We awoke in time to get the 6:30 AM weather report and then hauled up the anchor and motored out of White Sound. Wind was light at 6 to 8 knots and almost dead behind us, so we opted to hoist the spinnaker for our run down to Marsh Harbour.
We averaged a stately 4 to 4.5 knots and the four hour trip passed without issue. By noon we were in Marsh Harbour and a few minutes later we had the hook down. We were really surprised by the lack of boats here. Last time we were here (2006) at the same time of the year there were over 60 yachts anchored in the harbour and almost every marina slip was taken. Today there were three other boats besides us, one of which was ghetto fabulous (abandoned derelict). Wow, I guess the economic downturn must be hitting the cruising community pretty hard.
Once we cleaned up from sailing, we launched the dinghy to take the trash ashore and get Amy some fresh veggies. We walked out to Solomon's only to find it was gone! Destroyed! By the evil galactic empire! (Star Wars reference) After asking around town we found out that it was burned down three years ago, apparently a victim of owner induced arson. We instead diverted to the Price Right.
Price Right was a nice, clean store although the name should be Priced Outside of All Reality if there was any truth in advertising. $9.50 for a box of Cheerios? I think not. We ended up getting some assorted veggies, a gallon of pineapple juice, a bag of frozen spare ribs and some flour. Total cost was 22 dollars. Good thing we didn't need much.
On the way back we stopped at Bristol Liquors and got 2 bottles of Chilean White for $10, which we both felt was a much better deal than the food. Maybe we just need to give up eating?
We took our supplies back to the mother ship and stowed them. Next up Amy changed into her running outfit and I changed in to my laundry washer uniform. We dinghied over to the marina next to Snappas Bar and Restaurant and while I did clothes Amy went for a jog. She returned as I was putting the clothes in the drier. so we walked next door to Snappas for a drink while the clothes spun happily.
In surprisingly good news, Snappas had Kalik (local beer) on tap! Yeah! In equally shocking news it was $6 for a 12 ounce glass! AHHHH! Needless to say we had one and then returned to our laundry.
As an aside, I can't help but feel that the Bahamian attitude of "let's rip off the tourist" has gotten completely out of hand. I mean I know for a fact that a case of Kalik beer can be bought for $45 at the liquor store across the street from Snappas. That same single can of beer is being sold for $6 at Snappas. So let's see, 24 beers times $6 equals $144 or in other words they are making about $4 per beer. That is a 200 percent markup. What kind of store owner thinks he can get away with that?
What made it even worse was that the bar tender who we have known for 7 years asked me why I thought that the visiting yachts were no longer frequenting the water front establishments. All I could do was stare at her incredulously and ask here if they had considered that charging 6 bucks for a beer might be part of the problem. She said no, she didn't think that was it. Oh well.
We returned to the boat, folded the laundry and then I cooked the last of our American shrimp for dinner on the grill. Post dinner we got a visit from one of the other cruising boats here in the harbour named Serenity. I forget the couples name but they were friendly and we invited them on board or a glass of wine. We swapped sailing stories for an hour or so before they had to go. I imagine we'll see them down island at some point.
A running of the weasels followed by bed at 8 pm capped of the day.
I guess I'm glad I brought my own drinks over with me.