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| The view behind out boat in the marina. |
Okay, back to more peasant business. I was in such a hurry
to get our last blog out that I failed to mention our new friends Ran and Bebe
aboard their beautiful sailing vessel, Venture.
They arrived at Old Port Cove about the same time we did and were looking to
cross about the same time. Unfortunately they had some mechanical issues that
kept them in port. (See, it is not just us!) I sure hope they can make the next
weather window – whenever that is—and we can meet them in, what may then be,
the Canadian-owned Bahamas. We also had a visit from our friends Sharon and
Andy. I met Sharon years ago through the blog about their vessel Finally Fun and we have kept in touch
since. They have sold their boat, moved ashore, and are now looking for another
boat. It was great seeing them.
The Crossing
As you will remember we had been waiting for quite some time
– and had spent quite a few bucks – at Old Port Cove Marina. On Sunday we moved
into Lake Worth and on Tuesday we departed. It was a pretty narrow window and
the weather didn’t look perfect, but if we were going to go anytime in the next
two weeks, Tuesday was it. We launched at 0750.
The seas were … shall we say … far from perfect. That said,
they could have been a LOT worse. We have been in rougher seas on occasion and,
over the years we have been on Traveling
Soul, we have been bumped and slammed around plenty. So, while this was not
the worst ride we have ever had it was probably among the worst 10. Our cat,
Spot, disagrees. She is generally wonderful on the boat. She kind of likes
exploring the ICW and finding different kinds of birds along the way; she likes
watching dolphins as they swim off our beam and she likes some of the different
destinations we visit. However, she definitely
likes the ICW more than the open ocean. As soon as the seas started to get a
little rough, she checked out her hidey-holes one-by-one. She wasn’t satisfied
until she was in her carrier as far back as she could get. She was a bit vocal,
too. I could tell that some of her meowing was asking, “What the hell are you
humans doing? Are you crazy? How about going back to Lake Worth?” With all that, however, nobody was hurt,
nothing was damaged and at the end of the day we were in de Islands, Mon!!!
We arrived at West End and pulled into our slip at 1600. We
had very little time to fill out the paperwork and get to the
Customs/Immigration Office before 1700. If we didn’t make it in time I was
concerned that we would have to spend additional time at West End the following
morning – when we wanted to leave as early as we could. I shouldn’t have
worried as we made it with time to spare. As a note to those who follow, the
Office has changed from years past. They are in a new building and had at least
four Customs Officers processing paperwork while in the past they had only one.
Moreover, they SAID they were going to inspect all the boats that came in
before close of business. Now, I know the way bureaucracies work and I know
that in the Bahamas ALL work stops at 5 PM. So, while I saw the boss send one
inspector to check one boat (the captain seemed to have been evasive in answering
his questions), I was pretty sure that they were not going to get to all of
them that evening. I was right. Other than the one boat I saw inspected, I
don’t think they checked any.
Usually we arrive at West End a little earlier in the day, and
after checking in, we stroll around the property, go to the little beach bar
and sometimes even eat at their restaurant. Not this time. All three of us –
Ann, Spot and me – felt tired and literally “beat up.” We had a good dinner on
the boat and hit the rack.
Grand Bahama
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| Our first Kaliks this year. MMMmmmmmmm |
Many cruisers don’t like going to Freeport. The “purists”
would rather spend their time anchoring and visiting the out islands than go to
any touristy places. We understand. We also like anchoring and visiting the out
islands. However, for us, learning about the Bahamas and its people is more
important than maintaining purity. I am sorry, but you can’t learn about the
country by ignoring its largest and second largest cities. (Nassau and
Freeport) which together constitute about 80% of the Islands’ population
(Nassau has about 255,000, Freeport 50,000 and the Bahamas overall about
387,500.) Besides, we enjoy sightseeing everywhere.
We decided to stay at the Grand Bahama Yacht Club. Although
it is a little more expensive than most in the Freeport area, it is also nearer
the attractions. It is really well constructed, used to handling boats of our
size and much larger, has a very nice swimming pool, is reasonably close to the
International Marketplace (a dinghy ride away) and is on the shuttle boat route
to just about all the attractions. And they have a shuttle bus to the grocery
store which is only a couple of miles away. In short, the marina is great.
That said, I am not sure we have ever been in a marina where
the resident cruisers are quite as snooty as they are here! In the first place,
most of the people we have met so far spend the entire winter, or most of the
winter, at the marina. One couple we met, for example, has been coming here
every year since 2010, and almost everyone we met spends all or most of the
winter here. Now, I really do get it; they are friends, close friends, who
buddy around together and generally meet the sociologist’s definition of a
“clique.” That would happen anywhere. Still, in most marinas where we have
stayed, people will at least say “hello” and offer to show you the local
sights. Not here. Okay, enough venting.
 |
| Ann taking us on a dinghy trip. |
Port Lucaya and the
International Marketplace
The International Marketplace is easy to describe: it is
tourist central for Freeport – a location where cruise ships frequently stop. In
fact, we met two ladies who were on a 3-day $99 cruise from Fort Lauderdale to
Freeport. The Marketplace was designed for them (though these ladies seemed far
savvier than the tourist board gave them credit). It basically contains five
types of shops: restaurants, bars, jewelry stores, bars and a straw market that
sells touristy mementoes. Ann bought two little touristy memento magnets at the
straw market that were advertised as “original hand-crafted Bahamian.” On the
back of both, of course, were stickers that labeled the products, “Made in
China.” Oh well. |
| One picturesque vies of the Grove's Gardens. See the turtles on the log and in the background |
Restaurants
One of the most dangerous aspects of being laid up in a
touristy location like Lucaya is that restaurants are readily available. My
guess is that there are 20 or so in the Marketplace, some at the lower end of
the culinary scale, several in the middle and at least one at the higher end. We
went to three for lunch on various days, Agave,
A Caribbean-fusion restaurant, Zorba’s,
which serves Greek food and Daddy Brown’s
Conch Stand. At Daddy Brown’s we had two cracked lobsters (cracked is
basically pounded flat and fried) and some very good conch fritters for $15. Man, you can’t beat that. PLUS it
was delicious.  |
| Two dirty martinis at the Flying Fish. The view and the cocktails were to die for. |
On our next-to-last night in Grand Bahama we went to Flying Fish, purportedly one of the
finest restaurants in the Bahamas and rated #8 in the entire Caribbean and somewhere
around #58 in the world. Our overall opinion? It was very good; not spectacular,
not extraordinary, but very good. There was one exception. We had read that early
in his career Chef Tim Tibbits had prepared a “calamari with brown butter” dish
that, because it was chosen for the menu at the restaurant where he was
working, “changed his life.” Now come on, if you think I am going to miss a dish
that a renowned chef believed changed his life you are nuts. We had it as an
appetizer and I gotta admit, it was delicious!!! In fact, Ann spent much of the
following morning figuring out how to duplicate it. She even had me go to the
store and buy some unsalted butter (which is apparently better in the
preparation of brown butter than is salted butter – who knew?). The main
courses we had were far less spectacular but were certainly very good. The service
was good, though they rushed us a little bringing the main course out at the
same time they brought a cocktail, but I guess that is better than being slow.
The total cost was $187 (including tip). I have paid more and I have paid less
for an equivalent meal, but when I think that I could have had 10 of Daddy Brown’s cracked lobsters
and beer for one dinner at the Flying Fish, I gotta say I am not sure I would
go back.
Finally, the weather had improved so tomorrow we are on the way
to Great Harbor Marina in the Berry Islands. We plan on staying there through
Sunday – and the Super Bowl – then meandering through the Berries a little
longer before making the jump to Nassau. I don’t have anything vested in the
superbowl, I am not a fan of either team. But hey, if you are a fan of the game
– and I am – you have to watch the Superbowl.
Ann’s Notes: I really do not have too much to add. When we
arrived we got the dinghy down when the wind was not too bad. The poor dinghy
was one hot mess, dirty and just needed some TLC. Michael and I agreed that we
would do some exploring every day and one or two small boat projects. Spreading
the little “needs to be fixed” project over several days is a good thing. I did
a lot of re-organizing the cabinets in the galley and putting labels on containers.
You all know I LOVE to organize things, so that project was fun for me. The NOT
fun project was cleaning the dinghy. I just dumped in a bunch of Simple Green
soap, added some water and took a scrub brush. We both did the pontoons as well
as we could. I fixed the oar mounts and used lots of good old fashion elbow
grease. Spraying the water was fun with the wind slightly blowing; once you are
wet you might as well finish the damn project. I will say once everything was
dry, I am no longer embarrassed to be seen riding in our dinghy.
Michael was very correct about the Canadians not being very
friendly… their loss, not ours. Americans that cruise are generally much more
friendly and helpful.
I have enjoyed our time in Lucaya, the marina staff is
wonderful and the Bahamian people so pleasant to be around. It is very much a
tourist spot for cruise ship people and right now we are tourists.
The dinner at Flying Fish was a treat, I thought the food was
different and the service was good. I like a fancy dinner every once in a while
and I like to try and duplicate a food item that was yummy.
I also want to thank Sharon and Andy for coming across the
state of FL to visit us. They are such fun to spend time with.
The tour of Freeport was different, they have a very complicated
car license registry, I will read up on it and try to figure it out. Like most
semi- third world countries … the rich are very rich and the poor stay poor… although
... I think in the larger cities there is a working middle class. They must
have a good social welfare system because everything is expensive, food, fuel, and
utilities.
That is about all, I never think I will type that much but
once I get in front of the computer, I just GO.
Thank you all for following us.
Traveling Soul…OUT
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