Civilization (Nassau) (Tuesday thru Friday)

Tuesday May 6, 2014

25 04.490 N

77 18.765 W

Beautiful night’s sleep – Tide Hiker hardly moved all night – and the morning was sunny and calm.  Today we were heading for Nassau. As the crow flies Nassau is only about 30 miles away but we plan to do a dogleg course to avoid shallow banks and reefs, so overall we will do about 40 NM.

The calm conditions lasted for a few hours, but as the sun got up into the sky the wind built up to maybe 10/15. It was mainly on our beam so we were pretty comfortable and we made water most of the way (The water maker seems sensitive to bumpy seas).

Approaching Nassau - Atlantis side

To enter the Nassau port area we were required to call the Port Authority to ask permission. Apparently it is a very busy harbor. But we were entering from the “not busy” east end so permission was no problem. We could see 3 cruise ships and a large commercial vessel on the other side of the two bridges over to Paradise Island. We were impressed with the city from the water.

"Deidre: The dock guys says he is waving! Can you see him?"

We have a slip at the Nassau Club Resort and Harbor. It’s “OK”, but certainly no resort. We settled in, met the neighbors, then headed out to explore. The first thing we saw was STARBUCKS! Wonderful, and we happily spent $10 on coffee. There was a strip mall across the road. The shops had finished floors, lights, air-conditioning and we were impressed. Deidre bought a pair of shoes and I bought a book. We were like kids in a candy store.

It got better. We became aware of a decent Chinese restaurant in walking distance. So we went there for dinner and it was fantastic - table cloths! soft seats! real silverware! waiter wearing bow tie! - and the food (moo shu pork) was great. Plus we had some left over for tomorrow's lunch.

Wednesday May 7, 2014
Nassau.


Fun day today roaming around Nassau. Its a bit of a shabby town but with the cruise ships providing plenty of action. The down town area was quite decent and crowded with people from the ships. Public transport is provided by small buses called "jitneys" and we caught one back to the marina. Tomorrow we plan to attack the Atlantis side. Its been a fine but very windy day day, and the wind will be around for a while, and that means we may be also.

Interesting tree on Bay St, Nassau

Conch fishing boat, Potters Cay, Nassau

Mail boat docks, Potters Cay, Bahamas

Cruise ship party boat

Old Church of England grave yard

Five! cruise ships in town (You can see the top of two in this photo)

The "Straw Market" (We were advised to spay anything we bought with insect spray before we brought it onto the boat)

Statue of Christopher Columbus in front of Governors House

Pink House - like Governors house - seems to be the official color

It has been hard to find a good hairdresser

I think this is cool - the little house is even on wheels

In the "jitney" on the way home

Thursday May 8, 2014

This morning we caught the local "jitney" the wrong way to see where it took us. They all seem to have a circular route so we figured we would not get too badly lost. Lots of people got on and off so it was a good people watching experience. We basically ended up downtown and walked over to the cruise ship area where we had seen ferries servicing Paradise Island.

On the ferry "our guide" pointed out the homes of the rich and famous as we made the 10 minute trip. The Island was basically Disneyland. The marina was impressive, the casino ho-hum and the rest of it required an expensive pass, which we declined. So after lunch we were outa there, a bit disapointed.

The marina

Paradise Island - Disney Style

I bought a hat

Friday May 9, 2014

Friday was a "weather day". It was still blowing strongly from the East, to the extent that I had added lines. Our neighbors decided to leave - "Its only going to get worse!" was their logic. We went to the supermarket and did a good shop. We bought 10 gallons of gas for the dinghy and brought it back in the supermarket shopping trolley. I spend an hour or two in the ER checking and recording and cleaning up a bit. We decided to leave in the AM so long as the forecast dd not get worse.

On our wanderings around the city in the "jitney" to our amazement we spotted a "Outback Steakhouse". Deidre and I went to one of these places about 15 years ago, and I vowed never to return. (Can you imagine "Alice Springs Quesadillas"???) But the idea of going to an Australian themed restaurant in Nassau was too much to resist so we went for our farewell dinner. It was fine, we successfully resisted the "Kookaburra Wings".