Jan.30th,2007-On Our Way to Nassau

We’re on our way to Nassau---40.6 Nautical miles

Tues. January 30th

0645hrs. The weather has finally improved..

Rand has gone to pay our bill. Now he’s back---“They don’t open until 7am. (He’s been advised by the woman on the other side of the locked door). Gads!!! We in fact tried to pay our bill last night and were told we had to wait until morning….Talk about poor service.

Oh Well, by 0800 hrs. We’re finally on our way with our reefed main up. Jib up too. Rand is getting a little “bossy”. There is not enough wind to sail. When we turned off the motor we lost two knots. In the Northeast Providence Channel we can see a glimmer of pink on the horizon. Atlantis!!

Entering Nassau Harbour we are required to call Harbour Control to advise our intentions. This is one of the busiest harbours in the Bahamas. Nassau, New Providence is in fact one of the smaller inhabited islands, yet has two-thirds of the countries population.

By 1600hrs., we’ve made it to Nassau Harbor Club. We even managed to confirm our docking arrangements far enough out that I can have the lines and fenders on the appropriate side.

Going under the bridge.

The good news is we got the dingy motor fixed. The man did not even want to charge us. He came to the boat, picked it up and while we went shopping not only repaired it but returned it to our boat. Excellent service!! Randy insisted on giving him a gift. Then, off Rand went for a nice long spin!!

Unfortunately the marina itself has seen better days. The main streets of Nassau are very run down and dirty.

Wednesday, January 31st.

We’ve all decided to treat ourselves on a two day extravaganza to Atlantis. We’ve managed to get two of the cheap slips (slips run from 3.50ft-7.00ft per day and that does not include water or hydro. We are greeted by a gentleman dressed in whites with a welcome package which explains what we will enjoy during our stay. We are given personalized ID cards that we can actually use as a charge card if need be. Atlantis is stunning. Modeled after the lost city, the architecture is beautiful. There is lots of entertainment, plus a pool and hot tub right beside our moorage space. (We’ve heard a rumor Prince Harry is on one of the yachts). Randy and I really enjoyed one of the waterslides. We traveled on a double inner-tube through the blackness of a Mayan Temple, riding down a five story corkscrew before floating through a clear tunnel in a shark filled lagoon.

After lazing around the pool we enjoyed numerous walks through out the grounds checking out ten exhibit lagoons which were full of reef and nurse sharks, barracuda, giant groupers, and the largest sting ray we have ever seen. It’s wing span must have been 12 feet and it was incredibly graceful.

Enjoying the beach.

Gorgeous achitecture.

The "regal" couple.

Friday, February 2nd.
We are back to semi-reality. We have decided to stay a few more days at the Nassau Harbour Club. We have a long shopping list but continue to not have much success finding what we need. Each day though we walk over to Starbucks, enjoy a nice coffee and do the internet for an hour. We still are having no luck finding a re-charger for our handheld VHF’s. We also continue to call Spanish Wells Marina to confirm both boats can get in for a haul out. Still no answer!!! I have finally completed the cockpit cushion

Thursday, February 8th.

01130hrs. We’ve moved to an anchorage across from the cruise ship docks. The anchor would not go down by the power windlass. Rand used the manual hand bar to release the windlass clutch. While Rand took the windlass down switch apart, which was heavily corroded, I spent the afternoon completing the hand stitching on the cockpit cushions..

When our jobs were complete we put the dingy in the water and took beer and wine over to UNWIND for a visit.

We were surprised around 2100 hrs. with a fireworks display from Paradise Island. This was a great way to end a full day and our stay in Nassau.