Staniel Cay
Ambler Isle
V and S
Sun 16 Jan 2011 18:58
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24.11.4N
076.27.5W
We tucked Amber Isle up close to shore in the
large western anchorage at Big Majors Spot, the island just north of
Staniel Cay. The wind was very light out of the east. This first day we
simply enjoyed the natural beauty of this place. The island has some
height and acts as a wind and wave block. It is also home to mountain
goats, iguanas, pigs, cats, and chickens. A besotted rooster starts
crowing every morning at 5:00am and pretty much goes all day. Land
mammals are very rare in the Bahamas. (Maybe they were eaten?) There
is a fancy little Fowl Cay Resort at the north boundary of the anchorage, a few
rental cottages. The restaurant seats 25 and dinner is a flat price of
$100 per person. This includes drinks and appetizers, full course dinner
and dessert. They are booked full most days. If you don't like the
choice of two specials, you get grilled chicken breast. There were a few
familiar boats here from prior visits. On Tuesday we took a dinghy
trip to Sampson Cay, another pricey little resort and marina. Dockage is
$2.75 per foot, plus $60-100 per day for electric. Water is metered,
and the once free Wi-Fi now costs $10 per day. We tied the dinghy to the
dock and went into the marina store to see what veggies we might
find. It is a small, but well stocked store. Nothing is marked
with a price. If you want it, just buy it. We bought a quart of half
and half for $5.50, a 6-pack of frozen bagels for $5.35, and a dozen large eggs
for $3.50. Happy to have found some items, we continued on to the Staniel
Cay. Staniel Cay is a fairly large settlement by Bahama standards, maybe
500 people. It has a school, a post office, three grocery stores, and of
course the marina. First stop was the Batelco office. Seems our
phone company gal in Nassau told us incorrectly that calls to the U.S. were
now only $.25 per minute. They are, but not from a cell phone. From
a cell phone they are $.71 per minute. So we bought another prepaid card
anyway. The Pink Store had nothing we needed. On to the Blue store,
where we found some oranges, apples, and plantains. The plantains came
with free advice on how to cook them. But our favorite store is the Isle
General. She carries the most vegetables and we
were not disappointed. Valt also found his favorite Bahamian ice cream in
coconut. Last stop was the Staniel Cay Yacht Club/ freight service
department to see if our parts arrived. The yacht club owns WaterMakers
Inc, in Ft. Lauderdale and since they fly guests and supplies in regularly to
Staniel Cay, they also fly freight packages. We order something, have it
shipped to WaterMakers Ft. Lauderdale. They put it on the plane, we pick
it up at the yacht club. Simple? Yes, but not always in a timely
manner. No, they had not arrived. Back aboard the boat, we put
away our new goodies and prepared a dinner of Mahi Sandwiches, fried plantain,
and cole slaw. Next we watched the final episode of The Godfather.
The sea was flat calm. Of course, this would not last. A cold front
was forecast to pass thru Wednesday night and Thursday bringing NE winds
up to 20k. We hoped our protected little bay would be good.
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