Dinner at the Shipyard was excellent - great food with more than ample portions. Barry had the prime rib which was the most expensive thing on the menu but it was more of a steak in size and cooked to perfection. The ladies had fish and chips with the fish done in a light cocoanut batter and more than enough to eat, and I had a cheese burger with blue cheese which was really outstanding. Although we arrived right at the end of their happy hour they extended happy hour prices to us throughout the meal so whatever drinks we ordered we got two of them - two cocktails, two glasses of wine, etc. the result was that our bill for Barb and myself came to $58 plus the tip! Wow! And that's considered a pricey place for Spanish Wells. The restaurant is situated at the eastern most point of St George Cay, the island that is totally occupied by Spanish Wells and you got an excellent view of the northern end of Eleuthera Island and out over the reef known as the Devil's Backbone. The walk to and from the restaurant was about three-quarters of a mile and as it was Sunday there wasn't the hustle and bustle of the commercial seaport or the fishing port so it was really fun. Barry and Marcia are trying to find out the fare for the ferry over to the resort island and it is isn't too much we might take the fast ferry over for the day during our stop here.

When we got back to the boat I think we finally found the problem with the leak in the pressure water system which I didn't fix last night due to the hour, but when there is no hot water coming out the galley sink tap, the pressure pump is inning continually, the bilge pump is pumping its little heart out and you can actually see water spurting out of the hose, I think we have lift off - we just turnd off the pressure water pump and retired for the night. In fact this morning I had a look in the daylight and discovered that one of the hot water lines had come apart at a joint. Said joint was where a piece of newer hose joins a remnant of older hose. This older hose is the reinforced neoprene stuff that all the best boat builders used to use in the olden days. The soft outer cover with age is very apt to release the hose clamp. Ah well. At least it was obvious and an easy fix which I accomplished early in the afternoon.

This morning is definitely the start of the general work week here. The Seventh Day Adventists which seem to make up most of the construction crews here in Spanish Wells were hard at work yesterday on Sunday but this morning starting at 0600 the fishing boats were putting out to sea at the same time. They weren't disturbing we were simply aware that they were heading out. Their departures went on for an hour and a half as they all streamed out to the lobster grounds before the blows come through later this week and make the seas untenable. Something that I was unaware of until this visit was that Spanish Wells is the centre of the Bahamian lobster industry and it is the decline in the fishery's fortunes that has led the community to decide that they should lift the ban on alcohol to make the place more attractive to tourism.

One of the wonderful things about Spanish Wells is the stuff that you can get done here. Given that a number of the families make their living from the sea there is a marine railway and dry dock; there are a number of marine engine mechanics bot gas and diesel, inboard and outboard; there are people who will work on your hull, your electronics, your plumbing; and there are pilots to take you through some of the trickier passages. In all, one stop port to get things done on your boat. We decided to take the Suzuki into the dealer here and combining that with another trip to the grocery, and taking the propane cylinder into get it refilled, and a run out to the end of Russell Island, a sister Cay to St George Cay, and we decided to rent a golf cart for the day. Good thing we did, that propane cylinder weighs an awful lot. Too much for a half mile hike carrying it. The explore out to the end of Russell Island was informative, interesting and really quite beautiful. It is basically "the burbs" for Spanish Cay with more modern Bahamian homes than not, very large lots, on one or two really interesting property developments, one with its own lagoon cut into the island. The properties mostly all have outstanding views either North out over the reef or south across the Elutheras Sea for want of a better expression. We saw many banana, sour orange and papaya plantings.

We will take our diesel jerry cans down tomorrow morning bright and early and have them filled. While we are staying here I will empty them into our main tanks and go back for more but the second time I will have to do them one at at time as I will only be using our geezer cart to move them around. Ah well.

I remain more and more astounded at how different each of the island groups are from each other in this country. Indeed, within each chain of islands there are differences from community to community and sometimes even within a community if you consider the homes on Russell Island as part of Spanish Wells. Definitely, property values here in the Eleutheras and in particular here in Spanish Wells are much less than those in, say, Hope Town. A house here can cost anywhere from $80,000 to $400,000 with some speculative offerings at over a million but generally you can get a place for less than $200,000 that is quite nice and which you would have to pay $800,000 or more in the Abacos. The $80,000 one that I mentioned was in a less desirable part of town and definitely was a "fixer-upper" so the price is actually the price for the land, but we have seen some really wonderful places for $140,000!

Meanwhile the golf cart is getting a workout with Barb and Marcia running about to shops and places leaving little me to walk. Oh well. I can survive and I need the exercise.

Looking at the weather today you'd never know that it's going to kick up ugly soon. We do have decent weather for the next couple of days but the wind is on the snoot and then after we get somewhere that is picturesque but with nothing to do except look at sunsets the crap will set in and we won't be able to move. Everyone in town is saying how awful the weather is this year and that they can't remember another like it. Since we have decided to come back to the Bahamas again next year I sure hope this is an aberration.

The dock party is on for tonight and we are doing a guacamole with chips for dipping. I am looking forward to it.

Today's photo is of some goats we saw on our morning walk about. Later on, while tearing around on the golf cart, we encountered more goats and one kid doing a great job of chomping back on some of the tangled foliage.

PS I am really enjoying the wifi here without competing with 100 other IP addresses for the available bandwidth.