The good and the bad (no ugly)

Monday January 17^th – Our last day and the testing for our Total Immersion class. Ted has done wonderful and picked up the new technique like a pro. He completes his swim in 19 strokes compared to 32 strokes in his original test. Ben aboard S/V Whisper is one of our coaches who has been doing TI for 3 years now did the test in 17 strokes so that was what Ted was trying to achieve, not that Ted would be competitive!   I was not feeling great this week and decided that I needed more practise to master the techniques and opt not to do the test.

Half way through the class, our friend Doug on S/V About Time from Oakville suffers a stroke while in the water. This is where the power of our community comes into play. Sylvia aboard S/V Whisper takes charge of the VHF radio and within minutes the doctor aboard Dream Weaver comes whipping into Honeymoon Bay on his dinghy. Sylvia is off in her dinghy to get aspirin and back even before the doctor get there. Sandy on S/V Ananya is flagging down the doctor as he approaches and takes the line of his dinghy to anchor it off. A houseboat anchored close to the beach offered to move Doug aboard their boat and also offered their whaler boat to get Doug across the harbour to the clinic. Next Bad Boy’s dinghy comes flying into the beach to drop off a de-fibulator because it is originally thought to be a heart attack.  Once Doctor Frank has assessed the situation and determined that Doug is ready to travel, the tender is ready and the taxi is waiting on the other side to transport him to the clinic. They left the beach in bathing suits and no shoes. Someone went to their boat and packed for them and got their passports. They need not to worry about their boat or their dinghy because someone arranged to have a visiting cruiser stay on their boat. They had planned to leave for a trip back to Ontario on Sunday so as planned they will leave knowing that everything else has been taken care of for them.  We all fear that this could happen to us but we are fortunate to know that friends and strangers come together to offer help and support. As our class comes to an end we stop and have a moment of silence for Doug and Sharon with prayers for a full recovery.

After the class we head across the harbour to town to pickup  cruising regatta t-shirts that are on sale, before they run out of the colors and sizes we want. This is the 31^st annual cruising regatta that will be happening at the beginning of March, but more about that later.  Somewhat still in shock about the events in the morning we stop and talk to Bob & Gail on S/V Star looking for news about  Doug.  We get an update that he was flown to Nassau and was recovering in the hospital and the prognosis was good. For this we are grateful. We also stop and speak with new friends Jana and Mike aboard Trawler Second Star and are introduced to their friends Gerry and Linda aboard a 36 foot Monk Trawler called Monk’s Ministry. We are sad to hear that they are leaving George Town and heading up island before we return back from our trip to Conception.  We invite them over for drinks before the dance tonight. But first we finish our errands. We hang around for another hour waiting for our replacement satellite phone to arrive from the airport and  finally catch up to us. It was shipped to us in Florida but only arrived after we left and then was forward onto us but once again had to be traced. A very long story which I will not elaborate on except to say it is not easy or cheap to ship anything into the Bahamas.  One of the few downsides of living in the Islands.

Second Star and Monk’s Ministry come over for drinks and together we head over to Volleyball Beach for the Rockin’ Ron’s dance party at Chat n’ Chill Bar. We dance up a storm on the deck under the stars.  Ron and Karen aboard S/V Sea Dancer are the resident cruising DeeJays and have a great selection of music to entertain us all. A special guest appearance by Sonny & Cher and the Supremes completes the evening’s entertainment. Our goodbyes to our new friends as we dinghy off into the darkness to our own boats.  Perhaps we will meet up again in another harbour. Mike aboard Second Star ends the night with his favourite line “I am so glad you had the opportunity to meet me”.  We follow them to make sure they get safely back to their boat and as it turns out they took and wrong turn!