Friday 10 January 2020
Today is a public holiday in the Bahamas - Majority Rules Day, the day when equality for all was vested in the population and everyone had an equal vote in what was happening in the country. This happened for the first time on January 10, 1967. It is a stark reminder that not that long ago colonialism was a reality in much of the world not that long ago.

If you haven't already done so please note the comment on yesterday's post from our friend Vince regarding my rant. He drew my attention to something that I was not aware of, namely that as Canadian cruisers, not only will we have to pay an extra $300 if we were to stay longer than 3 months but we would also have to get a visa. This, in spite of the fact that Canada and Bahamas are both Commonwealth members. US cruisers, on the other hand, have seven months before they need to get a visa! The official Bahamian website doesn't say anything about this but then they still say that the cruising fee for our boat is only $300 for six months, and we know that isn't true any more. More research was required. Barb did the research and it appears that a full Canadian citizen can stay in the country for up to 8 months before a visa is required but if you are a permanent resident in Canada you have only 30 days before you need the further documentation.

We also have been in touch with US Customs to get some questions answered about us returning to the US after a couple of weeks in Bimini. The Miami office not only completely unhelpful the agent that Barb spoke to was downright rude. We eventually got through to the Customs office in Fort Pierce who are the ones that we would have to deal with if we clear in at Stuart and he couldn't have been nicer, more informative or friendlier. Too bad all customs personnel don't understand the first impression that they make on visitors.

Also as an addendum to my rant yesterday, I see from the Hope Town Bulletin Group on Facebook that some of the folks in the Abacos are starting to question where the relief funding is going. They are hearing stories of NGOs getting funding for work that they are supposed to be doing, in their case specifically in Elbow Cay, and they have never been seen on the ground! The whole thing is further muddied by the fact that there is no obvious accounting being done. I remember from my days in the military that one of the big problems that a mission had was that although there were a number of NGOs on the ground that were doing great work, there were also a smaller number, admittedly, that set themselves up, solicited funding from a well meaning and concerned public, and just pocketed the money. In these days of the internet and social media it isn't hard to set up a website with some pirated photos and start to collect money. By the time someone gets wise they have folded up and disappeared. Evil! Irresponsible! Inconsiderate! Whatever bad names you want to come up with. The problem is that it is most often the smaller NGOs that give the best bang for buck. The bigger ones have a headquarters and operational infrastructure somewhere that has to be paid so in some cases more than half of your donation goes to that.

Yesterday the wind system bowled through and continued through the night. Forty-five kph sustained and gusting to sixty-five. It's costing more than we would like but I am really glad to be in at this marina and not at anchor somewhere. My fingers are crossed for our friends and other cruisers out there. Especially as this is not forecast to let up for a few more days.

When we awoke this morning we helped Sojurner with a canvas problem they had and then took another beach glass hunting trip around the south end of the island. We saw flocks or is it schools or herds of crabs milling about the drain from one of the beach properties septic tank. We have quite a collection of mermaid tears now so combined with those that we already have at home we should be able to make a few crafts with them. With the amount of green white and brown glass we have we should be able to make some great beach scenes. I am thinking of using our router or a chisel to put a 3/4" groove in a piece of wood and compose the scene in there with the beach stones and then fill it up with a clear acrylic which we can sand smooth and then varnish the whole shebang. We have a couple of pieces of hackmatack root that I have cut into boards and formed them into pieces 18"x9" with a live edge that will make a nice end table or even a cribbage board. All in all a purple of great souvenirs of Bimini.