Monday morning Jan 19th, was a beautiful clear day. We raised our yellow quarantine flag to indicate that we had not cleared customs and immigration yet. A call to the marina on the VHF for a slip assignment and we were ready to make our first landfall in the Bahamas. The marina has to call the local airstrip to have the customs officer come to the marina. Nathan arrived fairly quickly and the check was painless. The immigration officer was delayed and didn't arrive until later afternoon.
It is almost time for us to leave the marina, but not before one more surprise. We have been looking for Manatees for months. We finally had a mother, father and baby cruise by. Here is a picture of the father.While waiting for immigration, the girls found a local bahamian that was trimming the palm trees and collecting coconut milk. It always seems that Emma and Ally are attracted to locals with machettes.
Next, Kenny aka. "Bubba" shows up with his catch of fish and lobster. He is a mainstay at the marina and is known for his abilities at spearfishing. We hired him to take Brian out for a day and teach him how to catch and clean fish.
Brian and Bubba made quite a haul (4 porgies, 2 marget, 1 hog fish, 33 lobsters, 10 conch). We have been eating fresh fish and lobster for almost every meal.
Emma, just like her sister and mother, is determined to sink the boat with shells. Here she is showing off a nice conch shell given to her by Bubba.
We found the people on Great Harbor Cay to be warm and friendly. Everyone waves and life is laid back. The girls were invited to attend the local school for a few days. They fit right in and loved it. Ally read books to the class and Emma taught the children how to make paper snowflakes. The local children always wanted to hug the girls or touch their blond hair. The girls would have loved to stay in school here. Here is a picture of the second grade class.
Great Harbor Cay has some beautiful beaches. Here is Emma and Ally's first beach / shelling experience in the Bahamas. They are yelling "We finally made it!"This beach is called "Shell Beach". You can see the first haul of sand dollars. The girls are getting spoiled. Just look at the setting for school today.
Until next time, goodbye from the crew of Miakoda.