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A recent trip report (Spring 2002) from one reader indicates
that now Old Bahama Bay is now getting very busy, and that reservations are
almost a "must". The harbour was so full of
"mega-yachts" that he almost seemed out of place in his 37 foot
power yacht.
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Bob and Ann Todd are owners/operators, of the
German built Jule III. They own an Internet Security business http://www-arc.com/
that allows them to cruise 6 months of the
year. They have sufficient communications on board to do most of their normal jobs.
This particular cruise took them from the Florida Keys across to Gun Cay, then up to
West End, Grand Bahama, and back to Ft. Pierce. They submitted this trip
report to share with our other readers. |
The Old Bahamas Bay went to full time operation
while we were there (April 2001) and the slip rates went from
$.75/ft to $1.65/ft. Their web site reflects two rates: Fall/Winter at
$1.00/ft and Spring/Summer at $1.65/ft. Water is now mandatory at
$10.00/day. It used to be optional. The facility is nice, with
cheap transportation to Freeport/Lucaya. Hammer, our 'cab' driver, would
take us pretty much anywhere we wanted to go for $15/day. The ride down to Freeport/Lucaya was about 30 minutes. Old Bahama Bay provides free
bicycles
for the guests use, the ride to the local village is quick and pleasant.
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The "new" entrance at West End is the "old"
commercial entrance, and is much easier to use than the old "yacht"
entrance (ED. comment)
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Slips on the north side of the marina were
occupied by sailboats from 35' to 42'. Nothing much
larger would fit. South slips had mostly powerboats from 40' to 50+.
The channel dock had a couple of mega yachts. The settlement of West End is not very fancy or
commercial. There was a small liquor store, a small restaurant,
and a small Anglican Church.
The Liquor Store in West End, with the
Anglican Church in the background.
Rum and Vodka were cheap.
Everything else was
expensive
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The Conch Shack: This was the only
restaurant in the resort. The day we left, they opened up the fancy
restaurant (and raised their rates). Food was good and not too pricey. Suspect the
same is not true of the fancy restaurant
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As we mention on our web site, we were stuck
nearly a week at West End as a large front passed through
and brought the associated northerly winds. We had winds in excess of
25 knots for over 5 days. Our weather window crossing the
stream back to Ft Pierce was less than 12 hours. In addition,
the swells from the front were still substantial (8+ feet).
Bob and Ann invite you to visit their own website for more of their well
written adventures with S/V Jule III http://jule-iii.com/index.shtml.
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