Downtown George Town.
Moon rising over the marina.
So much to share.
After our beautiful overnight sail from the little Caymans we had to accommodate the authorities by traveling around to the port for check in. Unlike many countries the Caymans require that you check into Grand Cayman after leaving the little Caymans. Cuba requires that you check in and out of each port with no stops but many islands like the Bahamas provide a Cruising Permit to go wherever you want in the country. But from here we will continue on to Guatemala so we just clear out of here to travel to our next port.
The George Town Yacht Club at Barcadere Marina.
One of the reasons we chose to stay in the Barcadere Marina as we did was because Customs will clear in and out here. That they wouldn't come here was a disappointment but they will clear us out here and after they do we can buy fuel duty free so that will be some amount of discount. Staying here in the marina is very nice and we're right across the dock from our friends on Symbiosis and Tropical Blend. We've gotten very comfortable here. There has been a nice steady breeze during the day to keep it cool. We have our sun covers up to keep the sun's heat off the boat and at night we run the air to make it comfortable for sleeping.
The blue flip flop outside the Margaritaville Resort on Seven Mile Beach.
Having a rental car here has been great. Everything on the island is expensive but the rental cars. We have a full size car for less than $20 a day. Even though the marina has a shuttle, using it with bus or taxi fees would be more than $20 a day for 2 people and less convenient. Having the freedom to move about the island makes so many opportunities available. There is just so much to do here.
The plaza at Camana Bay shopping area.
After being on the hook in the little Caymans for over a week there were some priorities requiring attention. Laundry, food shopping and maintenance were top of the list. The next tier agenda included getting dive gear, doing diving, getting boat supplies, seeing Barefoot Man and enjoying some of the world class activities here.
The bountiful and well-stocked super markets of Grand Cayman. A truly welcome site after the Bahamas and other islands.
After our first day of casually getting about we started doing shopping ventures and picked up our car on Wednesday to help in getting the laundry done. Our days were a mixture of doing errands and chores; socializing with friends; and enjoying the ambiance of this diamond rising from the deepest depths of the sea.
Our friends Serge and Charlotte after lunch at Vivo.
Thursday we had lunch at Vivo at Lighthouse Point, a mostly vegetarian restaurant, with friends Serge and Charlotte from Kuaka who will be buddy-boating with us to Rio Dulce. We met Serge and Charlotte in Port Antonio. They have been cruising for years and are on their way to their home in New Zealand. We're really happy to be sharing this travel leg with them. They have a slower boat than we do but we will adjust our speed so we can stay close together. Especially as we navigate through the Gulf of Honduras and in to Livingston.
Thursday night we did another rum tasting on Tropical Blend. I regretted not having some of my favorite rums there to share. One new one we opened was Seven Fathoms brewed right here on the Cayman Islands and we were all pleasantly surprised. It was an immensely enjoyable evening with our friends as we listened to their "cheesy mix" of songs and enjoyed the multitude of rums.
Our rum tasting at Cayman Spirits. Of course we had to buy some.
Friday we worked in a tour of the Cayman Distilling Company and got to sample all of their products and especially all the rums they produce. Enjoying the rums and the tour was a highlight of our visit. Unlike other distillery tours it was really fun and the rum was great too. Our friend Bahama Bob from Key West was here recently and they sell his book there.
Saturday we drove to the extreme point of the island, Rum Point to grab lunch, swim and snorkel. The houses around the area were amazing and the resort guests made the activities interesting. Rum point is the kind of place where you could really waste away with a rum drink or margarita. But then, that's almost everywhere on this island.
Wreckers Bar at Rum Point.
Saturday night Linda and I went out to Deckers, a very nice restaurant with entertainment. There specialty for the night was all the lobster you can eat for $50. We simply enjoyed the music, a few drinks and the wonderful evening. Celebrating a week in Grand Cayman already.Hard to believe how quickly the time has passed here.
The south coast of Grand Cayman.
Sunday morning we had a buttermilk pancake with blueberries breakfast for the first time in months. It has been since Marsh Harbor that we actually had real buttermilk with real blueberries to enjoy in our Sunday morning breakfast. Amazing that buttermilk is not available everywhere and blueberries are a delicacy in the tropics. Sunday we went with our friends to a locals beach for snorkeling but the water was rough. Like everyplace in the Caymans there is so much to see.
Monday I went out on a dive boat for 2 dives. It was really nice because there were only 2 other divers and our guide. During the first deep water dive we saw a friendly nurse shark and 2 green sea turtles attempting to mate. The underwater scenery in the Caymans continues to impress. I've done 8 dives while here and would have like to do more but with all the time we have it is really limited. Hopefully we can come back here and I can do many more dives. In the fall we will go to Belize and Roatan to do many more dives.
One of the errands we had to do here is to buy a complete set of dive gear. It was one of those things always lurking in the background but here we did it. I now have, a tank, dive computer, dive camera, BCD, regulator and I had to buy a new set of fins because my old ones developed a crack after 12 years. Now if we hook something with the anchor (like we did in Inagua) or have any underwater issue (like bottom cleaning) I can dive on it with enough air to stay down long enough to resolve it. This was one of our large outstanding issues since we moved aboard. In some places I can use the dive gear to catch conch or lobster. So with our time here we moved closer to absolute self-sufficiency.
Tuesday we went to Lighthouse Point with our friends to snorkel the reef and have lunch again at Vivo. The dive site is interesting because it is really set up for a shore dive so it is an easy snorkel because the wall is relatively close to shore. But, Linda and I snorkeled along the shoreline that had extremely interesting and complex draws and canyons that all had colonies and schools of fish in them as well as presenting a compelling seascape. I snorkeled out to the first wall and got to see the Guardian of the Reef Statue that was in about 40' of water. On Tuesday evening working with IP 38
Guardian of the Reef Statue.
owner Steve Elliott we organized a happy hour on his boat up in Governor's Creek with our friends Serge and Charlotte, new friends Dave and Janice on Livin Life to discuss going to Guatemala. We also discussed going to the Margaritaville Resort on Wednesday to see the Barefoot Man. More on that later. As I've said before, we constantly meet old friends and new ones almost everyday.
The Cayman National Gallery.
Thursday was our next big day because Wednesday was election day in Caymans and everything was closed. In the morning Linda and I visited the Cayman National Gallery. Its current content is small because it is so young. Cayman has only had an artist school for a few decades and it was interesting to see the transition of old Cayman to new Cayman as seen through artist's eyes. One of the seminal events in Cayman history was Hurricane Ivan. It is interesting to note we were here one week before it hit so we followed closely the tragedy and it could fully understand the artists commentary. Also on Thursday we drove out to the eastern side of the island and toured the Queen Elizabeth II Botanical Garden that serves to preserve and explain the islands flora and is a preserve for the endangered Blue Iguana that we saw many of in the Gardens.
Scenes from the Botanical Garden.
A traditional Cayman home moved to the Garden from the East End. The house was about 150 yrs old.
One of their rare blue iguanas napping.
A dwarf pineapple. Probably would go good on a cocktail straw.
Miss Botanical Garden.
Thursday night was another one of those really high points of our visit here on Grand Cayman. Regardless of everything else we wanted to see the Barefoot Man perform. Barefoot has been an institution on Grand Cayman for decades. He expanded his territory to the Bahamas with his Nippers Concerts and we saw him there once. The Margaritaville Resort opened recently here and he was supposed to perform there Wednesday night but I guess the party planners didn't get the memo about Election Day here in the Caymans because no alcohol can be served before 1900 and Barefoot was supposed to perform at 1730. They had to cancel but we found out he would be at the Wyndham Reef Resort on Thursday night so we planned to go and we channeled everyone to the Reef Resort.
2 person deep sea submersible exploration vessel on display at Eagle Ray Resort.
Happy hour and dinner at Eagle Ray Resort.
We had 10 people sitting around a large bar table enjoying the Barefoot Man at the Reef Resort. This is the venue that made him and his show as usual did not disappoint. We wanted to buy his latest CD which he had sold out of and what a great guy in chatting with him. So our other key objective on Grand Cayman was achieved! Seeing the Barefoot Man. It's great that he has gotten into the Jimmy Buffett-sphere after all these years. He was performing at Margaritaville Key West last week. Great for him! A Cayman Island original.
Barefoot in concert as seen from the cheap seats.
An after-show selfie with the Cayman Island legend.
Friday night we went to happy hour at Rackams a very cool place down on the George Town waterfront with Steve, Livin Life and 3 other boats that we met for the first time. The cheese curry fries and jerk chicken were fantastic! Most of us at the happy hour are going to Guatemala so we'll see everyone there. Another fantastic night of socializing with cruising sailors.
Most of these folks will be in Rio Dulce with us.
We left the Bahamas just short of 2 months ago. We spent several weeks in Jamaica and now time in the little Caymans and Grand Cayman and we like all of them better than the Bahamas. We don't have the island to island sailing that is nice in the Bahamas but the water is clearer and the underwater scenery greater here in the Caymans. Jamaica is a better place to be than the Bahamas. Here in these islands we also don't have the credit card Captains that charter a boat for a week or two like they do in the BVI that have no regard for the cruising life. It's strangely remarkable when we tell people we live on a boat and sailed here they are almost starstruck because there are so few cruising boats that come this way. So far this has been an incredible passage.
The beach at Rum Point was hard to leave. I could sit here and drink rum all day and never move.
Now we prepare to depart on Monday for Guatemala. We have a friend, Jim Upson, flying in who will help us with our passage. The upcoming passage will be the longest continuous passage we have done. to date although not that much longer than Linda and I have done on our own Once we get to Rio Dulce we will be there for several months to do work on the boat and travel around Central America visiting famous places.
We will do email updates with our progress but the next big update will be once we have settled in Guatemala. Hope everyone enjoys their holiday weekend remembering the sacrifices of brave Americans who defended and continue to defend our great Nation.
Al Lee (Linda's Dad) 1920 - 2017 WWII vet.
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