MY LAST POSTING FOR AWHILE

April 14, 2012  Dateline: Denville, NJ

It has been a while since SALT ‘N SAND last did a posting and it will likely be a while before the next posting is made. Meanwhile, I will be enjoying the sunshine and warm waters of Florida awaiting my next destination.

Carol here; Rich was not feeling well while in the Bahamas. As soon as we all got back to the Florida, we rented a car and drove back to New Jersey to see some doctors.  Rich ended up in the hospital will a serious illness.  Within 24 hours of being admitted to the hospital Rich had blood tests, an ultrasound, a CAT (not short for Caterpillar) scan and an operation. (Rich sure appreciates the American medical system.)  Unfortunately, the job was not completed and Rich was back in the hospital this week for another few days.

In any event, SALT ‘N SAND will be silent until Rich gets back to her; however, that will likely be several weeks from now.  So please check back from time to time and see if I started posting again.

Remember life is a journey, we are lucky to travel.  The difference between an Adventure and an Ordeal is Attitude-------make sure yours is positive.

THE WORLD IS A SMALL PLACE

March 31, 2012  Dateline: North Palm Beach, FL USA

After starting to begin the marina checkout process at 8:AM, Rich finally got cleared to leave at 8:30 and I, along with MY WAY ,was on our way at about 8:45.  As I pulled out into the Caribbean Sea it was flat with waves less than ½ foot.  I was traveling at nearly 20 mph and was hardly bouncing.

The Bahamians purchased a bark from Germany to use as a tourist attraction.  On my way past Freeport Harbor, Carol got this picture of it.

When I was 7 miles from the Lake Worth inlet I heard PASSPORT, SOMETHING SPECIAL and BROWN EYED GIRL on the radio.  They had left West End on Grand Bahama Island at 6:30 that morning and were moving across the water a lot slower than me.  They were heading to the same marina as I was. Later in the day the owners including Rich and Carol all got together on the dock for docktails.

On the way to the marina I past Peanut Island, there is some collection of tents and vessels there.

Rich and Carol picked up a rental car and went to immigration to check back into the US.  When they arrived they were told that they needed a customs clearance number. They called an 800 number and were given a number about 15 digits long.  The man in the immigration booth then recorded this number and at 3:56 they were check in. The office closed at 4 PM and would not re-open until Monday morning. Boy, were they lucky!

At the marina there were two of my friends from Cape May; LIZANNE, and HEY JUDE, both spend their summers at Canyon Club.

SOMETHING SPECIAL TOO was also at the marina.  It turns out that SOMETHING SPECIAL, who is doing the loop with us, had been previously owned by the people who currently own SOMETHING SPECIAL TOO.

 A 60"Viking sport fishing boat at this marina has the name “MY WAY” painted on its stern. Francine and Wayne on their “MY WAY” turned south after entering the Lake Worth inlet and headed to a marina at Lantana. They needed to return to their home there for a short stay before heading north again with Rich and Carol.

A VISIT FROM SANDRA AND PAT

March 29, 2012  Dateline: Port Lucaya Grand Bahamas, Bahamas

It has been nearly a week since I last posted to the blog.  I have an excuse, Rich and Carol’s youngest daughter, Sandra, came to Port Lucaya along with her significant other, Pat.  They kept everyone busy doing not much.  There were several visits to the casino.  Pat and Wayne of MY WAY played a few rounds of golf.  Carol, Sandra and Francine shopped at the Port Lucaya Market Place and the International Bazaar near Freeport.  When they were finished shopping they went shopping again.  The Market Place was adjacent to the marina and they had to walk through it every time they left the boat, even to go to a restaurant or the pool or the ocean. And of course, Skipper always kept everyone amused.

On Tuesday, Rich, Carol, Sandra and Pat rented motor scooters and drove around the Freeport/Port Lucaya area.  Rich lead the way, and Pat did a terrific job of following, especially when Rich had no idea where he was going (they went around a rotary twice).  The trip highlighted the continued financial pressure on the island as there was a large number of empty buildings and ones that were started and then stopped before completion.  The cruise ships that stop at Freeport bring an estimated 1.3 million to the port each year.  While that number of people should provide a good solid tourism base, less than 200,000 actually get off the ship, which does not bring a lot of spending money to the area.  Unlike Nassau, Freeport has nothing around the port to attract tourists to leave the ship. They must take a bus or taxi to get to Port Lucaya to get to where all the action is.

Restaurants in Port Lucaya are surprisingly good.  There were several of them visited by Rich, Carol, Sandra and Pat.  The presentation was good and the food very good except at one restaurant where Rich had lunch and got sick—oh well sometimes it happens.

Yesterday, my swim platform would not go up.  At 7:15 this morning Rich was on the phone with the owner of the manufacturer.  After following the instructions which included the switching of the up and down valves the swim platform was finally raised to the normal up position.  A new valve is in the mail on the way to the Boonton address.

Today, Rich met the owner of HAREM.  HAREM had been in the marina for the last week but no one noticed the Looper flag on her bow.  They will be here for

another 2 weeks and commented on the economic depression that the island is suffering.

Tomorrow I am on my way to Palm Beach, an 83 mile trip.  On Saturday Rich and Carol are going to drive to New Jersey and leave me to enjoy the Florida sun.

SIGHTS OF PORT LUCAYA

March 22, 2012  Dateline: Port Lucaya, Grand Bahama Island Bahamas

I continue to wait for the arrival of Sandra and Patrick, they will get here tomorrow and be here for the week. 

The Port Lucaya Marina is located next to the Port Lucaya Market Place.  The Market Place is an area where there are a large number of shops, restaurants and 2 straw markets. Cruise boat passengers are bused here daily.  Guess what, there is a fair number of jewelry stores and liquor stores selling “duty free” merchandise.  Each day when the cruise ships arrive in Freeport (Freeport is next to Port Lucaya.) there are musicians at Count Basie Square in the Market Place.  The music played is of course local Bahamian music and the musicians are very good.  The Square is named for the jazz musician who lived on Grand Bahama Island.  Tonight the Port Lucaya Junkanoo festival will be held at the Market Place and it should be fun.  The Port Lucaya Marina is crowded and nearly full.  This picture shows the main part of the marina along with the boats in it.

Rich and Carol took my tender out for a ride around the Port Lucaya area.  The area is a series of canal that were developed for houses needing a deep water access to the Caribbean Sea.  They went with Wayne, Francine and Skipper who were riding in their tender.

Along the way they came across this “Ghost” ship (its name is GHOST) tied up at one of the houses.  The ship looks like it is in really sad condition, but the lines appear to be in good condition. However, it is not possible to tell whether they are strong enough to handle the load.

The Port Lucaya Yacht Club is close by the Port Lucaya Marina.  (The Yacht Club recently purchased the Port Lucaya Marina.)  The Yacht Club was built when the economy was strong and it was a large project.  The marina today stands mostly empty.  Perhaps my visit to the islands is early and the large crowds have yet to come but it seems that there is a large investment that is not producing a return.

Upon returning to me Carol took this picture of ME and a 60 foot Sea Ray Sundancer.  The Sundancer is sure a pretty boat

IT’S SAD, SO SAD

March 20, 2012  Dateline: Port Lucaya, Grand Bahama, Bahamas

The purpose of this posting is not to knock the Bahamas or any place we visited.   It is a statement on how the US ecomony effects the rest of the world, in particular those countries that are dependent on the US for Tourism.  The Bahamas are not to be missed.  Port Lucaya, Nassau, Chub Cay, Great Harbor, and Bimini are great places to visit.

I am giving Rich the opportunity to write today’s posting as not much happened in my world.

For the past several years, The United States has suffered through some tough times with high un and underemployment.  One forgets the impact that those tough times have on the rest of the world.  When Carol and I were here on Election Day in 2008, there was great enthusiasm for The United States new president and what he was going to do for his country and therefore the positive impact those actions would have on the Bahamas.

Fast forward almost four years later and the Bahamas are feeling a worse impact than the States.  Each island that we visited has many property developments that were started but have not been finished.  There are empty buildings, closed and abandoned hotels, half complete marinas, never completed casinos as well as private dwellings that were stopped as some stage of completion.

The only area that seemed to be impacted to a small degree was Nassau.  The Atlantis was full---but that marina does not want boats under 50 feet.  The marina at Atlantis is the place to back your mega yacht into its slip, have dinner on the aft deck and be seen by all the people walking by.  On the other hand the hotels there were not very full and this was during Spring Break.

Port Lucaya seems to have been very adversely impacted by the slowdown.  One major hotel closed down, completely.  Another has stripped a number of rooms so that they are now see-through.  The marina is in a state of disrepair.  Shops are shuttered all around the area.  Even the casino is lacking customers.

On Great Harbour Cay abandoned buildings were burned so squatters would not occupy them.  The marina had few boats in it and the staff was hoping that the rest of the season would pick up.  The 9 hole golf course was in a state of neglect and the club house was not open.

At Bimini Bay Marina and Resort 90% of the slips were empty.  Real Estate development has stopped other than contracted homes.  The Casino is not going to be completed, the resort restaurants were barely open, and of course the business was limited.  Again the shops at the marina village were closed.

All in all it is sad very sad. But nevertheless, we’re having great time!

TO THE BERRY ISLANDS

March 17, 2012  Dateline: Great Harbour Cay, Berry Island Bahamas

After Rich said goodbye to Wayne and Francine’s youngest son, he and his family were on their way back to Canada after a week in Atlantis, I got on my way to Great Harbour Cay Marina in Great Harbour Cay.  The trip was about 73 miles and the seas were nearly cooperative.   The wind was pushing the waves against my starboard bow.  Periodically, I would break a wave and the sea would fly up into the open panels my bridge.  By the time I got to Great Harbor I was covered with salt inside and out.  While the waves were breaking on my bow, I was still able to travel at nearly 20 miles per hour so the trip was short, time wise.

As I neared the northern most point of the Berry Islands, I passed Stirrup Cay and Little Stirrup Cay.  Both of these islands are leased by cruise lines.  The cruise ships anchor off the island and ferry the passengers ashore to experience “the real Bahamas”.  There are also water sports, such as parasailing, offered at the islands.  There were two cruise ships anchored off the island, the Majesty of the Sea and the Norwegian Sky.  They were both anchored near my route; I came close to them but far enough away to meet the legal requirements.

Great Harbor Cay Marina is an interesting out of the way place.  This marina was once a much visited place, but those times have passed it by.  The island had a Jack Nicholson Golf Course, condos and club houses.  Some of the condos were burned when the market sank.  This action was taken to avoid the homeless from moving into them.  The marina and its bar have been allowed to decline as maintenance money became scarcer and scarcer.  The entrance to the marina is unique.  It is a channel that has been blasted out of rock so that there is access from the sea to the marina.  The rock walls are 10-12 feet high vertical from sea level.  Having said all of that Rich and Carol agreed that they would like to stay here an additional day, however travel must take place when the travel window permits.  The window is open for tomorrow to go the 62 miles to Port Lucaya and it closes on Monday for several days as the wind continues to increase.  That means we leave in the morning for Port Lucaya and await the arrival of my sister Sandra and Patrick on Friday.

MORE LAND BASED ADVENTURES

March 13, 2012  Dateline: Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas

Yesterday I posted a picture of SERQUÉ and MARY JEAN II comparing the size of the two yachts.  Last night another yacht named BOARDWALK docked next to SERQUÉ.  BOARDWALK is only 165 feet long, 30 feet longer than SERQUÉ.  BOARDWALK also has a helipad and a helicopter on its stern.  The point of the picture is that even 135 foot yachts can look small when docked next to much larger boats.

Rich and Carol had an interesting day walking around Atlantis today.  Atlantis has an extensive aquarium as well as shallow pools where they keep many kinds of fish.  In one pool they keep mako sharks and sting rays.  Some of the sting rays are really large as this picture shows.

Every year on Boxing Day, the day after Christmas, there is a Junkanoo parade in many areas throughout the Bahamas.  The event originally started by the slaves as a way for them to celebrate some freedom.  The participants in the parade dress in very fancy costumes.  The parade is becoming commercial and most large resorts now put on Junkanoo Parades for their guest.  The costume pictured below won the first prize in last year’s big parade, it is quite elaborate.

It is difficult to describe the beauty of the Atlantis property.  This picture taken from the hotel looking toward the beach gives you some idea just how pretty the property is.

When walking out of the hotel yesterday Aaron, one of the doormen, started talking with Carol and said that it was almost 20 years since he last saw her.  Carol played along with him and Rich took this picture.  To enter certain parts of the hotel you need either a bracelet or your room card.  When Rich and Carol walked back in the door, Aaron told her she did not need either and just gave her another big hug.

Perhaps Aaron was good karma from the other night.  When returning from dinner a few days ago, a man on the street asked Rich and Carol if they could help him get some food.  They walked on by, but Carol said let’s give him my leftover dinner; after all, it was almost half a meal.  Rich walked back and offered it to the man.  He smiled and showed off his mouth full of gold teeth and said he could not take our food.  Rich insisted and he took it, one more beggar forced to accept food and not get any cash.