A TOUR WITH THE PORTERS

    2/7/2013 THROUGH 2/13/2013

   With the Five F Festival over it was time to head back to George Town for provisioning, doing laundry, sending Steven back to the frigid Northeast and welcoming the Alexis and Craig aboard for their visit.

   Due to the short duration of the Porter's visit, only six nights, we were anxious to show them some of our most beloved spots here in the Exumas.  Bright and early Friday morning we cast off our lines and took advantage of the relative calm waters. We made the 67 NM trek to Compass Cay on the deep sound side, with fishing lines out  Unfortunately, nothing took our bait but it was a beautiful ride.

     Arriving in Compass Cay the Porters were charmed by Preston’s “Welcome home.  They “Oohed and Awed” the sharks, walked the big beach and  watched the sun set over the turquoise waters of the Bahamas.  Alexis, intrigued by Tucker’s sign warding off coconut pickers, created this little ditty to the tune of “Put the Lime in the Coconut”

     They put the fine on de coconuts at the Compass Cay

     They put the fine on de coconut, $500’s what you’ll pay

     Quest says “TUCKER, ain’t there nothin we can take?”

     And he says “NOTHIN! $500’s what you’ll pay”

     Quest says “TUCKER, your fish look good today”

     And he say, “Man, put DAT fishing pole away”

     Bone fish dey gonna stay in Compass Cay

  Saturday morning we continue traveling in a northerly direction and covered the 41 NM to Highborne Cay Marina, finding M/V  My Reward, Life Song and Northland in residence.  Our thinking was that we would spend one night here then begin anchoring out as we headed back south to their departure destination of Staniel Cay.  The calm beauty and lush amenities soon put an end to that thinking!!  We ended up docking here for three nights, enjoying every minute. We rented a golf cart to explore the island, walked the big beach, swam, took the tender to Norman’s Cay to snorkel the plane wreck, gathered shells, dined in their fine restaurant overlooking the beach, fed the birds and toasted the sun’s surrender each evening.  The restaurant is not open on Mondays so we invited our waiter, Samuel, to Quest for dinner.

   Tuesday found the Quest in a mad dash to Staniel Cay for the Porters last night before their Wednesday morning departure for Nassau.   Spending the night at the marina not only gave the Porters an easier departure but put us right on the dock for the celebration of Fat Tuesday, complete with beads and feathered masks.

   Even though Alexis and Craig had eaten and loved the conch here in the Bahamas they had yet to see one prepared.  Luckily a local brought in a whole passel of them first thing Wednesday morning and kindly showed each step of his magic to release the conch from their beautiful shells.

     

 Flamingo Air proved to be a bit sketchy with their organizational skills and scheduling.  It ended up that the Porters, along with a few others, were inadvertently put on a later flight.  This would not meet their Jet Blue connection from Nassau that would take them back to the cold and wintry northeast.   One of the locals had given us Roland’s phone number (242-357-0571) and he was there, lickety split, to transport them to Nassau in his own little plane.  The four flew from Staniel Cay to Nassau for $500.00 total and he was glad to travel on your schedule.  Seems like this might be the way to go in the future.  Missing the Porters already!     

      

   We had a pleasant surprise when we met up with Tim and Pam on S/V Venture.   They had previously been based at the beautiful Puerto Bahia Resort and Marina in Samana in the Dominican Republic where they ran charters for several years.  Tim reported that a Russian investment group took over the entire resort after which he and Pam made a quick exit from the DR and returned to their home base in Florida.  I am sure we will cross paths with them many times this winter as they are succumbing to the charms of the lovely Bahamian waters.