Beautiful Bahamas with wonderful friends!

If you have had a chance to read my post https://svstarship1.ca/2024/03/20/a-sailors-last-sunrise/ you will know that the first night of Dale and Jennifer’s arrival was quite bitter sweet. That night was so special and unforgettable for many reasons. We are so thankful that the timing worked for us to have the opportunity to have them meet Brigitte, Bill and Tanja, especially during that precious time in their lives. The four of us waved and watched as Summertime pulled anchor the next day.

Leading up to Dale and Jennifer’s arrival, Jas and I were concerned that the weather would not cooperate with our plans. Our aim was to take them to the Exumas but they had never sailed before. We needed to pick our travel days carefully in order for our plan to work. In the end, we were worried needlessly. Aside from some big winds and rain that caused us to head to Compass Cay Marina at one point, the weather could not have been more perfect! We had nice north winds to push us down the Exumas island chain and when it was time for us to head back up, guess what…we had beautiful south winds!

We were so excited to share our floating home and passion for sailing with them. We only met them about a year and a half ago but quickly became close friends. The four of us all have very different educations, career paths, recreations and past times but our personalities mesh so well. We found an unexpected but wonderful, unique friendship together. They are fun, easy going and open to adventure. They easily got comfortable on Starship and were excited to find out what the whole ‘crazy sailing thing’ was all about. They were eager and excellent sailing students!

The sea Gods blessed us immensely on that first sail with them. The day we sailed from Nassau to Allan’s Cay in the Exumas was a long one. It was about five hours and we were all anxious about them getting seasick. The day was perfect and there was no queasiness! We had beautiful, blue skies above us, turquoise waters below us and westerly Bahamas winds in our sails. We could not have asked for more flawless conditions and they absolutely loved it!

Thinking back on those sixteen days together, there are so many memorable times! Here are a few highlights.

Conch harvest and feast

We caught and feasted on conch! Conch, also called sea snail, has been enjoyed on Bahamian islands for many, many years. There is an art and a lot of work to getting the conch out of its shell but, when prepared correctly, is delicious! This was our first time preparing it so after a few YouTube look ups on how to get the slimy critters out of their homes, we got to work. Jason and Jennifer did the dirty work actually. Together they rinsed the slime off the meat (very challenging) as they cut off all the digestive glands and parts that you don’t want to eat. Dale and I got the easy part. We took over with cooking the meat once it was nicely prepared by our wonderful sous chefs – we were totally grossed out by their slimy fingers! Using a sharp knife, we sliced the meat thinly and breaded each piece lightly before cooking in a pan of hot oil. Served with fresh lemon, it was a labour intensive but scrumptious addition to our meal that night!

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Norman’s Cay plane and beach

We were first in Norman’s Cay years ago on our friends’, Wolfe and Lu’s, sailboat so we knew this was going to be a great stop with them! We anchored not far from a very popular snorkel spot, the crash site of Pablo Escobar’s WW2 – era plane. The story is that it was carrying cocaine when it crashed there in 1980. At low tide it sits only about 10-15 feet below water so it’s a fun and easy site to snorkel. We all enjoyed snorkelling around it as we looked at all the pretty fish that now call the plane their home.

I had also fondly remembered this one particular beach at Norman’s so we packed up some bevvies, crackers, cheese, etc and headed there to enjoy a spectacular sunset. In my life, I have been so fortunate to have been able to visit many beautiful beaches and, have to say, this beach has to be my favourite. Situated on the northeast corner of the anchorage, you need to carefully navigate your dingy in at high tide. There is a private property sign on the beach to the right but there is still tons of open beach to enjoy to the left. Enjoying that sunset together on that beach was pure bliss!

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Compass Cay Marina

There was one unappealing feature to our stay at Norman’s Cay…surge. The current is strong so at times we were quite rolly where we were anchored. It is also a shallow anchorage so we did not have many options as to where to drop the hook. This experience, however, led us to a wonderful stay at Compass Cay Marina. Soooo…from Norman’s, we sailed down to the Land and Sea Park to pick up a mooring ball. Unfortunately, the only balls available were in an area that was very exposed to the wind. On that ball, the boat rolled excessively as we all looked at each other. How would this work? How could we sleep? How could we eat even? Quickly we realized we could not stay. Analyzing the later time of day and limited anchorage options, Dale and Jennifer offered to cover a stay on a ‘delightfully stationary dock’ at Compass Cay Marina. Jennifer’s blog https://svstarship1.ca/2024/02/25/newbies-on-the-boat/ does a wonderful job of describing our adventurous trip into the marina that night. I remember being on that bow in shallow waters at night for a very long time with our spotlight as we navigated the marina entrance. At the time I was anxious and wishing we weren’t in that situation. It’s funny though, once we were there, I was so happy to have been able to share that experience with them. It was a great two days stay at Compass as we waited out the wind and rain.

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Dale’s amazing pancakes

Dale is an amazing cook. During his stay he let me take the lead with meal prep in the galley but he also enjoyed stepped in. Several mornings he treated us to his incredible homemade pancakes. To describe them, I want to say they are almost ‘chewy’ in the middle. I honestly don’t know what the right words are to describe them except to say they were delicious. Guess what everyone? He happily shared his recipe so you too can enjoy them!

Dale made this recipe up on the boat, loosely based on the Better Homes & Gardens recipe in my head.

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

Almond flour as you wish. I think I added about ¾ c. at most, but play around with it.

Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl.

2 eggs

3 tbsp oil

3 tbsp brown sugar

2 cups milk or combo of milk and plain yogurt

Crack eggs into measuring cup and beat with fork. Add the rest of these ingredients and stir with the fork to mix. Add it all to the dry ingredients, mixing just enough to mix well. Enjoy! – Dale Askey

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Spearing fish and lobster – not!

Oh, I wish. No highlight here but Jason certainly tried. He desperately wanted to spear lobster or fish for them but had no luck. Of course, not long after they left, he was spearing and pulling into Starship lots of lobster, lion fish, trigger fish and mutton snapper. We always ate well but it was too bad we couldn’t dine on fresh catch with them. We were thankful for that one conch night though!

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Palm Cay Marina

Eventually, Starship was sailing her way back to Nassau so that they could catch their flight home. We still had a few days to enjoy with them so they made us an offer we could not refuse. They treated us to three nights back at Palm Cay Marina! Shortly after we tied up, we found ourselves poolside at the marina with rum punches in hand. All of us enjoyed the various comforts of being at a marina and it was the perfect way to round out our trip with them. The marina has a curtesy car so one morning we used it so that they could reprovision us. As Jennifer and I did a huge shop, Jason took Dale to pick up souvenirs. Before we knew it, we were back at the marina lounging by the beautiful pool again. That night we dressed up a bit and went back to the restaurant we enjoyed with Kevin, Tessa and Lily called Mackenzie’s.

The next day we were up early to enjoy Dale’s pancakes one last time as they packed up their stuff. I sadly said good-bye to Dale, Jennifer and Jason at the same time. Jason was flying that day back to Winnipeg to pick up Dylan.

At this point I feel I need to introduce you to a lovely lady named, Simone! We met her through the Airbnb that Kevin, Tessa and Lily stayed at. She is a driver in Nassau and we are so happy to have met her. Many times, she drove us around the island and soon became a ‘fast friend’ of ours. She did more than just drive us safely from ‘point A’ to ‘point B’. She helped us find propane on a Sunday when most places were closed. She gave us guided driving tours as she told us all about life on the island. She held signs up at airports displaying the names of friends and family that flew in to see us. She made and delivered to us a delicious supper of ribs, rice and potato salad on our last night in Nassau! Right now, we are far south of Nassau yet she is still helping us. Friends of ours needed boat parts flown to Georgetown so she is driving the package from FedEx to the Nassau airport to make that happen! She is amazing and her fees are reasonable. If you, or someone you know, will be in Nassau, please consider her. You can text her at +1 (242) 813-4933.

Simone, as always, was exactly on time the day Jason, Dale and Jennifer left the boat. I watched them drive away as I thought about how much I was going to miss them. I wasn’t alone for long though! No joke – a half hour later our Uncle Tom and Aunt Fran arrived at Starship! It was the beginning of our next adventure that took us back to the Exumas once Jason and Dylan returned. But that is a story for another blog! ❤️