Sunday, 28 November, 2010
So, about those plans to cross over on Friday.....we were just finishing up our breakfast at anchor in Lake Worth onWednesday when Kokopelli called on the radio to say they were leaving for the trip in 30 minutes! Yikes! Talk about a Chinese fire drill!! We stowed everything PDQ, hoisted the dinghy, raised the anchor and then headed over to the nearby marina to fill the fuel and water tanks. Kokopelli was kind and motored slowly towards the inlet while we got all this done. We caught up to them just outside the Lake Worth inlet and began our crossing at 11:00 am. The seas were not too bad, about 2-3 feet with some swells and light winds. We had on our life vests and tethers and felt very safe. It was so wonderful having Kokopelli ahead of us, in sight, and made us feel so confident about making our first crossing.
After 8 hours, we reached the Bahamas banks just after dark and continued our journey until just after 3 am. Along the way, it was too bumpy for real meals so we snacked on crackers, chocolate and nuts. We were happy to finally put the anchor down at Great Sale Cay and get a few hours sleep after a long but exciting day.
Thanksgiving morning, we started out again at 8 am for our first full day in the Bahamas. We were indeed thankful for a safe trip over and it was a beautiful, sunny day again so we had good motoring with lots of time to marvel at the clear, blue-green water. It's so clear you can see the bottom even in very deep water. We stopped that day at 4:00 in a pretty anchorage off Manjack Cay. That night our friends on Kokopelli, Ian and Sue LeMair invited us for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner on their boat. We dinghied over with our contributions to the meal (wine, stuffing, cranberry sauce and brownies) and proceeded to have a delicious meal with new good friends.
Friday morning, we left the anchorage at 7:30, heading for MarshHarbour and the marina where they stay. We reached the wonderful marina at noon and were helped at the dock by Jason, the dockmaster, Stephen, the owners son and Larry Thackston, a boat owner there. Once the boat was all tied up, we headed for the Jim Room, the bar & grill at the marina where we enjoyed a scrumptious conch club sandwich and a "bilge burner" cocktail with Ian and Sue. YUM!! The chef at the Jib Room is Marvin and he really knows his trade!!
Immigration and customs officers both came to the marina and cleared us all in so we were happy to trade out our quarantine flag for our Bahamas flag. Later that afternoon, we took a good long walk around the area and saw many beautiful homes with awesome views. It's hillier here than we expected so we got a good workout walking the area.
Saturday, we were treated to a steak dinner with all the fixin's at the Jib Room with our friends Ian and Sue, Larry and Pat. After dinner, there was entertainment with "rake 'n scrape" -- the local Bahamas music where they use a saw and screwdriver to keep the beat. Then there was the "limbo man"....he was totally amazing as he lowered the bar gradually...until he had it only 18 inches from the ground. It hurt our knees and backs to watch him get that low and manage to go under the bar. Talk about flexibility!
All in all, we are totally loving it here! The scenery to too beautiful to describe and the views are "to die for". The locals are very friendly and we love biking or walking around the marina and downtown. We are planning on being here at the marina for a few more days and then we'll venture out when the weather allows. We'll try to upload some pictures so you can see the views we're talking about.
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