|
Cruise DAY 5 -
Wednesday June 11th - BAHAMA DAY!
We
were up early and ready in no time to head out before any weather
had a chance to kick up out in the Gulf Stream. We left Sailfish
Marina at 6:45 am and headed out the Singer Island Inlet and
on our way to the Bahamas. The seas weren't too bad as we left the
shores of Florida with only about 2' - 3' chop, the sky was
slightly cloudy and all looked relatively good for our big
crossover trip. It didn't take long for the seas to kick up a bit
and Salty was doing great until that time, at which point I went
back to the far stern seat to sit with him - he needed a security
blanket! As the time and the waves rolled by, Salty and I changed
positions to the seat behind the helm, which was the best place
for both of us really. I could sit safely (and not get my back
bounced around) and at the same time help to keep Salty secure as
he lay behind me on the seat with his halter on. It was also the
driest place on the boat even though we did get wet anyway - at
least we were out of range of the waves that were pounding over
the bow and directly into the face of the Captain! The rough and
rolling approximately 3' - 5' waves, went on for about two hours
and the sight of "The Bahamas" was a welcome sight
indeed. We arrived at Xanadu Marina and Resort at 12:00 noon
and the "Interface" Mapping System proved its worth once
again to help guide us into the entrance from the Atlantic. The
VHF radio went out (of course) as Barry was trying to contact the
Xanadu Marina dock-master, but luckily he'd purchased a hand-held
one (thanks to Billie-Boy Chalmers) that seemed to do the job just
fine until he could fix the other one.
WE'RE
HERE! I can't
believe we actually did it and so now that we are docked, we will need
to go through all the paperwork with Customs and Immigration that we
have been reading and hearing so much about. You MUST fly a yellow
"quarantine" flag upon your arrival that indicates you have
yet to be cleared. My biggest concern was that Salty would pass the
inspection - why wouldn't he - he's healthier than both Barry and I
put together! After all, he had every test known to canine-kind before
we left, as well as, had his hair cut, nails cut and teeth cleaned!
The Customs Officer showed up looking very official (no smile and
would not get on the boat) and the first thing out of her mouth is
that the Customs fee had "just been increased this morning"
and you are the very first ones I've had to tell - it has gone from
$100.00 to $300.00! Then she said: "so, before I go through all
this paperwork, what do you want to do?" Well, what do you think
we want to do - of course we don't want to pay triple the amount
anticipated, but the alternative is to turn around and go back to
Florida! At least she gave us an "official" receipt so we'll
be checking into the validity of that whole thing once we return to
the States. The paperwork was completed with all the necessary
personal information, passports, guns (with serial numbers) amount of
ammunition, boat information and title work. It took a while before
she finished the Customs work (standing out in the sun no less) and
then she left saying that an Immigration Officer would be coming by
soon but it wouldn't be too long because they are called at the same
time as Customs is called. An hour or so later, the SAME lady returns
and she is now the Immigration Officer! I guess Immigration work is
better because she is now smiling and will get on the boat. She went
through all the Immigration paperwork and when I handed her Salty's
Health and Vaccination Certificates, she said "oh, this should
have been given this to me with the Customs Paperwork". What's
the difference? You're the same person and by the way - hello -
weren't you the Customs Officer conducting the inspection?
Ok,
now that the quarantine flag is down and our "courtesy
Bahamian" flag is up, we are free to wander around - Xanadu
is a secluded spot really and not much in the way of Marina
facilities (actually deserted may be more like it). In fact, other
than some empty docks (most without power and with live wires
hanging out where plugs should be) it is pretty much a hotel
complex in the throws of being renovated. However, there's lots of
room for Salty to roam and run when off the boat and with not too
many people and no vehicles, he is able to be off leash. We walked
to the beach… only 5 minutes away and went for our first dip in
the Atlantic Bahamian waters. Salty swam back and forth from shore
to us and if he would just learn to keep his mouth shut, he'd be a
lot better off - salt water makes a Salty Old Dog very thirsty!
There was a "stray" dog on the beach that wanted to put
Salty in his place right away - this was HER beach and HE had no
reason to be there. Good thing he's a lover and not a fighter
because he just ran off down the beach leaving her to be the Queen
again. Seems as if she is the Queen around the complex too - she
wanted to chase him away from the pool area as well, but she
doesn't know Salty, if there's a pool to be found, he'll find it.
There were a couple of very nice vacant cabanas with their own
private pools just behind where we were docked - you got it -
Salty was in that pool in a flash - who needs her anyway! We had
the "Hooter Patrol III" beside us at the dock - Champ,
the guy who owns Hooters in Cape Coral was there with his business
partner and three of his "girls" and on a stylish 50'
Cruisers, Inc. Apparently, one of the girls was sick on the way
over, so you see, even in a 50-footer you can get pretty beat up
out there when the waves start to roll, especially if you make the
mistake of going "down below" in the cabin - maybe she
was just a weenie - HA! That night, we were both beat (literally)
and ready for a nice hot shower and dinner somewhere close.
Needless to say when we went looking for the shower facilities,
there were none…. so, the front desk staff gave us a key to one
of the hotel rooms and said to shower there - ok whatever works
and it did in fact, work very well. The Sprint phone card didn't
work (naturally) but we did rent a satellite phone before we left
home for emergency use (to the tune of $1.60 per minute). The
Internet system in the hotel was about as good as the dockage and
was either out or locked up most of the time. We paid $40.00 for 3
hours but I'm sure most of the 3 hours was taken up trying to get
the dang thing to work. We did, however, manage to connect with
Jeanne at the office a couple of times to check on business via
email and satellite phone. Jeanne even emailed a contract on a
listing - so we figured having her at the office to help while we
were here was going to work out just fine!
Marina Days 6, 7 & 8 -
Thursday, Friday & Saturday June 12-14th
Salty
and I went for walks on the beach in the mornings (well he walked,
I hobbled like Quasimodo, dragging my leg behind me) and for the
most part it was quite windy out there - good thing we're staying
on the inside for a couple of days. The pool area of the hotel was
very close to the docks where they played Reggae music in the
evenings for all the tourists dancing their way into a Caribbean
frenzy. Barry spent most of the day on Thursday setting the course
to the Abacos and reading charts and manuals so we wouldn't have
any surprises out there. The one manual he bought at Sailfish
Marina on Singer Island that has proven invaluable is "The
Cruising Guide to Abaco 2003" by Steve Dodge. We went into
Lucaya next to Freeport on Wednesday night and to the
International Market in Freeport on Thursday night where they were
having a "Goombay" - a little festival with a band,
dancing, food and drinks. Barry tried out their local beer (or
several) - Kalik - which he said was quite good! A couple of boats
rolled in on Friday evening (guys from Florida) and we thought the
boats were a little on the small side (25' - 30') to be making
that trip across just to fish. As Customs came by to check them in
we found out that the new $300.00 fee had been rescinded due to
lack of popularity! Needless to say, we tried to get our $200.00
back from her and of course she said she could nothing about it
because this had come from "The Government" and we would
have to contact them. Oh good… this will be interesting. Another
thing they get you on here is cab rides - it costs anywhere from
$10.00 to $20.00 to go anywhere, so tack on another $40.00 to that
nice meal you just had! We went to the "Pier One"
restaurant in Freeport overlooking the Ocean on Friday night -
very nice and nautical - they feed the sharks right off the
restaurant balcony by ringing the bell and the sharks come
swarming! Be sure to sit outside IN the outside booths for a
breeze - there's no air conditioning inside so the only bit of
breeze you will get is coming off the water. We had planned on
leaving Xanadu on Saturday around 9:00 am to head off to the other
side of Grand Bahama but the wind was wild out there and we had no
desire to be smashed around so we stayed another day. We laid low….very
low…. actually played tourist and sat at the beach bar drinking
several touristy-type cocktails and it was sort of nice to just do
nothing and be on a vacation! We also lounged around that private
Cabana pool I told you about - it was like our own private
Shangri-La.
|
.
