Nov 18/18 Welcome To The Land Of OZ
Another early start . So early that it felt as though it was still last night. We wanted to leave the anchorage as early as possible because we knew that picking our way back through the shallow waters would not be easy unless it was high tide which just so happened to be before 4 am. Not a chance I was getting up at that time besides, we would have to follow VPR (visual piloting rules) to safely get out so we set the alarm for 4:30 with the intent of leaving at first light. By 5:00 I was making coffee (also known as my “life force”) and we decided that we could safely attempt to leave the shallows and get back to the ocean via the cut between Bonds Cay and Little Whale Cay just north of the Three Sisters. This was so much closer to where we were anchored that it would cut more than an hour off of our time. Once the sun was up we hauled anchor and very, very, very slowly started making our way out. I won’t sugar coat it, our jaws were clenched tight as we kept watch of the depth and looked for differences in the colour of the water, for isolated outbreaks of breakers, and for changes in the water current, anything that could indicate shoals and/or submerged rocks. We saw some, so the boat never found them. And we were back on the ocean. Today we were headed for Nassau. Wind, waves, and weather were all in our favour which made for a near perfect sail. Averaging 7 knots in speed (woohoo! For us that is flying!) we made it to Nassau harbour before 2 pm. Coming into Nassau is like coming into the land of OZ. From the quiet peaceful ocean to the whizzing of jet skis and the wake of speed boats, fishing boats, and yachts, the craziness of party boats and sounds and lights of the National Defence Force boats. Let’s not forget the immense floating cities known as cruise ships. Those things have life rafts bigger than our boat. Puts into perspective how an ant must feel on a daily basis. Boaters here need to be cognizant of the fact that you cannot enter or exit the area without radioing Nassau Harbour Control and asking for permission to enter or leave. Have your boat registration and cruising permit ready when you do make contact because they will ask you for your information.
Picking our way through the harbour we found our home for the night at the Bay Street Marina. We thought that we would like to stay at the Atlantis Resort Marina again but when they were charging $4.50 a foot with a 50 foot minimum and Bay Street was charging $3.50 a foot (which they offered to reduce to $3.00) and no min length the decision to go to Bay Street was an easy one. We had gotten a very good review of this marina from trusted friends so we’re happy to give it a try. Our friends did not steer us wrong – this place is lovely. Beautifully decorated, exceptionally clean, and there is even has a gym (shout out to my fellow PEAKers – yes, I did work out). Right next door there is a cute little bar/restaurant called the Green Parrot, and a twenty minute walk finds you in the centre of the shopping and restaurant district. Excellent! The people that work at this marina are also fun, friendly, professional, and can’t do enough to assist you. Now, the same friend that told us about this marina also told us of a restaurant down by the cruise ship docks where you could sit with a cold beer and watch all the cruise passengers scurry back to the ship before it left dock. After consuming a few boat beers Tom really liked the idea of this so it was decided that we were going to go to this restaurant. It did not matter one bit that we couldn’t remember the name of the place nor that it was Sunday night and everything appeared to be closed, we were going and we were walking there. Okay, now the adventure began. We picked the name of a restaurant that sounded like it could be the one tat we were looking for and asked for directions. And then we walked. We walked through a sherbet rainbow of colonial buildings. So quaint, so charming, until they became so sad. About half way to the downtown area the street was no longer the pretty picture painted for those who could see from the waterfront but became the backstreet to the resorts, the place that the tourists never saw and it showed. Buildings became run-down, derelict, boarded up. The street stayed like this for quite some time until we had reached the cruise ship docks when suddenly the buildings became shiny and manicured with couture stores and high end spas. But they were not open. In fact, there wasn’t anyone on street. Was it because this was Sunday or was it because … the cruise ships were gone. Ah ha. No ships, no people, no business. Must remember this. Even the restaurants were closed. Yes, we stood there in front of Senior Frogs staring at a lonely giant frog guarding a closed dark bar. Tom was sad. We started to walk back towards the marina and soon discovered that the few restaurants that weren’t closed were in the process of closing and really didn’t want us there. In the end we found one very nice place that was more than happy to serve us, the Green Parrot. The bar adjacent to our marina. Hey, we got some good exercise 😉
Note: if you really want to see the city that you are visiting find out where the employee entrance is to the hotel that you are staying in and walk the streets here.
