D126: Lucaya 3/5 - 10/2020

As usual, we got an early start and left the anchorage at 0705.  We had a S-SW wind at 10-15 knots.  We saw a few Canadian boats pass by ahead of us coming from further south.  Due to the distance, we decided to motor sail to keep up our speed.  We caught up with the Canadian's and recognized a few of the boats.  They are also headed to Lucaya.  

As we crossed the Northwest Providence channel, we noticed several cruise ships lingering out in open water.  I was not sure if that was part of the normal journey or if they were waiting to get into Great Stirrup Cay.  Now, I think we may have witnessed the beginning of the Covid-19 limbo for cruise ships.       

The wind and the waves gradually picked up all day.  We arrived at Grand Bahama Yacht Club around 3:30 pm and took on 44.5 gallons of diesel before heading to our slip.  The docks were mostly empty and the slips looked a bit rough.  Built of concrete, I think they were originally thought to be indestructible, but one of the hurricanes prior to Dorian broke off some of the finger piers.  Overall, the marina was nice.  

Due to the large front that arrived with us, we stayed in Lucaya at the Grand Bahama Yacht Club for five nights.  The staff was very nice.  

The first night, we ate dinner at the pool bar located on site.  We had their conch salad, which was incredibly good.  The next two days brought strong winds and extreme tides.  We ate dinner on the boat.  We did get out and explore some, but the weather was not great.  

On Sunday, 3/8/2020, we ventured over to the touristy area and had lunch at the Flying Fish restaurant.  They were already starting to apply Covid-19 precautions.  The place was mostly empty because it was Sunday and the weather sucked.  Luckily, the food was fantastic.  I highly recommend stopping here.  

We had taken the GBYC water taxi over for lunch and on the way back, the captain stressed that it was not legal to anchor in the canals there.  But, all of the Canadians that sailed up with us were anchored there.  He said that sometimes they enforce it, but they definitely don't like it.  

I also had a local diver come clean the bottom.  Very nice guys that looked like he belonged on a professional football team.  He did a great job.  When we pulled the boat out later in Norfolk, it was still clean.  

In some of the photos below, you will notice some of the damage to the docks and the sunken sailboats in the harbor.  This demonstrates why it may be a bit risky to go into harbors in Abaco right now.  You never know what is under the water.