Nassau - The Longs arrive
Lynn & Mike ..around the world
Mike Drinkrow & Lynn v/d Hoven
Sun 16 Apr 2017 19:57
|
25:04.81N 77:20.83W Nassau, New
Providence
We anchored in Nassau in the west harbour, and also
took a slip at the Nassau Yacht Haven Marina, to pick up Sharon & Tim who
were flying in for a visit from South Africa. We were very excited to be seeing
our friends here.
Nassau is not a great stop for cruisers such as ourselves,
as the cost of the marinas is exorbitant. The charges range from $2.50 to
$7 per foot per night, and that excludes very expensive water and
electricity. With the very weak SA Rand, we were paying close
to R2500 per night, to sleep on our own yacht, in a pretty grotty
marina. The Bahamas are very flat islands, so no mountains and
few fresh water sources, therefore most water is made by reverse osmosis from
sea water, as we do on the yacht. Most power comes from diesel
generators.
The anchorages are a bit tricky given bad holding and lots
of tidal current, hence the marina option. But on the plus side, there is a
great supermarket and well stocked chandleries. Although we had stocked Time2
full of food and booze, we picked up a few extra fresh items here. And ...
bargain of the season, Campari at almost half the price of USA or SA
 The highlight of staying in the west harbour is the
extraordinary view of the cruise ships. Every day up to four of these
monoliths come into Nassau for the day, spitting out thousands of
tourists. Harmony of the Seas – pic below – is the largest passenger liner
in the world, at 362m, accommodating around 5500 passengers on 18 decks. I
have no idea how anyone can enjoy a holiday with such a concentration of
humanity. Seems like torture to me!
We were very close to them, and were very impressed how
agile they are, turning in a small area, with very little wake. On our last
night, we told to move by the police. Although we were correctly behind the
channel markers of the turning basin, a silly tosser captain from a superyacht
was not – so they told us both to move. No point in arguing. Anchored
outside the harbour, too difficult to photograph, was the 162m superyacht
Eclipse – owned by the Russian Roman Abramovitch. This $150m yacht, with a crew
of 70, and submarine as only one of her toys, is ranked 3rd or 4th biggest
private yacht in the world. Now that kind of cruising , I do
understand!
  Smeezie and I
posing
Harmony of the Seas
While at the marina Smeezie and I took a walk to town, and
on the way back, found a lady making delicious conch salads on the side of the
road. She was very busy, so we hung around for a while getting tips from her husband on cleaning and preparing the conch. Its been
a while since we were last in the Bahamas, so good to get a refresher
course.
  Tim enjoying the conch
salad
Bridge over the harbour to Paradise Island, with the pink Atlantis resort in the
background
and just in case you are to lazy to Google mv Eclipse ...
here is a pic from charterworld.com
 |