Nassau New Providence Island Bahamas

The Nassau Harbour Club Marina

We arrived as 4 and left as 2, the main reason for returning to Nassau being to drop off Nici and Strevs so that they could fly home.  We left Bottom Harbour on Rose Island at 0745hrs to get into Nassau early so that we could refuel and then move to Nassau Harbour Club Marina for final panic packing and disembarkation.  The grey skies, a little drizzle and reasonably brisk winds made the move much less easy than we would have liked but at least Nici and Strevs weren’t treated to tantalising views to rub their noses into the fact that they were having to leave.

However, once we were settled in Nassau, the weather improved somewhat and Nici announced that she had a treat in store for us. The early move allowed us to fit in a last lunch together at the Poop Deck Restaurant, sitting at a lovely balcony table with great views out over the moored yachts and the Atlantis Royal Towers hotel complex on Paradise Island. Somehow, we managed not to take any photos; I’m missing having my little camera which I had lost in Beaufort NC!

A photo of the Atlantis Royal Towers hotel complex on Paradise Island hotel from our last visit

Our last few hours together were spent chatting and then it was time for a bag-drag to meet the taxi.  Almost perfect timing, just 2 minutes late, their taxi arrived to take them to the airport and after heartfelt hugs and farewells it was back to just the 2 of us on board BV.

But there was no time to mope.  We need to re-victual, get some parts for fixing the generator and also book an appointment with a Barbadian solicitor. In the last couple of days we had received some e-mails about a minor boundary issue with our property back in Guernsey and needed to get some Power of Attorney paperwork notarised so that the issue could be resolved in our absence. Cue Nicky’s super efficiency: in under 24 hours she had arranged for the paperwork to be raised, booked a Barbadian solicitor (getting an appointment at that short notice was amazing!), got the signature witnessed and arranged for it all to go to the court and then be ‘Fedexed’ back to Guernsey.  Meanwhile, I bought some wire, a few clamps, a length or 2 of fuel hose and a low power 12V fuel pump.

Finding all of that was harder than I had imagined.  There are several chandleries and hardware stores close to the marina but despite a thorough search of them I failed in my quest for a low power fuel pump for the generator.  I’d found the wires and hoses for it but none of the suppliers stocked the pump that I wanted.  Fortunately, my questions were overheard by a Canadian couple; they knew exactly what I was after because they had one fitted in the supply line to the generator on their motorboat B2B.  They were on their way back home and so decided that they didn’t need 2 spare fuel pumps on board and agreed that I could buy one from them.  Fabulous!  The boating community at its best, looking out for each other!

So, with BV’s fridge busting at the seams with food, the tanks full, the admin completed and a handful of new spares on board, we slipped our lines and departed back towards Bottom Harbour on Rose Island. It’s amazing what you can achieve in a 24 hour marina stop!

Nassau, New Providence Island, Bahamas