Day 199, Tuesday Jan 7th Goodbye Kevin and Casey

Day 199, Tuesday Jan 7^th Goodbye Kevin and Casey

Well today Kevin and Casey leave us.  We are up at 6:30 to enjoy our last coffee together, as their flight is at 9:00.  The north wind has not arrived yet so we have coffee in the cockpit and are visited by a number of no-see-ums biting our ankles. 

Kevin and Casey about to board

Julie and Kevin

Around 8:00 we head over to the marina restaurant so Casey and Kevin can catch the golf cart to the airport, we will walk the 1 km there.  Just as we leave the boat the north wind arrives blowing around 20 knots.  Dawson heads back to the boat to check the lines and then we all head to the airport, Casey and Kevin in the golf cart and us walking.  There are 4 boats anchored just off the marina when the wind comes up one drags immediately and the owners pop up on deck just prior to them dragging on to another boat.  They pull the anchor in and reset.  Another boat is aground due to low tide and is perpendicular to the wind giving her quite the heel.

Dawson petting nurse sharks

The airport terminal is an open gazebo, with the check in area being a bench along the side of the gazebo, no long lines for security here in Staniel Cay.  The main feature of the airport is the pay phone.  The plane arrives around 9:15 and the pair are boarded and in the air within 10 minutes of the plane landing.  Hopefully they will have a good flight with some good views of the islands.  They will arrive in Nassau in 40 minutes a distance it took us about 20 hours of sailing.

Swarm of nurse sharks

We head back to the boat to do a bit of blogging, cleaning and relaxing.  Julie watches the flight status for Kevin and Casey’s connecting flight to Toronto and watches it get pushed back first by  2 hours then to 6 hours.  Toronto is in the middle of a cold snap with flight delays for the last 24 hours, only reopening the airport at 10 am today.

Small tree attempting to survive

Just after lunch we figure it is time to take a hike around the island, there is a nice hike along the north east shore with some beautiful views we are told, so we head off.  As we are leaving the marina some fishermen are cleaning their catch which brings in a swarm of Nurse Sharks.  It is quite the sight seeing around 20 sharks swirling around the water just off the dock.

The hike is well worth while, one of the nicest we have been on.  The views are spectacular and the wind adds to the scene carrying the salt spray up to the trail.  We get some nice shots.  According the map we have there is a bar and grill which we plan on stopping for a well deserved rest and beer.  Unfortunately it is closed and looks like it has been for a couple of years.  Guess they are just using up the supply of old tourist maps.  We still walk up to the bar and get a good view of the bay, worth the stop.  From here we head to the one store we did not make the day before in hopes of getting some milk.  We arrive to find another cruising couple looking around for someone to help them.  The open sign is there but nobody around, Julie and Bob end up going to the house next door and convinces them to open the store for us.  We get some UHT milk and bananas but nothing else as the supply ship has not been in for over a week and they are low on most things.  We walk back to the marina with our new friend Bob and Donelle and end up inviting them back to Jazzebelle for sundowners.  This works out well as they had just bought a bottle of Myers Rum so they supplied the rum and we supplied the mix and icecubes.  They are going to meet friends at the marina restaurant for dinner so at 6 we all head over to meet them.  Turns out we had actually met them before in Nassau and then had anchored beside them in Allen Cay.  The cruising world is small with us all on the same tour.

We head back to the boat for dinner (as we had not pre-ordered at the restaurant), coffee and a game of King Cribbage and off to bed.

Cheers

Dawson and Julie