Yachting, 365 days and a lifetime: Day 169 -172: Amazing group

SAMPSON CAY EXUMAS, BAHAMAS

Oh boy, I am getting behind again with my journal entries. Lets take it all the way back to Monday.
Monday, Monday, Monday, Monday....hmmmmmm. That seems like a lifetime ago!
I guess I can't really recall what went on during the day. There was some general conversation and hanging out on the docks. It has been a lot of fun to get to know the crew of Dolcetto and a 105' Mangusta also pulled in today with even more crew. We ended up having a great get together with Dolcetto, Platinum, the crew from the fishing boat next to us (names???), the crew from Sparrow (Nuno and Val) and Big Ben on board Sound Waves. It was another great night.

Tuesday the crew of Dolcetto had the day off and they got together with the crew of Platinum and took off in the dinghy. I spent most of the day washing the boat with the owners son and then had a relaxing afternoon talking with the owner on the aft deck watching the people go by. Dolcetto returned to the docks and invited me over for happy hour. We had also met two other sailing groups Jay with his dog George and Sean with his girlfriend........crap I can't remember. The crew of Platinum took over the grill and started making some lamb chops for everyone. It's kind of funny when you have a party with a bunch of yacht crew because they all go in to service mode and help out. It was really neat to see all these young "kids" just doing our thing and helping out. Its what we do everyday. I wish it would have been like that in college! Sean played his guitar and harmonica for awhile and after a great Bob Dylan song with everyone on the docks singing along we decided it was getting a little late to be making that kind of noise on board so we went up to the yacht club.

Wednesday the owners girlfriend was flying in and he wanted me and his two sons off the boat. I don't blame him. If I owned a boat with crew I would want them out of my hair every now and then as well. First I crawled down into the rudder room again because one of the underwater lights went out. I found out that corrosion had gotten the best of it and it needed replacing. I made a quick phone call, left a message, and put my bathing suit on. We launched the dinghy, loaded it with beverages and took off. I was able to raise t/t Dolcetto on the radio and found out that they were hanging out on Sandy Cay. Radio chatter went back and forth as we tried to raise t/t Platinum as well. Half way out to Sandy Cay t/t Dolcetto turned us around on a mission to get more beverages. The rest of the afternoon was spent lounging around the beach, sitting in the water, listening to music, and relaxing. We raised the yacht club on the radio and placed an order for two orders of fish sticks, two orders of conch fritters, two orders of chicken wings, another case of beverage, and two bags of ice. David Hocher, the owner of the yacht club, was on the radio and his response was "ah yes the essentials, see you boys in 20 minutes"
That night we rounded up the troops. Platinum crew caught a lobster a grouper and a lionfish while spearing earlier in the day and grilled everything up on Dolcetto. Val and Nuno from Sparrow came by with their friend Claire who flew in to visit. Claire was also a professional kite surfer! We were all here. The owners son's and I ran down to the government dock and picked up six palettes of wood. We slowly but surely made our way to the north end of the island in the golf cart and set up a fire pit on a small beautiful beach. We went back and got everyone and made our way out there. What a ball!
Nuno was on the guitar all night, and I will shortly be posting a link to a you tube video of a slideshow with him playing guitar in the background. The night was perfect. After an amazing day out at Sandy Cay, a bonfire on the north end of Staniel Cay lit the sky, with a group of friends that we will never forget, under a set of stars that demanded respect we ended the day with Nuno from Sparrow on guitar playing the song you hear in the link below. The waves in the background set the rhythm as a new group a friends huddled around a dying fire for the last song of the night and a memory that will last forever.

Today we woke up to a rough harbor. It was weird because the wind wasn't very strong. We checked out of Staniel Cay, fired the engines and took off for Sampson Cay. Shortly after tying up we went up and had lunch at the restaurant. I did some small chores after lunch, looked through all of my pictures and videos and let the peaceful afternoon drift away. Now on the aft deck, there is not a breath of wind. A song bird sings it song in a tree just off the docks. The boat behind us has dinner music going as a slight harmonica sound can be heard. There is not a ripple on the water and you can see the fish swimming in the underwater lights better than if you were snorkeling. There is still a glow in the sky from the sun and the only details left on land are the silhouettes of palm trees and boat antennas and masts. The smell of garlic and onion fills the air as the owner works on his famous spaghetti dinner for tonight. Ahhhhhh.......paradise.

Click on this link for a video with Nuno playing guitar at the end of the night:
Exuma Slide Show with Nuno on guitar

Here are some pictures: