Early Christmas

Christmas came early for us when Miriam, Melissa and Allison flew down to visit with us for a few days. We moved our boat to the Atlantis Marina last Saturday so we could join them at the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island. It was a real treat spending time with them — enjoying the lavish waterparks and beaches. On Monday, the girls even got to interact with a trained dolphin in one of the lagoons.

On Tuesday, Miriam and Melissa flew home and Allison moved onto the boat with us. We were hoping we’d be able to take her to Eleuthera for a couple of days but the weather wasn’t cooperating. The sail to Eleuthera would have been perfect, but a storm was moving into the area and we’d have to deal with 25 to 30 knot winds, large seas, and rain coming back.

Instead, we went to Rose Island, which is about 8 miles from Nassau. Far enough away to have a little remoteness, yet close enough to run home in storms. We anchored in 12 feet of water with a picture perfect sand bottom. Shore was on one side and a coral reef was on our other side. There was one other cruising boat and a couple of excursion boats from Nassau.

We took the dingy to shore to explore a bit. There wasn’t much around, so we headed back to the boat and got the paddle board out to explore and get more practice.

The next day I put my mask, snorkel, and fins on to check the underside of the boat. Both of my sacrificial zincs were worn down and needing replacement.

After replacing the zincs, we took the dingy to the other side of the reef and went snorkeling.

In the afternoon, we headed back to the marina to take cover from the approaching storm.

Here are some pictures from our last week in Nassau.

Miriam, Allison, Sue, and Melissa