Nassau, New Providence, Bahamas
KORKZcrew is the blue dot on the map.
3.10.22 Time to get my act together, unpack, and regroup. Set out early for the grocery store which is a short walk away from our marina and conveniently located just behind a Starbucks caffeine barn 😜. Got an amazing latte and hit the store with my half-baked list of things I need to, well, cook. Not much baking going on, at least not in this galley. Took me forever to collect all my groceries because my brain is all over the place, but we put a good dent in the list and were elated to learn that the grocery store (Solomon's Fresh Market) offers a free shuttle back to the marina (just be sure to tip the driver) . That’s huge when you’re used to schlepping groceries from point a to point b (for boat), especially when it’s a particularly hefty grocery run. Spent the rest of the day reorganizing the fridge, putting away groceries, reminding myself what’s in the cabinets and what isn’t, making spaghetti casserole for the freezer, unpacking my suitcase, and trying to get myself in order. Steve is a stickler for getting things in order, so he helped in that regard. A lot.
KORKZcrew is docked at Nassau Yacht Haven Marina, which has an interesting history. From their website:
"The Nassau Yacht Haven Marina holds a special place in the history of Nassau Harbor as it is the oldest operating marina in Nassau Harbor as well as the oldest continuously operating marinas in the entire Commonwealth of the Bahamas. . . . we know it was incorporated in its current location as a marina in approximately 1948. The original building, which has housed the Poop Deck Restaurant for over 54 years, was originally used as an air plane hanger in Oakes Field. The land it occupies was one of the first that was filled in in the harbor itself. As the popularity of recreational boating grew after WWII, so did the demand for docks. The marina has continued to grow and become a landmark for locals and visitors to our beautiful shores for decades."
The marina is extremely busy with a wide array of boats. Before I looked at the website i guessed it housed around 100, and I wasn't far off as it has 135 slips and can accommodate yachts up to 200 feet long. In fact, there's a gigantic 128-foot yacht called Occulus parked right behind us as we speak. I googled it and it’s a measly $95k to $125k to charter it for a week. 😳 Here’s the link to reserve your spot 😜.
Ron unpacked the impossibly-packed fishing rod which was hidden under 9 billion layers of duct tape and wedged between two halves of pvc pipe. Once he’d unwrapped it, I emerged with the new reel to go with it which I don’t think he expected, but he's looking forward to our next passage. And this sushi lover is too!! 🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼 Intracoastal Angler also helped me by picking out appropriate lures for (hopefully!) catching tuna, mahi mahi, and who knows what else. Anything but barracuda will suit us just fine. I realize they’re edible, but we will save that “delicacy” for some other experienced fisherperson who’s adept at wrestling lures out of fish mouths full of daggers. That ain’t us.
After enjoying happy hour on the fly bridge tonight, we took a short walk to dinner at Seafront Sushi, and apparently I was so thrilled to be there I failed to take a single picture and wish I had. (I'm sure Ron and Skeet were thinking the exact same thing 😜). We sat on a narrow balcony on the second floor that had oblong tables oriented so you were looking out over the water. The view was almost as spectacular as the food.
3.11
We're having various maintenance issues with KORKZcrew that need attention, and are definitely in the right spot for getting repairs as the marina is situated in downtown Nassau. Many of you may already be familiar with the acronym B.O.A.T.: Break Out Another Thousand, and boy are we keeping that "tradition" alive. Our crane has been uncooperative for some time, and two days ago our pilot house ac unit blew out after we'd plugged it into shore power that was only 95 volts instead of 120. While my knowledge in this department is EXTREMELY limited, Ron said it was technically our fault because we should've confirmed that the shore power was putting out 120 volts before we plugged into it, but that at most marinas, you don't have to check. I guess with 135 slips and gigantic yachts all plugged into the same system the voltage can vary in that way. SO! We had to contact an AC repair person, who came and confirmed that the low voltage had indeed blown out the compressor and the mother board. Fortunately, it has been only on rare occasions that we've used the AC in the pilot house, so we will delay this B.O.A.T. situation until KORKZcrew returns to the states in May.
The crane has never worked well, and now it doesn’t work at ALL, so we can’t remove or replace the dinghy motor until it’s fixed. The Great Harbour N37 is designed to store the dinghy up top on the flybridge, but because we wanted more room "upstairs", we elected to tow the dinghy behind KORKZcrew whenever we travel, and to remove the engine so the dinghy isn't plowing through the water when we're underway. Using the crane, we lift the engine off of the dinghy and mount it on the stern railing, and then use the crane to put it back on the dinghy once we reach our destination.
Ron discovered that at some point over the years KORKZcrew had a new crane installed that replaced the one that was original to the boat. It's rated for lifting 1500 pounds, and not only puts too much stress on our house batteries, but also has issues with its hydraulics. With a 200-pound Highfield Classic aluminum dinghy and a 100-pound motor, this is obviously way more crane than we need. It looks like the crane repair will be a work-in-progress as Ron is still trying to track down someone who can come to the marina and give it a look. In the future we will probably opt for installing a dinghy davit on KORKZcrew's stern, which is basically a pulley system for raising, lowering, and stowing the dinghy off the back of the boat, and is far less convoluted than how we are currently managing it. All together now: B.O.A.T. 🙄
While life in a marina is not terribly interesting, I've still enjoyed watching these crazy-huge yachts maneuver in and out of it. "Rena" out of Montego Bay made parking a 145-foot yacht look like child's play. You can charter Rena for the low low price of $105,000–$110,000 per week.😳
Look how tight these slips are! There's literally only enough room between each boat to fit their fenders. These boat captains must have nerves of steel. And a REALLY good crew.
Here's another one coming in . . . a bit shaky on the timelapse here but it just amazes me how these monsters can fit between another yacht and a finger pier and make it look effortless. I'd be gnawing off each and every fingernail for sure.
If this listing is current, Marea might just be for sale, so if you're in the market for a 13.9 million dollar boat, she could be precisely what you're looking for. You're welcome. 😜
An odd thing I’ve noticed while staying here is that smaller power boats consistently enter and exit the marina at wake-producing speeds which I really don’t understand. It rocks all the boats docked in the marina, with ours rocking even more since we are parked near the end of the finger pier, closer to through-traffic going by. It seems like it's inconsiderate and something that would make the docked boats complain, but I think it’s just the way it is around here, at least in this marina. 🤷♀️ Things that make you say "hmmmm".
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