2/7/25

We left Calabash Harbour as soon as we could see the different colors in the water – about 7:30a.  We had a 3-4 hour sail to the Stella Maris marina.  We thought that pulling into Calabash Harbour was challenging with the shallow water.  That was nothing compared to pulling into the Stella Maris marina.  The depth finder was registering up to negative 1 foot beneath the keel.  (Steve manipulated the reading when setting up the depth finder.)  We actually brushed the bottom several times.  Luckily, we didn’t get stuck.

Pulling into the Stella Maris was interesting.  This marina is part of the Stella Maris resort.  However, it appears that the resort really doesn’t do much with the marina any more.  We had to call on the phone to notify them a half an hour in advance that we would arrive.  So, we ended up anchoring outside of the opening to the marina while waiting for the owner, George, to arrive.  From our vantage point, we couldn’t tell how wide the mouth of the marina was and we were worried about fitting.  We were also worried about the depth since we were barely above the bottom.  We made it in with the fenders on the wrong side (we were not told which side to put the fenders on).  As we were pulling in, I thought I saw something big diving.  It was calm inside the marina and we were able to get tied up.  We were the only boat there (other than small fishing/dive boats).  The marina looked abandoned and run down, with dilapidated buildings.  We did have electric and water hook-ups, however.  Staff were very friendly.  

The most exciting thing about the marina was that there was a manatee swimming around in the extremely clear water.  It spent quite a bit of time under our boat.  It turns out that manatees like to drink fresh water.  I had the hose out and the manatee would stick her nose above the surface to drink the water.  It was so cool to see! 

Laundry was located across the street from the marina so it was easy to walk there.  The lady working there was very kind and allowed us to sneak our laundry in since we were leaving the next day.  Steve gave her a good tip. 

The other thing that we did while in the marina was check in.  We had been sailing four days in the Bahamas without clearing into the country.  We were supposed to clear customs within 24 hours of entering the Bahamas, however, we couldn’t find a convenient customs office before Long Island.   They didn’t seem to care and we are now in the Bahamas legally. 

We hired a taxi driver, Lisa, who drove us around.  She took Steve to the airport to clear customs.  Then we went to the grocery store.  And, in the evening she drove us to and from the resort, where we ate dinner. 

The resort was interesting.  It was a low-key, friendly, comfortable resort without much going on.  The restaurant was nice and breezy.  We had conch fritters which were very good.  The rest of our meals were a little tough.  But, it was nice to be eating out.  There were a few other couples in the resort and the staff seemed to know everyone.  They even knew that we were there from the marina. 

With our laundry and provisioning done, we filled up the water tanks, did some cleaning, planned for the next part of our journey, and got a good night’s sleep.  We left as soon as we could see, around 6:30a because that is when it was high tide.  After our experience entering the marina, closer to low tide, we wanted to take advantage of the extra water.  It worked.  I think the depth finder read above 0 the entire time. 

Steve had debated whether to sail on the bank or in the Atlantic.  After our adventures to the Calabash Harbour and the marina, we decided to head back to the deep water, where it is easy to sail without worry of hitting coral heads.