April23-25 Nassau, Bahamas

We pulled into Nassau Harbour Club Marina on Friday after making an appointment with a welder. We were disappointed to find that the pool was drained and under repair but the marina otherwise proved to be a good spot. Nice laundry facility on site and a supermarket right across the street. We took Ken on a dinghy tour of Nassau Harbour on Friday afternoon. It was a little late for us to make it downtown, but as you can see from the cruise ships lined up, we didn't want to run around down there with 10,000 of our close friends.

A trip through the Atlantis Marina is always interesting with the exterior sculptures and architecture.

The super yachts are jammed in there like sardines. Even with twin screws and cheater bow thrusters, it is amazing that they are able to manuever into such tight quarters. We especially liked M/Y Indiscretion with a car stored on its upper deck.

This is a view of the anchorage from the marina. We stopped at a club during our tour and Ken got to try his first Bahama Mama. We watched the bartender carefully but lost count of how many bottles he used to mix this concoction. He also brough us a few complimentary conch fritters. Although I had cooked some conch while we were at Allens Cay so Ken could try them, I was glad that he got an opportunity to taste some that were professionally prepared. I can do a decent job but have never perfected the art of cooking conch since I can't eat them.

This is the M/Y At Last, secured at the end of our dock and preparing for a charter. The crew cleaned and polished on this boat, its two tenders and four jet skis it seemed 24/7. When they weren't cleaning, they were loading on provisions. Boxes and boxes of food and cases and cases of liquor. Thirty bags of ice which we couldn't figure out because surely it has an industrial ice maker. Then came the fresh flower arrangements which were tropical works of art. Curiosity got me and I finally had to Google it. This boat can take ten guests and charters for $150,000/week.

On Saturday we went out for an early lunch before Ken's flight, only to find that the restaurants were not yet open. We consulted with a security guard who informed us of the best spot for a late breakfast. A short hike later and we were there. I do not even know the name of the place but it was clearly a local hang-out. Breakfast is a choice of fish stew and grits, chicken stew and grits, conch stew and grits, or sheep's tongue stew and grits. Pardon me? Yes. Sheep's tongue. The boys make quick business of ordering the conch. I'm tweaked. I can't have conch and don't want fish or chicken. In a moment of daring boldness, I order the sheep's tongue. Scary to look at but delicious to eat.

We came back to the boat. The welder and crew arrived just about the time Ken was to leave. We got him squared away in a cab to the airport. The welder, hanging on to the stern with one hand and welding with the other, made short work of the job, repairing the broken stanchion base, rewelding the other stanchion base on the opposite side of the gate, and also putting in a stainless bar between the two stanchions to provide extra strength. A superb job at about half the rate we expected to pay.

We were sad to see Ken go. It was great fun having him on board with us as we traveled the Exumas. Thanks for everything!

After a fuel stop, we pulled out of the marina this morning and returned to the anchorage. We will leave bright and early tomorrow morning to head to Chub Cay. We will cross the Bahama Bank, spending a night in the middle of it before proceeding to Gun Cay. Weather permitting, we think Miami by Friday.