Short Season
Sailing upwind
Our time in the Bahamas is winding down.
This year turned out to be a short season for many reasons, but we were glad to have made it here at all, as opposed to last year.
At sunset
Bahamian Life
After a lovely few days in Conception Island, we visited Long Island around Easter. We enjoyed a holiday feast with s/v Elpis before they had to leave for an Embassy appointment in Nassau. It’s never goodbye, but until the next Dolphin reunion in some future port!
Reach & Elpis
We were able to spend some quality time with Cameron and Amanda & the kids on Long Island. It has been two years since we were here for their wedding. Such great memories!
They are like family and we all enjoy hanging out, appreciating the simple things in life ~ like feeding the goats, hitting the beach, fishing, catching land crabs at night after a rain, and great food. Our time was a bit short, but sweet. We’ll make up for it next year!!
We also got to revisit Cat Island for the first time since 2009. It is a laid back, scenic and friendly place to meet both cruisers and locals. We had some nice meals here among them, whether at a resort or at the fish fry.
As fun as sailing adventures are, our experience over the last 13 years of cruising tells us that we need to regularly make time for a break from our boat routine. A well-timed family visit or land vacation is usually enough to give us a break and re-inspire us to return, refreshed. Last year prevented that, plus added some pandemic malaise to the equation.
So, we decided to head back to the States sooner than usual this year to get some medical attention (shoulder injury), as well as some boat attention in an overdue haul out.
In our shortened time here, the raw beauty of this country wins. Living in nature is by far my favorite part of cruising. It makes all of the boat work and unexpected challenges worth it.
A leisurely walk will easily present many critters of interest. A nature fix always makes me feel better. Since it was migration season, birding was high on my list.
We even had an amazing “Big Day” of our own with a friend on Long Island, who is also a birder. We saw 57 species, including a lone flamingo.
I got 6 life birds as well: West Indian whistling duck, zenaida dove, least grebe, black-whiskered vireo, neotropic cormorant, and white-crowned pigeons.
Dutch Boy & me
Reach has proven so comfortable since our refit and performed well in just about every aspect. We haven’t hauled her out of the water since our purchase in late 2018, so it’s about that time.
Yes, there is still a sizable project “List” developing (it’s a boat!). All we need is a decent weather window to leave the Bahamas and we’ll be on our way “home” for the summer.