sunny and 78F
01/07/2009, Nassau, bahamas

I'm sitting on my king size bed at the Sheraton Cable Beach Resort just west of Nassau.

Two days ago we took a short water taxi directly from the boat to Treasure Cay, then a 35 minute flight to Nassau where we'll spend three days enjoying the three enormous pools, two hot tubs, mile long white sand beach and multiple restaurants and bars. Marc-Andre is enjoying the beach scene complete with shapely playmates.

After an interval of 32 years since we were last in Nassau, the changes have been dramatic and not for the better.

The lovely, clean British colonial town has evolved into a ugly collection of derelict buildings shuttered and abandoned, lots of garbage on the streets, more T-shirt sales outlets than I have ever seen, and thousands and thousands of cruise ship passengers wandering about looking at Chinese manufactured novelties.

A real disappointment after the quiet beauty and elegance of Green Turtle Cay today and a sad development for a former clean and well maintained city of Nassau. Everything changes.... not always for the better. I recommend no more than 1-2 nights in Nassau at the most.

We return tomorrow to GTC by plane after we try to buy some "exotic" groceries here in the big city. It will be great to get back to the "OUT" islands and away from here.

Our son, Marc-Andre flies home today so he's spending the morning in the ocean, then catching a 3 hour direct flight to Ottawa. It should be an interesting contrast!

I hope the weather is mild, the snowskiing wonderful, and all of your driveways clean and dry!

glen

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blue skies and 80F
01/04/2009, Manjack Cay, Bahamas

We spent the day swimming and exploring on the ocean side of the cay, which involves a long dinghy ride around the cay followed by 2-3 miles of walking on pristine white sand beaches collecting a wide assortment of beach debris.
Louise has decided to collect "beach glass" which is simply bits of broken glass which have been tumbled in the waves/sand until it is soft and cloudy in appearance. I prefer the brain coral and crab shells, together with fishing net floats.

We'll sail back down to Green Turtle Cay tomorrow and catch the flight to Nassau.

Quiet and relaxing days with blue skies and incredible white sand beaches which are completely empty of all human activity.

It will be interesting to experience busy Nassau with all of the "action".

Until the next posting.....

glen

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sunshine and 80F
01/03/2009, Abacos, Bahamas

I have just arrived at Manjack Cay, famous for white beachces, party animal sailers, and free high speed internet.......It's got everything!

We spent a total of six days in Green Turtle Cay at the Black Sound Marina on a mooring ball. It gave me the time to fix the onboard water system, learn how to operate the chartplotter properly, organize the anchor alarm(s), and meet several fine folks from Nova Scotia ( Bill and Ruthe) and Mt. Tremblant (Elaine).
Marc-Andre went dancing on Newe Years Eve, and New Years Day we watched an incredible parade of the local folks in fine costumes,
followed by a 1.5 hour major fireworks display.

I am uncertain how a community of 400 people can organize (and finance) such a wonderful event.

We left this morning and sailed for two hours north to Manjack Cay.

Soft winds from the east, only a quiet drift to our new anchorage which is shared with ~ 10 other boats.

We booked flights for everyone to fly from Treasure Cay to Nassau on Monday evening where we plan to party for three days and then send MA back to the Great White North (Ottawa).

We'll be staying in the old British Colonial Hotel, which should be fun!

Louise is delighted to be back on the anchor, with our solar panels working beautifully, and fresh bread cooking in the oven.

It's going to be lots of fun exploring the thousands of beaches and islands over the next couple of weeks/months.

glen

c

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