We continue to be impressed with the service in the marine industry in this part of the world. Bradford Marine Bahamas has gone above and beyond.
They invited us to their Friday Dry Dock Happy Hour. The General Manager knew not only our mechanic, but also our AC/compressor guy, and the Captain that ran our boat for the previous owner. We have come to learn that we are a unique breed in these waters, there are very few owners who captain their own vessel of our size or larger.
The Yard Manager was also a Rotarian. When Tom told him he installed a water maker, he asked which kind. Before Tom could finish Water Makers Inc, he exclaimed it was the best- he works with one that produces 7500 gallons in 24 hrs on the island. Did we stumble into the right people for what we needed? Or is it that small of a world in this area?
Grand Bahama reminds Tom a lot of Alaska, in a warmer climate.
Our berth of two nights.
Looking up the street to the main office.
Bradford is able to handle larger boats that other yards cannot. Not only do they service the mega yachts, they also service the Bahamian Navy, US research vessels and cruise ships.
The most challenging for them are the new large cruise ships. They are too big to lift out of the water, so they lift one end at a time. They tend to see the same set of yachts each season; from the islands they head to Azure and then the Med. The main issue on most of them? Clogged AC units. The warm water and humidity is the perfect environment for barnacles to grow- in your AC thru hull.
The electrician was not able to fix our smaller generator before days end. He said he’d be back tomorrow morning. Tom said, 9am? Before noon, right? He said, of course, no problem.
The next day while waiting for the electrician to show up, we took a taxi to Solomon’s supermarket in downtown Freeport (which just confirmed Tom’s theory of this island being like a warm Alaska).
Every customer in the store smiled and said hi to us. This seemed to be the norm. The Bahamian people are so friendly and welcoming.
Noon. Still no electrician. We couldn’t move Sunday because of weather, so today was the day to run. He had our manual, hopefully this old 8kw Onan manual can be found online.
We got outside of Freeport and had following 6ft-8ft seas at 8 sec. The autopilot worked hard to stay on course, swinging at times up to 25 degrees port and starboard. We were told at the Palm Beach Boat Show in March that there is an update for our naiads to improve their execution in a following sea. At the time it was not one of our must haves. It sure would have been nice.
We were grateful that it was only ninety minutes to Old Bahama Bay, West End, Grand Bahama Island. Our lines were barely tied up when a local diver was trying to sell us conch. His name was Platinum, his partner, Gold.
Old Bahama Bay is one of the check in points for customs, has fuel (4.29/g… cough cough) and is a colorful resort with a restaurant that is open for dinner and a small convenience mart.
To our surprise, we got a phone call from Bradford Marine that the head electrician and the electrician that was working on our boat were driving up here (about a 45 minute drive from Freeport) to finish the job. On a Saturday evening.
Everyone we’ve met that ends up on Grand Bahama Island has a story, and we talked with the head electrician for two hours as the electrician worked on our generator. Most were in the military, had a wild 20s decade, worked for a structured company in the states for twenty plus years, then wanted a change of pace.
As he was still working on our generator at 8:30pm, we thanked both of them for coming all the way out this way, and also for sending a care package of filters and parts for both generators to our next major port: Marsh Harbour, Abacos. We have yet to see what price we will be paying for this excellent service.
As we were entering the restaurant, the three guys on a Viking next to us exclaimed it is time for them to move their folding dock chairs. We soon would find out why.
We experienced our first Junkanoo on the dock. A Junkanoo is a parade of dance, music and costume, usually taking place on Boxing Day or New Years Day. There are two theories on how the name originated – named after a folk hero John Canoe, or derived from the French gens inconnus (unknown people) as masks are worn by the revelers.
It seemed the whole town had turned out, from the age of ten and up. It was hard not to tap your feet as this group of happy people performed.
When we got back to the boat, Tom inspected the electrician’s work. Our broker had talked about how work in the islands is not always the quality of work you get in the states. He had made it work, he had not fixed it. We were good… for now. Everything will be ok, mon.