Rainy Day in Freeport

Glad we got the laundry and shopping done in the last 2 days. It's
been raining pretty heavily for the past couple of hours - still is.
A lazy day in the boat, still tied up in the boatyard (marina?) in
Freeport.
Time to check the charts, call some possible marinas, and take it easy.
No activity in the boatyard today - raining too much?
Cool and comfortable - feels like low to mid 70s.

Yes, we have no bananas

Restaurants & cafes here - when you can find them.  Lots of stuff on the printed menu.  Out of most of them.  You have to ask "what do you have today".  Usually about 4 items.  So pick one and eat.  Typical Caribbean.

Life in Freeport

It is interesting here, living in a boatyard instead of a (tourist) marina.  We are getting to know the workers here, as well as Queenie the Cab Driver, and so we are surrounded by Bahamians, not by the tourists from the USA.  So it is a different culture and cultural experience.  It seems very safe here, and the people are very friendly.  Playground for the rich and famous – not here where we are in Freeport.

Everything is expensive here (except rum) – we spent the afternoon getting schlepped by Queenie to the downtown (except they don't have a real downtown) super- (read: "adequate") market, and spent twice as much on groceries and beer as back in the USA – provisioning to move on (weather permitting).  You gotta do what you gotta do. 

Can't eat out much here – few restaurants, nothing to write home about. Almost nothing is in walking distance.  To get anywhere, we have to go to the center of town, then transfer to another "bus", as all roads lead downtown and none go along the coast. So lots of taxicabs, which are actually vans, that go everywhere to pick up and drop the others off, so we get a tour of the area and eventually get where we want to go.  Well, no rush – we are on Island Time.

The local language is, theoretically, English – we can understand it, but with a Caribbean accent, mon.

Chris says the weather is settling in to a better pattern for sailing south and east, the way we want to go.  A front comes through every other day; real strong one, then weaker ones every 2 days or so for 7 to 10 days, then repeat with another don't-want-to-be-out-in-one.

Planning to make a 60 mile jump to Great Harbor Cay Marina in the Berry Islands. Hang there, then on to Nassau and meet up with the Albanis on Utopia – if they ever get out of Miami.

Wrights made it to Hope Town – finally. They plan to jump to Spanish Wells on Eleuthera maybe next Monday.  Snowbirds still heading south.

Does this have anything to do with zombies?

Hey mon, ya think dese are related?  Nah ...

Exuma 
is a district of the Bahamas, consisting of over 360 islands (or cays). The largest of the cays is Great Exuma, which is 37 mi (60 km) in length and joined to another island, Little Exuma by a small bridge. The capital and largest city in the district is George Town(permanent population 1,000), founded 1793 and located on Great Exuma. The Tropic of Cancer runs across a beach close to the city. The entire island chain is 130 mi (209 km) long and 27 sq. mi (72 km²) in area.

ex·hume

verb

1. 1.

   dig out (something buried, esp. a corpse) from the ground.

   synonyms:

   disinter, dig up, unearth

Pictures by Joan & Laurence, s/v-Tranquillity

Left to right: Ihana (under tow), Wicked (towboat), Tranquillity

The Ilona in the hammock at West End, Grand Bahama Island

Lucaya today

Road trip. Took a taxi first to Ocean Reef Resort and Marina, then to Lucaya.  Lucaya has a marketplace, 5-star beachfront hotel, and a marina.  We might move to one of these marinas in a few days (or stay right here).  Comparable prices for docking at all three.  Enjoyed the day in the hotel's beachfront pool/bar/lounging area.  This is where the richest people come to when they get off their luxury ocean liners or cruise ships, or sometimes their mega-yachts.  We knew we were here when several people tried to sell us timeshares!  Escaped the casino, breaking even by not playing.

Majority Rule Day Holiday

Everything was closed today, for the first annual celebration of a new national holiday here in The Bahamas.  Celebrating decades of freedom for all people here in this (relatively) new nation. We went into "downtown" (sic) Freeport for a big parade, with lots of bands, groups of marching kids, and most of the town gathered.  A lot of fun. Interesting that the government decided to create a new annual holiday.

In the morning, we finally Dremel-ed out part of the molding so we could access the part of the bilge under the cabin sole which was previously un-get-to-able.  Cleaned out lots of old and new bilge water. Now we have a dry bilge again.  Back to normal since we got the water heater tank fixed yesterday.

Tomorrow we are planning a taxi trip to check out 1) Ocean Reef Resort & Marina - a more luxurious play to hang out if we stay here on Grand Bahama for awhile, and 2) Lucaya's marketplace, tourist zone, shopping and eating district.

Talked with s/v-Utopia (buddy boat), who we might meet in the Exumas or Nassau in a few weeks.

Got e-mail from s/v-Tranquillity (other buddy boat), who made it safely to Green Turtle Cay and have been holed-up in a marina with very strong winds for several days.  Maybe we will catch up with them again too, although we sure are not going to chase after them in the Abacos - not with this winter weather and winds here.