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Day 22-24, August 5th to 7th
Sunday August 5, 2007
Finally, there’s a break in the wind this morning and it’s
down to only about 10 knots from 20-22 knots yesterday and the seas
look pretty calm compared to the white caps of yesterday. However,
there is something to be said about a breeze because without it, you
really feel the heat and it is HOT out here this morning. We took
off to get some things at the grocery store before we had to turn
the car in and I took the opportunity to use the free laundry
facilities as well….air conditioned too….I love this place. Barry
ended up in the engine room for several hours this morning trying to
tune up the generator for our trip back and cleaned, checked various
systems then decided he had to replace the impeller. Our buddy Bill
called from Texas when Barry was sweating in the hole and it was
perfect timing. He gave Barry a few pointers on how to get the
impeller back in properly which is always a good thing because you
don’t want the impeller blowing up and all its little bits and
pieces getting caught in the heat exchanger and in fact, that’s
exactly what had happened to ours. So, with that nasty job done we
headed over to the Four Seasons Resort to get some lunch and sit by
the pool – without Salty this time. On our way over to the beach
(where you get access to the Four Seasons) we saw a very stylish way
of golfing (if you are a golfer) with a golf cart outfitted with a
refrigerated unit with “beer on ice”! The golfer was picking out
three Heineken’s and Barry said to him “now that’s stylish” to which
he replied in a thick British accent “yes, very respectable indeed”.
I thought of my buddies Katie and Pete, who could definitely relate
to that! We walked along the beach taking in the sights and really,
there are some sights that should be left unseen – I’m sure we’ve
all seen those crazy European guys with itty-bitty Speedo bathing
suits – yikes! And, you can call me a prude (I’ve been called a lot
of things but prude isn’t one of them) but I really do not think
that girls at the age of 10-11 should be going around topless – at
least not on a public beach at a Resort unless it is a topless
beach! I really think those girls were a bit old for that behavior
but apparently, their parents on this beach think its ok. We had a
great lunch outside by the pool overlooking Emerald Bay and had a
couple of cocktails as we watched the “tourists” and pretended to be
one of them. When we went to get into the pool and selected a couple
of lounge chairs, the pool attendant immediately came over and said
“do you care to have your lounge made up”? She “made it up” with
plush towels as if she were making a bed – what no chocolate on the
terry cloth pillow? We stayed a couple of hours then headed back to
the boat to our boy and ended up just having a very quiet night on
board.
Monday, August 06,
2007
The red wind sock is dead. On our approach into Emerald Bay
Marina, the dock master gave as a “visual” the red wind sock at the
end of the jetty and on a windy day that would have been a good
visual However, on a day like today with it being so calm this
morning that wind sock wouldn’t do anyone any good – it was dead,
the water in the marina was not only like P.O.A.P. but it was so
calm it could have been a solid sheet of glass. Whew it’s hot out
here, where is that blessed 22 knots an hour wind when you can
really use it? We are now down to a 2 knot wind which is virtually
nothing but a good boating day, that’s for sure. We are not moving
today as we had planned and instead we will stay one more day to get
Salty to the beach one more time, however, the wind will only pick
up slightly by tomorrow so we’ll be just fine. Its difficult to get
yourself going after so many weeks of such a relaxed way of living
and you must force yourself to get your butt out the door, so that
is exactly what we did as we packed up and went off to the beach. I
guess after our car ride, Salty thought we were going to be driving
so he just hopped right up into one of the golf carts, raring to go.
The dock and pavement in between the boat and where we walk to the
beach are very hot on poor little Salty’s paws and he was stepping
high and very quickly today. There were a pair of magpies along the
way who were clearly upset with Salty and were dive bombing him,
obviously trying to protect a nest close by – they were determined.
Of course Salty couldn’t care less as he was too busy chasing the
shadows of the sea gulls soaring over head – here he’s going to get
his butt picked off and he’s off chasing shadows…sometimes I wonder
about that boy. Salty can hear the beach now and he speeds up the
pace, or is that because his feet are burning off? Ahhhh, he’s in
the water in two minutes flat and today the surf is a gentle rolling
splash along the beach and the water is actually “cool” instead of
the warmer water on the other side of the Islands and not the
Atlantic side. On the approach to the beach, there is another Beach
club that is part of the Resort with a gorgeous disappearing edge
pool looking over Emerald Bay, a very nice restaurant (which we
didn’t go to), cabanas and bars. It just seems to get better and
better here! We were on the beach a couple of hours, met some nice
vacationers, floated in the water and walked through the flour-soft
white sand. Salty is “known” here now and people are not as
surprised to see a dog at a Resort – they even know he’s a Wheaten –
wonders will never cease. We made a pit-stop at the showers again
and it’s perfect for getting all that sand and salty water off Salty
– also helps to pick the burrs and pine tree needles out of his fur
when he’s wet. Just try picking burrs out of salty, sandy Wheaten
fur when it’s dry – not an easy feat. It also helps that it’s their
water we are using and not ours because when you have to pay for
water in the Bahamas, you learn to conserve your water every chance
you can.
Tuesday, August 7,
2007
The red wind sock is still dead (but slowly coming to life) so
that can only mean it will be a great run up to Sampson Cay today.
Salty does the same thing every time we are getting ready to leave a
Marina – he picks a spot on the dock and tries to completely ignore
the fact that he will be forced to get on the boat and it will
actually move. We did our usual packing up and putting things away
before we headed over to the fuel dock on our way out of Emerald Bay
Marina and oh yes, checking out and paying the bill – yikes! The
dock hand Leonard was very nice, well informed and again, very well
spoken. He had just come back from a week’s vacation and was trying
to get used to the heat again as he tried to hide behind the piling
as we fueled up. The starboard side took 178 gallons and port side
took 163 gallons to the tune of $1,394.26 – oh my. Alright, we are
off again and out into the most wonderful calm water that gives you
such a sense of extreme relief, but that’s what happens when you are
able to plan your trip instead of being forced to leave in water
that is not so kind. We went through Dotham Cut to get from the
Atlantic side over to the Exumas Banks and passed by a white cliff
they call “White Horses” because it apparently resembles horse
heads. I took a couple of pictures and I guess I was able to see the
outline of horse heads but it’s probably much like seeing the man in
the moon – I’ve never been able to see him either. We had to do a
little jigging and jagging through some shallow waters before making
a bee-line to Sampson and passed the Big Majors anchorage and
Staniel Cay Marina that seemed to be full of very large boats. We’ve
noticed that there are a lot more large yachts out here this year
and in Hurricane season no less, so I guess we aren’t the only crazy
people around. Before too long we were pulling into Sampson where we
were able to pick a primo dock that has our stern and aft deck
looking straight out into the channel and open waters of the Exumas
Banks and not into someone else’s boat. Another side docking – my
favorite! While hooking up shore power, the dock hand kept trying
and trying to get it to work – OMG – let’s not go through this
again. False alarm, it was a faulty power pole…talk about holding
your breath. We are now all settled into the Marina that looks so
familiar and of course it should be as this was where we spent a
week a couple of years ago when Hurricane Denis went by and we met
new friends from Cape Coral also, Paul and Cathy on VoGar. There are
a couple of other dogs in the Marina this time whereas the last time
we were here, Salty was the only one around and was able to run the
docks without a leash. We immediately met up with another dog, also
off leash and she and Salty got into that snarling and lunging dance
on first sniff – what a joke, why Salty bothers I don’t know because
he is such a wiener he’d get his butt kicked if he ever met up with
a serious dog. We have DirecTV again here and excellent internet
access – yahoo! It’s difficult not having internet access as that is
basically the only way we can communicate with Elise back in the
office. What we can’t take care of from the Bahamas, Elise takes
care of in Cape Coral so without communication, it’s tricky to do
business. We had a great dinner (Barry is getting pretty good at the
BBQ thing) and we sat on the aft deck in the evening to watch the
sun set as we sipped Grand Marnier – life is good, very good.
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