Nassau

Up at 6 and on our way shortly after. Wanted to get up early so we could get to Nassau in time for a vet to see Hattie. Ben took her out to potty at 4 am. She hasn't been acting like herself and hasn't been drinking her usual amount. Have to find a marina or day dock we can tie up to while we get her to an appointment.

Messaged a clinic (Animal Medical Group-Nassau) on FB Messenger before they opened, based on comments in a google review on the clinic. Got an autoreply, and then a response within the hour that they could see her at 1 pm, which was perfect because we would be docking a little after 12. They got all of our info and asked us to bring a urine sample. Found and booked a marina that is a 7 minute walk from the vet.

I got Hattie to drink some water while I sat with her and we were underway. I put some water on my finger and she licked it off. Did this for a few minutes and she stood up to drink some water on her own after and perked up a little bit. She just seems sleepy and out of it.

Nassau Harbor Hotel Club and Marina is on the waterway between Nassau and Paradise Island. Nassau Harbor is a main port for the cruise ships, so a lot of smaller boats run through the harbor for various excursions, causing lots of waves, on top of the actual wave, current, and wind conditions. It reminded us of New York Harbor when we anchored by the Statue of Liberty!

Docking makes me a little nervous. Ben always has it under control but my mind likes to play the what-if game, especially when the current and waves are kicked up. Initially, Ben wanted me to follow Hattie around with a ziplock bag to collect a urine sample rather than helping to dock, but I had Bear sit with her in the cabin instead, freeing me up to help with the lines. Three guys were on the dock to catch lines and pull us in. Our slip was between a dock and a cement wall, and the guys were tying us to the dock, but the boat kept drifting closer to the cement wall, requiring lots of loud spoken suggestions from Ben while the guys were communicating with each other about how to best pull and position the lines. 

Once we were tied and the engines were off, Ben and I walked Hattie to the vet. We still didn't have a urine sample, so we brought the ziplock baggie and a small Mason jar that Ben sterilized in the microwave before we left. Ben's job was traffic-watching and safety, my job was Hattie-watching and urine-collecting.

Most of our walk was through a shopping center and its parking lot. Each store front had a security guard on door patrol, opening the door for patrons. That made me uneasy, but we kept walking. As we rounded the DQ drive thru, I told Ben I had spotted the vet. I was pointing it out to him and he stopped walking and noticed that Hattie had squatted. I quickly shoved the ziplock under her and collected quite a bit before Ben put the mason jar under for a cleaner catch. I was shocked that Hattie kept going while we were both there under her. His hands were completely dry after, while mine had a few drops on them. I was just excited that we finally were successful in getting the sample, only a tenth of a mile from the vet's door! 

When we got to the clinic, we had to ring the doorbell and get buzzed in. I believe this method was in place of the door security person. We were seen by the nicest vet and vet tech. The vet asked how we found his clinic. I told him Google reviews that Claude searched for animals with a UTI, but that the selling point was a reviewer who said they have someone who replies to Facebook messenger after hours, so we could ensure we would have an appointment and not have to wait until 9 am to know.

Hattie had the most thorough exam (including x-rays, ultrasound, urinalysis, and bloodwork) and we, gratefully, got so much information back about her. It took quite some time, understandably, for all of it to process, so some naps were taken. He suggested a few things to follow-up on when we got back home, as well as a few things to just be aware of- based on what he saw. I was given 3 types of medication for her- a dewormer (given only 1 time when we got back to the boat), an antibiotic, and an anti-inflammatory. Before we left, they gave her an injection of the anti-inflammatory, so we will start the pill version of the same thing tomorrow.

While we were gone, Uncle Paul, Moose, and Roo made friends with a man named Honesty sitting on the cement wall by our boat who was cutting coconuts on his day off. He had a small boat full of conch shells that he caught and told them he sells them to anyone but the markets because he doesn't want them making money off of his hard work. He cut open a coconut for Moose, who said it was the best coconut water he has ever had. (He had only tried boxed coconut water once before this. 🤣)

Moose and Roo wanted to swim at the marina pool, so Aunt Denise and I took them for a while. Bear got a little burned on the back of her legs while snorkeling yesterday, so she wanted to stay out of the sun, especially since we will be at Atlantis tomorrow. Uncle Paul helped Ben do a few things around the boat.

After swimming, we came back to the Cartermaran. Ben, Moose, and Uncle Paul went to the grocery store for a few things- mozzarella, milk, and some snacks. We made some pizzas for dinner. When the dishes were done, we walked over to DQ for some cool treats before calling it a night.

Eleuthera

Off the dock around 7:30- headed to Gaulding Bay, Eleuthera. We anchored there at least 2 other times, and we love the spot right in front of Lenny Kravitz's house. 

First, we had to get through the Eleuthera Cut, and fortunately, the current was with us. It was windy and there were little ripple peak waves, then it was smoother for a bit before making a turn and causing them to be more beamy 3 footers 4 seconds apart and a little more uncomfortable. 

Bear, Moose, and Roo jumped in the water as soon as we anchored. Uncle Paul joined them and they all snorkeled to the beach. They saw 2 baracudas- 1 huge and one small. When they got to the rocks on the beach, there was a wall of minnows, some yellowfish and snappers, and 2 needlefish. They swam back and played around and under the boat some more. Moose found a small, but spiny sea star for everyone to look at.

Hattie has never been known to potty on our fake grass, which was a blessing today. It helped us recognize there was a problem and that she needed to get seen by a vet. Luckily for us, we are heading to Nassau tomorrow, so we will find a vet and get her seen and feeling better soon.

Ben was fixing the kill switch and other things on the tender, and reorganizing the front lockers while waiting for the water maker to finish. Aunt Denise and I were helping where we could.

In the meantime, the kids and Uncle Paul snorkeled back to the beach. Once the watermaker was done, Aunt Denise, Ben, and I took the Chicken to the beach and we all hung out for a few hours, until we started getting cold. At one point we noticed the group of people at Lenny's house walking toward us at the beach and we got excited, but they turned back. They must've heard Moose being very loud and ornery.

Went back to the Cartermaran, Ben dropped us all off and took Moose out on the Chicken to teach him how to drive it. He has been begging to be able to drive it for the past several summers, whenever we take it out for a ride. They were cruising all through Gaulding Bay with no other boats in sight besides the Cartermaran.

We had to wait for high tide to pass and turn to low tide before we could go to Queen's Bath. Everyone dried off, ate dinner, then headed back to the beach one last time. Moose got to drive us all this time. 

This marked the 3rd time the Carters have been to the Queen's Bath. It is always fascinating. The way the water gathers in each of the pools during high tide and then leaves behind various critters and items as the tide receeds makes it different with each visit. Unfortunately, we also noticed an increase of trash, mostly plastic, that has washed ashore and is stuck in the pools. 

Everyone showered and got ready for bed as the sun set. We got a beautiful sunset and an even prettier sky after the sun had set. The lights came on at Lenny's house and illuminated it, adding to the evening beauty of this anchorage.

Spanish Wells

We were going to wait for high tide to provide a little more distance between our hulls and the reefs, and leave between 10 and 11 this morning. It started to rain around 6:45 and turned into a nearby thunderstorm a little before 7. Several lightning strikes were in the area where we were, 1-5 seconds away. This prompted Ben to check the weather for an updated forecast. 

Yesterday when he looked, it was forecasting calm seas for crossing to Spanish Wells and Nassau for the next several days. Today it was looking like 2 ft for tomorrow, then 5 ft and 3-4 the next day, so we up and left around 8 am. Our crew swap is in Nassau on the 8th- Uncle Paul & Aunt Denise leave and the Grasshoppers arrive, so we didn’t have an option to chance it and wait it out to see if it would change again.

Ben said we would just head to Nassau today (for the next 4 nights), cutting out Elbow Cay, Spanish Wells, and Eleuthera from our plan, which made me sad. Reluctantly, I got ready for the long day of 3 ft following seas, 7 seconds apart. To make it sting a little more, we would be leaving right then, without more time on the beach and without Florence's cinnamon rolls. When I came up to the cockpit, they decided we could likely make it to Spanish Wells today and hang there a day or 2, so that cheered me up a bit. 

Smooth ride to Great Guana Cay. There are lots of big houses on the beach there. We were wondering if they're residences or vacation homes.

Ben called the guy I had in my phone from last time we were in Spanish Wells to see if we could rent a golf cart from him. He said he didn’t do golf cart rentals anymore.

He called and got $1.50/foot at a dock Spanish Wells. We think it may be the same place we docked in 2022.

Had an uneventful crossing from Abacos to Spanish Wells. The 2-3 ft waves were 9 seconds apart, very tolerable. Just a long day- hanging out, napping, playing cards, watching DVDs, snacking, working on the blog and Instagram posts. Underway for 11 hours.

Docked in the same general area as last time, but I think it was a little further east than we were the time before.

As we were tying up, Ben, Uncle Paul, and I were getting eaten alive by noseeums. For the first time this summer, we were forced to eat inside.

Lots of middle-of-night wakings! The tide came in, so our boat was rubbing on the dock, ben went out to fix fenders. Around 3 am, it started raining. Ben got up to close up the cockpit, and saw Uncle Paul heading out to do the same. Much quieter for them due to being plugged in and the generator was not running. Aunt Denise said it was too quiet.

Uncle Paul and Ben walked to get a 6-seater golf cart rented for the day. The shop opened at 8. They got there before Jennifer, the lady who is retired and supposed to only work 2 days a week and now works everyday. 

Ben had a meeting at 10, and it was 9:10, so we all loaded up for a quick trip to the grocery store. Got a few necessities and a few non-necessities. They don't use plastic bags, but green bags that are 100% compostable. We were thrilled to see and use those.

Drove to the far west side of the island and looped back to the dock. Ben got ready for his meeting and everyone else got ready for the beach.

Left Ben at the boat and I drove (on the left side of the road) to the beach. There were 2 wooden swings over the water with a Spanish Wells sign above them, so we took advantage of the photo opp. We walked out falling into almost every hole in the sandy bottom, until the water got to waist level and came back. Moose and Roo resumed their digging and castle making, Bear and I walked around to the south side of the beach and then to the north side, where the winds really picked up and we had to hold onto our hats!

Everyone started getting hungry for lunch. It was time to leave. Aunt Denise mentioned that she saw a sub place on the way to the beach, so we stopped there and brought it back to the boat. 

While we were gone, Ben had his meeting, fixed the anchor roller, put the shower head on the hose at the outdoor stern shower, and replaced the light in our laundry room. He had a very productive morning.

Aunt Denise and I wanted to go shopping for some souvenirs. Everyone else decided to come with us. She got the shirt she wanted and a pretty bracelet she found. I got a sticker for my school computer, an ornament, a sign for my classroom, and some shark tooth necklaces for my prize box at school. Ben and Moose got some UPF shirts they wanted that say Spanish Wells. Bear got a Spanish Wells sweatshirt and a sticker for her computer. Roo got some postcards and bracelets for her and her besties.

We got in the golf cart and waited for Roo to write on her postcards so we could drop them off at the post office. Along the way to the post office, we saw a fire department, so Ben turned around to go back to see if anyone was there. Turns out we turned around in the post office parking lot! No one was at the fire station, so we went back to the post office to mail the postcards. When we walked in, no one was there either. It was just a wall full of PO Boxes. We knocked on the door that said staff only and no one answered. Next door was the administrator office. They were surprised no one was there and thought they were out for lunch. I asked what time it closes, they said 4 pm. It was 2 pm, we decided to drive around and explore the island and then come back and check again closer to closing time.

We drove to the east side of the island, looped around to the south side where all of the docks are in the narrow channel. There were pallets stacked high full of goods- we saw TVs, diapers, dry goods, toilet paper, etc. It was then that it clicked for the adults- it was delivery day for the stores. Imagine how long it takes to get anything delivered to the island before it even hits the shelves!

After we crossed over the bridge, we drove around Russell Island. We started off going to the east side and then headed back west. There was an awful noise and we kept thinking something happened with our golf cart. The kids (in their rear-facing seat) said it was coming from a truck behind us. Ben pulled over and a truck passed us. I still heard the noise and it wasn't coming from that truck. Then another truck passed us towing a boat on a trailer and we saw the back driver side tire of that trailer was not rotating, but instead being dragged because the brake was locked up, burning the rubber off the tire and leaving behind a long mark on the road. The smell? I bet you can smell it just from reading that!

We drove to the west, the furthest we could, and found a "Sign your name" sign, so we added a boat sticker to it.

In 2022, we went to a restaurant called Sandbar with Ben's mom, sister, and niece. We remembered liking it, so we were going to eat there again. It had a beautiful mosaic wall on the side of it that Roo wanted her picture in front of, so we had to recreate that photo. On Thursdays, they are only open for lunch, which means 11:30-5. It was 3. We weren't hungry quite yet and wanted to freshen up before dinner, so we left and went back to the boat. 

Ben dropped us off and took Bear and Roo to check the post office- one more time (it was still closed)- then see what the availability was for another restaurant we liked, The Shipyard. He was told they only had one more table at 6:30, so he reserved that for us.

When he got back, we decided to eat at The Shipyard. There was some time to kill, so the kids did some fishing off the dock. The adults moved the boat back a few pilings because another boat was coming in on the dock tomorrow morning and we wanted to be able to get out if it arrived before we left. Then, Bear, Roo, and I played some Farkle with Aunt Denise. We tried cards, but it was too windy.

Shipyard was perfect! Uncle Paul and Aunt Denise wanted to get some appetizers for the table. We all decided on the sticky conch (cracked conch) and conch poppers (conch fritters). Everyone liked them both, which was exciting because last time we came, only Roo tried conch. Moose and Bear refused to even give it a shot.

Our main dishes:

Uncle Paul- Mahi 🐟 

Aunt Denise- Coconut Chicken Strips 🥥 🐔 

Ben- Lobster Mac & Cheese 🦞 🍜 

Lisa- Grilled Pineapple Chicken Breast 🍍 🐔 

Moose- Conch and Chips 🐚 (I wasn't sure he would like this and he ordered it before he tried the appetizers. Our backup plan was for me or Ben to swap him for ours if needed.)

Bear- Cheeseburger 🍔 

Roo- Buttered Noodles 🧈 🍜 

I chose a coconut calabaza grits for one of my sides. I wasn't sure what calabaza was, but the waitress described it as similar to squash, so I decided to give it a try. Boy, was it tasty!!! 

As dinner was finishing up, we got to watch the sunset off the porch. It was the first actual sunset in a few days- as the others previously had been pretty cloudy and obstructed.

On the way home, we drove up to Papa Scoops for some ice cream. The line of golf carts was wrapped around the corner by the time it was our turn! We left our sticker among the other cruiser stickers before enjoying our scoops of ice cream on the way home.

Treasure Cay, Abacos

Up and out around 6:30/45 headed to Abacos and my favorite Bahamas beach, Banyan Beach on Treasure Cay. 💕 

Waves were calm and pleasant most of the trip. They got bigger as we got closer to Treasure Cay, but seeing where we would be ending up made it easier to tolerate. Uncle Paul and Aunt Denise got on the bow to make sure our ground clearance was good as we navigated through some narrow channels. 

Last time we came to Treasure Cay, we cruised around the southeast part of the island to get into a bay on the other side, anchored, and rode the tender in to a tie up point and walked across the street to the beach. We didn't have good charts on that visit because we came over, spur of the moment and just used the old Garmin C Maps from 2018 or 2019. Ben had to guess good routes based on that, knowing a lot probably changed due to hurricanes and such. We were still learning about this boat so we didn’t have a lot of the knowledge or skills we have now, and didn't want to take big risks. With the new charts, we were able to anchor directly in the cove of the beach!

It took a few tries for the anchor to hold, so once it did, we started getting ready to go to Florence's and the beach. I checked to make sure she would still be open, and Google said she is open 6 am- 6 pm every day except Sunday. Ben and I were pumped because Florence makes HUGE cinnamon rolls and cookies that we had in 2021 when we were here. The kids didn't really remember being here, so didn't even know what to expect except for sugar. 

We took the Chicken to the beach, pulling it up in the sand knowing the tide was still on its way in, and set the anchor ashore. Moose, meanwhile, acted as if he had never been at a beach before and was frolicking in the waves, getting annihilated with the crash of each one as it came in. We were still about a mile from Florence's, but the water was much rougher, the closer we got to Florence's, and Ben wanted to keep the Chicken tucked away at a calmer part of the beach.

The 7 of us walked a bit on the beach before Ben decided we should walk on the road instead. We trekked up to the road and walked about a mile on the shoulder of the road, having to remember that the oncoming traffic was on the right side of the road, not the left. The only time that was an issue was trying to get through the roundabout. Here, the circle flows clockwise. Such a mind trick!

After about a mile, and Papa D's dump truck passing us several times, we made it to Florence's... only to find out she had left for the day. It was only 4:45. We were disappointed, but the kids were psyched when we stopped at the minimart next door and Ben, Bear, Moose, and Roo each got a Goombay Punch, Uncle Paul and Aunt Denise got one to try, and I took a few sips of everyone's. We got two additional 6-packs of Goombay Punch and a 6-pack of Ben's favorite Ginger Beer for the boat. The guys are going to take the tender over in the morning and get some cinnamon rolls for us for breakfast before we head for Elbow Cay in the morning.

Ben and Uncle Paul decided to walk back to get the tender on their own, so Aunt Denise and I took the kids across the street to the beach to swim and play. We didn't realize we left the sand toys in the tender until later.

At the water's edge, the kids spotted a sea star that was tumbling around with each wave crash. One of them finally grabbed it and we all admired it before throwing it back, but further away so it didn’t have to tumble and crash forever.

When the boys finally came to us with the Chicken, they told us it was tipped on its side and had a ton of water in it when they got back to it. Ben had to pull-start it because the battery got wet. They sat in the tender to let it charge while the kids finally had their sand toys to play with. Of course, it wasn't nearly long enough and they complained when we had to clean up and go.

Aunt Denise, the kids, and I loaded into the tender while it was being tossed around on the bigger waves, and made our way back to the Cartermaran. 

Uncle Paul and the kids swam around the boat at the anchorage to get the sand off before getting rinsed off on the boat and into jammies. House lights along the shore came on, so it was easy to see which homes on the beach were occupied and which weren't. It was cloudy for the sunset, and everyone went to bed pretty early.