The Catamaran Adventures of Noel and Ceu

No Internet for 4 days – aargh!

Current Location: Nassau, Bahamas
Current Position: 25 4.48 N 077 18.8 W Click to view map.
Distance sailed since last post: 160 nautical miles. View the map of our voyage track here

Well, we arrived in Rum Cay, only to find there was nowhere for us to clear immigration, nor to get online. In fact, the entire population of the island is just 50 people.

And now it was Easter weekend, so all the immigration etc would be closed.

We decided that we would amble our way to Nassau, just doing day sailing of 50 – 60 miles a day, anchoring overnight in some deserted bay. One such cay we stopped at, Allan’s Cay, had a lovely little beach with a welcome party – a whole tribe of big fat iguanas that rushed down to the beach to great us as we came up out of the water, having just snorkeled there from the boat.

Today we arrived in Nassau. Not impressed so far. We were told that we had to dock at a marina in order to clear customs, as they would not come out to an anchorage. But all the marinas were full. And we weren’t allowed to anchor until we had cleared in. They did suggest that we could go under the bridge to the customs dock on the other side. We almost did that, but then backed out at literally the last second, as I was to scared that we wouldn’t clear the height – though they assured us the bridge was 70 ft and, I believe, our mast height is under 65 feet. Just seemed too close to me.

So then we anchored somewhere temporarily (and had someone shout at us to tell us we couldn’t do that) while I went to a marina in the dinghy. While there, they had an unexpected departure, which opened up a berth for us, so we could dock with them.

Once we had done that, we then had to wait over an hour and a half for the customs officer to come to our boat. We were not allowed to get off until we had been cleared in. Finally she arrived and, after we had filled in about 5 different forms, charged us the regular $300 for a cruising permit, even though we were going to be here for only two or three nights. What a procedure and what a rip-off! And we thought St Vincent was expensive when they charged us $70 to clear in!

Not only that, we are now in a breeze-less marinas, with mosquitoes, traffic noise (yes, even sirens), neighbours, and no clean sea water in which to swim (though they do have a pool) AND we have to pay $2 per foot per night for the privilege (double what the Caribbean charges). As I said, not impressed so far.

Tomorrow we pick up Doug and Cheri and then we depart for Bermuda as soon as we can!

We are all getting excited and are ready to go!

One Response to “No Internet for 4 days – aargh!”

  • Wolf:

    Hi Sailors Ceu an Noel
    Thank you for the nice updates from you
    Yesterday Julie and I spent the day on our boat (just cleaning) and we talked about you
    I know what you mean, passing under a bridge it looks so very close and you just do not have any depth perception it looks like you could hit any time. The only way to make sure is with Ceu up the mast.

    We wish you a great passage
    Wolf

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