Cruise DAY 9 -
Sunday June 15th
Started
out around 8:30 am. After
battening down the hatches and "trying" to get gas -
that's right "trying" to get gas because Xanadu didn't
have enough "gasoline" to fully fill the tanks and we
had to go to Port Lucaya Marina as well ($357.00 at Xanadu and
$265.00 at Port Lucaya). Oh, and lets not forget that Xanadu also
tacks on a 5% charge to use your Credit Card! Off we went down the
shore of Grand Bahama to the Grand Lucayan Waterway where we had
to be sure to get through the Waterway at the right time because
the depth on the other side in Dove Sound is very shallow at low
tide. Along the Waterway (depth is about 12' throughout), there is
a house here and there but it is quite barren - something like
going down a River in a jungle, I thought. Someone invested a lot
of money to construct the seawalls throughout this Waterway but
the seawalls end about 3/4 of the way through (they ran out of
money?). This must be what Cape Coral looked like 30 years ago!
When we finally got to the other side and into Dove Sound, the
markers (if you could call them that) just looked like poles
sticking out of the water - no red/green signs on any of them and
they were placed with no real channel marked so you didn't know
which side you were supposed to be on. Making a mistake in 4-5' of
water is not what you want to be doing out here! The shallow water
went on for about 20 miles but there was only a light chop and we
made it out to deep water with no problem. We cruised along with a
bit of a squall on the starboard side for quite a while - you
could feel the wind from and felt a couple of sprinkles but it
stayed "over there" where we like it. There are several
"huge rocks" sticking out of the water that looked like
dark icebergs - one we passed was called "Singer of the World
Rock". We arrived at Spanish Cay at 5:00 pm and unlike
Xanadu, the dock master knew what he was doing, so along with him
and the guys in the next slip to help with lines, it was a very
smooth docking. Once settled in, Barry said that several
instruments were not working and he'd have to look at that
tomorrow - oh and the A/C and the Generator had also stopped
talking to each other while we were underway and he'd have to
figure out what was going on with that as well. We won't have
email contact at this Marina, so I guess we'll have to dig into
our pockets a little deeper and connect via satellite phone. We
had a wonderful dinner of fresh grouper in a rich butter sauce
(good for the ole arteries) - just awesome… Happy Father's Day!
Marina
Day 10, Monday, June 16th
This
is a gorgeous little island - just 3 miles long and approximately
186 acres with 7 ½ miles of water frontage and 5 beaches and you
can walk to anywhere on the island (if your back isn't killing
you). On this island, like Xanadu, we were able to leave Salty off
leash again and he loved visiting with everybody! We walked on a
deserted beach…..way out into the aqua waters and Salty had a
great time. Although when we got him back to the boat he was full
of saltwater, sand and burrs - lovely - serious grooming time!
There were lots of shells, including conch shells on the beach and
I could have kicked myself for not bringing the camera when we saw
a gorgeous red/yellow/orange starfish along the shoreline - it was
just beautiful. A "Sea Ray" Club rolled into the Marina
with about a dozen boats from different parts of Florida.
Apparently they do a two-week Bahama trip every year - they left
Palm Beach at 5:30 am and arrived at Spanish Cay around 4:00 pm….some
had only 30' - 32' boats and we couldn't help but wonder how the
trip across would be in one of those - yikes! There were quite a
few kids and a couple of dogs on the boats - the kids were pulling
fish out of the water faster than they could put their lines in
but they had to be quick because the sharks swimming under the
docks were threatening to get them first (the fish that is). On
one side of us were three guys in a 50' Bayliner - the Captain
being a retired "dog trainer" (maybe we're in the wrong
business). He told me Salty was the "calmest terrier he had
ever seen and it's obvious he loves the boat". Whoa baby -
good boy Salty Dog! That Captain's brother had an even larger boat
docked on the other side of him and they were out cruising around
together. We sat on the dock with them after dinner and the guys
shared "stories" and of course Salty "made the
rounds" to visit and smooze anyone and everyone...if there
was a leg to lean up against, a smiling face to gaze into and a
hand to scratch his butt, Salty was a happy guy. The people on the
other side of us were a retired couple from Florida with their
6-month-old Westie. He gave Barry some very good advice on some of
the other Marinas in the Abacos - one bit of advice was the best
side of Marsh Harbour on which to dock. On one side of Marsh there
is a Marina called Conch Inn that is very calm - no breeze
whatsoever and the one he suggested we go to be Abaco Beach Resort
that always had a strong breeze off the water. The retired couple
left before we did and as the old guy was barking out orders to
his wife on the bow who was trying to get the lines off the
pilings, she in her "Firstmate" fashion, turned around
and said "shut up - I'm doing it"! HA - that's my girl!
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