Stay Over Days in Emerald Bay
—Blogpost written by Bob
Mar 10 thru Mar 14
In this blogpost, we continue our stay in Emerald Bay Marina as we enter our last planned week here. I make a visit to the local mini-hospital for my back pain and we postpone leaving the marina for a little while.
Tuesday, March 10
The wind velocity is a bit lower this morning, by at least a couple knots. The wind is currently from the east blowing at about 20 knots, which is a huge difference from the past couple days when it was closer to 30 knots at times.
Today is the day we have our rental car--so, it's provisioning, lunch out, and then sight seeing.
The boat from Nassau was not in George Town yet--so the grocery shelves were kind of bare. Again, we went to both Exuma Markets and Island Prime Meats and Grocery.
After grocery shopping, we went out for lunch at our favorite restaurant, Lighthouse Cafe and Ice Cream Parlour (for the third week in a row). Of course, we each had to scoops of ice cream for dessert.
Then, we drove further north to Cocoplum Beach and spent most of the afternoon there.
Cocoplum beach is difficult to find without using GPS. There are no signs leading to the beach but somehow a dozen or more people found it today, including us. It is the most beautiful beach I have ever encountered! The following images were captured there:
We went back to Island Prime Meats before they closed, hoping that the truck had arrived from the dock in George Town but we struck out. (Apparently the high wind has kept the boat which brings in supplies at bay an additional day.) Today, we picked up a back brace and some medicated lotion for my back pain--it seemed to be helping a little. By the end of the evening we decided that it is best to stay here and visit the mini-hospital in the morning.
We made last-minute arrangements in the morning for a rental car so that we could drive to the Exuma Mini-Hospital. My back was feeling much worse and there was no way I could have left under the circumstances. (The weather window was perfect for leaving though.)
We got to the clinic (called a mini-hospital) around noon and did more waiting than being helped but that is true for hospitals in the U.S too.
I got a shot in the thigh (VOLTAREN) and got a prescription for 800 mg Ibuprofen tablets which was filled at the mini-hospital. (800 mg is about 4 times the strength of a single Ibuprofen tablet which is available over the counter.)
When we got back to the boat, I slept for four hours straight--the most restful sleep I've had in weeks. We decided to stay here in Emerald Bay Marina until my back feels good enough to leave. At this point, we are not sure when that's going to be.
The latest happenings in the marina involve a few light rain showers and another power outage--we didn't get enough rain showers and we got too many power outages.
Stay tuned for the next part of our adventure here in the Exumas!
Thanks for following our blog!
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| A worker at a Guest House in George Town feeds a couple pigeons during his afternoon break. (I captured this image more than a month ago but just got around to processing it.) |
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| Another image from more than a month ago. |
Today, I made cabbage-hamburger soup again. I love this soup because it is hearty and has very few carbs. It contains carrots and canned diced tomatoes as well. As usual, I added two dried Thai chili peppers for some spiciness.
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| Cabbage-hamburger soup simmering on the stove. |
Wednesday, March 11
Today is the day we have our rental car--so, it's provisioning, lunch out, and then sight seeing.
The boat from Nassau was not in George Town yet--so the grocery shelves were kind of bare. Again, we went to both Exuma Markets and Island Prime Meats and Grocery.
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| This is a combination of mayonnaise and ketchup. You won't find this anywhere else but in the Bahamas. It is commonly used with conch fritters. |
After grocery shopping, we went out for lunch at our favorite restaurant, Lighthouse Cafe and Ice Cream Parlour (for the third week in a row). Of course, we each had to scoops of ice cream for dessert.
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| The ice cream menu board at Lighthouse Cafe and Ice Cream Parlour. |
Then, we drove further north to Cocoplum Beach and spent most of the afternoon there.
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| Our boat is located at the blue dot (lower right) and we drove to Cocoplum Beach (upper left) in the afternoon. |
Cocoplum beach is difficult to find without using GPS. There are no signs leading to the beach but somehow a dozen or more people found it today, including us. It is the most beautiful beach I have ever encountered! The following images were captured there:
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| Cocoplum Beach is perhaps two miles long and it's very shallow with at least two long sandbars. |
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| A large home sits high on a hill overlooking Cocoplum Beach. |
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| This image shows all the people who were on Cocoplum Beach today. |
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| A kite surfer took full advantage of the strong wind and the lack of high waves in the shallow water. |
We went back to Island Prime Meats before they closed, hoping that the truck had arrived from the dock in George Town but we struck out. (Apparently the high wind has kept the boat which brings in supplies at bay an additional day.) Today, we picked up a back brace and some medicated lotion for my back pain--it seemed to be helping a little. By the end of the evening we decided that it is best to stay here and visit the mini-hospital in the morning.
Thursday, March 12
We made last-minute arrangements in the morning for a rental car so that we could drive to the Exuma Mini-Hospital. My back was feeling much worse and there was no way I could have left under the circumstances. (The weather window was perfect for leaving though.)
We got to the clinic (called a mini-hospital) around noon and did more waiting than being helped but that is true for hospitals in the U.S too.
 |
| The secondary waiting room at Exuma Mini-Hospital. |
I got a shot in the thigh (VOLTAREN) and got a prescription for 800 mg Ibuprofen tablets which was filled at the mini-hospital. (800 mg is about 4 times the strength of a single Ibuprofen tablet which is available over the counter.)
 |
| The view leaving the mini-hospital. Monument Beach is in the far background. |
When we got back to the boat, I slept for four hours straight--the most restful sleep I've had in weeks. We decided to stay here in Emerald Bay Marina until my back feels good enough to leave. At this point, we are not sure when that's going to be.
Saturday, March 14
Our next weather window (and it's a good one) for leaving Emerald Bay Marina is Sunday, March 22, or Monday, March 23. Now, that my back pain is considerably better (800 mg of Ibuprofen really works!), I think we will actually make the next weather window. There was a moment just before I went to the mini-hospital that I thought we would never be able to leave under our own direction because it is nearly impossible to operate a boat, when you can’t stand up, even on dry land. (It’s strange that I can’t recall an incident that initially caused my back pain.)
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| A photo from our recent Wednesday road trip to Cocoplum Beach. This is a casuarina taking root on the beach. |
The latest happenings in the marina involve a few light rain showers and another power outage--we didn't get enough rain showers and we got too many power outages.
Stay tuned for the next part of our adventure here in the Exumas!
Thanks for following our blog!
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