It does feel odd, almost surrealistic to be back in the US. For all the resorts, beautiful beaches and sunny skies, the Bahamas definitely is a have not country. The majority of the affluence that you might see there are visiting yachts or vacationers or second home owners. There is a small segment of politicians and government bureaucrats at all levels who have carved out their niche of the good life, most of which is probably salted away in Swiss bank accounts but the average person gets by. It was really a shock to walk into a normal Publix grocery store and see the fresh meats and produce available and the choice let alone the prices!...... Then this morning, to lie in my bunk having been awoken by a train whistling its way through crossing after crossing in town and becoming aware of the vehicular traffic on the bridge and some workmen on a construction site a few lots over. This isn't what we always want in life but when it's not there for a while you strangely miss it.

One small piece of domestic administration that we will have to get on with is to redo all of our passwords on the computers. Over time, with the two of us forgetting one or the other and resetting them without necessarily recording it or telling he other and you have a monkeys breakfast of passwords that needs to be sorted out. So, one little job that will take some time.

Today we made use of the rental car to explore the area a bit including introducing Barb to the area around Indian Town. While there we asked them if we could come up earlier and they have kindly agreed so we will be coming up there tomorrow to stay alongside while we get things ready for departure - packing stuff up, etc. we have also arranged with a local cab operator to drive us in to pick up the minivan that we have rented for the trip to Durham. Peter is looking into the possibility of putting a towing bar onto one of their vehicles and if he can we will transfer everything into a uhaul trailer for the trip back home.

We also visited the US Army Corps of Engineers campground at the St Lucie Lock. It is the place with the four or five docks for boats complete with power and water for a very reasonable price. The only thing about it is that you would need a car to do anything like grocery shopping or such. That's probably why not many people use them. We will reserve a spot once we are back in the water this fall and we are waiting to head out

Yesterday we discovered the answer to the problem with the cruising permit for us when we return to Canada for the summer. We simply surrender the ship's documents and the existing cruising permit to customs when we leave and pick them up again when we return along with a new cruising permit. Simple to do if you don't mind handing over documents which we don't. We will, of course, take the precaution of photocopying everything before we turn them over. Perhaps we will take a very high quality photocopy and turn them over rather than the originals.

This afternoon we did the initial cleaning of the deck. I say initial as we will be doing it again before we put her up on the hard in Indian Town. We also pickled the water maker membrane for the first time. With ours you need to do the biocide treatment if you aren't going to use it for as little as three days as organic will begin to grow in that little time. The manufacturers say that we shouldn't need to clean it (if so why did three times as much cleaning compound come with the install kit than biocide) but we will in the fall - one run through with the acid cleaner and one with the alkaline. We made great use of the water maker this winter during our trip to the Bahamas as I have a personal aversion to paying someone $0.50/gal after I have just finished paying them $1.50/ft and up to stay at the dock. Hell, even if I weren't staying at the marina I would still not be happy. I know how much it costs to make water, on Nelleke it is about $0.08/gal for diesel if I'm running the engine to charge the batteries or about the same if I am plugged into shore power per KWatt hour. I know why there is a cost like that and I would like to say why but I don't want to be black listed. I am putting together Bahama Cruising Musings and when it's done if anyone is interested I will send it to them by PM. I emphasize that it is a beautiful country inhabited by wonderful people who have to deal with the same stuff that I am musing about. We will go back, just with a better understanding of costs and what to do about it. Some of it is obvious - anchor out more, make your own water, etc. but other stuff pertains to staying in certain places and avoiding others - the anchorage at Black Point Settlement vice Staniel Cay for protracted stays. Not that you shouldn't go to Staniel, indeed you should to dive or snorkel the Thunderball Grotto, but staying long term even if you are on an anchor or mooring could be hazardous to your pocket book.

Now let me say something about this place we are staying, the Loggerhead Marina in Stuart or what used to be called the Harbourage. First the staff is excellent, knowledgeable and friendly. Second the docks are really good and there is a super breakwater which we are presently lying behind and are very grateful for. Thirdly at $1.85/ft for BoatUS members this is the cheapest place here not counting the USCOE docks at the locks. Everyone else is well over $2.00, most over $2.50 and there are al out no places left to anchor that are reasonably sheltered any more. Even moorings are in scarce supply as we found out when we arrived. This is a nice place. The guys have been great and very helpful. We'll have this place in our spots to stop if required.