Our last few days in Paradise

Look at the size of this boat!  Now they've got room!

The gang at Bernie's Tiki Bar 'n Grill

Red Beard's - a great local hangout in Port Lucaya

Uh, I think the tide went out!

Another neat lighthouse

Chillin' at the beach on a Saturday afternoon!

Just entering the USA - West Palm
This is just about where we saw marlin jumping right in front of us!

Happy Birthday, Mikey!

Key Lime Cafe - Stuart
Great fish tacos!

I'm a little late in my posts – oops!

This is from our last few days stay at Ocean Reef in Port Lucaya. We left the Bahamas on June 30 heading to West Palm FL. However there were several things that I wanted to mention that had happened since my last post.

We rode our bikes to the marketplace one last time. Of course, this time we got caught in the rain! It showered on us on the way there but not bad. BUT coming home we got drenched! We looked like a couple of drowned rats when we pulled in to the parking lot! We had a good time shopping and having Bahama Mamas while there though. The Marketplace is full of shops and restaurants next to a marina where there are lots of charter fishing boats. There is always music and lots of things going on there.

We saw our first octopus! It was swimming around the rock wall near the back of our boat. Now that's cool! Sorry, I didn't get a picture. He moved too fast! Oh, and Mike caught a huge barracuda – close to 5 feet long! Had to get it off his line before the sharks got it. I think he was a little excited at the time! After all, the dinghy is only 10 feet long! This fish was longer than our dinghy is wide.

Several of us took a dinghy ride over to Bernie's Tiki Bar for dinner one night. Now when I say tiki bar – I mean just that. These guys have some picnic tables, umbrellas and a huge grill on the beach. They cook up fresh fish and lobster on the grill and make up a mean Bahama Mama! We had fresh lobster with grilled veggies for dinner. Wow!! Bernie is such a cutie and so much fun to talk to.

After we had pretty much readied out boat for the home voyage – we rode our bikes to Coral Beach for one last Bahamian meal. It's sad to think about leaving but it will be good to get back to the USA.
We've met a lot of good people here and made some good friends. There are four boats including us that will leave together. However, the other three are sailboats so we won't be traveling with them for long. We made the rounds and said all our goodbyes. We know that if there is any way possible we can come back here we will. Hope it's in the cards.

Saturday, June 30 at about 7:30 a.m. we were on our way. It turned out to be a great day for cruising. It was a long day but with no problems. That's the way we like it! We made it to the USA at about 5:00 p.m. We went into Lake Worth around Peanut Island. It was a busy Saturday. Lots of boats and people enjoying the beaches. It probably had something to do with the upcoming July 4 holiday! We went on north until we found a nice great anchorage – free! We spent the night and enjoyed the fact that we had made it back to USA safe and sound. It was a long day!

Sunday found us already missing island life. We were up early but couldn't decide what to do so we headed up the ICW toward Stuart about 10:00 a.m. For the first 10 miles or so up the ICW, we had to travel slowly – no wake zone because of all the magnificent homes along the way. Beautiful homes with manicured lawns and huge boats sitting in the back. Lots of money here. Lots of them were gated waterways. Must be some important people around here – movie stars, etc – didn't see any of them though. In fact, didn't see anyone enjoying these homes. They seemed to be "not at home". Too bad. It was also slow due to the no wake manatee zones. We passed the Jupiter Inlet – wow was it busy! It really shoals there so most don't go in or out here – just those with local knowledge. However, there were boats buzzing by us everywhere.

When we reached the St Lucie Inlet, it was the same way. Not very busy along the ICW but busy at the inlets. About 3:00 p.m. we finally reached the marina here at Stuart. We found our spot and relaxed. Still having a hard time believing we are no longer in the Bahamas. What am I saying! We're having a hard time even believing we were in the Bahamas! This trip is a dream way beyond expectations.

We spent the next few days checking out the town of Stuart.  The marina is near the downtown area or what is called "old Stuart".  It has lots of shops and restaurants and is just a short walk or bike ride away.  Even the Publix is close!  We found a couple of really neat hangouts.

For Mike's birthday we went to dinner at Key Lime Cafe.  It's sounds a little foofoo but it's not.  It was a really neat place with great tacos.  It has an outside bar and great music.  We will definitely come back here when we get back from Joplin. 

There was a celebration and fireworks for the Fourth of July at the park.  We walked over to the park and checked out the vendors.  Not a whole lot of vendors like we expected but it was fun.  The band was great - they were older and played "car show" songs.  Great dance music and we did our share!
We walked back to the boat to watch the fireworks.  It was great!  Right in the comfort of our own sundeck!

What a trip!  Last July 4 we were in Sylvan Beach NY with our buddies Jim and Dale (Sweet Pea).  Since then we've traveled all the way down to the Keys, over to the Bahamas, and are still going strong! 

We will be going home for a visit after the Fourth of July. Can't wait to see everyone!

Till next time!

Admiral "C"



 

Spending Time in Port Lucaya

NautiNell sitting pretty in Port Lucaya!

Beautiful colors in the Bahamas

Port Lucaya Lighthouse

Okay, I can learn these steps!  Just give me a minute!!

Hanging out on the beach - never gets old!

It's Wednesday, June 20 and we're still at the marina in Port Lucaya having a great time. I thought I'd share some of the things that have been going on here (not in any particular order). LOL!

Beautiful sunrise over the canal

Having dinner on Coral Beach with Barry and Larry

Chef Antoine and Bernie at their Tiki Bar on the beach!

Enjoying a potluck dinner with other boaters!
Can anyone say "yummm"??

As I posted earlier we arrived here on June 2 intending to leave in a couple of days. However, it turned out to be such a nice place and even cheaper than the marina in Stuart, we decided to stay the month. We should be leaving sometime next week whenever there is a good weather window for crossing. Right now the weather has changed and it's pretty windy and somewhat rainy. Hopefully this will move out soon!

We've made a lot of friends while staying here at Ocean Reef. Several of the boaters here stay for months and have been doing so for years. Bob and Carol from England and their son Richard have been coming here since the '70s. They built a house here but they missed their boat so much they leased out their house and moved back on their boat ("Getting' Lucky")! Larry is here in his sailboat "Rio Dulce" – we met him while we were in Marsh Harbor. He's also been staying here for years. There are so many here, that I can't mention them all. Now, the real character here is Barry on the sailboat "Figment". He's the one whose boat was struck by lightning the other day. He is quite the storyteller.

Yes, Mike actually sang Karaoke!
"I Walk the Line"

One of Mikey's catches!
Spanish Mackeral - dinner tonight!



Our home for the month of June
Ocean Reef in Port Lucaya

Barry has been coming here from England for over 15 years. A few years ago the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies were being filmed here. Several of the extras for the movie became seasick while filming so the word was sent out to anyone that would like to be an extra. Barry decided he would give it a try. He has quite a few stories of the six months he spent on the movie. I wish I could repeat them all. He did say that Johnny Depp was very friendly and an all-around nice guy. Nice to hear!!

We've been eating rather well – went to Red Beard's with Larry and Barry one evening. Nice place – local hangout. Hope we get to go back again there before we leave. Good Food!

Every Wednesday evening there is a fish fry at Smith Point Island. There is a bus here that takes you over there. This is on Taino beach which is really a pretty place. The fish fry is billed as a local hangout but I was hard pressed to find any locals there other than those working. It was quite interesting though and we did get to taste turbot for the first time. In the states it's known as triggerfish. Not bad, I guess. Glad we went but doubt if we go back again.

We've gone over to Coral Beach and had dinner on the beach there. Wow! The food was great and the view spectacular. Highly recommend it especially if Mango is playing. He's pretty good! We went with Bob and Carol in their car but you can walk over there easily from here. In fact, we may go back there tonight if the weather clears up.

Now one of the best meals we've had over here was our boater "pot luck" dinner. We all got together one Sunday evening at the pool and held a pot luck dinner. Wow! Barry fixed a turkey and another couple (Hank and Diane) supplied us with lobster! They had caught them here and needed to get rid of them before they headed back to Canada by plane. There were 22 of us there so there were a lot of different dishes to choose from. Very Goood!!

A few days ago we visited the east end of the island and went to Banana Johns. Another great place with a beautiful beach. They specialize in BBQ and did not disappoint us! Also we tried the coconut water and  coconut jelly that is fresh from the trees there. Not bad!

Mike caught Spanish Mackerel here so we got to try that for the first time! I think my favorite though was the Marlin. I didn't even know that you could eat Marlin!  However, the couple in the boat next to us caught a 70 lb. marlin and shared their catch with us. There have been a lot of firsts here for us.
We've eaten lobster at a little tiki bar (Bernie's Tiki Bar) on the beach just a short dinghy ride from here and have enjoyed fresh bread from Esther who operates the pool bar here.

Okay we do more than just eat here. We hang out at the pool or the beaches. Mike fishes from the dinghy. There is a weekly pool tournament and Mike has played in that too. He and Hank even won last week! Bragging rights – but hey – they had fun. Now they're the defending champs! HA!

We've gone to the Port Lucaya Marketplace where I got to do some shopping while Mike hung out at Rum Runners. I saw a lot of things that I'd like to have. We are definitely going back soon! There are several stores and restaurants there along with the local straw market.

We haven't been to the casino yet. For those of you that know Mike – you know how excited he is about going there. NOT! However, I want to donate some money there so I think we're going this weekend. They are supposed to have a really good steak special there on Friday night. Again we are driven by food. HA!

Once a week there is Esther's Native Show held here. It's a mixture of Bahamian music and dance with limbo and Junkanoo costumes. It's a little hokey but fun to watch. They also have bingo three times a week. I've played once – just really not my thing. I did win a T-shirt though. LOL! Line dancing is big here. Every event seems to either start with or ends with line dancing – everyone doing the electric side or the Macarena. Hilarious! But fun!!

Oh and before I forget – every Tuesday night is Karaoke. AND Mike got up and sang last night! He did a very original rendition of Johnny Cash's "I WALK THE LINE". Hmmm! Hope Johnny Cash's estate doesn't sue us – heard they might. LOL! Too bad they didn't have the recording of "Stagger Lee" or he would have sung that too! I'm wondering if the emcee, Charles, will let him have the mic next Tuesday. We'll see!

It's going to be hard to leave this place but we both are feeling the itch to head home to the USA. We plan to spend the Fourth of July somewhere in Florida - leave the boat for a couple of weeks and go back to Joplin for a visit. See ya' all soon!

Till next time!

Admiral "C"

We all took a dinghy ride to the Tiki Bar for dinner

Little Pink Houses?

Beach as far as you can see.......

Anyone ready for fresh coconuts?