THE CLOISTERS AND SIZE MATTERS

March 12, 2012  Dateline: Atlantis Paradise Island Nassau

Today Carol and Rich went exploring the Paradise Island.  They went to a place called the Cloisters.  It is a tranquil garden at the east end of Paradise Island.  The structure was originally built in the XI and XII centuries by Augustine monks in a place called Montrejau, France.  The Cloisters were purchased by William Randolph Hearst (of newspaper fame).  They were disassembled and moved to his estate on the California coast.  In 1962, the Cloisters were purchased by Huntington Hartford (one of the builders of The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company) disassembled again and moved to Hog Island (a/k/a Paradise Island).  The location is beautiful and they are being maintained in first class condition.

These pictures show the Cloisters looking away from the Ocean Club, part of Atlantis, as well as looking back toward it.  The last picture is looking across Nassau Harbor from the Cloisters. These pictures cannot do any of the views justice, but remember you can increase  their size by clicking on them.

I have learned that my size varies in direct portion to the other boats around me.  In some marinas, I can be huge and overpowering.  Of course, this is a double edge sword.  Atlantis advertises that it will not accept boats under 50 feet; I just made it because I am 55 feet.  Here is a picture of a boat named SERQUÉ along with her tender.  The tender has three 250 hp. engines on it and is 47 feet long.    SERQUÉ is 135 feet long and can accommodate 13 guests, but only six in its hot tub.

The boat next to SERQUÉ is known as Mary Jean II she was built in 2010 and is 202 feet long.  She can be chartered for a week for €310,000 plus expenses.  She has a crew of 15 and can accommodate 12 guests. She, of course,  has all of the prerequisite toys.  You can only imagine what I would look like next to her, I suspect I would look like one of her tenders.

What is a speed bump when you are not in a car?  They become trip bumps.  The Atlantis property is full of speed bumps to control the speed of the cars and trucks.  Carol has learned that when you are walking and not looking down you will catch a foot on a speed bump, thus making it a trip bump.

Carol has been very successful at the casino here. So far, she spent $40 in a nickel machine and left with $175.  She lost $20 on a penny machine. She’s not sure what she should do next, maybe a quarter or a $1 machine.