be under a blimp if you can picture that. There must have been about 25 people in it just watching fish and the crew had been chumming from above so that was the reason all the fish where near them. We swam over to wave at the kids with their noses pressed up against the glass. I was going to shoot a large fish but figured it would find it way on Facebook and it would be too small or just illegal somehow so I held off. 

The Gold Rock Creek Film Studio is on Grand Bahamas and only 45 min drive and worth the visit. Not a lot there any more but the two sunken items in the picture is what was used to film Pirates of the Caribbean, II and III Dead mans Chest and I don't know what III was called. There is quite a bit on the internet about the filming of it with photos too. 

This is the pitch for filming here, pretty cool check it out. 

Gold Rock Creek Film Studio

                                                                 

What a trill it is to see our kids together and such good friends. To hear of their successes and the threshold of where they are going is humbling to say the least,...

Amy and Jeremy with the new location and house in the DC area now have Chickens and a chicken coop may be on my to do list if we get there in time,..

Jill with her new job of only 6 months had earned a week of PTO (not power take off BUT Paid Time Off; who the hell ever thought or heard of that,...if only I knew LOL)
and more still on the books.

This is in the old studio too where they filmed the mangrove scenes. Very Pretty and a great spot under the shade to just sit and chill. Had we known it was here we would have brought the cooler and towels.


Senor Frog in Freeport is always a cool stop. Nice Chairs

Jill and Blue staying out of the sun and some Frisbee time at the best beach we found to date.

Oh yeah we all got wet this day. Back to the pool and a final night of poker, which Jeremy won, too bad he couldn't take his prize back home with him so he left it on the boat and I promised to bring his bottle of rum back with us to the states and,........opps sorry, I'll work on the chicken coop instead,...


This is most likely our last week here in the Bahamas. We'll be spending a short time in Florida but more time than we had other years. We're very excited about what is coming up for us and the opportunities are endless. But for sure the boat is still our home and travel is still a need.

Thanks for watching, more to come

Running out of time here in the Bahamas

Other cruisers coming in the channel

our mark in Lucaya

Allen cleaning our Grouper

catch of the day with our fishing rods

one of many beaches we went to this day

exploring the rocks where "Pirates of the Caribbean" 2 and 3 where filmed

Trip to West End- We met a boat from Caz.

Beach day with friends

The hotel that never was...

Human Behaviors at the Resort-Marina

Main Lobby and Check in,....
Here They Come 

Well we've been here long enough to recognize a pattern in human behaviors at this marina-resort, and I'd like to share it with you for your enjoyment. 

I'll start with the fact that most resort people arrive Saturday afternoon and leave the following Saturday morning.  So for us cruisers and monthly guest the best quiet time is of course on Saturday. Once the guest check in and receive their Bahama Mama drink, they wait for their rooms to be cleaned which is usually done by 4 pm. While waiting they walk around looking at the pools, bar and restaurant, where they find all the cruisers. Most will grab another drink from a bar and work on tans in their travel clothes with a nap poolside. Remember they were awake bright and early to clear TSA and be filed into their seats.  The first evening is quiet, some people head out shopping for food and drinks then early to bed. 

This Ham Hock is 29lbs and wouldn't fit in your
typical oven,..really

Sunday morning it starts with most people enjoying coffee on their deck and lathering on the lotion in the brilliant early sun.  I'll skip things that the resort does because this is about the people. Sunday afternoon is a definite pool day and again most people are passed out on Lounges, they may have been trying to keep up with the boaters here and are out of practice with their drinking. Of course there are a few that have made it to sun-downers  The resident cats have adopted their family for a week, some people miss their dogs so much that they what to pet Blue or some of the other boat dogs. Many are still trying to connect to the Internet with their phones and talk to people back home. "Hello, what, no it’s warm here, you're breaking up, no I said pool not cool” Sunday night is 50-50; half eat off base and the other half have the charcoal grills going on their deck with the steaks and beer just enjoying the great evenings here. Oh we did go shopping just once here on a Sunday or Saturday. It’s when the guest go shopping to fill their frig, 1st thing to go are the steaks and hamburger meat. Still left is the oxtail, pork chops, ham hocks and chicken wings, and despite the price people still empty the chip shelve, $7 for a bag of Wise and more for Frito Chips.  Booze is at another store and we never saw the consuming there just the leftovers, which I will talk about later.  Sunday is a sunset night though we don’t see it set most try and stay up. 

Port Lucaya's outdoor straw market 

Monday the excursions start in full. They've seen the pools and need a sandy beach; others head to town and the outdoor shopping mall which is a true Caribbean Experience. There is something for everybody, lots of little shops, fishing boats, snorkeling and booze cruise or glass bottom boat rides, several bars and restaurants too. We like to go to town on,…you guessed it Saturday. People that stay at the resort are now sitting under the shade by noon because they look like Lobster. When the excursion people come back most that were out on a boat are red and rush to the pool. By the evening people are chilling at the pool and now know about the happy hour 2 for 1 special, as do the boaters here, so the resort people are getting into the groove of it.

2 local beers for $5 anytime, not bad food and priced OK

Tuesday and Wednesday are a repeat with the noted difference that the guests are now heading for their A/C rooms and showers by 5 pm  Just about the time the cruisers finish boat chores, shopping (remember we don’t shop during the weekend for foods or drinks) fishing or just checking in so now we start to have our sun-downers and time at the pool or happy hour in the hot tube. By now many people know about us and some are very interested in the cruising life style promising to do it after the kids are gone and all the bills paid. Some are so sure that they will be cruisers they make their way out to a finger between boats for a look or more. One cruise boat told us of being awoken in the middle of the night by a noise and upon rising and looking they saw a couple in the heat of it on the finger between boat, ON A FINGER WITH WOODEN PLANKS, and they had a room but choose the planks. They may indeed become cruisers!

Cruisers in the shade and you can tell it's 5 O'clock,...
NO NO NO,... not the blender and drinks the shadows are long!

Thursday again is the same but the night is the big party night, for most realize that they will be traveling on Saturday and don’t want a hung over from a Friday night party. Friday morning is a slow starter for most that were up late and they recover at the pool all day. The morning after we've seen decks and patios a mess with people sleeping outside, furniture from the 2^nd floor on the ground,  people running around at night trying to get into somebody’s room, sometimes with cloths on, but not always but always loud!! Those that rise early are off as this is their last full day and they realize they haven’t done everything on their list. They run around from the pool to the bar or a trip to town and back to the pool. Again this is a 50/50 night for people eating here or off base in town. At night they just hang around outside and finish off what they over bought. Food beer booze and they are packing.

Ah it’s Saturday and the cruisers are out early as are the people leaving, some are drinking their last beers (not the cruisers the guest) and good byes are said to all, if you had a favorite guest you swing by and give them a boat card in hopes that they might say “Hey we've got some left over,…(fill in the blank)……could you use it?” We've gotten beer, watermelon, lighter fluid, other booze and others have scored, breads, meats and other things. This was new to us just this week and I promise we’ll get better at it. Then the cleaning crews come in, we don’t think they get paid anything just what they take from the rooms. And it starts all over again.  The guest start arriving by taxi, or rented cars and they get their watered down Bahama Mama, see you at the pool,……. 

Beach Time 

Cruising friends

Nelson having fun at the beach, 2 years ago Sarah and him were buddies on the
beach every morning and evening. 

This week started off very hot with wind from the east, now the wind is from the north and very chilly however with the sun shining it still feels really really nice.
At the beginning of the week we were sitting at the pool with some friends enjoying adult beverages when another cruiser came along to say a trawler was coming in and had some mechanical issues so we peeked up to see the M/V Steadfast go by. I said to Jon right away that we knew them from the Exuma's and that they had a dog named Nelson. Well all that was true and we have been visiting with Buz, Rosemary, Woody which is their son from Toronto and of course Admiral Lord Nelson Grizzly. Its always nice to catch up with cruisers you have hung around with in the past on some remote sandy beach or in a tin roofed bar on some really cool island.

another beach day

one of my favorite paintings

my only plant on the boat flowered

Another Face on the beach

Making stuff in my spare time