I’m picking up where I left off on the last update (same
day). Earlier today, I was able to get
Internet access at a beach bar at the Marina in Clarencetown and sent an
update. We’re having a drink to justify
their “free” Internet. Yum … I’m having
a strawberry daiquiri! Of course, its
nothing like the ones in Nassau but still yummy. We met a nice young couple from the boat anchored just in front
of us. They were so young … maybe early
twenties at best. Wow, it must be great
to be able to do something like this at their young age. But then again, if they do everything NOW,
what do they have to look forward to as those golden years approach?
Sitting here having drinks, we noticed a manatee just below
us in the crystal clear waters. Wow … I
thought it was amazing that we made it this far in our sailboat! Did she come all the way from Florida
too??? It’s funny, I never pictured
manatees anyplace except the south-east coast of the US. Very naive of me … I’m sure! But this harbor sure has a lot of sea-life
(sea turtles and manatees, in addition to the normal little fishies).
After drinks, we decided to take a walk into “town”. You’ll notice this in quotes because it
wasn’t much of anything. These so
called “towns” make those back home small towns look like metropolitans! Other than the marina and a couple of
restaurants, there really isn’t too much to this place. But it’s quaint and a nice place to wait out
weather … and the views are stunning!
Giving up on ever finding the “town”, we walked across the
point to the ocean side. What a
view! Whoever said the Bahamas doesn’t
have those beautiful turquoise waters like the Caribbean obviously never stood
at this point and looked out to sea! We
watched a sailboat come thru the cut and later found out it was Megerin (the
couple we’d met up with in Georgetown).
They anchored right next to us so we stopped by on our way back to our
boat for a quick visit. It turns out
they also knew the couple on the boat in front of us (I forget their
names). They’d crossed paths with in during
their stay in Rum Cay. Even though we’re cruising in a big world, it’s a very
small place.
We headed back to Soulmatie around 7pm so we could take a
nap. Our plan is to head out tonight
for the trip to the Crooked/Aklin Islands.
It didn’t leave us much time to sleep but as planned, we woke at 10pm,
pulled anchor and headed out. Since
Megerin had just arrived, they planned on staying awhile so once again, we
parted company.
The weather was great.
We had good winds and a slight chop to the ocean but nothing like there
had been the past several days. My
prayers were answered. It had calmed
nicely.
We were cruising down the coast of Long Island, all by
ourselves, in the dark of night. I had
gone below for a few minutes when suddenly Larry yelled something like, “a boat
is approaching us”. What??? I had no idea what he meant but I quickly
came out to the cockpit. Off to our starboard
side, I saw a bright, flickering light.
Even though we were along a barren coast, with no harbors since Clarencetown,
there was some type of small boat coming directly at us, shining a spotlight at
us. Okay … so here goes my imagination
… drug runners, pirates or maybe something really nasty. We were all alone and feeling very
vulnerable. You won’t believe what happened. A guy on a jet-ski pulled along side
us. He was yelling something at us but
it was hard to get the entire story through the noise of motors, waves, his
accent, etc. He asked if we knew where
the nearest port was. Very
strange! He said he was from Puerto
Rico on some expedition and if we could please call the next port and let them
know he would be coming in.
Weird!!! Did he actually bring
the Jet-Ski from Puerto Rico??? If not,
where did he come from and why was he out in the open ocean, on a Jet-Ski in
the middle of the night, all by himself???
We pointed him in the right direction and off he went.
So … after that experience, Larry and I had a long
talk. I was a little put aside that
Larry called me out to the cockpit and didn’t tell me to get our gun or
anything. Why have something to protect
yourself from strangers in the night if it’s locked away someplace when those
strangers approach? Of course, I wouldn’t
expect Larry to take the defensive until it was utterly necessary but he should
have had it handy … just in case. Next
time (but hopefully there won’t be a next time) if a boat approaches us in the
dark like that, I hope we react differently.
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