We had a wonderful time in the Bahamas and Dick has done a great job with the blog. Most of it was true. Since it was our first time in the Bahamas, it was an especially extraordinary trip and I thought I'd add my two cents worth titled:

Things I learned in the Bahamas

1. We kept seeing people that we knew. Many of them we met in Florida and some we met on our trip down in 2011. That was a nice surprise.
2. Channel markers are rare even in shallow areas where you have to stay in the channel. The most challenging area was the Indian Cut because you have to make several turns to stay in the channel. The cruising guide actually shows a picture of the markers that were there before they were destroyed by the hurricane in 2006. No, they have not been replaced.
3. When in the shallows, you steer via GPS waypoints. It works.
4. Water depths in our Explorer charts are noted in meters. Our boat draws 1.524 meters.
5. Provisions are more expensive, but overall, not as bad as we thought they would be. Some things are very extremely more expensive. A case of beer is $36-54. Liquor is cheap so it's a good idea to drink a lot of rum.
6. Bottled water is extremely expensive. A case of drinking water is $14-18 so we often filled our water bottles with water at the marinas. Since there's no natural water source, much of it is the result of reverse osmosis, basically desalinization. It tastes a little salty, like they need to reverse the osmosis a little longer.
7. Believe it or not, marinas are generally less expensive than in the states. Mangoes Marina in Marsh Harbor, one of our favorites, costs less than half of what it costs to stay at Portside Marina on Kelly's Island.
8. Always call a fuel dock before you go to fill up. They may be out of fuel as the boat to fill their tanks may have been delayed. We carried three 5 gallon cans of diesel and one 5 gallon can of gas for the outboard on the dinghy. That was plenty and we never had any problems.
9. There are no pump out stations. The best option is to dump your holding tanks near the passages to the Atlantic. I try not to think about this since it grosses me out.
10. Marsh Harbor/Hopetown has a cruiser's net on VHF channel 68 at 8:15 daily. If you've never experienced a cruiser's net, it's like a boater's meeting except everyone is on their boat. It's a great way to get updates on weather and activities in the area.
11. Buying a BTC (Bahamian Telecommunications Company) cell phone with pre-paid minutes was the cheapest option for calling home. Texting was even cheaper. "Topping off" (buying additional minutes) can be done at grocery stores, except in Hopetown, where it can be done at the liquor store or Captain Jacks, a bar.
12. Connecting to the internet was challenging. Marinas and coffee shops have wifi but, of course, band width is limited and many boaters are trying to connect. We also subscribed to OII (Out Island Internet) wifi. That cost $100 per month and also worked sometimes. That seemed expensive but the days we could Skype with our grandkids from an anchorage was worth a million bucks to me.
13. For weather reports, when we were too far to connect to the Marsh Harbor Cruisers Net, we used Passage Maker and Barometer Bob, however both are internet dependent. When we didn't have the internet and were too far to get a report on VHF, we used our single sideband radio (the marine equivalent of a ham radio). I admit I used to just dust this radio and had no idea how it worked. Now it's my new best friend.
14. American and Bahamian dollars are at parity and are interchangeable. No one seems to care that you are paying with money from another country. Mix and match.
15. Green Turtle Key has a marina with a very elegant restaurant, The Green Turtle Club. The chef is very creative and there is a dress code, "smart casual". When we registered at the office, the marina staff told us we were dressed just fine for dinner. We were wearing foul weather gear as we had just sailed there in the rain.
16. No shoes, no shirt, no problem.
17. The First Caribbean Bank, the bank in Hopetown, is only open on Tuesdays 10-2, and there are no ATMs. No problem. We enjoyed talking with all the other boaters and locals when we were standing in line.
18. The post office on Man-O-War Cay is open M-F 9-4, except that the lady who works there might leave for a while to do something else. Mailing a package home takes 4-5 weeks.
19. If you're on Man-O-War Cay and don't have any luck fishing, talk to Fred whose dad owns the hardware store. He fishes almost every day and will drop off a fresh catch to your boat. I have his work and home number. He gets off work at 3.
20. Manjack Cay is a private island with a great anchorage. Trespassers are welcome. The owners have placed several colorful hand painted signs directing visitors to the ocean beach.
So life is different in the Bahamas and despite some inconveniences, we really enjoyed our trip. We plan to go back again next year.