Allen's Cay

I am posting from my phone, at least I think I am.  It is tedious so it probably won't happen again.  We are anchored between leaf and allen cays.  It is really beautiful but crowded, over 12 boats in a small area.  You have to be concerned that everyone else knows how to properly set an anchor and not drag down and hit you.  We explored a ruined house on leaf cay.  Sad to see someone else's dream in tatters but it did afford great views.  We went snorkeling as well.  Once my heart and lungs started working after the initial plunge, it was great.  There is a variety of fish, soft and hard corals and abandonded equipment to look at and just fun to swim around.  We took the dingy around looking at other spots with our glass bottom bucket, a real great addition to our cruise this time.  We'll hang out here through Monday.  There is a storm coming and this is as good a place as any to ride it out.    We'll make a pallet on the cabin sole for better sleeping.  Tomorrow will be a book reading, movie watching day, just like you except our house moves a lot!  Enjoy the weekend,

Next Island

We leave the marina today and plan to make it to Allen's Cay and its famous iguanas.  We won't be there long as the storm besetting the states will reach us on Sunday and we won't to be in a better protected spot.  I'm not sure where that is but David is working on it.  We've had a wonderul time here in Nassau meeting new friends and sharing a very cosmopolitan Christmas dinner with four other boat crews.  We look forward to more new adventures coming up.  I am paying for yet another internet connection to post these pictures and I'm not sure when the next opportunity will come up so please bear with me.  I'll post more as soon as possible. 


This has traveled under the v-berth from Florida.  David didn't want to
 bring it but I won that one and he had so many compliments on it, turned out ok.



Just one of the docks full of boats.



The outside of the marina.  The complex to the left is under renovation.



The pool and rooms attached to the marina.  The water was too
 cold for swimming but looked nice.

Junkanoo

Each of the outlying Family Islands also had floats



You can tell there is still a huge influence of the British.
 Many of the floats had royal or Anglican themes.  Keep in mind that all of these
 floats are non-motorized.  They are either individuals inside all this cardboard and
crepe paper of a few  people pushing/pulling.  Truly amazing level of creativity and effort.



All sides were decoarted, even the backs.



Just one of the many, many marching bands.



Some very fancy dancers



After 7 hours our eyes were bedazzled by all the spectacal and colors!



One of the very cute little kids included in the marching festivities.
  He was saluting the crowds but everyone in front of me was
 snapping his picture so all of mine were of their backs.



These kids did a very elaborate dance move.  The groups stop about every 10 feet to
repeat their performance so everyone could see them.  We left after only 7 hours but
the parade went on for another 4 or 5 hours more.

Lots and lots of drum troops.  No marching band can compare!



Amazing detail.  There were 2 sets of feet inside this one.



Look at athe details of their costumes.



Kalik is a locally made beer and very popular.



One guy one big costume.



An amazing amount of feathers went into this parade.



I was fascinated by the detail.  One person carrying all that stuff-they must have
 a great work out routine all year.



I love the colors.




More royalty.



One person in this one



They sure know how to do it up big.

 

Junkanoo is impossible to describe for this mere mortal.  The sounds, the energy the extrodinarily joyous mood of the entire crowd, the constant motion of the marchers and performers.  We were close to the start of the parade and it was almost on time with a start of midnight.  By 7 am our brains and bodies were close to shut-down so we tried to make our way back to the marina.  We madea  few false starts and found the parade was stretching around for miles on the street paralleling the one we were on going the opposite direction.  We heard them still partying at 11 am after a short nap.  These foks know how to party!  It was a tremendous experience and I'm glad we didn't miss it.  The really amazing thing is they stage it again on New Year's Eve.  I cannot conceive of the amount of effort and resources required.  Each and every costume was a vibrant work of art.  We learned that they don't reuse anything.  Each year the groups start from scratch on January 2..  For only $15 we had wonderful seats and it was so worth it.  I can see why it is such a tourist attraction.

Merry Christmas to One and All

We wish all our family and friends a very blessed and happy Christmas.  We hope each and every one has all their dreams fulfilled. Hopefully I can take some pictures of Junkanoo and I can post them to share in the fun.

Merry Christmas to One and All

We wish all our family and friends a very blessed and happy Christmas.  We hope each and every one has all their dreams fulfilled. Hopefully I can take some pictures of Junkanoo and I can post them to share in the fun.

Update

We spent the day doing a lot of nothing so it was perfect.  We listened to the weather guru, Chris Parker, the warmth of our v-berth.  Leisurely had coffee and eventually ate breakfast then went exploring spots to snorkel once the wind and waves lay down.  We've been experiencing winter Bahama style for the past few days.  That means we're wearing shorts and sweatshirts and feeling cold in mid-70 degree weather.  Of course, the 20 knot north wind does put a chill on things.  We then joined Sherry and Jim in a ride down to Fort Montague and walked around to see the fish market.  I forgot the camera, sorry.  The forts are much smaller than we expected and I think they may have been more of a deterrent than actual defense measures.  The only one to fire a weapon was Montague when it was taken in 1776 by American forces.  Interestingly, we walked around the end of the island and found things radically different in comparison to downtown.  The businesses were large and well kept.  There weren't a cadre of security people and things just felt very different.  It's as if after independence the government center was abandoned to it's fate. I'm sure there are some very interesting stories behind it all and they probably vary by the perspective of the teller.  This evening we were hosted for happy hour on a large motor catamaran by a very nice Australian couple.  We came back to Sanctuary and were pleasantly surprised by the Internet actually working, ergo the update.  We plan to walk to Mass tomorrow and see what the Christmas schedule will be.  We hope all our family, friends and followers are having a wonderful weekend.

Atlantis

This is a heavily advertised place, at least in our part of Florida.  We're not really big on the whole planned fun thing but the aquarium section of the complex was worth every penny.  Plus we had the benefit of walking around other parts of the area.  Of course, they were only too happy for us to go through the casino to get from one of the display areas to the next.  We spent all our money on entrance so felt no need to spend more on the games.  We went over with our fellow travelers, Sherry and Jim, and all four of us were constantly craning our necks to see the fabulous buildings, statuary, ceilings and a million other things.  The actual tanks were outstanding in design and the diversity of fish and coral life.  The only negative I saw was some of the coral had been hokeily dyed to match some artists idea of what coral looks like.  We were able to enter the complex from the water by dingy so we came by the most massive megayachts we have ever seen.  Their yacht tenders probably cost more than our entire boat, dingy and house!  We cannot even conceive of the wealth involved.  We lucked out with the weather.  It was blue sky when we went over but while we were in one of the displays the cold front arrived and it rained quite a bit.  By the time we came out the rain had stopped and we made it back to the boats before more came.  We will be enjoying our second night of lobster dinner thanks to the guys who come around selling from their boats.  These are 4 for less than 1 would be back home. 


Last night's dinner.



Just some of the megayachts in the lagoon.



Only small boats like our dingy could fit in this part of the lagoon.  We decided

to call it the tunnel of love and kissed appropriately.




Tunnel of love exit



Atlantis lagoon.  Usually only seen by the megayacht folks and small boaters crazy enough

to ask to use the dingy dock.



Funny but effective sign.

One of the many pathways that weave throughout the entire Atlantis complex.  This is

what tourists must think of Nassau, not the reality of New Providence Island and the

Nassau we saw yesterday.



One of the open air bar and grills.  Whoever conceived of all the adornments must have

loved the use of colors, shapes and textures.  Even medium was used somewhere around

the complex.



This guy was too interesting not to include.  There were hundreds of different

sealife species in the massive collection.



Part of the ceiling in one of the outdoor eateries.



Ain't we cute!



Stairway with copper seasnakes holding up the rail.

One of the interior spaces.  The tree was over 40 feet tall.



Amazing jellyfish under black lights.  I hate to share a dive or snorkel with them

but they are pretty to look at.



Not sure what building this was but they sure looked interesting.  We wondered if they

"blossom".



One pool was nothing but rays.



Those look like some shape blades to me!



And yet another breathtaking ceiling



Hammerhead shark, best way to see one, safely out of the water!



Part of the underwater tunnels

Nassau Pictures-Part 3

Fort Fincastle is on the highest point of land and is shaped like a ship.

It was surprisingly small but only cost $1 so it was worth the tour.

 

This is the old water tower.  It was next to the fort.  You can see the stalls of vendors

catering to the tourists who arrive in vans from the cruise ships.  The budget cruisers

(us) arrive by foot

From the lower street up to the fort area, there is a long stairway.  This set of cascading

fountains was off to one side.  The site won't let me add a caption, but the picture 2 above

is a banyan tree clinging to the side of the cliff along this walkway.

The queen's staircase leading from the lower street to the castle/water tower hill.

I'm not sure which queen.  I suppose it could be any of them.

This is over on Paradise island in the Atlantis complex.  Turns out it houses

the watersports.  We took this photo from Fort Fincastle.  Pictures of Atlantis

will come soon.  We weren't allowed into this complex since we only paid to

see the aquarium.

We went to this restaurant hoping to meet other members of the Seven Seas Cruising

Association but found out they haven't met there in a while.  Guess I should have

checked the website before we went.

This C4 Corvette has been substantially modified with styling cues similar to

a C1.  I vaguely know what that means but David assures me a vet lover will know.

Another view of the vette

Houses on Paradise Island.  Much, much nicer than anything across the bridge.

Once again we had maintenance woes.  The vent for the holding tank was clogged and

creating a very bad smell inside the boat.  It was a very bad job and we both came away

dirty but the boat does smell better so it was worth it.