June 6, 2011

Our party, Manny, Angela, Juan Carlos, Josefa, Nathan, Jacques and Ariana arrived Nassau yesterday around 2PM and at the marina by 3:45. Life is good-we are finally on vacation! Captain Mark met us at the entrance to Nassau Yacht Haven and we were introduced to Stray Cat. After a trip to the market for provisions we had a safety talk and were on our way. Nathan, Jacques, and Ariana helped launch and Captain Mark let me steer Stray Cat over to Rose Island. I had a fantastic aha moment-it was a understanding of how to read the water-what a difference it made! Stray Cat steers like a race car, it took a while to get the feel but once I did, wow!

The kids spent the trip up front enjoying life and probably wondering why mom was driving like a drunk for a while. I saw some heads pop up and look back so I can only imagine what was being said. After setting anchor we had cocktails. The kids played Scrabble while Juan Carlos and I cooked dinner. After dinner the kids got Nathan's high powered laser out and began to point out stars with it, and the boat next to us decided to shine a high powered flashlight at them.
Ariana (much better writer than mom):
After everything had cooled down a bit, almost everyone had gone to the bow of the boat to look for shooting stars and sattelites. Jacques was really good at pointing out satelites, and we also saw a few shooting stars. Contemplating the wonders of space really tired us out, and soon enough everyone was in bed, looking back happily at our satisfying first day sailing.
Mom:
Today we are all looking to the tropical storm and wishing it away. It looks ominous on the sattelite photo so we are going to sail to Allen's Cay and Highthorne Cay and see what the "experts" say tonight. Everyone wish us luck that we can continue our journey to the Exumas. It has been my dream to take the kids there. To me the Exumas are one of the most beautiful places on this planet. It is almost surrealistic the color of the water and how the clouds can reflect that same color. We are about to sail and we are all looking forward to a wonderful day ahead!

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