2011 - 9- 19 - 9-20 - Staniel Cay

9/19 We arrived in Staniel Cay about 1:15, slowly cruised the harbor & anchored near the Yacht Club. So much has changed in 10 years - lots of new construction. It looks like they got much more damage from Irene than the northern islands; mostly dock damage from what we can see. We were hoping to have dinner at Club Thunderball but looks like they were closed. There are no other transient boats here…it’s summer after all, they’re the smart ones. Staniel got recognition in 1964 when they filmed “Thunderball” & used the Grotto somehow. They also filmed “Never Say Never Again” as well as the Disney movie, “Splash“. (which I didn’t know)

I was ready for dinner out. I reviewed my notes from 2001 & remembered the Yacht Club was ‘pricey’ & food only so so. We heard on the VHF from another restaurant that they were serving dinner from 6-8. Never did get the name, but it was a deep purple building on the beach close to our anchorage. We took the dinghy & were delighted to find a plan & simple little place filled with locals where the prices were right. Owned by John & Bernadette, they have twin sons & an older son, Dereko. I got Cracked Conch & Wayne, Fish fingers & wine of course. It was an interesting night…talked US & Bahamian

politics, about the island, watched some TV & John let me use his computer for email. We’re still having computer issues; can’t connect to Internet Explorer therefore can’t connect to our high powered wifi antennae. I connected via the computer to “Exuma wifi” & paid for 3 days. Used it for a very short time, then disconnected. Called the yacht club for help but since we purchased the use via PayPal a guy named

Baptist Church

Steve is the only one who can help; We used the manager’s phone to contact him & of course, he didn’t return our calls all day. Dave, the bartender let me use his computer. Our dear friends, Tom & Laurel, from Green Cove Springs were making plans to meet us in Georgetown. By the time I got her 3-day old mail, they wanted to come this Friday, the 23rd. We can’t make it down there by then. So emails flew back & forth using Dave’s computer. They’re coming on the 30th. It’s amazing how much we now depend on instant communication & when you don’t have it…well… think about that. On the 20th we took the dinghy thru the cut to Isles Grocery - talk about a change…this used to be a quaint little store on the beach. Here’s what it looks like now. Not much inventory but got OJ, cabbage, potatoes, celery & transmission fluid. Poor Wayne, they were out of ice cream.

This is the message you get when you tie into a local wifi; I thought it was pretty funny:

“This service uses a satellite uplink for all traffic. On its best day, it will seem slow compared to any land-based service. It's 22 thousand miles to the satellite, which means it's 44 thousand miles before your request hits the Internet, and 44 thousand for the data to come back. No matter how you slice it, 88 thousand miles may take more than a few seconds for a response. So remember, you're in the Central Exumas with the most beautiful water and Cay's anywhere on the planet. Fast Internet is available at most office buildings and cubicles in the states. Would you really want to trade where you are for a cubicle?”

The secret to happy surfing on a slow network?

1. Click on the link

2. Take a drink of your Kalik (this is a local beer)

3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 above until network appears to have blazing speed.

This is the in & outside of the Yacht Club & Wayne talking to the only blonde on the island. They added to the rental cottages since ‘01 & a new pool area behind them. Nice set up. We went in search of the ‘bread lady’ (in the pink top) who lives near the Baptist church. Her oven is broken…sadly, no home-made bread to be found on the entire island! I suggested that the Yacht Club take up donations to repair or replace the oven.