Our mission -- Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enter .. OOPS, sorry, I got carried away. Let me start again.

Our mission -- Warm Waters and Great Weather: The final frontier. These are the voyages of the Motor Vessel Traveling Soul. Its five-year mission: to explore strange warm waters, to seek out new forms of recreation and new civilizations, to boldly go where no Brown, Applegate or Higgins has gone before.

Thursday, February 1, 2018

Grand Lucaya (24 Jan - 1 Feb)

It has finally happened. My long-time readers will remember that about three years ago I warned about the imminent Canadian invasion of the Bahamas. Everyone ignored me – and some even laughed. Last year, when I again raised the specter of a Canadian-controlled Bahamas, I pointed out that the battle was nearly lost – by a count of 17 American to 15 Canadian boats (with one uncommitted French-flagged vessel) the Ocean Reef Club had already nearly fallen to the invaders. Still, there was no response. This year, I can say for certain that Freeport and Grand Bahama Island are gone, lost to the Maple Leaves. Here at the Grand Bahama Yacht club, I am not even sure the Americans put up much of a fight; I guess the Canadians just polited us to death. It is true that the Americans continue to bring in their HUGE Cruise ships, but cruise-ship people certainly aren’t capable of out-politing the Canadians. Grand Bahama is lost. 
 
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
Our first Kaliks this year. MMMmmmmmmm
Remember when I referred to a “weather widow” before? That is because the one or two good weather days can be surrounded by nasty, windy days on either side. This was one of those short windows. Of the boats that crossed at the same time we did, several, including our friends Shay and Elizabeth aboard their boat Escape, went north to Memory Rock and were going from there to Great Sale to get a little rest, the start out Wednesday morning so they could make it to one of the marinas at Green Turtle Cay.  They had to make it on Wednesday because the weather was predicted to deteriorate throughout the day on Wednesday and become really nasty on Thursday. We, and a few others, chose to go the other direction. Rather than go north and head for the Abacos, we decided to go south and head for the protection of the marinas around Lucaya on Grand Bahama Island.

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
We also did a bus tour of Freeport. we learned that Freeport doesn't really have much of a history, it was developed in the 1950's. We did learn several little tidbits about the island and the Bahamas generally -- but to learn about those you will have to buy us a drink. One interesting part of the tour was the trip to Groves Gardens. Groves was the guy who basically destroyed the Abacos and parts of Grand Bahama by deforesting them in the 30s and 40s. So why they named a garden after him I am not sure. Anyway, at the garden they discussed several Bahamian medical remedies for common ailments.

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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