To Nassau

        

Nassau Harbour

         From Lee Stocking we made our way to Black Point, where we did laundry and enjoyed an excellent lunch at Lorraine’s. and then we moved to Bitter Guana.  Since I’ve written a lot about these places already, I’m going to skip on to Lobster Cay.  From Bitter Guana we moved out into the tongue of the ocean to try our hand at fishing again as we debated where to go next.  Moving in and out of the cuts requires knowledge of the tides and currents - they can shove you through at 10 knots or they can slow you down to 1.5 knots.  The problem is there is no reliable source of the tide situation so you have to pay attention to what’s happening today (or remember what happened yesterday) and make an estimate about what’s going to happen tomorrow.  We easily slid out into the ocean, so we had that one timed right.  We estimated the entrance back to the bank side would be mid-afternoon, so we chose our destination accordingly.  We had no luck with the fishing.

We re-entered the bank side between Long and Norman’s Cay and made our way over to Lobster Cay to anchor.  How could we resist a name like that?  The snorkeling in this area was great, but the current was very strong in some places, and we did a ‘drift dive’ - where you let the current take you and the dinghy you’re tied to - until you’ve had enough.  The problem for me with this is that I am not able to get back into our dinghy from the water.  Dan can, but I don’t have the upper body strength to haul myself over the side of the fatty knees.  So Dan ended up towing me, and I got a great sightseeing tour of the bottom as we made our way to a beach where I could stand up and climb back into the dinghy.  

About this time we realized Dan was developing a small infection on his nose.  Infections of the face are no joke, and his looked like the beginnings of cellulitis to my limited medical experience.  So I called in the big guns - my older sister is a nurse practitioner - and over a video call she agreed with me that Dan needed to be seen by a doctor. 

We hadn’t planned to go to Nassau at all, but this was the only place nearby where we knew there was a walk-in clinic.  So we raised anchor the next day and set out, but ended up turning back to Highborn Cay because it was just a little too rough.  Dan’s nose would have to wait another day.  Our friends Tim and Tawnia from Knot Quitters were here, and we all went out to lunch together at Xuma restaurant.  Here I was excited to spot a Greater Antilles Bullfinch.  It was not in our bird books and I had to do some internet sleuthing to figure out what it was. 

Greater Antilles Bullfinch

Friday (March 10) we made the passage to Nassau, Knot Quitters tagging along for company.  As soon as we anchored, we went ashore to find the walk-in clinic.  It was less than a mile’s walk, along a street that was dedicated to medical facilities.  A big sign pointed to a building, next to a set of steps that led to …  a blank wall.  Hmm.  We stood there for a minute, then continued on to the other side of the building where a locked and guarded door advised everyone to have a seat on one of the plastic chairs lined up under an awning.  A man came to the door, passed Dan a clipboard to fill out and came back to retrieve it a few minutes later.  Then a woman came out to administer a Covid test - standard clinic policy for anyone seeing the doctor - and fifteen minutes after that he was allowed inside. 

Stairs to no where.

Yes, he has cellulitis and they loaded him up with heavy-duty antibiotics and anti-inflammatories and he was good to go.  Returned to the Willie Dawes and ‘enjoyed’ the zoo that is Nassau Harbour.

When you think about all the activity here - giant cruise ships, freighters, pilot boats, tug boats, tour boats, fishing boats, and mega yachts coming and going - all under the official admonishment to “proceed with caution” from the Harbour Control which everyone is required to contact before moving - it’s a wonder they allow people to anchor right in the thick of it.  There are no speed limits and no inclination to do anything about that.  We spent one night there.  And after a quick trip ashore to dump garbage and take advantage of a nearby grocery store, we moved out of there to a semi-quieter spot at Athol Cay.  I say semi-quieter because there is a floating bar here and it’s the weekend.  Tour boats and charters and jetskis are all zipping around here.  It will probably quiet down once the sun goes down.  Tomorrow we plan to move to the Berry Islands.  

Sunset over Nassau