Island time
21 February 2010 | Black Point, Great Guana Cay, Exumas
John and Cheryl
Cheryl's Notes:
We are finally getting used to being on "Island time". We make plans, and then decide to stay in one place for a little longer and enjoy the local experience. Everything moves slower here. Even the roosters didn't start crowing this morning until 11:30.
This next front on Monday night doesn't look as bad as expected. We are going to stay put until Tuesday and then head farther south. We plan to head to the Sandals resort of Emerald Bay. The resort has a marina as part of their facility. The place has been a favorite of all of our cruising friends. If you take a slip on a dock with no services (water or electric) it is only $.50 a foot. Or at least it was until this last big cold front. So many boats ducked into the marina for safe harbor, that they had to put some of the boats at the more expensive docks. They hade an epiphany and promptly raised the rates to $1.50 a foot. We are always a day late and a dollar short. At least they have unlimited hot showers, a free laundry room and free WiFi. We are going to try to duck into there before the next strong winds on Thursday.
I made a special breakfast of eggs and bacon for John this morning and steaks are on the menu for dinner. I didn't have to bake him a cake because our friends Leslie and Jim of Just Limin' handled that for us. We had a great dinner with them at Scorpio's last night and birthday cake for desert. Cruisers are the best people on earth.
John's Notes:
Trying to use the internet the last couple of days has become a full time job. If and when it works, it is extremely slow. The good news is that it is free.
Had a great night last night. Jim and Leslie from "Just Limin'" joined us at the local gin joint for dinner and a couple of beers to celebrate my birthday. Then we went back to their boat where I was surprised with a cake. It was a fun night spent with some really great people.
Yesterday, Cheryl and I were walking around the island just checking out the sights. It came to me that when you look at the Bahamian people, some might think that they are living a sub par existence. When you look at it from our point of view, maybe. The good news is that someone forgot to tell the Bahamians. These people, who by our standards, might not have much. You would never know it by looking at them. They are some of the happiest people I have ever met. They are all so polite (can't say that for Americans) and just seem to be glad that you are here. Last night we were in a local place having dinner and we were the only people "without" color. They were having a great time, loud music and all, but were just having fun. They don't even drink all that much. Most of them drink a soft drink called Fanta. We feel completely secure walking around these islands and have never seen any evidence that crime is a word in their vocabulary.
I have noticed that the bottom of our boat could use a little work. When we were still at Staniel Cay I had thought about getting in the water and scraping a little more off. The water temperature, however, has dropped several degrees in the last week or so and we only have short wet suits. Another factor was for the last several days that we were there, a large bull shark had decided to take up residence under our boat. He was much bigger than the nurse sharks at the yacht club and at Compass Cay. Did I mention that he was "large?" I think I will wait till the water gets warmer.