A little catching up to do

Tuesday the 23rd Dirk and I decided to get the bikes off the boat and take a drive into town and have a look around and run a few errands we had to take care of. We needed some groceries so we hit the Price Right Grocery and was prepared to be shocked by the prices that we had heard so much about. I have to say I didn't get the shock I thought I would. I’m guessing that some people don’t shop at Publix in the states. Yes the prices were more expensive but not outrageous. Peanut butter was about $5.50 a jar, cereal was somewhere around $5.00 a box, fruits and veggies just slightly above normal, and canned veggies were about $1.60 a can. All this I can handle and I actually expected it. On the way back to the boat we stopped by the local conch man and bought some freshly made conch salad.

Wednesday morning was spent madly dashing about doing my last bit of cleaning and getting the boat ready for the arrival of Dirks mom. About 4 pm we got on the radio and hailed a taxi for 5:15. Where else can you hail a taxi on the radio....The gentleman was waiting for us as we were going up to meet him and he took us to the airport and said he would come back to pick us up after his moms arrival in an hour. As Dirk was trying to pay him he said no, wait till I pick you up later. Geeze wouldn't have that happen in the states. Anke arrived safe and sound and mother and son had a happy reunion and as promised our taxi driver returned to take us back to the marina. That evening the winds picked up and Anke's first evening was a bit rolly but she didn’t seem to mind. I think the fact that she had been awake for 22 hours straight had something to do with that, but what a way to break her into boat living.

Mother and son catching up
Friday the 26 we were actually having a decent day weather wise so we decided to sail over to Man O War for a day outing. This was Anke’s first experience with sailing and we celebrated with a champagne toast all around.

Here is Dirk with our buddy boaters Jim & Ellie from FinniRish

Jim & Ellie from FinniRish joined us on our boat and we managed to get a free mooring ball for the day in front of Dock & Dine restaurant. We walked the island which seemed to be so much cleaner then Marsh Harbor visiting a few gift shops before heading back to Dock and Dine for a wonderful lunch. We did hit a small grocery and found that $9.00 box of cereal I had heard about. You better like cereal to pay that much for it and quiet frankly I like my cereal but not enough to pay that. After lunch we headed back to the boat as we needed to get back to the marina before the bad weather came in for the evening.

Here is Anke getting use to her sea legs seeming very comfortable

Saturday we relaxed on the boat and that evening we headed to the marina for steak night. The next day we attended a marina pot luck brunch that one of the other boaters put together. I'm guessing that if you cant go out and enjoy the islands that you might as well do some cooking and eating. There was a huge turn out and it was nice to sample so many wonderful dishes that were put together. This was Ankes first potluck and she thoroughly enjoyed herself.

On March 1, Monday we had another beautiful day, one out of so many bad weather days that we decided to take a day trip to Great Guana Cay about a 1 1/2 hours away. We know a couple next to us with a 47ft Vagabond and so it was decided that FinniRish, and our boat load would join them on their boat for the trip over. What a nice relaxing trip it was just sitting back and spreading out on the large decks in chairs and enjoying the sunshine.

We docked the boat and the first order of business was to get ourselves to Nippers for a celebratory drink.

The beach was absolutely beautiful, offset by the colors of Nippers, it just seemed to fit. After wetting our palette we walked the beach and it seems everyone came away with some prized items found.

I started my sea glass collection and came away with some beautiful pieces to add to it. Once we couldn’t stand it any longer we meandered back down the hill and ended up at Grabbers, another bar and grill for a wonderful lunch. Dirk has grown very fond of lightly seared tuna and was rewarded with a great lunch himself. We took our time eating as we noticed when we walked past the boat on the way to lunch that it was sitting on the bottom. Low tide was indeed very low today and many of the boats in the harbor were sitting on bottom, so we had time to kill. Once we were afloat again we all piled on board and made the trip back to Marsh Harbor Marina.

Today as I write this we again are having yet another front pass through. The winds are howling 30 knots expected to rise and then we shall be hit with another cold front by morning. After speaking with some of the other cruisers we are finding that any safe Harbor is a full harbor and its hard to move about and go where you want. Perhaps we will see a change in the weather soon as I keep being told, "This isn’t the Bahamas we are use to." Perhaps we will be able to release the grip of this harbor soon and be able to do some island hopping.