The Boys on DD Summer 2006 - June 15

Monday, June 12, 2006 – I took a look at the weather and TS Alberto was down in Cuba heading towards Florida. Not expected to get to us but it could send us thunderstorms for Tuesday so I decided to head to Nassau on Monday. We packed up the stuff and were able to get off the dock at 10:38. The winds were called for 15 out of the ESE. They were actually about 18 most of the day for a beautiful beam reach all the way to New Providence. As we got closer to the island the wind clocked around to the SE more so that we were able to beat all the way up to the outer marker. Just before getting there though we dropped Eric Jr. off in the dinghy to take some pictures of DD underway. What we ended up with was an MOB drill. It was hard to get the dinghy back on the boat. I learned that the head sail needs to be furled and the engine running for any kind of retrieval operation. You also need a through line ready. EJ did get some good shots though…

After the great sail to Nassau we pulled into the harbor and called Atlantis marina. Sorry, they told me, we are full. Okay no problem we’ll just anchor in this nice anchorage here. Let’s drop the anchor. The windlass is not working! Great, there has to be a way to lower the anchor manually. We screwed with that for about an hour as I motored around. I got Jack the schematics for the windlass and I took the dingy into the marina across from Atlantis to see if we could dock there. However, it did not look like there were any spaces. Then when I got back on the boat I went to call one of the other marinas and could not find my cell phone. This day is going downhill fast! We searched to no avail and eventually I came to the determination that it fell overboard. Bummer. Oh and the generator was acting up by shutting down as if fuel starved so we were sweating.

I decided to pull up to the fuel dock and refuel and reassess the situation. We did that and got a quick rinse off with fresh water on the deck. The fuel attendant told us that we could stay on the fuel dock for the night. There was no 30 amp power feed but there was a 15 amp feed with an adaptor that we plugged into. It ran the A/C for about 30 minutes and then shut off. When I went to go look at the plug it was toasted. We unplugged and put the power cord away and slept with no air at the dock. I wanted to go out and anchor as it would be cooler but we were too tired by the time we got back from Outback Steakhouse.

Tuesday, June 13, 2006 – The next morning (very early) I moved to the boat down to Nassau Yacht Haven. Then I found out that the Batelco office was located in the Nassau Mall so I could get a new phone. I rode the locals bus for $1 to the mall which was about 3 miles from the boat. I got there when it opened and that is a good thing as there were soon a lot of people waiting in line. I was third. I explained my situation and was told to wait. Another fellow in line said the last time he was here it took 3 hours. Hmm…

I eventually got to see a service agent in the back. I had to pay for my phone ($100) at the cashier and then return to see him. Then he got my phone and was trying to get it activated which he had to call Bimini for as that is where I bought it. But they had to call somewhere else to do it (probably Nassau!). I also bought a phone credit card to charge up my phone but when I went to rub off the PIN number is was all blurry. My service agent had to call someone to get the numbers. Then I went to breakfast for ½ hour. When I came back the phone still was not programmed. Eventually it started working… Total time: 3 Hours.

I took the bus back to the marina and got to watch videos of Louis Culture and friends In Concert. Very cool local color. I stopped at a nice marine supply store across from the marina and purchased a grapple anchor for use on coral reefs and some tackle for it.

Jack and the boys were onboard. I was a little upset that they had not cleaned up at all, seeing as how I was out busting my chops to get the phone. They cleaned up a little.
Jack wanted to dive but I was beat. Besides, it would just be a shallow afternoon dive.
Jack and I went to The Poop Deck for lunch (awesome burger!) while the boys did laundry. We took a place mat and drew up some potential plans for Fresh Creek Lodge.
Then we kicked back and relaxed? I can’t remember!

Wednesday, June 14, 2006 – We all went out with Bahamas Divers for a two tank dive. We did a blue hole that was quite a ways out to the NE. It was fairly rough but we did alright. The hole was in about 90’ and vis was not that good. Jack was not impressed but hey, we just came from some of the best diving in the world in Andros. Then we did a shallow reef dive. I fed the fish…

Back on the boat I called Louis over at Atlantis to see if we could get in. I had been calling there twice a day to see if we could squeak in. Yes, he said, we have room for you. Okay! Let’s go. I checked out of NYH and we headed for Atlantis.

We were in Slip 10 which is about as far as you can get from the hotel area. You really need a golf cart ride to get there, especially in the heat. I checked in and encourage the boys to go check out the water slides and stuff. Jack and I met them out there later. We had a nice frozen beverage by the pool. The boys were beat to we headed back to the boat and got some pizza on the way. This is a photo of one of our slip neighbors.

Thursday, June 15, 2006 – Last day for the boys! Jane called and she missed her flight due to a long line at baggage. Sooo…. It was a major pain to get bags into carry on only and get on the next flight. She is majorly mad at me for not renting a van to carry her stuff to Key West. Oh well. I rustled the boys up to clean the boat for the girls arrival. Then with the flight warning Jack and they boys headed out early to the airport. We said our goodbyes and they were gone. It was a great experience but over too soon in my estimation.