We spent most of this month in Eleuthera before moving to the Abacos as we began our journey north back to Connecticut.
A big driver of our expenses this month (at 27% of the total) was the renewal of our cruising permit for $500.00. The Bahamian government changed the cruising permit renewal fee structure without publicizing it (or putting it in writing on the customs website). When we learned through the Facebook Bahamas groups that a renewal was going to be $500 instead of the $150 (for our boat size) like it used to be, we debated going back to the U.S. early since we were only planning on staying for five or six weeks past our renewal date.
But ultimately we decided to pay up. In weighing the pros and cons we felt it was too soon temperature-wise to start heading north, so we would have sat on a mooring in Vero while waiting for the weather to warm up. Between the mooring and ready access to a good grocery store, we would have spent more than $500 in a month without the benefit of being able to snorkel or swim in pretty water right off the boat. Not to mention the zero-to-single-digit daily Covid cases here – something that can’t be said about any spot in the U.S.
So we ponied up the money, but to say we weren’t happy about the unannounced change is putting it mildly.
With all of that said, here we go: Continue reading “March by the numbers.”