Palm Cay

Waiting out a big wind event safely tucked in Palm Cay Marina on New Providence Island.  We had hoped to be in the Exumas by now but the weather had other ideas - very windy from the north-ish through Sunday! This provides very little protection in the Exumas.  The marina is very American-ish by Bahamian standards - clean, neat, attentive, many nice run-abouts or small fishing boats, but only 4 sailing transients (we would be one of those!).  Almost feels like FL. But - There are pretty condos, awaiting finishing and sale...were started 4 years ago and while a few are sold, many are sitting in a "waiting mode", often with doors wide open, letting in rains, etc, throughout the condo. Free washer and dryer - one each - which can mean long waits for their use.  But with an average of $8-$10 per wash/dry load in most of the Bahamas, I'll wait my turn.  We will be here maybe a week awaiting the weather, so I've got time.  Pictures of the grounds and marina probably tomorrow.

We actually sailed the 22 miles to here from West Bay, in the western end of New Providence.  It was a lovely, leisurely sale.  Smoke even slept while we drifted along.  Our channel came into view only as we neared the marina.  Very lovely in the calm, clear waters.  This is actually looking out into the bay from the shore.

Friends Mimi/Otto and Bonnie/Pete are here, too.  We all had dinner last night at the restaurant.  Yes, this is DRINKS, but we had dinner, too!  Unfortunately, there are 2 taxes in the Bahamas - a 7.5% VAT tax on EVERYTHING plus an 18.5% gratuity added automatically to all prepared food/drink.  That adds about 25% to a meal, making dining out in the already expensive restaurants a bit too much.

Bonnie, Pete, Luke, and I used the free courtesy car from the marina to go grocery shopping yesterday.  That is when the reality of being basically in Nassau really hit - no longer in FL.  The driving is on the left, a tribute to the islands British heritage.  It's crowded.  It's hectic. The stores and homes in this area are much better than many places - especially the out-islands - but still very Bahamian. This was a nice grocery store, but again, there is that 7.5% VAT added to the already expensive groceries.  This is the first year the Bahamas have had the VAT.

We will try again today with the courtesy car - we have it for 4 hours (combined our 2 hours for each boat) and will try to do a little sightseeing, starting in about 1/2 hour.  Better go and get ready!