Leaving Nassau - Ft. Montague- East side
9/5 - 9/11 Couldn’t believe we’ve been here a whole week! Gotta get a move on. The fuel is good here so we topped off the tank with 200 gal. - paid cash for the $.14/gal discount. We left at 11:45 & anchored in Allan’s Cays at 4:45. “The Allens Cays Group consists of SW Allan’s Cay, Allan’s Cay & Leaf Cay. Leaf Cay is by far the prettiest & most accessible in the group…This group of Cays is one of the remaining habitats of Iguanas in the Bahamas. Iguanas in The Bahamas are protected by law…”? Hell, we have bigger & prettier Iguanas at home 
than here. (If you can call an Iguana pretty) & they’re
than here. (If you can call an Iguana pretty) & they’re suggesting you kill them because they’re over-running the Keys. I caught a crummy 3’ barracuda on the way. He's SO outta here. It’s so quiet, the solitude & clear water mesmerizes us. I got free wifi access from Highborne Cay which is a private island & never free. Wayne cleaned the bottom & prop then discovered all of the zincs need to be changed. Figure they disintegrated due to the multiple marinas we’ve been in. At least they did their job…but now, where the heck do we go to get more?? Back to Nassau? You’re kidding-right? In the meantime, Tropical Storm Maria has formed east of the Lesser Antilles. The cone shows it will be awfully close to the Bahamas. On the 8th, we headed back to Nassau & anchored in the harbor next to the Green Parrot…thoughts of a juicy blue cheese burger danced in our heads. Forget it, we’re eating on the boat tonight. Well, that sucks canal water!
9/9 Bright & early (well, sorta) we side-tied at Nassau Yacht Harbor-closest to the marine stores. Wayne went in search of zincs, I went in search for jugs of Carlo Rossi red wine. I must have visited 7 liquor stores in a 1 mile radius- no red wine. I settled for Sangria. Wayne got some zincs but not all he wanted. We both went to the City Market a few blocks away to get OJ & a few other items. We left Nassau at 1:00 & anchored in Allan’s Cays (again) at 5:45pm. Steady breeze from the east made for good sleeping that night…but the mosquitoes were really annoying! Did I tell you the Bahamas have an outbreak of Dengue Fever? It’s not enough to worry about hurricanes, we have to fear Dengue too? Who’s idea was it to travel in the summer anyway?? 9/10 Wayne was naked while stowing the dock lines (actually, he's always sans clothes when no one is around)when a fast boat, filled with tourists, came roaring in the pass then slowly went past us on the way to the beach. Wayne quickly hit the deck but not before half the people saw him. (grin) No internet since 9/8. My grandson, Nicholas, should have been born on the 8th. We had free internet via Highborne while in Allan’s a few days ago, but this time we couldn’t connect for free - it‘s $10/day - OK, we’ll pay - but they wouldn’t let us - “it’s for Marina guests only“. In addition, we can’t get local stations on TV to check on the storm. I called Highborne Marina - they say forecast for Maria should be well to our east & on Tuesday, winds of only 20-30. If that’s the case, it’s no worse than a squall in the Keys. About 10, we left Allan’s heading south on the Banks; hugged the 
southern end of Lobster Cay, past un-named rocks (unusual, even rocks have a name here)& tried to anchor off Saddle Cay which is at the Northern tip of Norman’s…beautiful spot. We carefully worked our way in but depth dropped to 4‘ (we draw 5') we quickly 
southern end of Lobster Cay, past un-named rocks (unusual, even rocks have a name here)& tried to anchor off Saddle Cay which is at the Northern tip of Norman’s…beautiful spot. We carefully worked our way in but depth dropped to 4‘ (we draw 5') we quickly 
MacDuff's beach cottage rentals
backed out very slowly. Anchored on the west-side (Banks) of Norman’s Cay across from MacDuff’s. We were anxious to see it again, but as Wayne says, “you can’t go back”…he’s right. They lost half their
The original bar was from the wall behind Wayne to where he's sitting
The original bar was from the wall behind Wayne to where he's sitting
beach where the rental cabins are; the shrubs have taken over; the whirlpool is gone; the quaint little bar has been extended, & a large, but cozy porch area was added (I have to admit, this addition is nice); & Cat & Del have moved to Belize. (to see how it was, go to my ‘01 Bahamas blog) There’s still an active air-strip. This is off season so we didn’t expect to see anyone, however, we were greeted by Victor, our 12 year-old 
bartender! Cutie…(reminds me of my grandson, Anthony) His mom, Durae, & her boyfriend were visiting for the week-end. She’s been coming to Norman’s since 1984. Very pretty & interesting woman. She lives in Lyford Cay - West side of New Providence & also in Jupiter, FL. Victor goes to a private school in Lyford. She’s also a pilot. She & Wayne talked for hours with me giving input every now & then. The owner has a darling, but madcap 13 week-old puppy named Salt. Play, play, play is all he wants out of life…but the 
girls would have none of it. He also has an old Chiwawa named Pepper who ventured from his cozy bed to see what all the fuss was about. He liked Wayne. Our intention when going ashore was to take Molly & Scupper to the beach…we never did get
there. Oh well, there’s more to come but not everyday that you get to meet interesting people. Two guys flew in for a burger. Their job is to check
all the water systems on each island - what a job, hugh? Durae took some pictures of US for a change…I like this one. On 9/11 The dreaded 10 yr anniversary & since no news or internet, we don’t know if the threats we heard about while in Nassau were carried out. We hung out on the boat, went for a swim & basically did nothing in particular. “Norman’s is one of the Exumas’ longest islands south of Highborne Cay that offers cruisers good snorkeling, diving, fishing & beachcombing as well as access to both Exuma Sound & Exuma Bank“. Many years ago it was also home to a Columbian, Carlos Enrique Lehder, who ensconced himself as ruler of a powerful drug smuggling ring. He was deported from the Bahamas in 1982”. He was in power for many years (1968-1982), put into federal prison and is now free because he turned state’s evidence against General Noriega of Panama. You can see many bullet holes in the buildings. Before he took over the south end of the island, it was a ritzy resort for the rich & famous.
bartender! Cutie…(reminds me of my grandson, Anthony) His mom, Durae, & her boyfriend were visiting for the week-end. She’s been coming to Norman’s since 1984. Very pretty & interesting woman. She lives in Lyford Cay - West side of New Providence & also in Jupiter, FL. Victor goes to a private school in Lyford. She’s also a pilot. She & Wayne talked for hours with me giving input every now & then. The owner has a darling, but madcap 13 week-old puppy named Salt. Play, play, play is all he wants out of life…but the 
girls would have none of it. He also has an old Chiwawa named Pepper who ventured from his cozy bed to see what all the fuss was about. He liked Wayne. Our intention when going ashore was to take Molly & Scupper to the beach…we never did get
there. Oh well, there’s more to come but not everyday that you get to meet interesting people. Two guys flew in for a burger. Their job is to check
all the water systems on each island - what a job, hugh? Durae took some pictures of US for a change…I like this one. On 9/11 The dreaded 10 yr anniversary & since no news or internet, we don’t know if the threats we heard about while in Nassau were carried out. We hung out on the boat, went for a swim & basically did nothing in particular. “Norman’s is one of the Exumas’ longest islands south of Highborne Cay that offers cruisers good snorkeling, diving, fishing & beachcombing as well as access to both Exuma Sound & Exuma Bank“. Many years ago it was also home to a Columbian, Carlos Enrique Lehder, who ensconced himself as ruler of a powerful drug smuggling ring. He was deported from the Bahamas in 1982”. He was in power for many years (1968-1982), put into federal prison and is now free because he turned state’s evidence against General Noriega of Panama. You can see many bullet holes in the buildings. Before he took over the south end of the island, it was a ritzy resort for the rich & famous.
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