Surviving the Regatta

We survived another fun filled 10 days of regatta events.  

Started out with registration day on the beach.  Joe and I worked the registration table for regulation volleyball.  Sign up went well and we will have 6 teams of 4 for the tournament.

On the Sat. afternoon we had a talent show at regatta park in town.  This was a combination of acts by the locals and the cruisers. 

Helen and her 6 friends danced and sang to “These Boots Were Made for Walking” and were appropriately called “Babes In Boots”.  We wore regatta T-shirts, black shorts and “rubber sea boots”. 

 It was a hoot and everyone seemed to enjoy it.  

 Joe joined some of the guys in a tug of war.

The Bahamian kids were the highlight-they are so naturally talented and were up on stage doing their rake and scrape type dancing.

The local women kept us fed and hydrated with lots of rum punch, beer, conch fritters, burgers and hot dogs.

Sunday was the big softball game with the cruiser’s team vs. the Bahamians.  The cruisers did their best but were unable to beat the Bahamians again this year- they are natural athletes and half the age of our players. Joe enjoyed being part of the team but isn’t looking to join a softball team when we get back to Ontario-think he’ll stick to pickleball.  When Joe got back to the dinghy dock at 9:00 P.M. his “brand new dinghy” was missing.  Now this is equivalent to you living out in the country and discovering that your one and only car is not in the driveway.  Another cruiser took him across the lake to see if it was on the other side-luckily they found it stuck in the mangroves.  No damage and Joe was on his way. 

Monday and Tuesday were big boat races-one in the harbour and one around Stocking Island.  Joe crewed on a 37’ monohull called Belatrix.  They had a good sail and came in 1st for the in harbour race and 3rd around the island.  Joe really enjoyed racing in a monohull for a change.

Robin and her winning crew

The rest of the week had lots of events - Bocci ball, scavenger hunt, poker run. 

 

funny coconut collecting

On Thurs Joe & I helped with the coconut challenge.  This is a real hoot to watch. Around 1500 coconuts are released in the anchorage-teams of 4 get into an inflatable dinghy (without an engine) and paddle around using dive fins to get around and collect the coconuts.  We tally up the scores and then they move over to the volleyball court where they toss some coconuts over the nets to reach the bulls eye on the other side, the 3rd part is tossing the coconuts into the bag.  

Joe raced his laser sailboat (the one he plucked out of a dumpster in Belle River) and came in 1st.  Brought back good memories of his younger sailing days.

Good shot Al

Fri. morning was “Beach Golf”.  They set up a 9 hole golf course on a rocky, shady shore-quite a challenge for even a seasoned golfer.

Fri. afternoon was Joe’s big event-the 4’s regulation volleyball.  We had the teams set up so each team played every other team on 3 courts.  The most difficult part of this event is setting up the teams since we have players ranked from very good to novices.  It went well and everyone had a good time-Joe’s team did not win this year but he was happy to act as chairman.

Sat. morning was “fun volleyball”.  There are teams of 9 players and although Joe doesn’t usually play he decided to sign up.  It’s a fun game to watch because the teams can hit the ball as many times as necessary to get the ball over and there’s always a lots of players banging into each and knocking each other over.

fun volleyball

Joe’s team came in 3rd place.

regatta point and peace n plenty

Sun afternoon was the closing ceremonies at Peace N Plenty Hotel. Pennants were awarded to all chairmen of the events, many thanks to the organizers of the regatta, door prizes (we didn’t win anything) and lots of food and drink.  Last chance for us to party with our fellow cruisers.

We’re now getting ready for Jeanne and Marcia’s arrival on Wed.  After that we’ll be looking for some good weather to head up the Exuma chain to Nassau where they will be flying out on March 16th.  The weather Gods have not been very kind to us this year so we’re just hoping and praying that we can leave by Fri. and have several days to show them some of our favourite anchorages along the way.