Volley Ball Beach is the local hang out place. There is a nice harbor side beach, lots of shade in the causrina trees, which also provides a place to hang swings and lots of tree climbing. The Chat n Chill is a small restaurant/bar. It’s sort of place where you can go in barefoot, wearing your wet swimsuit and order a drink or food. There are only a handful of tables inside, but plentiful, huge picnic tables and Adirondack chairs under the shade trees. For less than $20 we had two cheeseburgers with all the trimmings, fries and two cokes, a real bargain in the Bahamas.
It didn’t take long to start meeting other cruisers and it was especially fun to meet people who were on their way back from the Caribbean as they provided lots of helpful insights on where to go and what to expect. Someone was selling their supply of guidebooks and charts and I snagged a great guide on the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and the Spanish Virgin Islands. We stayed at the beach until sunset, then headed home and spent the evening reading about Luperon in the Dominican Republic.
We spent most of the weekend at the beach and I enjoyed an awesome Mother’s Day. We headed to the beach early with the sailing rig for our dinghy. We had determined it was a great spot to try and flip the dinghy while sailing and see if Coleen could manage to right in on her own. After a few tries she managed to stand on the keel and by pulling on a line tied to the opposite side, she got the boat upright. However, it was full of water which meant a lot of time bailing with the bucket we had thoughtfully tied to the seat. We then headed back to the mother ship and got a couple of inflatable fenders to put under the dinghy seats in hopes of increasing its buoyancy. That seemed to work a bit better and we had her flip it a couple more times to make sure. We then let other kids on the beach take a turn sailing and finally it was my turn. Now I must add that by the time it was my turn I had enjoyed a rather stiff Bloody Mary from the Chat n Chill. I got in the little dink and it took off flying with me screaming in fun. It wasn’t long before I was shipping water over the side and then swamped it completely. Of course by then I was a bit far from shore, but no worries, I soon had it upright and was bailing water. That’s when I remembered that I can’t actually get in the dinghy from the water. Anyway, not to worry Coleen and DJ were rowing over in his dink to rescue me, as DJ knew I wouldn’t be able to get back in. (Yes, mom, if you are reading this, I did have a life jacket). Anyway, about this same time the water taxi with a boat load of tourists also happened by and asked if I needed help, but by then DJ arrived and I was soon clambering over the transom of his dink, which was not a pretty sight. Coleen said people were taking pictures and laughing. Of course, I was laughing pretty hard too. I managed to climb back into my dinghy from DJ’s dinghy and set off sailing again. It didn’t take me long to realized that I’d be better off to drop the sail and get towed back as I was really in no shape to be out there. About this time someone in a go fast dinghy, pulled up and offered to tow me. I sat back and enjoyed the ride and all ended well. Of course had I been more sober, my pride would have been hurt, but as it was I didn’t really care and shuffled up the bar to get a cheeseburger lunch.
We spent the rest of the day at the volleyball beach, before heading over to another beach for a potluck dinner. About 40 cruisers showed up and we had quite the spread of food. As always, a few talented musicians were in the crowd so we also had music and dancing and before long a bonfire was going. We had a great time meeting people from all over the world, many who had been cruising for a long time. The only downside to the day was that the dinghy motor ran out of gas on the way back to the boat, and then wouldn't start after I filled it up. I had to row back a very long way in the dark, but the water was mostly calm and it was a star filled sky and super quiet so I guess even that wasn't bad.