The Office and Clubhouse at Emerald Bay.
There are lots of boaters who have provided negative fodder about Emerald Bay because it has a narrow entrance channel and in extreme bad weather it is difficult to get out the channel seemingly inconveniencing some. But what we've found is that if the weather is that bad we're not going anyplace anyway. We have stayed at Emerald Bay 3 times now and enjoyed it each time we've been there. During the most recent trip there were 2 days that nobody went in or out of the channel because it was blowing 30+ kts and the swells were huge. Given the conditions nobody was interested in going in or out on those days. In fact, except for the large mega-yacht slips the marina was full.
One of the homes by the marina.
Canals for future homesites dug in through rock.
The first order of business we needed to achieve was our visit to Immigration to get our status extended. When we arrived by boat into the Abacos we cleared in through an official who did our customs and immigration clearing. She only allowed us 90 days because we were leaving in a few days to fly back to the US for Thanksgiving. When we returned on December 1 the agent at the airport only gave us 90 days so on 1 March we needed to get an extension. We rented a car and drove into George Town to do that. I called the Immigration Office on Monday and they told us extensions were only conducted in the morning so we drove in with the necessary documentation and got it done.
Since we had rented the car we wanted to drive down to Santana's Beach Bar & Grill which was one of our favorite spots around George Town so we found our old friend Dave Sikes and met him after we completed our immigration affairs and drove down to the tropics on Little Exuma. But, instead of going to Santana's we went to Tropic Breeze Beach Bar which had received lots of favorable reviews. The food was good, the view spectacular and they were very busy. After lunch we drove down to Mom's Bakery at Santana's in Williamstown to buy her absolutely incredible Rum Cake. She sells a chocolate and a vanilla rum cake but the secret is the sauce she ladles on it. Her sauce is rum, butter and sugar which the cake absorbs and becomes fantastic. If you've bought rum cake at a tourist spot you've never tasted rum cake.
Dining at the Tropic Breeze.
Our friend Dave Sikes at the Tropic Breeze.
The next major event was getting our mail at the marina which included new credit cards because our old ones were somehow cloned and being used in South Carolina to buy gas while we were at Staniel Cay. All the connections went well and we got the mail package at the airport on Thursday but now we were looking at a big weather event beginning on Saturday.
We had the option of leaving the marina Friday and anchoring out. The forecasted winds were for primarily east so almost any anchorage would do. But, if we anchored out with the forecasted winds we might not be able to leave the boat so we decided to stay in the marina where we could leave the boat when we wanted, had access to shore facilities and would not have to worry about people that don't know how to anchor.
Beginning late Saturday until late Tuesday the winds blew from the East over 25 knots and for most of the time over 30 knots including gusts over 40 knots. We heard from friends in George Town and other anchorages that they really couldn't get off their boats for most of that time. The seas offshore were 12-15' and while it made it impossible to leave the marina, nobody was going anywhere anyway with that sea state.
Enjoying the beach barbecue dinner entertainment at the Grand Isles Villas Resort.
But while this all raged outside we enjoyed a comfortable existence. I ran almost everyday either outside or in the marina's fitness center, we socialized and went out to eat often. We had access to very nice showers and free laundry. We planned to get lots of inside chores done but actually didn't get as much down as we hoped because our social schedule interfered. We had a happy hour or dinner every night with other boaters. One night we invited some friends over that were not rum drinkers to experience some very good rum and one night some other friends hosted a rum tasting on their boat. So while the winds howled outside we enjoyed good times with great friends. Happy to say that Ron Centenario XX that I introduced to everyone there too was the pick as the best rum.
When the winds finally subsided we almost didn't want to leave. While others cursed the conditions we had no complaints. On our final night we went to the Grand Resort Villas restaurant with our good friend Dave Sikes for dinner to celebrate our departure. We've known Dave for several years and spent a fair amount of time with him over those days. But, as we leave it may be a long time until we see him again so we enjoyed a beautiful night at the Villas. Hopefully, we'll be able to connect in Oxford over the summer.
Rum tasting with crews from 4 other boats.
So with our immediate missions completed and the weather abated we left Emerald Bay on Thursday 9 March to head into George Town to prepare for our departure to Long Island in the Bahamas and eventually to Great Inagua that is our jumping off point to Jamaica.
Exiting the channel was uneventful but rolly and we motor-sailed to Elizabeth Harbor in George Town with the wind on the nose. There had been nearly 400 boats in the Harbor the week earlier with the Cruisers Regatta but boats were leaving everyday so that by the time we got there the number was down to about 300 so we found an open space just off the famous Chat n Chill Beach Grill and ran into town to the market since we were out of just about everything. Over the couple days we were in George Town we were able to replenish our fresh produce and many of our other stores.
Mileage post in the beach outside the Chat n Chill.
Inside the Chat n Chill.
While in George Town we got to visit with our friends Craig and Sharon Penny on Bonavista who invited us to a happy hour and entertainment the first night. The second night we were finally able to spend time with Bill and Sandy Miller on L'Attitude Adjustment and learn about the Acklins Islands
Pic with Bill and Sandy Miller.
we planned to visit. We had planned to leave on Saturday but found out that two other friends of ours were coming in so we delayed until Sunday. So Saturday night we met our good friends Ken and Sara Gross on Alegria for a happy hour and then went back to our boat and our friends Tom and Sue Jones from Sandcastle who helped us close out the night. With luck we will get to visit with them over the summer.
Pic of Ken and Sara Gross in dropping sunlight.
On Sunday morning we left and crossed the Tropic of Cancer on the way to Long Island.
Crossing the Tropic of Cancer.
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