Cruise Ships and Mooring Balls

April 11^th 2011

We started out early about 6:30 AM., as we were waiting for enough light to see.  We had very smooth waters with very little wind.  George did great leaving the docks. We had no one to throw our lines, so we untied and jumped on the boat and off we went. George wanted first watch because he said the person on first will have an extra watch.  We were both  a little worried because if we did not make good time to the Berry Islands, we would  have to pick up a mooring ball or anchor in the dark in unfamiliar waters. Our alternate plan was to go to Nassua, where we have anchored in the dark before.  Even though the wind was on our nose, the wind was light and the waves were as well. Our ETA was 6:30 P.M., not much margin for error. As the day progressed and the water got even smoother our speed picked up to between 6.5 to 7 knots.  It even hit 7.4 once.  I realized if the waves had been 2-5 as predicted we would have never made Little Stirrup Cay before dark.  We saw a Cruise ship that I thought was on the same course as we were but after I woke George and looked closer it was anchored near the island we were going to anchor behind.  As we approached, the ship pulled anchor and motored away in front of us.  We got to the anchorage about 5:30 P.M..  We saw the mooring balls.  I have never picked up a mooring ball before.  George assured me it was a piece of cake….I always worry when he assures me “it’s a piece of cake”, but it was very easy. We did not  have to make but one pass and we got it.  That evening was one of the prettiest sunsets of the trip. 

A camera just can't capture the true beauty of a sunset.

April 12^th

We went to Great Harbour Cay Marina today.  We wanted to check our email and make some phone calls. Releasing the mooring ball was certainly easier than pulling in the anchor even with a windlass.  I like mooring balls!  Because of shallow waters we had to go around the island to get to Great Harbour.  As we looked to the end of the island where we were going, we saw one really big cruise ship and another smaller cruise ship.  Then we looked at the tip of the island which had been deserted yesterday.  The island beach was covered with people and umbrellas.  As we passed the island we could smell them cooking lunch on the grill.  We had to go around two parasail boats and we saw several jet skies.  We arrived at the great Harbour Marina about 1:30. The Marina is tucked back in the cut and you have to twist and turn not seeing where you are going at times.  With a boat that’s draws six feet it was a little scary.  We went to the Bar and Pool restaurant for lunch.  That was a real experience. It seemed that they were out of everything we ordered.  We also took a taxi ride to the grocery store.  We had to go to two grocery stores before we found bread.  As we traveled the roads in the taxi we saw a lot of the native island people.  They do not have much but seemed to be again very happy people. When we came back into the harbour area we saw a parasail boat and a glass bottom boat.  Most of the people here probably make an income from the cruise ships. George has seen the impact of the economy last year but he saw even more this year.  In every marina there were a lot of empty slips.  It seems this island was hit really hard as well.  You can see on this island that in years past it was much better kept.  When our economy suffers, the Bahamas suffer even more.

They are big and beautiful at a distance but scary up close.