This is being sent via ham (amateur)radio as we have no other device for communication as you will read.
We want to update everyone on what's been happening aboard Persephone for the past couple of days....As we posted, we left Lucaya at around 5pm on Tuesday evening for a night sail south. We had been advised by the "weather guru" that the wx was going to turn nasty later in the week. The Berry Islands are low lying, very shallow with a minimum of all wx harbors. Simply we didn't want to get caught in a less than ideal anchorage; although beautiful. So, we decided to head for the Berry Island Club on Frazier's Hog Cay which is said to be a place to ride out bad weather.
The Berry Island Club is billed as a "full service marina" with a well marked approach channel, docks and secure moorings at $15/nite; including WiFi, laundry, telephone, restaurant (reservations suggested) and a dinghy landing. We jumped on the idea of picking up a mooring and using the marina facilities to wait out the wx. We tried phoning the marina to make a reservation....the phone wasn't working.... no problem, must just be an island thing.
We arrived on Weds morning and started working our way up the 1.5 miles along the east side of the island to the marina. Our first clue that all was not ideal was one of the green entry buoys was up on the beach....(yup, we will keep the beach on the left....but buoys are usually floating....dah !) After that, we didn't see another buoy. OK, so we worked our way up the unmarked channel reading the water colors...staying in the deep blue, and away from the light green. Perfect.
We arrive at the marina, not a single boat was at the docks which on a second look were dilapidated. We turned into the mooring field (only 3 mooring balls), and picked up a mooring a man on shore was point toward. As we looked around we saw several other mooring balls washed up on the beach, and one entangled under the dock with broken lines still attached..... (that's a bit unusual)
We set up the dinghy and went to the docks to check in. We had to climb up some less than well secure, flimsy ladder to the dock (so much for a dinghy landing). Two large barking dogs chained to a tree greeted our arrival. I asked about the security of our mooring. "No problem with your mooring mon....it's chained to a sunken truck...that truck is going nowhere mon....ha ha ha".
Can I get the WiFi code to log onto the internet...."sorry mon...hasn't worked in a long time, mon" "How about the phone", I asked ? "No phone, mon..we use the internet" (Skype?) OK.... By this time we were in the office, "restaurant" and bar combination. I suddenly realized why reservation were needed....to make sure the "cook" was on duty. How are the conch fritters, I asked....."no mon....conch hasn't been delivered in days...." We went back to Persephone, and went to the beach for the day (which was really nice)
On Thursday morning we again listened to the wx, and the guru said the approaching front was one of the worst in years (literally) with 30+knt gales and squalls to 50kts+ I decided to check out the mooring a little closer....yup there is the truck on the bottom, and a very light chain was connected to it....."Trudie, I have a bad feeling about this place...." "Let's get otta here...NOW !" Great idea, she replied.
We decided take a short hop next door to Chub Cay Marina. This is billed as a "full service marina" including a pool, and island store for groceries. Sounds great....but more expensive than a mooring....
We arrived yesterday just before noon. The docks are state of the art, floating docks in a man-made lagoon... very wx protected. "Can I get the WiFi login code ?"..."sorry mon, internet hasn't worked in a long time..." "OK, how about a pay phone so I can use my new Bahamian phone card ?" "No, mon....been otta order long time now..." "OK"....as I sighed. The pool is a two level pool where you sit looking out over the beach and ocean.....when sitting at the pool, you can't tell where the pool stops and ocean starts....gorgeous ! The pool has a tiki bar in the middle with swim up stools. But it is all abandoned and unused, so we had it to ourselves. In fact, we are the only boaters we have seen in the entire facility....there are several sportfishers here, but no one around. So, we spent the afternoon, at the beach, with hi end beach chairs, and at the pool all by ourselves. Apparently, reservations are needed at the restaurant....for the same reasons as the restaurant at Frazier's Hog.
So, here we sit, in hi winds, with approaching squalls, safe, sound, alone, at a beautiful facility, unconnected and very happy. We are just learning the island ways....what I have described is inconsequential to the beauty of the water, beaches, and the big smiles of people who tell you nothing works. They're not the ones with high blood pressure! Maybe they DO have the right philosophy.......
(Will be uploading pix when we have internet access....can't do pix easily via ham radio)
Sounds like fun fun fun!!! Storm here is producing tornados and a blizzard up North. I am checking out our Irish cell phone to see if it will work with a sim card there. You might want to check out an inexpensive international cell (unlocked GSM double or triple band)with pay as you go service since you can do email with radio. Be safe!
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