Seafood night mmm...

Lucaya, Grand Bahamas Island



Joe/Nocturne

 This morning felt like a true Bahamas morning. Temperatures started at 70 and it was perfect for a morning walk around the marina with my coffee and camera. As I headed for the marina office I noticed a sailboat coming in from the channel and waved. They asked if anyone was home yet and I yelled back “no but if you know your slip assignment, I can help you tie up”. I followed them along the docks for a bit then they turned and went back to the fuel dock to tie up. The boat’s name is Nocturne. After chatting a bit with Len and Joe the topic of the Georgetown Regatta came up. It turns out that Len is the Chairman of the Regatta. I told him I doubted our boat could ever consider winning – we’re not racers but he said the boats are handicapped. I could probably get the pickle boat award if nothing else. As we continued chatting, Joe removed his hat – it’s the greatest! His hat has white spiked hair that I thought was his! LOL I’d just thought he was being current with the hairstyles!

Continuing my walk, I met Mason in the boat across from us. We’d admired it when we first came in with its classic design and huge teak bowsprit. It’s registered in the U.S. Virgin Islands but Mason is a single handler from Michigan.  Then I stopped and chatted with Aurora – Harry and Marayka. I originally thought they were from France but they’re from Holland. They’ve been traveling quite extensively for a few years now and it’s nice to chat with them. They’re a very nice couple.

After I finally got back to the boat, I rinsed off Kolibrie, drained her water tanks from the water left from last year and Indiantown and topped up with the water here. It’s nice to see clear water when I pour it into my drinking jug! Next was afixing the screens in the v-berth with silicon to hold them in then I was ready to head into town.

After sending a letter back home via Fed-Ex Mary & I along with the boat “Running Aweigh to?” caught the courtesy van into town to the hardware (True-Value) and the grocery store. Mary Clare found an adapter for their hoses for a water filter, but I didn’t find my needles. We finally found those at the International Sewing Center (Yay!); I lamented that I missed fresh baked bread/Bimini bread so our driver said “You want fresh bread?” and swerved into The West Bakery for fresh bread and meat pies (they were wonderful) before returning to the marina. There, a small fishing boat approached wanting to know if we wanted lobster$10 each? Mary and I looked at each other and wondered if they’d go cheaper. We couldn’t remember what Glen paid but we figured maybe 1 each of us?
She called out “Is that your best price - What will you take for 4?”
“Will you take $30 for 4?”
“Yes, Okay ma’am, we can do dat for you ladies.”
“Do you want the whole lobster or just the tails?”
She wanted to try making them whole; I didn’t, so we got 2 whole and 2 tails. I had to grab my camera. He was going to show us how to split them open. So our new lesson for the day was how to prep lobster.

While he was waiting for Mary to return with her part of the money, I was admiring their conch in the bottom of the boat. One that was laying lip up had a beautiful pink/yellow lip. He decided that he’d let me have the shell, so they removed the conch and gave me the shell. Since one tail was kind of small on the lobster, I got an extra one and he threw in a small yellow snapper/grunt to boot! Wow. It’s a seafood night! Got lobster, grunt (snapper), and lovely conch shells. He broke his knife giving us our lesson on prepping lobster (he’d had that for 3 years) so Mary gave him one of her old ones. They left happy and we were happy too. They said if the weather held, they’d be back tomorrow with more. After the way everyone was eyeing Mary’s whole lobsters, I hope they bring back quite a bit. There are quite a lot of boats wanting lobster now.

It fills the grill!



mmm look at that tail!

We decided to grill our lobster over at the pool area where they have a grill – but we discovered no gas, so Azaya brought their grill there and we had salad, garlic bread, lobster and grunt. Several of the other boats were oohing and ahhing at the size of the lobsters. It was impressive how much meat there was in the body. The meal was delicious and I loved seeing Axel devouring the lobster with such gusto! I love seeing someone enjoy their food, and he reminded me of my mom when she’d eat ribs with such appreciation and enthusiasm! Next time I get the whole lobster, not just the tail. It was a delightful day all around with quite affordable food and wonderful company.