Doing the Nassau bustle Lindsay McRory May 3, 1996 Nassau Harbor is a beehive of international boating activity. Boats, yachts, and ships of just about every description arrive here day and night. After reading about the high crime, little or no room for anchorage, extremely expensive dockage rates, and generally outrageous prices for basic goods, we were hesitant to visit. If not for our refrigeration problems we might have skipped Nassau altogether. And based on our experience, these reports weren't entirely accurate. There are numerous places to drop a hook, although the holding is not great. Most boats were using two anchors and some were using three. There are some very expensive marinas, but there are reasonable ones as well. We are currently at Nassau Harbor Hotel and Marina. The moorage rates are 90 cents a foot, 25 cents per kilowatt for electricity, and $8 a day for water. These prices are roughly the same as any typical marina along the East Coast. Crime isn't unknown in Nassau. From what we heard, things were a lot worse about three years ago, prior to a new government being elected. It seems a little extra caution is still warranted. Dinghies are always locked and when darkness comes there are security guards everywhere. That's fine with us. Bahamian people are great to deal with. Once away from the pressure haggling at the T-shirt markets, I've been steered to the proper shops with the best prices. The staff at the Refrigeration Center gave me a 15 percent technician discount because I was doing all my own work. That was a nice surprise. And the new refrigeration system is installed and working. Two-day delivery took seven days, mostly to go through customs. So the parts arrived about when expected, and the delay really was not unreasonable. But it's been a chore finding all the odds and ends to fix the engine-mounted refrigeration system. A misconception many people have when getting parts into the Bahamas is that you have to pay the 40 percent import duty on any part shipped. However, if the parts are shipped to "John Doe, SV Bigbouy, Yacht in Transit," a substantially smaller duty is charged. We met a fellow who was raised in Kenya and spoke Swahili fluently. He told us that as a child they frequently said "Hakuna matata, hakuna pesa" which translates to "No worries, no money." Couldn't be more fitting with all of the money we've put into equipment upgrades aboard the Hakuna Matata. From a family's perspective, there's not that much to do in Nassau. Downtown is the typical tourist zoo, and there are no beaches nearby. The roads are narrow and the drivers are maniacs, so we don't walk for the exercise. Kita's adopted the Bahama mama look with "shingled hair." When our satellite signal strength started doing peculiar oscillations I called customer support to get the scoop. It seems we ran to the end of an invisible leash between us and the satellite we've been using for communications. Complete Caribbean coverage will not be available until the end of June. Nice to find out now with the hurricane season looming so close. From here we'll go back to the Berry Islands, then head for the Abacos. We have faced up to the reality that we'll be pushing into the season with our travels. It's supposed to be a light year for hurricanes, but it only takes one to wreck your day.