We continued to have a great time with Jami and Steve and packed lots into their one-week visit. The second half of their trip was spent in Hope Town with daily jaunts to the town or beach. We rented a golf cart and toured the island with stops at the Abaco Inn for lunch and then Tahiti Beach. I think Jami had fun driving on the wrong side of the road and doing a whole 14 MPH! We had a few excellent beach days and spent one beautiful day at the Hope Town Harbour Lodge where we opened a tab in the morning and acted like we were at an all-inclusive resort (Jami and Steve treated…again!). In typical Bahamas hospitality, they let the public use their amenities, like beach chairs and the pool, whether guests there or not. It is a new discovery for us this year and we have been thoroughly enjoying it (on the few good beach days we’ve had)…including bartender Gary’s Goombay Smashes!
I could go on about the many fun memories from their week, but I think Jami summed it up best in her thank-you e-mail…
“So, when you think of our trip and time spent together remember these things:
steak night, 8 knots of sailing and hanging on, the lost snubber, conch fritters, nippers rum punch, smoking cigars (w/ my dad ), fresh lobster tail twice (yum), Florence's sticky buns, balls and balls and balls of cookie dough, movie nights, port wine, great home cooking, golf cart drag racing, the sketching artist, the mad cross word puzzler, ahhh the smell of pipe tobacco (I can still smell it), watching the stars at night through my porthole, spicy Bloody Mary’s, Vernon’s bread and key lime pie, bargaining for the bread heals, and more balls of cookie dough, turtles! and dolphins! and more turtles! oh the stinky overflow (couldn't leave that out), front and back street walks, the Hope Town Lodge, cold dips in the pool, Gary the bartender and his kick butt Goombay Smash!!, Stev
e’s zodiac 360, and especially......for the first time in almost 41 years I was able to "treat" my dad on vacation...what a great feeling!! (Thank you for teaching me to be stubborn...hehe!) and most importantly....spending time with you!”
I couldn’t say it better…but, I should explain one thing….Steve’s Zodiac 360. Our friend, Chuck, had just arrived from Florida (after having to wait for the ice to thaw on the upper Chesapeake to get his boat out!) and he called us to help him pick up his mooring in Hope Town Harbour. Lynn and Steve headed out in the dingy to answer the call. Steve was driving and after apparently becoming airborne a few times he dropped Lynn off at Chuck’s boat. As he attempted to pull away from the boat, he was sucked into the vortex at the bow, which caused him to do a complete 360 and pop out the other side. Unfortunately, none of us actually witnessed the spectacle, but it must have looked pretty funny. I think Steve was just glad to survive!
Their last day sadly arrived and Steve and Jami headed home via the ferry to Marsh Harbour, after just a couple of tears. Lynn and I followed in the dingy taking pictures and then hopped aboard Driven (Chuck’s boat) for a quick overnight trip to Green Turtle Cay
. Since then we have been mostly seeking shelter in Hope Town as no less than three cold fronts whipping through the harbour and bringing 35+ knot winds. But, we have had a few days of respite between fronts with lovely weather that allowed us to do some snorkeling.
One such calm morning we headed to Tahiti Beach with a group of six other cruisers to look for lobster and conch. As usual, Lynn and I searched for about an hour but did not sight a thing. Just as I was about to head for the dingy, a lobster swam by. This took me by surprise for two reasons…(1) he was huge, and (2) he was swimming…fast. I thought lobsters just crawled along the bottom, but they do in fact swim, upside down with their legs and antennae hanging down and flapping their tails for propulsion. Astonished, I watched him to see where he went foolishly thinking that maybe I could catch him for dinner. As I did so, I felt something grabbing my bottom, which obviously startled me even more. When I quickly turned around (or as quickly as possible in a wet suit with flippers on my feet), I saw a second, smaller lobster swim away from the vicinity of my backside. I don’t think it was actually attacking me intentionally, I had most likely just managed to swim into it as it was making a getaway. But, I have decided that while lots of people can claim to have speared a lobster, how many can say a lobster has bitten their bum?
One night we went out with Luisa and Jay for happy hour. They took us to Wine Down Sip Sip, which, unbeknownst to us, is the Friday night place to be. As soon as we walked in the door we were invited to join the Sip Sip Sots. For the low price of $4.00 we are now official card-carrying members. I will paraphrase their greeting newsletter, which states that the intent of the four founders was to start a group that has as its purpose nothing but chatting with friends over a flagon (or wine glass or tumbl
er). It is a group without rules, directories, by-laws, meetings, committees, or fundraisers. Their only goal is to gather like-minded souls for the camaraderie. I think we will fit right in.
Two days ago I had what I consider to be a perfect day in the Bahamas. To start with, the weather was a balmy lo 70’s with lovely clear blue skies and just a slight breeze. I first went to yoga on the beach and then to the local coffee house for a tea with my friends Jill and Phyllis. I then headed to the Chopping Block where I had the best hour-long pedicure of my life. With my new brightly painted toenails I called Lynn on the VHF who picked me up in the dingy. We then met up with Chuck and went out to Johnny’s Cay to snorkel for conch. We
spent a few hours and found 11 legal size fellers (they must have a large, fully-developed flare on the shell). We discovered the best method was to hang from a rope behind Chuck’s dingy as he trolled through the shallow water. We just had to reach down and grab the conch as they passed underneath. We also found about 30 very pretty sea biscuit shells. We headed back when we were starting to get too chilly and approaching shark feeding hour. Back at Coyote where we had an afternoon cocktail, blew the conch horn at sunset and then proceeded to clean the conch.
Conch cleaning is a labor-intensive effort. It requires first punching a hole in the pointy end of the conch and then sticking a knife in to cut the muscle that attaches the animal to the shell. You then grab the claw foot and pull it out. Then you have to use a knife to peel away to outer stuff that is not edible. In the process you find the “pistil” (I think that’s what it is called), which is a semi-hard, sort of rubbery, worm-like thing that you are supposed to eat…which I did after building up the nerve. It is apparently an aphrodesiac…but they say that a
bout lots of things you would not otherwise be inclined to consume. Then, you take the remaining edible portion, which looks like a deboned chicken breast and hammer it to smithereens with a meat tenderizer until it looks like lace. Only then is it actually fit to cook and eat. We have had enough for three dinners for the three of us…including Polynesian conch, cracked conch and conch boats (which we are having tonight). I realized after the first meal that it was actually the first time I have ever cooked anything I caught myself! It was pretty exciting.
Other than that we have spent our time roaming the beach, playing games, watching the Canada/US gold medal hockey game (YEAH CANADA) and just having a lovely time. I have polished off a bunch of books and Lynn has filled three crossword puzzle books. Off I go now to beat Lynn and Chuck in dominoes. Next we await a visit form Lynn’s son Jeff and his family…we can’t wait!
I could go on about the many fun memories from their week, but I think Jami summed it up best in her thank-you e-mail…
“So, when you think of our trip and time spent together remember these things:
steak night, 8 knots of sailing and hanging on, the lost snubber, conch fritters, nippers rum punch, smoking cigars (w/ my dad ), fresh lobster tail twice (yum), Florence's sticky buns, balls and balls and balls of cookie dough, movie nights, port wine, great home cooking, golf cart drag racing, the sketching artist, the mad cross word puzzler, ahhh the smell of pipe tobacco (I can still smell it), watching the stars at night through my porthole, spicy Bloody Mary’s, Vernon’s bread and key lime pie, bargaining for the bread heals, and more balls of cookie dough, turtles! and dolphins! and more turtles! oh the stinky overflow (couldn't leave that out), front and back street walks, the Hope Town Lodge, cold dips in the pool, Gary the bartender and his kick butt Goombay Smash!!, Stev
e’s zodiac 360, and especially......for the first time in almost 41 years I was able to "treat" my dad on vacation...what a great feeling!! (Thank you for teaching me to be stubborn...hehe!) and most importantly....spending time with you!”I couldn’t say it better…but, I should explain one thing….Steve’s Zodiac 360. Our friend, Chuck, had just arrived from Florida (after having to wait for the ice to thaw on the upper Chesapeake to get his boat out!) and he called us to help him pick up his mooring in Hope Town Harbour. Lynn and Steve headed out in the dingy to answer the call. Steve was driving and after apparently becoming airborne a few times he dropped Lynn off at Chuck’s boat. As he attempted to pull away from the boat, he was sucked into the vortex at the bow, which caused him to do a complete 360 and pop out the other side. Unfortunately, none of us actually witnessed the spectacle, but it must have looked pretty funny. I think Steve was just glad to survive!
Their last day sadly arrived and Steve and Jami headed home via the ferry to Marsh Harbour, after just a couple of tears. Lynn and I followed in the dingy taking pictures and then hopped aboard Driven (Chuck’s boat) for a quick overnight trip to Green Turtle Cay
. Since then we have been mostly seeking shelter in Hope Town as no less than three cold fronts whipping through the harbour and bringing 35+ knot winds. But, we have had a few days of respite between fronts with lovely weather that allowed us to do some snorkeling.One such calm morning we headed to Tahiti Beach with a group of six other cruisers to look for lobster and conch. As usual, Lynn and I searched for about an hour but did not sight a thing. Just as I was about to head for the dingy, a lobster swam by. This took me by surprise for two reasons…(1) he was huge, and (2) he was swimming…fast. I thought lobsters just crawled along the bottom, but they do in fact swim, upside down with their legs and antennae hanging down and flapping their tails for propulsion. Astonished, I watched him to see where he went foolishly thinking that maybe I could catch him for dinner. As I did so, I felt something grabbing my bottom, which obviously startled me even more. When I quickly turned around (or as quickly as possible in a wet suit with flippers on my feet), I saw a second, smaller lobster swim away from the vicinity of my backside. I don’t think it was actually attacking me intentionally, I had most likely just managed to swim into it as it was making a getaway. But, I have decided that while lots of people can claim to have speared a lobster, how many can say a lobster has bitten their bum?
One night we went out with Luisa and Jay for happy hour. They took us to Wine Down Sip Sip, which, unbeknownst to us, is the Friday night place to be. As soon as we walked in the door we were invited to join the Sip Sip Sots. For the low price of $4.00 we are now official card-carrying members. I will paraphrase their greeting newsletter, which states that the intent of the four founders was to start a group that has as its purpose nothing but chatting with friends over a flagon (or wine glass or tumbl
er). It is a group without rules, directories, by-laws, meetings, committees, or fundraisers. Their only goal is to gather like-minded souls for the camaraderie. I think we will fit right in.Two days ago I had what I consider to be a perfect day in the Bahamas. To start with, the weather was a balmy lo 70’s with lovely clear blue skies and just a slight breeze. I first went to yoga on the beach and then to the local coffee house for a tea with my friends Jill and Phyllis. I then headed to the Chopping Block where I had the best hour-long pedicure of my life. With my new brightly painted toenails I called Lynn on the VHF who picked me up in the dingy. We then met up with Chuck and went out to Johnny’s Cay to snorkel for conch. We
spent a few hours and found 11 legal size fellers (they must have a large, fully-developed flare on the shell). We discovered the best method was to hang from a rope behind Chuck’s dingy as he trolled through the shallow water. We just had to reach down and grab the conch as they passed underneath. We also found about 30 very pretty sea biscuit shells. We headed back when we were starting to get too chilly and approaching shark feeding hour. Back at Coyote where we had an afternoon cocktail, blew the conch horn at sunset and then proceeded to clean the conch.Conch cleaning is a labor-intensive effort. It requires first punching a hole in the pointy end of the conch and then sticking a knife in to cut the muscle that attaches the animal to the shell. You then grab the claw foot and pull it out. Then you have to use a knife to peel away to outer stuff that is not edible. In the process you find the “pistil” (I think that’s what it is called), which is a semi-hard, sort of rubbery, worm-like thing that you are supposed to eat…which I did after building up the nerve. It is apparently an aphrodesiac…but they say that a
bout lots of things you would not otherwise be inclined to consume. Then, you take the remaining edible portion, which looks like a deboned chicken breast and hammer it to smithereens with a meat tenderizer until it looks like lace. Only then is it actually fit to cook and eat. We have had enough for three dinners for the three of us…including Polynesian conch, cracked conch and conch boats (which we are having tonight). I realized after the first meal that it was actually the first time I have ever cooked anything I caught myself! It was pretty exciting.Other than that we have spent our time roaming the beach, playing games, watching the Canada/US gold medal hockey game (YEAH CANADA) and just having a lovely time. I have polished off a bunch of books and Lynn has filled three crossword puzzle books. Off I go now to beat Lynn and Chuck in dominoes. Next we await a visit form Lynn’s son Jeff and his family…we can’t wait!
2 comments:
Blogger Thepoz said...
Well we've survived the snow/ice and cold. I see you survived the warm breezes/sun and blue waters! humm who has it good? We are out of the deep freeze and temps are getting warmer. I guess you will start heading north soon? Any date for your return to Baltimore? Barry went to the boat with Larry this week to get her ready for summer. We had the bottom painted so he wanted to check on that also.
You should think about writing, you are good at it! Well I'm off to the gym (been going 2-3 x's a wk) Safe sail home my friends.
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