Last Great Flying Adventure -- Part III

Sunday, 4 October 2009; Great Exuma (Bahamas) --

We left Merritt Island FL at about 0830 this morning after a day's delay leaving Florida due to a humongous air show having the airports closed during the major parts of the day. We flew from Merritt Island FL to Great Exuma Island in the Bahamas. This being a relatively short flight, we arrived early enough to have a late lunch at a resort/hotel down the road about a mile from our night's resting place. I forgot what we had for lunch, but the best part was the scenery from our table. The blue-green is caused by the presence of coral growths in these warm tropical waters. The depth in this bay is fairly shallow so that the light color shows up in the water as well. It would have been nice to have gone swimming -- perhaps another day -- with the Grand Mother! [That warm sea water sure would feel good to our old bones!!]

Flying over the region of the Bahamanian islands is a treat for the dry prairie eyes of this old sheepherder; the water in some places is only a fathom or two deep with coral growths emanating up from the bottom, leaving a beautiful blue-green cast to the shallow water. In some places, these coral reefs are above the surface and even some leafy vegetation can be seen. And of course, there are numerous habitable islands scattered all over the area. The Grand Bahamas are the most well-known, but others, such as the Providenciales and the Turks, as well as Great Exuma, are not so famous.

Great Exuma is a long low-lying island that angles in a rougly NNW-SSE direction at a latitude of about 23.5 degrees North latitude. So the climate is virtually summer year around. There are numerous coral-enclosed bays and inland lakes with water which I am sure is just about right for a bath -- maybe not for Darrell, but for most everyone else!

The place that we are stayed in tonight is called Mrs Marshall's guest house.We had Room #1, a corner suite comprising a bedroom, kitchen-dining and sitting room and a bathroom; the sitting room overlooks a small inland lake. It is airconditioned, and with a fan overhead to circulate the air around and keep the rooms very comfortable. Uncle Bob and I have stayed at Mrs. Marshalls before, but not in such elegance.

Mrs. Marshall is a pleasant woman I would judge to be in her mid to late 60's; her 16-year old grandson helped us with our baggage today when we arrived. She promised that she would have her kitchen help come in a little early tomorrow morning to serve us breakfast at about 0630; we like to be flying early in the mornings, and tomorrow we fly to Curacao in the southern Caribbean.

This afternoon, as we were having lunch at another resort hotel, we watched a pair of neophytes "sailing" a 14-foot Hobie-Cat, with the mainsail sheet fully-reefed suitable for tacking out of the small cove from which they had to come to get out into the bay and really enjoy that "Cat". It was extremely interesting to watch, as they were able to make the boat go backwards as well as forwards! The fellow (or maybe it was the girl) who was "manning" the tiller showed the most amazing talent at keeping the boat pointed almost straight up-wind!! By some happenstance, they finally managed to get it past the rocky reef that partially blocked the little cove in which we first saw them. As they got out into the larger area of the bay, the talent on the tiller continued to exhibit that latent ability to keep the keels pointed close to the wind.

At about that point Grumpy diverted his attention to eating the delicous lunch we had ordered (Veggie Panini with cole slaw) and so he didn't notice when this talented duo turned and headed back to their home port. Unfortunately, Grumpy caught sight of the Hobie approaching in a slightly downwind angle -- with the main sheet still fully-reefed -- just as the port hull arose from the water. It was inevitable what would happen next; Grumpy stuttered to get Uncle Bob's attention so that he could also enjoy the entertainment. But by the time Grumpy's words were out of his mouth the tip of the mast hit the water. A tip float prevented the "Cat" from turning turtle, but it didn't matter much because the two "sailors" didn't know what to do anyway; one of them hung onto the top surface of the catamaran while the other grabbed a line and swam upwind on the port side to try to pull the boat upright. Grumpy could swear that he never saw both of them leaning off the bottom of the boat to use their weight to right it. Eventually, the wind drifted the entire mess toward a beach where two or three "natives" helped flip the Hobie right-side up. Then to Uncle Bob and Grumpy's amazement, the same two crew were left to attempt to sail it back into the proper cove from which they originally came. Most amazing of all: they actually made it back without tipping over again! Sailing with the main sheet still fully-reefed -- straight downwind!! Grumpy was very disappointed as he was looking forward to capturing a photograph of the disaster of the day.

Some days you just aren't lucky!