After a long après-visitor recovery period- no, only joking. The dolphins returned for a leisurely swim around the boats; Patti donned snorkel gear to swim with them and I considered it, but hey someone has to play photographer.

Dolphins upper left, Patti lower right 🙂

 S/v Friendship put out a request for an info-share meet re: Long Island and Eleuthera on Volleyball Beach so we did that and met some nice folks, including Keith on s/v Camelot from Old Saybrook, CT. I don’t need to mention what Cort and Frank were up to; volleyball what else? After the games Russ received a second massage from Agnes on s/v La Dame En Blue. Her former occupation was a circus acrobat and massage therapist for the acrobat team; I may not have that exactly right but I’m darn close. Not Swedish massage but a lighter touch method that provided excellent temporary relief. She wouldn’t accept anything; the standard “giving back” line, but we did manage to sneak a bottle of red wine to her.

Agnes on the right – Cathy goes for the ball

Chatted a while with Bernard of s/v Ti’ Matou, our sea bean idol extraordinaire who we’d met in Thompson Bay along with his wife Claude (no, not Claudine. Her parents wanted a boy perhaps?) Bernard and Claude are French –as in from France but Canada has been their home for the past 30 years. Ran out of time at Thompson Bay, but now we might be able to fit in a visit where Bernard would show us how to sand and polish sea beans. This would be way more desirable than having someone show me their tramps (inside joke).
Our time in GT was drawing to a close; the forecast was favorable for a pleasant sail to Conception Island with low wind the following day. Sunday would be a horse of another color altogether, although right now the front looked mild and we could tough out the west winds on Cat Island; assuming they were short-lived.
First though, those pesky preparations loomed large- as in a trip in to town in a sloppy harbor. An SSCA gam was happening at Big D’s at noon; okay to buy or bring lunch, just buy drinks there was the request from Big D. S/v Sea Schell was the host; Melinda and Harry Schell actually, with Melinda being on the board of directors for SSCA. I introduced myself, mentioning I was one of Barb’s (SSCA Bulletin Editor) proofers and was happy that Melinda knew of me. :-). Learned that a boat in the harbor, who I’d wanted to meet, hailed from Essex, CT (our home town) was going to be a new cruising station for SSCA; summers they’d be back in town.

Our first SSCA gam, or get together.

Then last but by no means least came the visit to Ti’Matou where Bernard gave us the full demo on how to sand and polish sea beans. I wasn’t expecting such a hands-on demo; I figured he’d show me a few in various stages and explain the process. Instead, he chose a hamburger bean that had seen some sanding, and he finished it while letting me inspect his work along the way. The final step was to drill the holes, string it on some faux-leather cord and voila! He gave it to me; I was so thrilled. Claude was weaving a palm leaf basket – was going to be a two-tone one- just lovely.
Good-byes are not my favorite thing, but we did say a few. Knowing we’d meet up with friends in Abaco helped.

Every once in a while, the stars align and even the best laid plans pale in comparison to “life just happening”. On day 1 we did everything I’d hoped and more.  And the “more” was a perfect fit- yep, this is how cruisers enjoy good times in anchorages. Since we’d gotten to Pole Spearing and Arts ‘n Crafts, etc with Benj but never got to Creative Blog Writing (or should I say “he never got to it), I focused my attention and scored a huge win when Cathy agreed to write about her visit. A few more days and she’d have been crew on any one of several cruising boats, but sadly we let her return to the snowy northeast.

Here is our guest blogger’s write-up for your reading enjoyment:

Looking outside, the snow has melted to a fraction of its depth last week, as I reminisce about my timely winter get-a-way aboard Ortolan in the Bahamas. An adventure right from the start, with 3 plane transfers, customs clearance, taxi to downtown George Town where I would meet my gracious hosts, Lori and Russ, at “the dinghy dock behind the market”, for a short dinghy ride to the mothership in Elizabeth Harbor. It was dusk and still the water was impossibly clear and the temperature so WARM!!! OMG how easy it was to relax and settle into the Bahamian/Cruiser laid back lifestyle!!

Morning brought a visit ashore Monument Beach where Lori led the ‘hike’ through the lush flora up to the monument for a view of islands and neighboring Exuma beaches,

Cathy masters rope climbing 101 on the path to the monument

refreshing swim afterward (LOVE the 70+ deg. water temp), with the most amazingly soft white sand; rum punches and fresh grouper sandwiches at the restored beachside Big D’s restaurant (will our autographs be there next year?);

The view, the view- just gorgeous

dinghy to volleyball beach where I was immediately recruited for first of several friendly beach volleyball games;

Doin’ the volleyball dance

meet and greet with other Cruisers (some of whom were familiar characters from following the blog); intimate encounter with manta rays (who knew their skin felt like velvet?);

The rays come close expecting to be fed.

hailed aboard Insatiable for gin and tonics with lively Cruisers (steady supply of tonic is what you can make with a soda stream machine!), and home for grilled lobster and coconut rum brownies. Whew! and that was just the first day:-0)))

The next two days in Paradise were as fun-filled as the first, from what I thought was our perfect anchored home off Monument beach (seriously: calm beautiful aqua-teal water, beach access, FUN neighbors!!!,… why move?). Kayaked to morning yoga on the beach,

Head thata way for beach yoga

explored Honeymoon (?) beach and Sand Dollar beach, walked along shore in search of sea shells and sea beans (now that I knew what they were, I was super determined to find one… and did not). More beach volleyball, swimming, happy hours with humorous ‘temporary’ bachelors Cort and Frank,

Dinner- finally!

cool Patti from infamous “Lutra”, while listening to Jimmy Buffett & Barefoot Man – exemplifying the lifestyle. Delicacies of fresh caught conch (chowder) and Russ’s famous artisan herb bread, coconut rum french toast… mmm. Dolphin spotting one afternoon off the stern… 3 of them, so playful, SO close, why didn’t I jump in??!!

An amazing time with amazing hosts, a million thanks to my friends for allowing me the glimpse into their unique lifestyle (again:)). Oh, and one last apology for my pre-dawn departure requiring a dark and wet dinghy ride back to shore!!