November 1, 2018 – Headed Home (A Belated Story of Our Return to Nassau/New Providence)

Hello again from BoatMonkeyAdventures.com!

Before I begin, let me start by once again thanking all of the amazing friends and family who have supported this journey in one fashion or another. While this is by no means a complete list, I want to especially say thank you to our friends Jess, Shane, Mark, Carolyn, Chris, and Beth who allowed us to house and pet sit while Eileen was in the yard. Thank you to Mark at Florida Keys Marine Diesel who helped us accomplish all of our repairs. Thank you to Phil, Kelly, and Jim at the Sunset Tiki, and to Sean at TowBoat US for putting me to work and keeping me off the streets this summer. Also, thank you to our amazing parents who support us in many ways to accomplish our goals! We love you ALL!

New Providence Island Revisited – A Pleasant Surprise

Most cruising visitors to the Bahamas are content to get in and out of Nassau/New Providence Island as quickly as possible. Checking into customs if needed and provisioning at the large US-style grocery stores with a quick stop at the modestly priced marinas for fuel, water, and laundry is often about as much time as the typical cruiser will spend here. On our way south and east, we were content to follow that logic, as Nassau has a reputation for being a little rough around the edges with prevalent street crime and petty theft. The last time I had been here was the late 90’s and I remembered it having that feel to it back then. The marinas in Nassau are a little run down and have minimal amenities, but serve the purposes mentioned above at a reasonable cost. Our marina had security and friendly enough staff and we didn’t really feel the need to wander down to town. We took care of our business and it was off to the Exumas!

If you have followed along or go back to read our last post, our return to the states started with a crossing back to New Providence from the Exumas to wait out the weather from an early tropical weather system. We were having some minor issues with the boat, Celia had one good arm, and we were eager to take advantage of the small weather window that would follow the passage of the storm. We pulled into an absolutely great marina on the southeast side of New Providence called Palm Cay Marina. There were a few days to kill while we waited out the weather. The marina had a courtesy car for marina guests to use for provisioning, etc. so Celia decided to look up a few places for us to explore and we ended up with a new appreciation for what this island has to offer…

The Queen’s Staircase and Fort Fincastle Historic Site

The Queen’s Staircase, commonly referred to as the 66 steps, is a major landmark that is located in the Fort Fincastle Historic Complex in Nassau. It was hewn out of solid limestone rock by slaves between 1793 and 1794 and it is said that it provided a direct route from Fort Fincastle to Nassau City. These steps were later named in honor of Queen Victoria, who reigned in Britain for 64 years from 1837 to 1901.  There are only 65 steps visible because the pathway that leads to the steps was paved and the bottom step is buried under the asphalt.

While hanging around the area, we struck up a conversation with the former Minister of Tourism, who now enjoys playing music for and talking to the many tourists who visit here. We enjoyed his company and he told us all about the details of this beautiful place.

Fort Fincastle

This Fort was constructed of cut limestone c. 1793 and strategically placed atop Bennet’s Hill to protect historic Nassau town and its harbor; it was built under the governorship of John Murray, also called Viscount Fincastle, in the shape of a paddle-wheel steamer.

Next stop was the Nassau Public Library. We hoped to learn a little more about the areas history and visit this historic building. Unfortunately, it was closed this day. We sat on the grounds to enjoy a picnic lunch and were approached by a well-dressed local who was promoting a cigar store and handing out brochures for it. After some casual conversation, we realized that was just a front for him to ask if we were “420 friendly”. He was trying to sell us some wacky tobaccy apparently! We politely declined and wished him a good day. It was on to the last stop on our little adventure this day…

The Retreat Palm and Botanical Gardens

The Retreat National Park, established in 1977, is an 11-acre property that houses one of the largest private collections of rare and exotic palms in the world – about 170 species. It is a national park and the Administrative headquarters and educational center of The Bahamas National Trust (BNT). The Trust, a non-governmental, non-profit organization, was founded in 1959 with a mandate of developing and managing the National Park System of The Bahamas. To date, BNT has successfully developed, managed and protected 20 plus parks in The Bahamas, including the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park! In addition to the management and protection of The Bahamas’ fragile ecosystems, The Bahamas National Trust also provides environmental educational school programs throughout the year.

We appeared to be the only visitors this day and talked for a while with the park manager. Apparently, this was at one time a private retreat. The owner starting collecting and planting palm trees from all over the world here almost 100 years ago. At one time it was indeed the largest collection of palm species in the world. The variety of palm tree species was staggering and neither Celia or I had any clue there were so many. They were so varied and beautiful! We took our time walking the grounds and took some pictures of our favorites.

It was now time to head back to the marina and start our preparations for what we hoped would be 3-day weather window and passage back to the good ole USA. Please read on for the last post of this adventure detailing what likely ended up being one of the most difficult parts of the entire trip!

 

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