We left Lake Worth,
West Palm Florida on Friday Nov. 14 heading to West End on the northern end of Grand Bahama Island. Once
again, we left Lake Worth at dark thirty. My favorite time of day…. We
went out Lake Worth inlet. Inlets, no matter where they are, can be very interesting when traveling on
a boat. The water is usually very stirred up due to the current, the wind and other boat traffic.
It was a bit dicey. We passed a few other sail boats that had already attempted to go out and ended
up turning back. Wonder where their sense of adventure has gone… Once we
got through the inlet and out away from shore it was not too bad. The wind was as it often is… coming
right at the bow of the boat so we had to motor the entire eleven hours. When traveling directly into the
wind the boat looses speed. It was not at all dangerous; we were just rocking and rolling.
We got into West End at 5:15 p.m.
The Customs and Immigration office at the marina stayed open so we could check into the Bahamas. If
we had not been able to check in until the next morning we would have had to stay on the boat and miss all the excitement
that evening.
During dinner (Cracked Conch) at the Bonefish Restaurant we walked outside to see the solid rocket booster break away from
the space shuttle Endeavour. Very cool!
After dinner we walked to the beach side of the marina and low and behold
there was a Junkanoo. A Junkanoo is a where men, women and children have costumes on with the most incredible
head dresses and are playing instruments. They dance while beating on drums, shaking bells or anything
that makes noise. It is a lot of fun. I believe the youngest participant was four years
old. There was also a bon fire on the beach. Such excitement for our first evening in
the Bahamas! We are so glad to be here.
We left on Saturday Nov. 15 to head to Lucaya, also on Grand Bahama Island.
We knew a front was on its way and we would be stuck somewhere for a number of days. West End is nice but not a lot
going on. Now we are in the Port Lucaya Marina and we are right in the tourist Mecca. We
can walk to the end of our dock where we can eat, drink, shop and listen to live music until 11:00 P.M. every evening.
We were able to watch the Redskins get beaten by the Cowboys at the corner bar. Bummer!
It appears the
front will clear out on Thursday or Friday so we will be heading towards Nassau. Another front is expected
to come through over the weekend so we will get somewhere and hole up again until that front passes. Seems
every three or four days a front is passing through.
Note from the Captain:
While here in Lucaya, several boat projects are getting done. Things like changing oil,
filters, etc. Also, I am happy to report that the watermaker is fantastic. The water
is RO and ultra pure. It is great not relying on getting to a marina to take on questionable water.
While it was very expensive, it makes life much better…and how can it get any better in the Bahamas?
While here, we
are also about 50 feet away from a Conch Salad stand. Kim is there multiple times a day. She’s
getting “conched out”.
We were “absorbed” by a wild bunch of Canadians off a cruise ship. They were nuts!
Lots of fun…and they bought us shots…lots of shots.
There is a picture in this log entry showing
the Live Oaks at Cumberland Island. It was sent to us by our friends on Sapphire.
Till later…
Kim and Steve
