There is never anything routine about our trips to the Bahamas. As many times as we have come here over the last 25+ years, no trip is the same, even if we return to the same spots,which we do often.
Our summer trip this July began as most do. A few weeks or even a month before, we receive an email from our friend, Mr. Pinder the art teacher at the Louise McDonald High School in Bimini with a list of his art supply needs for the coming year. This year's was particularly long and contained some large heavy items, like a laminating machine that took two men to put on the boat.
We had several gallons of school glue, seventy-five balls of rug yarn, ten yards of rug weaving canvas, two cases of printer ink, several reams of copy paper, colored markers, a case of acrylic paint tubes, artists' brushes and canvas, several gallons of clear shellac and a myriad of other items.
A week or so before departure we received a call from our fishing mate, Willie. He wanted meats, a case each of coke, sprite and water, two cases each of toilet paper and paper towels and a case each of Snicker bars and Peanut M&Ms. We know that most of the items are for Willie and we consider that another form of a "charitable" contribution but the candy? Well, it is for Marie, the lady for whom he works--sometimes. She owns a liquor store and Willie unloads her liquor orders when the mail boat arrives. She sells the candy out of her store. She'll pay us back.
By the time we accumulated and loaded all these goods we had used almost all available space on the boat. Jay, our captain, did a masterful job of stashing the items so that they would be out of the way and would be in balance for the running of the boat. Even the floors of the shower stalls were being used.
During all of this packing we got another email from Mr. Pinder asking if his niece, Sasha and grand nephew, Renaldo could catch a ride with us. They had been visiting family in Florida and were ready to return to Bimini.
Then, the afternoon before we were leaving, Robbie Smith, the dock master from one of the marina's called and asked if we could bring three small packages his sister (in Miami) had for him.
Jerry agreed to meet the sister that afternoon to pick up the packages. When he reached the appointed meeting place he spotted a mid-size car with two people in the front seat and a HUGE box extending from the front seats over the back seat to the rear window. He approached the car and recognized and greeted the driver. The second person came around from the passenger seat and next out from under the HUGE box came a small frail elderly woman who apparently had ridden, curled up on the back seat under the box all the way from Miami.
The HUGE box contained a 50" flat screen TV--hardly a "small package". The other two boxes each contained 22" flat screen TVs. He said it took him a while to figure out how to get the large box out of the car. They couldn't remember how they got it in.
After all our Bimini "goods" were accounted for we began loading the provisions necessary for our trip with "the kids".
Jerry really got into the "toys". We have beach umbrellas, beach chairs, sand buckets and shovels, kids' fishing rods, boogie boards and other water paraphernalia including water guns (which, I warned, he will live to regret).
We bought two more ice chests for extra refrigeration to hold ten gallons of milk, lots of yogurt, cheese, assorted lunch meats and, of course, almost 100 cheap hot dog wieners Jerry bought to feed the sharks at Compass Cay.
The morning of our departure, Sasha Sawyer and her 5-yr old son, Renaldo showed up at the appointed time. We should have known--traveling by private boat from Florida to Bimini has its advantages. They came with two huge heavy duffle bags, two suit cases an additional box and a large birthday cake. It was Renaldo's birthday.
With everything secure, our exhaust pipes well below the water line and Renaldo asking a million questions we were off right on time.
Because of the added weight and in an effort to conserve fuel, we stayed around 9 knots which was a slow but comfortable speed.
Renaldo was excited and all over the place. His combined energy and curiosity was a preview of what was to come when four boys between the ages of 5 and 7 would be joining us for ten days.
About an hour or so into the trip Renaldo had worn himself out. The rest of the time was snoozeville with the red bucket nearby, just in case!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Compass Cay, Exumas
