Happy Birthday to H!

Went ashore, both wearing our Bermuda Triangle ponchos, and both arrived at the Yacht Club dinghy dock soaked! The ride across the entrance cut against wind and tide was horrible but the Yacht Club dinghy dock was very sweet, calm and welcoming! On the way back we found “Titta Emil’s” which is the local bakery – actually you go in to the kitchen of her house and she and a bearded lady tell you what they’ve baked today. We got 2 loaves of bread – which will have to be rationed, as this is the last island with a bakery –and returned to Yacht Club for essentials – 2 beers and a bottle of rum!

   

Happy 1^st Mothers Day to Hannah and my 28^th, as she was born on Mothers Day!

Dinghyed round to Thunderball grotto – as seen in Thunderball, the movie and several others, including Splash, apparently. Snorkelled into the grotto – amazing as the light comes down from a blowhole above. Lots of fishes like swimming in an aquarium.

Went ashore in the morning to have a look at the restaurant for early Birthday dinner. Typically, however, the restaurant is shut today because one of the chefs is off. They also have run out of diesel (not that we need it, but some of the big guzzling motor boats around here might!) – they don’t know when they’ll have some- “maybe this week, maybe Thursday or Friday but God is probably the only one who knows for sure!” – was the message put out on the VHF.

Went to the National Exuma Park HQ to take a look around.

     

 On to Highborne hoping for the advertised catering service so that Mike could order in for my birthday dinner. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, she doesn’t listen to her VHF in the afternoons! Luckily we had 1 bottle of champers still on board (the wine has long gone) so we split that over tilapia fish curry and turned in. Funny sort of birthday – no presents, no cards, no Internet access, no mobile phone service and, most importantly, no restaurant! Huge payback credits tho for blowout lobster dinner when we get to Nassau!

Lovely sail up to within striking distance of Nassau and dropped the anchor.

7-mile trip motoring as no wind into the suggested anchorage on the East end of the island.

Internet achieved on the boat so was able to pick up lovely e-cards and messages with Birthday greetings from friends and family. Thanks all! We were followed over by the Canadians from Rose Island – Jim and Irene on Escapaid- who kindly invited us for sundowners. Also saw Emma Nuestra – Georgie and David – passing us for another anchorage, so called them on VHF to get them back to anchor with us. Liquor and food quest completed and back to RT and then to Escapaid for drinks and nibbles. We had a good evening with them and tottered back to make a pizza, as in my rush for booze, forgot to buy anything useful for meals but have fridge full of doughnuts and cheesecake!

I had determined that this was the day for my Birthday Sunday Brunch so we set off walking to Paradise Island where our crap pilot book says the Sheraton Hotel is, where according to the Internet they do the best Sunday Brunch. Walked over the bridge to Paradise Island, to be told that the Sheraton was back on the side we’d just come from! That bloody thing is going overboard!!

    

Not wanting to walk all the way back we went into Atlantis (imagine a cross between a low level Sea World and Las Vegas!) and, armed with wrist tags, we set off round the aquarium exhibits. I have to say, apart from being hot and tired, I quite enjoyed playing tourist for the day. Not sure Mike enjoyed it quite so much!   

  

We think we went to the supermarket to provision the boat for the next week as we intended to leave the next morning but as Georgie was talking us in to staying and plying us with drinks – we may have got the days muddled up!

Georgie’s Birthday and Pete’s 60^th – Happy Birthday to both. Georgie is very persuasive and managed to get us to stay in Nassau not just one extra day, but two! She twisted our arms today to stay to go out to dinner at the Poop Deck, the local busy restaurant. We had Kir Royales first on board RT then Dinghyed up to the restaurant for birthday fish suppers and then back to Emma for whiskies. Carefully avoided the lobster that to Georgie’s continuing outrage was $44 for only 10ozs. Lovely evening and great company.

With Georgie and David to dinghy up to Potters Cay for expedition to find lobster for dinner for a lot less than $44! Easily located 3 lobster for $25 and Georgie bought 7 and later a couple of massive fish for their freezer which must be immense!

    

So, in the evening, we went over to Emma for hors d’oeuvres of lobster claws and antenna and main meal of lovely lobster tail each.

      

  

Loads of salads and booze and a horrendous rainstorm completed the evening. We managed to get the water bailed out of the dinghy and the outboard did eventually start. Thank you so much to David and Georgie who managed to lengthen our stay in Nassau by 2 days and made it so very enjoyable. We look forward to driving up to Toronto to see them soon.

    

      

Had a fairly uneventful, gentle downwind sail to Chub Cay where we anchored for a slightly rolly night and then settled down to watch a movie off the hard drive that Georgie so kindly gave us.

After early morning deliberations, we decided wind was strong enough to get us underway .We finally ran out of wind having caught 2 fish and motored on for an hour to anchor off the Mackie shoal. Really bizarre to be anchored in 4 metres of water but not able to see any land around us in any direction!

Motored 50 miles as not a breath of wind – Mike not a terribly happy boy! But he did catch yet another fish – a small mahi-mahi so I’ve had to tell him to stop fishing! This one managed to jump into the aft locker so Mike is trying to find it again!