Nassau

I’m sittin’ on the dock of the bay
Watchin’ the tide roll away

I’m just sittin’ on the dock of the bay
Wastin’ ti-i-i-me

Sittin’ here resting my bones
And this loneliness won’t leave me alone

Two thousand miles I roam
Just to make this dock my home

 (Otis Redding)

Nassau has not been the most enjoyable port of call of the entire trip.  First, we are “stuck” here due to strong northeast and east winds and resulting seas that would be uncomfortable to sail while transiting the Northwest Providence Channel.  Second, the marina we are in is right on the harbor channel with 4 knot currents and 20 knot winds and we are bouncing wildly.  It is noisy and smelly…so much so, my eyes are irritated most of the time.  Finally, there are lots of people and, as everyone knows, I don’t like people. People mean traffic, crime, and more noise and all that is here on Bay Street in spades.

 

 

On our first day here, Friday April 7^th, there was an incident of great entertainment value.  The superyacht “Sunshine” (my mother’s name) was coming in and, misjudging the current, jammed itself against the pier and a tour boat, ironically also named “Sunshine”.  While Elena went on to the office to check in, I thought I would hang around and see how the two Sunshines would get out of this mess.  The decision was made to try to move the tour boat a bit to let the superyacht squeeze by.  In that process, someone cut the spring line holding the tour  boat against the current (as well as the superyacht at this moment),  Before we knew it the swim platform on the tour boat was getting crushed against the dock.  Four guys pushing and we barely held her off.  Finally, after about an hour, someone brought a boat around and pulled the tour boat out enough to let the superyacht slip by.   The tour boat was fine, but the superyacht suffered some cosmetic damage on the bow and the stern.  I would hate to explain that to an owner. 

 

The wind and seas are keeping us in port. For the most part we stay in the cabin, Elena catching up on her reading and me catching up on emails, taxes and the website when Internet access permits.   On Saturday 7 April, we went to the local fish market where Elena bought some conch for frying. 

 

We went over to Paradise Island on Sunday to see what was over there.  Reminded me of Disney Land, not much real there., but I guess normal folks like that sort of stuff.

On April 12, Elena and I went downtown to the Straw Market, which I consider a specific version of my personal idea of hell.  A large barn, with hundreds of stalls, stuffed by folks who want to sell you all sorts of junk.  Elena spent two hours in there while I just sat outside on the seawall observing all the tourists, avoiding all the hawkers as much as I could.

There are two old and well-worn pilot boats at the next dock.  They come and go at all hours, dropping off and picking up the harbor pilots from the cruise ships and large freighters.  They are loud and smokey. While I admire the way they are handled by their captains, they are a nuisance.

There have been some interesting characters coming and going at the marina.  There was one young lady with one side of her lovely hair shaved and a couple of “things” in her forehead, looking for a lift to Florida.  I left it up to Elena, but while we were considering it, she left with a solo sailor and his dog bound for parts unknown.  I did check with her former boat (a large, beat up schooner with a motley crew that charters to adventurous passengers out of Nassau) and they said the she had checked in and she was fine. 

Two young men with more courage than sense or money came in late one night on a beat up, 26-foot boat.  One was from Denmark and one was an Aussie.  Evidently they had caught their rudder on a rock in the Berry Islands and bent the rudder shaft.  After freeing the rudder by diving and cutting away a portion of it, they limped the 50 miles to Nassau, barely able to steer a straight course, and then were escorted under less than courteous conditions into the marina late in the afternoon by the Bahamian Coast Guard, who considered them a hazard, I suppose, and who gave them 24 hours to clear out.  They needed to haul their boat out of the water to remove the rudder (about $400) but the young men claimed they had no money.  I guess they had no money for the marina either, because by the next morning they were gone to who knows where, looking for a quiet place to pull that rudder, I would guess. 

On April 17^th, one of my great worries happened to someone else.  A Tayana 37, a very similar boat to Sophia, was coming in to a slip at the marina, misjudged the approach to the slip, and then, trying to recover, got crossed up in the 4-knot current, crashing into the anchor platform on the motor yacht next to us, tangling its lifelines in the anchor and resting up against our dinghy.  With a full keel, one engine, and no bow thruster, once you lose control of these heavy boats, it is all over and the current and wind decide your fate.  The Tayana lost a couple of lifeline stanchions and broke a couple of lifelines and the skipper was terribly embarrassed.  (I went over to console him with a couple of my sea stories.)  The motor yacht was scratched just a bit.

The young couple next to us is traveling with a one year old.  He is German and she is from D.C. area.  It was funny to watch the kid walk around the cockpit by itself.  Elena had a bubble making toy which she donated to the amusement of the kid. 

On the 18^th, I found the second circle of Bahamian hell (the first being the Straw Market)—Bahamas Immigration.  We had to go to get a two-week extension of our papers, something I would have ignored, but Elena insisted on compliance.  There was a line that was a two hour wait to get in the front door. Another long line at the window to check in. A third wait to turn in the forms. And finally, another hour-long wait to see the immigration officer who spent all of 5 minutes to give us a renewed form.  All of this was in the same place that is the specialty office for Haitian immigrants and deportations and there was a full waiting room.  I do have to confess that the Haitians were all quiet, mostly well dressed, and well-behaved (except for one crying baby, but babies are babies) and the Haitian patois was pleasant to listen to.   After four hours, we had our papers.   Note:  It turns out that Elena did not need an extension because she had gone to the states for a few days, so the whole experience was almost for nothing, except for the knowledge to never do that again.

We are on the waterfront and like most waterfronts, it is not entirely safe and certainly not scenic.  We take taxis, or if we walk, I escort Elena everywhere.

During the weekend of 15-16 April, winds were blowing at 20-25 knots.  This is the “blow” we have been waiting for, in order to get out of here in good weather.   We renewed our immigration papers on Tuesday (Immigration is closed on Easter Monday), restocked our groceries for the two weeks transit to Florida, and topped off our water tanks.   Our plan was to depart on Wednesday morning, April 19, at 9am during high tide slack water (no current) for a two or three day run to West End, Grand Bahamas Island and then make the crossing.  We have a weather window that closes on Monday, April 24^th, so we need to arrive at West End on the 22^nd and then depart the morning of the 23^rd.

Wednesday morning came and we were ready to go. Tanks filled, electricity disconnected, a thermos of coffee prepared and only 3 lines holding us to the dock.   At the appointed hour, the winds increased to above 20 knots and stayed there.  I was OK with the waves out in open water, but winds of 20 knots is far above the operating window for me to maneuver in tight quarters like a marina.  Elena made the call to wait a day and then after looking at the forecast and having missed our window for the crossing, we decided to wait until Friday when everyone else left in the marina had decided to move on.  That moved our schedule to the left, leaving Nassau on the 21^st and crossing on an overnight sail on the 27^th and 28^th.