As our cruising season comes to a close this year, we are once again deeply grateful for the opportunity to experience the beauty, adventures, camaraderie, excitement and challenges of this wonderful life-style.
We often reflect on the choices that brought us to this point, how fortunate we are to have the ability to continue to scramble around on a pitching deck, jump on and off a sea-rocked dinghy, climb steep and jagged trails, and dive to depths of the ocean to view beautiful corals and schools of colorful fish.
Giving up restaurants, malls and TV is a fine trade for the daily appreciation of each moment and each loaf of bread pulled, piping hot, out of the oven; the deep satisfaction of serving an inspired platter of sushi, prepared from the fish reeled in from the back deck of Independence; the excitement of contacting loved ones back home with challenging phone and internet connections; constant appreciation for the fresh water we drink that has been transformed from ocean water by reverse osmosis; keen awareness of the night sky, phases of the moon and tidal conditions. These simple, basic yet profound truths are the building blocks of our day and we are delighted to share them through this blog with whoever cares to imagine an alternative life-- floating on a boat!
Our last days at Rum Cay were enhanced by the arrival of Linda and Steve, who we picked up at the airstrip in the red jeep, and gave them not a moment's rest! After a conch salad lunch (we had caught and prepared), we geared them up with snorkels & fins and jumped on the dinghy for a spectacular drift dive over the wreck of the Conqueror. Steve, the first-timer, was totally game and almost speared a fish on the first try! Dinner was the usual group effort at the marina restaurant, with fresh, delicious, gourmet results.
The next day we left Rum Cay 'till next year, :( Fished our way to Salt Pond, Long Island (yup, the Bahamas Long Island) and after anchoring, swimming and showering, dinghied to the beach to hike up to a local restaurant that was serving a buffet of Bahamian treats.
The next day, after renting a car, we took in the sights: The Blue Hole, Clarencetown, with 2 historic churches built by Father Jerome (an Anglican priest, later became a Catholic priest, but started out as an architect!); back to Independence to clean up, then to another restaurant called Chez Pierre (go figure!).
Loved the visit L & S-- we had such a great time!
View from the church tower in Clarencetown
Linda & Steve about to jump into the blue hole
In the Out of the Blue kitchen
Our 2011 cruising year came to a close, after we returned to Georgetown to enjoy the Annual Family Island Regatta, which is a premier celebration in the Bahamas. Traditional, wooden, Bahamian sailing sloops arrive in the harbor, as food shacks are constructed and pop up all along the small peninsula called Regatta Point. Bahamians from all islands arrive mostly by sea-- mailboat, cargo boats, support vessels for the sloops, etc.
During the day, the harbor is enhanced by the sight of these beautiful sails chasing the buoys that mark the race course. Small dinghies, chase boats, & committee boats follow the racers, cheering and taking photos.
By night, Regatta Point is pulsing with loud music, locals dressed to party, and the smells of Bahamian fare wafting through the air. Conch fritters, fish fry, chicken, coleslaw, conch salad, all types of souse, and of course beer and gin and coconut water are offered at every stand.
Our friends from Sampson Cay, the number 1 and 2 A-class winners this year, sport a T-shirt proclaiming "On Land We Friends". The jiving and kidding of competing crews is in evidence, but out on the water the battle is for real.
Dinner at one of the "shacks"
Support & sailing crew of Tida Wave and Lady Muriel
Finally, as a break in the winds & seas came, Independence took the opportunity to make her way up the Exuma chain to Norman's Cay, where we re-connected with several friends and stayed a couple of days as we obsessively checked nautical weather reports for appropriate weather to make our way east.
Our crossing (first Noman's to Nassau, then Nassau across the Tongue of the Ocean to the banks by Chubb Cay, continuing on towards Bimini at nightfall, then across the Gulf Stream to Ft. Lauderdale by dawn) was thankfully mostly uneventful. The wind and seas behind us, no squalls.
Civilization is a shock. Pulling in to the inlet at Port Everglades, then the short distance to the marina, we are surrounded by opulent homes and row upon row of million dollar mega-yachts. Shops, cars, bicycles, pedestrians cram the scenery. We are back.
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