December 31 – January 7
We planned with fellow cruisers to go to Bikini Bottom, a neat little bar on the beach, for dinner and then to
And who knew Count Basie was Bahamian?
It was a beautiful evening and we watched a gorgeous sunset as walked along the beach to the bar. After a couple of beverages we had a great dinner of pulled pork, peas and rice, mac and cheese and coleslaw. A great band plays at Bikini Bottom every Saturday night, and they were a highlight this evening as well. Their playlist includes a number of rather cheeky songs, including the ever-popular Who Put the Pepper in my Vaseline.
Just before 11:00 pm we flagged down a taxi into Port Lucaya and caught the last part of the stage show. The packed square was charged with excitement and while the Michael Jackson impersonator may have left a little to the imagination, there was a terrific fireworks show at midnight. We then headed back to the boat, celebrating the fact that this was the first time we had been up this late in quite some time.
Since New Years the weather has been rather cool. This just means, among other things, that it is good weather for fishing. John and I headed out a couple of times, and much to my surprise, were rather successful. We caught ten or twelve fish the first time out and five or six the next time. The peculiar thing about this is we basically had no idea what we had caught as there were at least eight different varieties. When we returned home each day, we would get the fish identification books and the underwater chart, a couple of Kaliks and try to figure out what we had. Along with the help of passers-by we determined that we had some porgies, a red hind, a couple of angelfish, some grunts and …
The other highlight of the week was finding the perfect spot on the beach to watch the 49er World Championships. These sailboats are absolute hot rods and the racing was very exciting in brisk winds. As the boats round the mark, which you may be able to see in the picture, there were occasions when one would tip, causing all sorts of commotion. It was not uncommon to see a crewmember catapulted at least ten feet through the air. Definitely a younger man’s boat, although Corinne likes to tell that I sailed a Sunfish in much the same way when we were first dating.
