Traveling with Eric's Inheritance

Day 259 Monday, March 6, 2023

Great Harbour Cay, Berry Island

Weather dictates that we leave today. We had planned to stay a day and check out the island but weather rules. We left at 12:40 but not until we had met Gerry and Marrgie from London Ontario (funny – she isn’t a Margaret either) and saw the manatee in the marina. Great Harbour Cay is right by Coco Cay owned by Royal Caribbean. They bring passengers here to enjoy the island paradise and amusements they’ve created.

Check out the amusements on Coco Cay.

We passed Odyssey of the Seas and Wonder of the Seas at the island.

Our goal was Bonds Cay but monitoring the wind we ended up at White Cay. We rafted with Call Me Curly in a nice calm anchorage. Grant ferried us to shore in his dinghy to enjoy the beach. Guess who was already there? Jennifer and Seth from Witness. Our paths cross again. We also said hi to a couple from Shelburne Vermont passing by in a dinghy!

Call Me Curly

Rocky landscape above and below the water

The water was beautiful. We enjoyed a swim, a manta ray swimming by and found a conch on the ocean floor.

Grant indulged us with a dinghy tour of the sunken sail boat nearby. I wish I knew its’ history.

We sat on the bow of our boat enjoying the sunset and then joined for, you guessed it, Wizards.

For those of you who are wondering, the new macerator works.

Day 260 Tuesday, March 7, 2023

Today we head to Nassau. 6:45am start, we had a nice calm night at anchor. The winds changed around 4am so we had more lapping noise on the hull but still comfortable. We were up at 6am and got to see a great sunrise. We traveled the outside along the Northwest Providence Channel. We had 1-2 foot waves and a sunny 6 hour crossing.

We didn’t have any reservations so were hoping for the best in Nassau. I made several calls along the way and researched our options. We sat outside the Nassau harbor entrance while we made multiple calls (with marina instructions to call back at 11:30, call back in 10min, etc.) waiting for conformation that we had slips. Finally, Peter, the dock master at Nassau Harbor Club and Marina, called us back and said they had room. YAY!

Entrance to Nassau Harbor Breakwater made from barrel shaped cement.

Now that we knew where we were going we called Nassau Harbor Control for permission to enter the harbor. They supervise all the boat traffic. This is crucial when the cruise ships are moving in the harbor. Harbor Control asked for our boat name, registration and destination. Whenever you change locations you are supposed to report in.

Some of the cruise ships in port.

Very busy harbor; Jerry must be attentive.

Hotel Atlantis on nearby Paradise Island.

We were finally tied in our slip with the help of expert dock hands at 12:45. The docks are fixed and quite high. I will need to be a bit of an acrobat to get off the boat depending on the tide.

We rewarded ourselves with a dip in the marina pool. Quite nice and very clean.

On one of the electric posts at the marina.

Tied next to us at the marina - a local entrepreneur.

After we were refreshed we walked 20 minutes to town to The Green Parrot. It certainly wasn’t the same as the one in Key West but word from Susan and Danny was the Daiquiris were good. We all had Pina Coladas and an appetizer for our dinner. Then back to our boats. It was rush hour traffic with commuters heading home on our way to the bar; traffic on the way back had definitely calmed down.

The Pina Coladas WERE good.

Day 255 Thursday, March 2, 2023

Bluewater Marina, North Bimini Island Bahamas

Today we explored the island some more with Sharon and Grant. We biked over 6 miles checking out the resorts and cruise ship port at the north end of the island. There’s definitely a contrast between the haves and have nots. You need to stay on your toes while bike riding. There is a lot of traffic on the narrow streets with motorcycles, golf carts and cars zipping by you – remember to drive on the left side. Everyone does a courtesy “toot” when passing you or giving you the right of way. Glad we have helmets.

We stopped at Smitty’s for the local ‘cracked’ conch. Pretty good, it is conch that has been deep fried. We are learning that cracked means fried.

"Storing" the fresh conch until needed.

Another derelict boat.

Jerry had to compare this to Kalik.

We also scored some coconut bread at Nate’s bakery --another of the must try’s.

Tonight we had the Wahoo, seasoned and seared on both sides, as recommended. Keep the center pink; do not overcook were the strict instructions. Served with rice pilaf and veggie it was a nice dinner.

We did some route planning and learned a new card game of Wizards with Grant and Sharon. I really liked it.

Day 256 Friday, March 3, 2023

Bluewater Marina, Bimini

Toasted coconut bread with peanut butter for breakfast. Not really a strong coconut flavor; it reminds of King’s Hawaiian but not as sweet. It has toasted coconut sprinkled on top. I don’t know that I would buy it again.

Today’s adventure is to explore South Bimini Island. Approximately 200 yards separate the 2 islands with a ferry for foot passengers running every 15 minutes. We took the ferry with our bikes and starting making our way around the island.

It was a bit desolate but we managed to find the Bimini Sands resort (nice place, but empty, including the pool) and the Fountain of Youth!