Got my new crew member Steve who is the husband of Trish who works for my wife Sheril. We could not leave right away due to high east winds so we waited. I could have done a better job of exploring the old pirate city but I am single minded and therefore Steve was forced to help me fix and improve stuff on the boat. We met some nice folks though. Dennis is a retired Texas resident who has spent more time exploring the Bahamas than anyone I've known. He worked for the military on Andros retrieving torpedoes used in target testing at the Autec base. He spends 10 months of the year on his boat tooling around by himself swimming, fishing, and reading. He doesn't have a fridge so he catches his fish by line and saves them in a holding tank so they stay fresh. He does this for lobster too, tickling them out of their holes and saving them in a cage. He treats his precious carrots by dipping them in bleach and wrapping them in newpaper.
He got me in the mood for fishing one day so I swam around a bit till I found a Conch. These mollusks are great to eat and they make excellent fish bait. I put the little fellow in a bucket till the next morning. That night I refreshed my memory about how to clean them, cutting the "foot" where it attaches to the shell and cutting his face off. The next morning I looked in the bucket and his little eyes were poking out and I felt for him so he went back in the harbor. I feel that I have paid off a small debt for our dog Layla being mauled at home in Florida as Sheril walked her. Layla is OK as well as the conch but the next Conch will probably be put to good use gathering life sustaining protein.
You know you are in another country in Nassau. People are kind but not effusive. They depend on the sea and weather but they do mind trashing the place. Sort of like New Orleans in the middle of an aquarium. Many nights there would be music blasting super loud across the harbor at 2 am. I can still hear the DJ screaming "Whassssaaaappp". Another night a ferry was converted to a dance floor cruising up and down the harbor at midnight, 100 people dancing and blasting music on the ferry deck. Most people travelling on small boats consider 8:30 curisers midnight. Going to the store, getting on and off the boat a couple times, and dealing with the anchor takes it out of you. I love being tired though. Hitting the pillow and falling dead asleep means I lived a good day.
Good bye Nassau. I won't miss the noise, the trash, the prices, and the poor holding ground. Thank you very much for a safe harbor, the dinghy dock at the Green Parrot, the chicken wing special at Hammerheads, and the friendly people.
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