This is truly an interesting place. The Diner Key has both a dockage and mooring facility and they are both run independently but also cooperatively. They both have offices, staff, bathrooms and laundry facilities and the mooring facility also has a dingy dock but they all work together so as what happened the other day when we couldn't access the laundromat at the mooring facility the main office stepped in to say c'mon down here. There is a new "castle" where the two businesses will be combined under one roof that should be opening soon. This is a municipal resource and I must say that whoever set this up understands the advantages to the community from the cruising tourist, and, I might add, the local liveaboards. I have the impression that there are a number of people on the boats who work ashore and the boats never go anywhere. Plus the community has a dingy dock specifically for folks who anchor out. Clearly they recognize that even small amounts of money add up if there are enough people spending it.

Barb and I took off to the Publix grocery store today specifically to pick up three months worth of pet food, but also some other stuff that we know from past experience is expensive in the Bahamas. We even got a turkey breast for a Christmas diner when Chris joins us. Kayte had given us a Christmas gift of a prepaid card to Publix and that took a serious bite out of the grocery bill but although the bus system took us up there without a problem trying to get a cab home became an hour long venture which in the end necessitated the assistance of a lady in customer service at Publix peeling a strip in Spanish off the dispatcher at the cab company. After we had already waited an hour in less than a minute after her tirade a cab pulled up and we were brought home.

Moonlight Maid had arrived during our absence and was only two mooring balls away. It's good to see them again and shortly after we leave they will be flying home to Halifax for Christmas. Indi II arrived too but they elected to go out to an anchorage in the next marina so we haven't seen them yet. They'll be flying home to Ontario at the same time as Alan and Heather so it will only be Nelleke heading to the Bahamas before Christmas.

Today was a bit overcast and not quite enough wind to make the wind generator work well so we have the little suitcase generator running as I write this.

Looking forward to the next couple of days and clearing into the Bahamas.