January 10, 2020 - January 14, 2020
Friday was a holiday in the Bahamas - Majority Rule Day. It was cloudy at first, but cleared up enough for me to spend the day on the beach. I started down to the beach at 10:30 am. The sun was intermittent, but it was relaxing to be on a lounge chair on the beach enjoying what sun there was and listening to the waves wash ashore. For lunch we had pizza again at the Pink Octopus and I went back to the beach. I never got hot enough to go into the water, but did take a long beach walk to collect a few shells. We talked to our waitress at lunch and she told us there was a public bus that would take us to downtown Nassau. To get the bus we would have to walk about a mile to the stop. That’s what we plan to do tomorrow.
Plans changed, Bob would rather research other travel options for getting to Downtown Nassau. I was starting to feel like a slug so I opted to take a long walk. I wound up at the neighborhood grocery store, Solomon’s. I went in to look around and was pleased with the large store and the great variety of items offered. I bought a few apples only to find that plastic bags are now illegal in the Bahamas (Yippee) and just put the apples in my pockets. After lunch cooked the hamburger we still had in the fridge and decided to make chili, except we didn’t have all of the ingredients. Since the courtesy car was not available I set out to walk to the grocery store again. At the resort entrance a taxi driver asked me if I wanted a ride and I took her up on her offer to drop me off at Solomon’s, no charge. After buying what I needed (this time I brought my reusable bags) I carried everything back to the boat and completed the chili. By that time it was happy hour and I whipped up a Bushwhacker for Bob (he is becoming addicted, I think) and a vodka tonic for me.
 |
| My recipe for a bushwhacker is - equal parts vodka, coconut rum, Bailey’s, Kahlua and ice blended to a milkshake consistency. Bob loves them! |
The next couple of days were taken up with boat chores and walks in the morning and the beach in the afternoon. We had lunch at home a couple of days since our fresh provisions needed to be eaten or thrown out. One morning I got to the laundry room early enough to get my laundry done. Bob started the project of refinishing the teak toe rail. He’ll do one section at a time. Our original plan was to take a taxi into Nassau for the day on Tuesday, but Bob was reluctant to leave the boat all day with Lola locked inside.
 |
| Bob meticulously tapes off the toe rail to prevent the Cetol from bleeding onto the fiberglass. |
One afternoon we took our cameras for a walk.
 |
| The marina is quite large with many slips dedicated to charter boats. |
 |
| The east side of the marina is lined with charter boats. Many boats were moved here from Marsh Harbour before Hurricane Dorian. |
 |
| Rainy Days is tied up at the marina. |
 |
| Charter boats move in and out of the marina several times each day. |
 |
The channel (marked by the pilings to the right) leading
into the marina is narrow and shallow.
I’m not sure what the catamarans do if they have to pass each other.
|
 |
| Palapas and lounge chairs lined up on the beach. Yes, this is how uncrowded it is! |
One of our waitresses at The Pink Octopus, Nesha, moved here from Marsh Harbour after Dorian. She said it was the worst thing she had ever experienced and that the destruction in Marsh Harbour was unbelievable. She and her mother stayed in their house until the windows began to break out and the roof began to lift off. When the eye of the storm passed over they escaped to the medical clinic that was serving as a shelter as well as for injured people to receive treatment. The injuries she saw were horrific. The ferry services and individual people in their boats helped to evacuate the people from Marsh harbour to other islands in the Bahamas. She told us she is happy here but will return to Marsh Harbour as soon as it is rebuilt which will take many years.
 |
| This is a view of the interior of the restaurant. There are tables outside too, but with the high winds we choose to eat inside. |
 |
| The dessert options at the Pink Octopus |
After we complete some provisioning and finish our boat chores we will leave the marina on Thursday. Bob and I are both chomping at the bit to get to the more remote islands and cays in the Exhumas and start the best part of our adventure. More on that later.
Thank you for reading my blog.
