24 08.923N 075 31.458N Cat Island, Hawk's Nest Marina
Pipedream
Tue 6 Mar 2012 15:28
marina at about 30 plus kts. We are hoping to be able to start moving again
tomorrow afternoon as the weather inproves. Instead of sailing outside the
Bahamas bank we will likely try going through some of the shallow water cuts
and stay out of the heavy seas outside. We'll have about 25 miles of pretty
shallow water and coral heads to navigate but after that it should be a
pretty straight shot. A new boat acquaintance Mark, on Nancy Lu, came by
with all his maps and nav gear and we spent several hours figuring out how
to get out of here safely toward Florida. Mark is printing out a set of
maps and waypoints for us and gave us a book of locally generated Bahamas's
charts to supplement our electronic c-map stuff.
We saw another whale as we were coming in toward Cat Island. This one was
about a boat length away when it first blew spray. "There she blows!" I
think it was a small sperm whale or maybe a Wright. We got a pretty good
look at his tail as he swam away from our stern. I was glad he didn't come
any closer. Just right.
One of our books described Cat Island as "pristine, isolated, and
secluded"... a good way to say middle of nowhere. The marina is on the
south end of the island with maybe 25 slips and there is also a small
airport where a leer jet come in yesterday to pick up the owner of the
fishing boat that pulled in next to us... but it is a $95 taxi ride to the
nearest grocery store or ATM. There is one restraint connected with the
marina/resort. The bar menu includes an $18 hamburger and a $7 PB&J
sandwich. I asked about buying some beer to take back to the boat... only
$65 a case.
We are listening to Bahamas' national conversation, the only radio station
on the air... seems to cover the whole island group. Prince William just
visited and there is a lot of talk about 'colonial master' learning to speak
real English, rewarding merit, personal hygiene, when are we going to stop
acting like slaves, getting civil servants to do their jobs... impressive
they are at least talking about real problems.