Mike
04/13/2008, Marsh Harbour, Great Abaco, Bahamas

April 11...Marsh Harbor to Fishers Bay, Great Guana

When you check into the Bahamas, Customs gives sailors a Cruising permit for one year. It costs about $300 and allows your boat to be in Bahamian waters. You also have to check in with immigration ... if your entry point has no immigration office the Customs office checks you in for 90 days. If you stay longer, you are required to find an Immigration office and apply for an extention. So, although Sapphire was legal, our Visas were expiring on Monday. Since our plans were to leave Marsh Harbor today for Great Guana Cay, we needed to find the local Immigration office.

We left the boat at about 9am and headed to the area of town where the map said we could find the Immigration office. After wandering around for 20 minutes, we found a policeman who directed us back to the government dock where the office had moved. After another hike we found the Port Authority office where the Immigration office was located. After about 45 minutes of being harassed by a fat Bahamian lady with a brown uniform, we left with another 60 days added to our Visas.

Back on the boat at around 10:30 we left Marsh Harbor for Fishers Bay, Great Guana, which was a trip of about 11 miles. It was a beautiful day and the anchorage was wide open. We parked behind "Night Hawk" and had lunch... Craig and Kris from "Tilt" stopped by for a visit. Within two hours the anchorage was packed... with boats anchored way too close.

The bottom was grassy so I dove on the anchor and found it dug in but not buried as we'd like. Winds are not forecast to be over 15 so we should be ok.

What hopefully is the last cold front of the year, is going to be passing on Sunday night so Steve called Hope Town to reserve moorings for the three days or so that the winds will be gusting from the north.

"Restless" pulled into the anchorage later in the afternoon with a bucket full of conch... his first. We went ashore and removed them from their shells and then back to "Night Hawk" for a lesson in skinning them.

Susan had us all over for Barry's birthday dinner and cooked some of the Mahi that she caught on the crossing up to the Abacos. It was delicious.

Comments [0]

Mike
04/13/2008, Marsh Harbour, Great Abaco, Bahamas

April 10...Marsh Harbor.

Our plan for the day was to wax and work on stainless. In reality we spent most to the time reading. I did get one side of the boat waxed, although the waves and wakes made it difficult. Kathy finished the stainless in the cockpit. In the afternoon "Fine Lion" sailed into the harbor . We had met Steve and Kim in Georgetown when Sam and Erin were visiting. They dinghied over later in the afternoon and we decided to go to Snappa's for dinner and "Rake and Scrape." Steve and Carol joined us as well.

For dinner Kathy had a grilled shrimp salad and I had a grilled conch dish that was interesting.... they marinated the conch in coconut rum and some kind of fruit juice. Then, with plantains, onions and sweet potatoes, they put everything in in foil and grilled for about 30 minutes.

The "Rake and Scrape" was not as good as the one in Eddie's but interesting. We stayed talking with Kim and Steve until about 11 before heading back to the boat.

Comments [0]

Mike-with additions by Kathy
04/10/2008, Marsh Harbour, Great Abaco, Bahamas

April 7th... Linyard Cay to Marsh Harbor

Happy Birthday Tom!


The morning dawned cloudy which is rare around this part of the world. We had talked about moving the boat south a couple of miles to be able to dinghy into Little Harbor but decided that since the weather was bad , we'd run up to Marsh Harbor. The trip was about 20 miles and it rained on and off most of the time. Arriving around noon we found the anchorage full of boats waiting out the frontal passage.

We spent a quite afternoon reading and never left the boat.

April 8th...Marsh Harbor

I went to town this morning to drop off an empty propane tank and some garbage and then spent the rest of morning hauling water and fuel from the Marina. After three trips all tanks were full for the first time in quite awhile. By calculation we figured that we collected about 25 gallons of rain water the earlier this week and will definitely do that again.

In the afternoon Dave from "Fawkes" came over to check out our SSB. He is a "Radio Person" and immediately sat down and had a conversation with a person in Waterton, NY. He gave us a couple of suggestions but basically gave our installation a vote of approval.

Later, we went over to "Sojourner" for social hour. We hadn't seen Rick and Linda since we were last here and it was nice to catch up with them.

April 9th...Marsh Harbor

We headed out at about 9am to do get some laundry done and were finished with three loads and back on the boat by 11:30. After lunch we cleaned up the boat and made another trip to town to purchase groceries. On our return, I worked on some streaks on our topsides while Kathy worked on stainless. Both are never ending jobs in saltwater. As soon as we get a relatively calm day, I need to get some wax on our hull.

At five Barry, Susan, Steve and Carol came over for an hour or so before going to the "Jib Room" for rib night. The "Jib Room" is a restaurant that is connected to one of the marinas. We had a nice time and met some new folks...friends of friends. They do rake and scrape and limbo after dinner. Fun.

Comments [0]