Summer Breeze: BAHAMA WINTER 2011-12

We spent the first week and celebrated a "Junkanoo New Years" on South Bimini with some great Junkanoo entertainment & fireworks on the beach. I got some interesting Junkanoo video, however I've been unable to download it from Nikon to computer. I'll keep trying. It was a chilly week; that coldfront did finally creep down on South Florida & the Bahamas, but thankfully we did beat it in our dash across the Gulf Stream. With another window opening up on January 7, we decided to head north 63 n.m. to Grand Bahama. That's a 12 hour day for Summer Breeze. We had never been to the Freeport, Ocean Reef, Port Lucaya area and wanted to explore this large island. We made landfall at Ocean Reef Yacht Club on the south side of the island. It felt strange being on a coast with no protected coves or anchorages; we were forced to take up residency in a marina slip, but what a fun place Ocean Reef turned out to be as our base for exploration.

Yes, it was a cool start heading to Grand Bahama on Jan.7 at 5:30 a.m., but by our arrival at 5:15 p.m. we were in shorts & tees for the rest of the winter.

Great Isaac Lighthouse; 20 miles out in the middle of nowhere on the Bank.

Fishing, as the water turned more beautiful every mile.

The six

pics below are from the "Junior Junkanoo Parade" in downtown Freeport. This is the kid's version of the drunken New Years Junkanoo celebration on New Years Eve. Cute & colorful!

This blue monster castle is owned by the owner of all of the Burger Kings in Freeport. The showing of wealth is obviously kind of a popular "Bahamian Ting" on this island, and the next pic below is the private residence of the Pisces Restaurant owner. This is only the east side of the property; one can't have too many lions.