Having Too Much Fun!

When we returned to George Town after our fabulous time in the Jumentos we were just too busy having fun to sit down and write a blog. Scott’s niece (Jenna), her husband (Ian), and darling 3 year old ( Meadow) joined us for an exciting week of snorkeling, yoga, beaches, marine life and fun in the sun.

Everything worked out for them as planned…weather was perfect, they fed the turtles, saw the star fish and dolphins, kayaked and petted the stingrays. I think Meadow’s favorite part was riding the dinghy where she promptly fell asleep. Jenna was the star of yoga on the beach and water aerobics were a hit along with several snorkel sessions. Such a delight having this beautiful family with us!

Since we flew right past the Bahamas Land and Sea Park on our way south we backtracked to our favorite spot in the park, Warderick Wells. The snorkeling there was some of the best Scott had ever experienced and some spots were right by the boat. We hiked, floated and hung out with other Krogens…every day was perfect! In fact, the whole winter was perfect!

We stopped by Black Point on our way back down to George Town so we could check out the new Yacht Club restaurant which we highly recommend…beautiful restaurant and bar on the water with great food and service! We hiked across to the windward side just south of town where Scott finally found a Bloody Tooth shell, unfortunately it is not whole. He had spent hours and hours beach combing for this shell that actually does resemble bleeding teeth. The search will continue to find a perfect specimen.

Back down south to George town for the Kadey Krogen mini rendezvous which took place during the Family Regatta. We had a great turn out with a variety of activities including a celebration for Scott’s 77th birthday on board Unforgettable.

We were looking forward to spending time with the fellow Krogen boaters but we did’t have high expectations for the boat races. Little did we know just how exciting they would be. At our first race we had no idea what to expect so when the boats took off and some went north and some went south we were totally confused. It was pure mayhem and pandemonium! There were 4 classes with A being the largest boats with 2 sails going the fastest with most experienced sailors. The C class, our first race, had more difficulties controlling their boats and catching the wind to go the proper direction. Therefore, sailboats where going every which way, as were all the dinghies and small power boats that held the spectators and followed them around. As you can see in the above videos the sailors sit on the high side of the boat to keep it from falling since the boats do not have a keel. It’s nail biting as a spectator to watch them scramble to the other side without being hit in the head while maneuvering around the other sailboats, the markers and the profusion of small motorboats and dinghies. It’s obvious why the Bahamas has named sailing as its national sport.

Oops… a collision and a badly damaged hull! The undamaged boat and it’s team stayed up all night repairing the hole so this boat could race again the next day…talk about good sportsmanship!

The four day event was so important the Bahamian Prime Minister was in attendance. Bahamians love a party so every night for the 4 days there were bands, booths for food, drink and trinkets, and fun local activities. What a massive party that brought in people from all over the Bahamas. We were so honored and thankful to be a part of the affair.

On our last day in George Town I wore black as I was singing the “Leavin’ da Bahamas Blues.” These were the best 5 months imaginable. I don’t have the words to explain how much I love everything about the Bahamas and am already counting down the months until we return.

Returning to the US we cruised from George Town to Shroud Cay in one day then overnighted to Lake Worth in Florida. Our first couple of weeks in the US we had almost daily storms, lightening, and tornado warnings. An overnight passage took us from Vero Beach where we enjoyed time with the Bruckners, to Cumberland National Seashore where we had a wonderful visit with my oldest son, Clayton. We introduced him to beach combing and found some beautiful treasures. A double overnighter then took us all the way Beaufort, NC. Scott was thrilled to skip the skinny waters of Georgia and South Carolina. Weather was in our favor so we high-tailed it all the way to Solomons, MD traveling 1420 statute miles in 20 days. Whew!

Here we sit preparing for our next adventure! Scott has quite the bucket list and we are planning to check off two big items in the next year: extensive travel throughout western Europe and driving western US up to Canada! Although I’m extremely excited about these new experiences I am truly sad to leave our girl for an entire year.

Pinch me…in August we fly to France, Switzerland, Italy, Spain and Portugal!!!! All your tips and recommendations for these countries are more than welcome, actually encouraged! Since we will never cross the Atlantic in Unforgettable we decided to return to the US via a repositioning cruise and let its captain worry about the weather. What an incredible bucket list plan!!!!