January 7, 2018- January 14, 2018
My plane from Florida landed in Marsh Harbour International Airport mid-afternoon on Sunday, January 7, 2018. Calling it an international airport just because it has flights to Florida is a bit of a stretch. It has security, customs, two gates, a snack bar, and a waiting room. I took a taxi to Union Jack Dock where Bob was waiting for me with the dinghy. Back on the boat I unpacked and reacclimatized myself to life on board s/v Rainy Days. It was partly sunny, but Bob informed me that the weather report for the week was for rain the whole week. Hopefully, the forecast would change. But it didn’t…it actually got worse as the week progressed. All I can say is at least it wasn’t snow.
In the beginning of the week we had a few hours of partly cloudy skies that allowed us to get out for lunch and errands, but from Tuesday afternoon on it was pretty much rain all day with a few incidents of lightning, thunder, and high winds. We got some inside chores done like taking out the stove and cleaning out behind it, sweeping the rugs, and cleaning the bathroom. We used the water maker one afternoon in the pouring rain and by the time we had the fore tank filled Bob and I both were soaking wet. Fortunately, it has stayed warm even with the rain. During these rainy days the dinghy filled up with water and I took advantage of the brief lulls in the rain to bail it out.
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| The water was up to my ankles in the dinghy each time I bailed it out. |
Reading and playing word games on my cell phone filled the hours during this rainy week. I did do some cooking out of desperation for something to do. A couple of rainy days gives you a chance to relax and take it easy, but this long spell of rain is starting to wear on our nerves. The sun came out on Friday morning and we decided to go out to a local’s restaurant for breakfast and take our cameras for a walk.
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| Marsh Harbour has one traffic light at the corner of Don McKay Blvd. and Queen Elizabeth Dr. Notice the cars drive on the left. |
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| The business district of Marsh Harbour consists of a few strip malls, banks, bakeries, diners, and the BTC office (for cell phone service). |
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| All through the Abacos visitors put stickers on various surfaces. I found this one on a piling near the public dinghy dock. It appealed to me because I am one of four crazy sisters. |
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| When we returned to the dinghy dock we tipped these entrepreneurs who had offered to watch our dinghy for us and helped us shove off. |
We headed to Skagg's Fish Market to get some Mahi Mahi for a future dinner.
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| This fishing boat brings in the fish, lobster, and stone crab that is available at the market. |
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| Next to the fish market are these boats stored on the hard (or on land as land dwellers say). |
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| It is not unusual to see derelict boats around the area, |
Saturday was beautifully sunny all day. It was such a wonderful reprieve. We lounged in the sun in the cockpit and took the dinghy into the Jib room for their steak out that occurs every Saturday. We were able to watch the Eagles beat the Atlanta Falcons at the bar (yah!) and enjoy a delicious steak dinner. After dinner we listened to the Bahamian music that was accompanied by two muscians. One was playing the moroccos and the other was playing a saw with a screw driver. It’s called rake and scrape and is quite unique.
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| I think you will only see this musical instrument in the Bahamas! |
Sunday dawned windy and overcast, no rain but it was chilly. Searching for something to do we decided to go out to lunch at Snappas and watch the Steelers vs. Jaguars play off game. I enjoyed a bushwhacker with lunch.
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| This drink is rum, amarillo, Bailey’s, chocolate, and ice. Yum! |
Hopefully, my next blog post will report better weather.
Thank you for reading my blog.
