At least that’s what I promised the Hershfeld siblings when
they left last week. We just barely
survived the five-day visit with Traci, Kari, Jeff and Jami (in that birth
order), which was as wild and crazy as expected. We are so happy they made the effort to work
out a time when they could all come together considering their conflicting work
and family obligations…It really was a blast after which Lynn and I have been
resting our bodies (and my liver) for the last week! Truly, it was a laugh a
minute.
I think I should give you a bit of background on the
Hershfeld kids. They are all within 5 years of each other and therefore went to
school together with all the same friends. They were athletic and played sports
like football, field hockey, lacrosse and baseball. The Hershfeld house was always
open to kids dropping in and apparently where all the guys went to play basketball
in the driveway late in the night. It was on a river and sounds like the kids
basically lived at a camp during the summers. I love to listen to the stories
of their earlier exploits, although I think Lynn tries to turn a deaf ear when
they reminisce about their youth. Like
the time Traci took the houseboat for a joy ride…or, when Jeff snuck the
rebuilt corvette out for a spin…or the day they all spread flour on the hallway
floor and took turns sliding through it. They remain very close as adults and
still love to laugh, tease each other and generally have a great time. They may
have reverted a bit to their childhood for the week…and there was nothing held
back. Nothing.
We started out in Marsh Harbour where we picked up the gang
on Saturday afternoon and, after a lunch at Mangos, headed to Great Guana Cay.
Everyone was really tired so we actually hit the sack at about 8 PM. Jeff
commandeered the V-berth, Jami slept on the settee in the salon and Traci and
Kari opted to sleep under the stars in the cockpit. I didn’t think that would
be very comfortable, but they assured me it was and chose to sleep there for
the remainder of the trip.
The next day was the true start to the “Shenanigans”. We
headed to shore and started out at Grabbers for morning bloody mary’s. Then we
headed to Nippers…the somewhat famous spot in the Abacos for causing afternoon
debauchery followed by morning hangovers. You can always pick out the post-Nippers crowd
by the way they stagger down the dirt road. Well, I hate to admit that we were
among those foolhardy sailors who had more than one “Nipper”.
Just before we made it back to the boat Traci accidentally
fell out of the dingy. That is to say that Jami pushed her out. That was the
start of an hour of hysterical swimming with swan dives and cannon balls off
the bow. Then we all dried off and dried out while we headed to Hope Town in the
late afternoon.
The next day we went out to hunt for conch, an activity that
seems to be a favorite with our various visitors. It entails dragging people by
a rope behind the dingy as they troll for conch. If one is spotted the
“troller” drops the line and dives down to retrieve it. After about an hour,
Kari and I had found 5 legal-sized conch and Traci and Jami had found none.
That may be because they really just preferred being pulled around to actually
looking for dinner. They did finally find a few and cheered happily when they
were declared keepers. We went home with eight conch but in the end we were too
lazy (or grossed out) to kill and clean them so we donated the catch to another
boat more willing to do the chore. That night we headed to Jacks Bar to play
bingo, which they call Jacks. Unfortunately none of us won the pot, although
Traci came closest and was disappointed to hear someone call out “JACKS!” when
she was within one number.
Another day we rented golf carts and toured the island. We
started out at Kari’s favorite spot, Tahiti Beach, after which we headed to
Seabreeze…the first stop on our island pub crawl (with DGCDs of course…
designated golf cart drivers). Along the way we saw a couple walking and asked
them if they wanted a ride. They hopped on and we quickly discovered that she
was the daughter of another cruising couple we know, so they joined in and
called their Dad to meet us! We also bumped into our friend Chuck and he tagged
along as well. After a stop at the Abaco Inn we decided it was time for lunch
so we went to On Da Beach for really yummy grilled food. We then backtracked to
Firefly, which was thankfully closed. So it was off to the Hope Town Harbour
Lodge and a visit with Gary who makes the most excellent mango daiquiris. Another hilarious Hershfeld day.
I don’t mean to make it sound like all we did was drink…it’s
just that these were sort of standout events. Most of our time was perfectly
sober and was filled with a variety of activities. There was definitely never a
dull moment. We chartered a run-about and headed to snorkel and Little Harbour,
we walked on the beach, lay in the sun, shopped, toured the Hopetown settlement,
enjoyed morning coffee and cinnamon rolls, played cards, read books, hunted for
sea glass (Jeff and Kari were hooked), rode in the dingy, climbed the light
house, took pictures, watched a movie, chatted, teased, ate a few good dinners,
went to munchies and the coffee house, went to bed early and woke up early,
watched sunsets and sunrises, and basically laughed our way through the week.
Lynn and I have been in withdrawal since they left last Friday and back to keeping each other company. But, we have the memories of a fabulous week to keep us amused. I do hope they had as much fun as we did!
Well, that’s as much as I can tell you. We have been sworn
to secrecy on the remainder of the antics…I will just have to let the pictures tell a thousand words...
Tomorrow at 0800 hours we are departing Hope Town to start
our long journey to Baltimore. If the window holds out we could be in the U.S.
by Thursday. If not, we will be waiting in the northern Abacos for better
crossing conditions in a week or so. 
