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March 26th, 2011:

Great Sale Cay

3-26-11

 

Great Sale Cay (Cay, is pronounced Key in the Bahamas)

 

At 8:00 AM we pulled away from the bulkhead in fine fashion as we learned another navigational move purely by accident. The wind was blowing us against the bulkhead and when I tried to steer the bow out into the alley, the wind kept it from turning in that direction. While backing up to give us more pivoting room to make our turn, I noticed while I had the wheel turned toward the bulkhead while in reverse, the bow was turning the direction we needed it to go. So, Gary (Mr. Muscles) and another fellow sailor from the next boat slip, fended (pushed) us off the bulkhead while I kept it in reverse turning toward the bulkhead so the bow would make it’s path toward the fairway. Voila! The procedure worked beautifully and we easily made our way out the marina. (Do you remember the poem, “You Know You’re A Sailor When…”? If not, it can be found in the Archives of our website. The last line of the poem is, “ You know you’re a sailor when you realize there is always one more thing to learn about being a sailor.”

 

In talking to one of Ed’s boat slip neighbors, arrangements were made for another boat to join our flotilla while going through the shallow channel from West End to the east side of the Little Bahama Bank. Their boat draft is 5 ½ feet and the water was skinny for them. Ed continually called out depth readings over the VHF radio, guiding the other captain safely through the channel to deeper water. Once we were through the channel, the other captain decided he could proceed on his own to Mangrove Cay.

 

The wind was light and variable so we motor-sailed a portion of the 48 miles to Great Sail Cay in 8 ½ hours. The average depth of the aquamarine water of the Little Bahama Bank is only 6 to 20 feet and the clarity allows one to easily see the bottom. Occasionally, we saw stingrays as we motored over their domain. Unfortunately, I was sick all day and didn’t enjoy the day as much as I would have had I not been sick. However, Gary had the pleasure of basking in the sites and sounds of the ocean and sky as he manned the helm, totally in his element, “living the dream”.

 

We saw “fish muds” for the first time today where the water appears to be a shoal area, as the color is lighter. Glancing at the GPS and depth meter confirms it is not a shoal, rather stirred up water. According to the cruising guide, there are several theories of the cause of fish muds. The most common theory is they are caused from bottom feeding fish.

 

Great Sale Cay is an uninhabited island. Nonetheless, it is a busy anchorage due to proximity. An 8 ½ hour sail from West End to Great Sale Cay was a comfortable day of sailing, so anchoring here for the night instead of pushing onward to other islands makes a lot of sense. Also, after 8 ½ hours, Molly needs to go ashore to take care of business. And after a hot day at the helm, Captain Gary needed a swim in the cool, refreshing Bahamian water – his reward at the end of a fabulous first day cruising in the Bahamas.

Gary enjoying the clear blue Bahamian water

 

Freeport and Port Lucaya

3-25-11

 

While making arrangements for a taxi to take us to Freeport, Ed decided to take a local young man up on his offer to be our driver, after finding out a taxi would cost nearly $200.00. We paid the gentleman, Kenneth, half the price for a taxi, and ended up tipping him as well because we had such a wonderful time with Kenneth and his cousin, Alvin as our tour guides. Both of these Bahamian men grew up on the Grand Bahama Island and they told us a lot about the Bahamian culture as they pointed out sites of interest as we road around the island. (If you ever come to West End and you want a tour of the island from two very nice gentlemen, these guys love to make a few extra bucks if they have the spare time. Kenneth’s email address is: k.christie1979@hotmail.com  and he said he can be called from the marina office at his local number 242-443-4086.)

Kenneth and Alvin with the Glenns

 

Both Alvin and Kenneth are single men in their late twenties. Kenneth has done various jobs around the island, like working at the marina, and construction. Presently, he is in the sea fishing charter business. Alvin has his pilot’s license but isn’t flying right now, and he too is in the sea fishing charter business. It was a windy day today and they didn’t take fishermen out, so that is why they were free to escort us to Freeport.

Resort at West End, Grand Bahama Island

Kenneth also informed us of the amenities at the resort of Old Bahama Bay that are available at no charge to the boaters staying at the marina. By walking to the Tiki Bar on the beach at the resort, you can sign out a Hobie catamaran, bikes, or kayaks to use while staying at the marina. (Interesting that the marina didn’t tell us about these amenities.)

 

While driving us around the island, Kenneth and Alvin informed us of the industries supporting the local economy. Tourism is number one, accompanied by Polymers-a factory making Styrofoam cups, the Bahamian Brewery, the Fuel Depot*, the container ship port, a stone company, the Grand Bahama Shipyard, and numerous marinas. *We drove by the Fuel Depot seeing the huge columns of storage tanks of oil on one side of the rode and gasoline on the other side of the road. We also saw the enormous tankers off shore “off-loading” into pipes in the water that pumps the fuel to the depot. I never thought about how the process of getting fuel to the island is done before, and I found it to be fascinating.

International Bazaar at Port Lucaya

Other points of interest shown to us were the Customs Office, the Courthouse, various stores, hotels, resorts, 2 hospitals (health care is free to the Bahamians), schools, churches, restaurants and eateries.

Glenns and Byers at Port Lucaya

Alvin and Kenneth escorted us awhile at Port Lucaya, pointing out various places we might want to explore and then they left us to wander on our own for an hour before meeting us at a designated spot. Port Lucaya is where the big cruise ships bring their guests to enjoy an open-air market with all the touristy shops, restaurants and bars. Cheryl and I found a few items to purchase, helping the local economy. While waiting a few minutes for our fabulous tour guides to meet back up with us, we watched the entertainment at the square. The guys especially, enjoyed the Bahamian lady singer teaching tourists coaxed to the stage how to do a special dance she was singing about. The back side view from where we were watching gave the guys a splendid view of all the “shakin’ goin’ on”. Boy, could one of the girls shake her bootie!

By the time we rode back to the marina, we were feeling pretty comfortable with Kenneth and Alvin, and we asked them lots of questions about the local culture. They felt comfortable enough with us, that they even drove us through the “slums”, a place most tourists don’t want to see. Obviously, we are not like “most tourists” and we all wanted a real taste of what it’s like for everyone, rich and poor, to live on the island. We also rode through the posh area of new development at Old Bahama Bay, where the “rich Americans” are building fabulous homes overlooking the ocean. Kenneth told us Lady Gaga had stayed at one of the homes recently. I asked if she presented herself in one of her wild getups or if she dressed in normal attire. Neither one of the guys had the opportunity to see her. Ed asked if word got around the island quickly when someone famous comes to the island, and of course the answer was yes. Kenneth told us he has taken John Travolta and his son out to fish many times. In fact, he said he was preparing the boat to take the Travoltas out, when John’s son died. (Side note: Speaking of the rich and famous, when we were anchored at Lake Worth, Ed pointed out to Gary the home of the famous golfer, Jack Nicolas. We were anchored practically in his back yard. Little did we know when we were anchored at the same spot for almost a month in January, we were neighbors to such a celebrity.)

On the trip back to the marina, we talked to the guys about their “broken English”, only spoken to fellow Bahamians. When they speak to tourists they use proper English grammar, well spoken and courteous. We coaxed them into telling us about some of the local slang used commonly among the Bahamians and these are some things we learned: When a Bahamian can’t remember a word, they say “timgum” for the word they can’t remember and keep going forward with the conversation. In other words, they don’t let the lack of remembering a word interrupt the flow of the conversation, and they don’t belabor over conjuring up the word like we Americans do. Every Bahamian uses the phrase, “Mudder sick it” which is used to express frustration.  “Mamadoo” or “Gussymae” is their term for, shall we say, a fuller figured woman.  Our favorite phrase is “Conchie Joe”, referring to a white Bahamanian.  My new nickname is Conchie Jean. 

When we got back to the marina, Kenneth and Alvin joined Gary for a cold drink aboard White Swan and looked around the boat since they had never been on the inside of our model. Interestingly, they have never sailed on a big boat before, just the small Hobie Cats.

Gary went to the Tiki Bar with Ed and Cheryl and another couple the Byers had met moored next to Lady Bug. I started feeling badly around 3:00 while in Freeport, and chose to stay aboard White Swan.

Postscript: 3-26-11 AM I’m still not feeling well but our plan is to go on to Green Turtle or Marsh Harbor and see if this is from something I ate and dissipates or if it’s a relapse of c.diff. If I’m still sick by the time we get to a port that has an airport, we’ll fly back home. Dang!!! We are hoping “this too shall pass”.