Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas, is a world of its own. No fewer than six cruise ships launch tens of thousands of tourists into her port district every day. We entered the harbor in the late afternoon and motored past the Disney ship with Mickey Mouse ear stacks to our anchorage across from Paradise Island and the famed Atlantis. We hadn’t been off the boat and on solid ground since the West End seven days earlier. I was anxious to get ashore.
Our friend, Dave, had arrived the day before. A corporate pilot for a Canadian firm, he had delivered the owners to the island for their holiday vacation and had time to kill in between. We let him know we’d arrived and made plans to meet him for a bite to eat. We launched the dinghy and headed off in search of the public dinghy dock. Failing that, we tied up, instead, at a small bar and restaurant on the shore - Antiki Floating Bar & Grill - where we ordered Dark & Stormy’s to pay for the privilege of docking. It’s a bustling establishment serving great drinks along with other local specialties, as far as we could tell. We did eventually find the public dock on Potter’s Island amid local fishing boats and conch dealers. It was a far cry from the shiny tourist area of the cruise ships - more genuine, more to our liking, but the climb up out the the dinghy was challenging and the tangle of fishing boat lines competing for dock cleats was difficult to navigate. We made the Antiki Floating Bar & Grill our preferred spot for the duration.
We met Dave along the main drag and joined him for a lunch of conch fritters and Bahamian beer - a scene that was repeated daily for the next few days. Meeting and hanging out with James’ long-time friend added another layer of joy for both of us. The stories and laughs that they shared made Nassau and our adventure all the richer. An interesting and fun guy with a big heart, James and I were both happy for Dave’s company.
Headdress for a Carnivale-like parade on Christmas Day. We missed it by two days but saw the remnants everywhere.
Nassau is one of just a few cities in the Bahamas with the resources we need while cruising around the islands: laundromat, supermarket, marine supplies, and fuel. We took advantage of all. It was a huge bonus that Dave was willing to drive James around to deal with things like filling our propane tanks and picking up plexiglass to replace a broken hatch, as well as the use of his hotel shower. (We’d hadn’t had a “real” shower since leaving Florida and the hot water felt heavenly.)
SV Jagare, 37 meter ketch, anchored in front of Atlantis Paradise Island.
Aboard Bagatelle, we were surrounded by mostly large luxury boats in our anchorage, including a 100 foot ketch that swung close to us when the winds picked up and several huge motor yachts with their names glowing in neon like Las Vegas. We decided that we’d leave Nassau early on December 31, opting for a quieter, more private first New Year’s Eve together, so we said our goodbyes to Dave and turned in early. We weren’t quite asleep when a DJ at the Atlantis played “Moves Like Jagger” over a clearly beefed up speaker system. It sounded like it was in our cabin. We prepared for a long night of loud music. But then we heard “Sugar” and “Maps” and “Animals”… and Adam Levine talking before breaking into “Girls Like You”. Much to our surprise, this was no DJ show. We were anchored right next to a Maroon 5 concert - a great show from the best seats and the perfect way to wrap up our visit to Nassau.
Leaving Nassau, New Year’s Eve.