So what do Yoga on the Beach, Beach Church, Volleyball Beach, Chat'n'Chill (on the beach), walks on the Beach, and rainbows over the Beach all have in common?
Hmm... that's a difficult one... could it be ? The Beach??
And me doing headstands. Really ! Where? On the Beach of course !
But I'll tell you how I got to that, if you bear with me and read on...
Life usually begins around 6:30 a.m. when the SSB radio cackles with static, and The Weather Oracle comes on,
"Good morning, this is Chris Parker on Bel Ami, Whiskey Charlie Yankee (SSB callsign) and here's the synopsis of the weather for the Bahamas..."
And believe you me, laying in bed, and before any kind of serious cups of java, listening to someone with authority spew our facts and figures on wind speeds and changing directions, is not always a patient feat.
I used to listen to weather reports for temperatures, sun vs rain kind of thing, do I need to wear boots or can I escape walking to work in heels? And I smile as I look at how life has changed and revolves around wind, sea state and squalls and how I haven't put on a pair of shoes since we arrived in the Bahamas almost a month ago now, 'cause mainly, we walk on soft sand.
And meet and greets at the Chat'n'Chill are spent sipping back a cold one and in bare-feet, and you always carry a bar of soap around with you in case of sudden rain squalls (just kidding, but, hey, why not, given the preciousness, and lack of, fresh water)...
Speaking of, the weather has been dodgy lately and has brought a few intense rain squalls, one of them during Yoga Class (that might have included, rumors have been flying, a water spout) and another one the next day, as we hiked up (rather quickly, it turns out) to Monument Hill.
They squalls come quick, are intense, don't last long and when they are over, look what's left behind...
And then at 8:00 a.m., there's the booming voice of Herman, broadcasting on VHF 68 switching to 72...
"Andddddd Good Morning Georgetown cruisers, this is Herman bringing you today's cruisers net... let's listen first for any emergency or priority traffic...
(and when (thankfully) none comes forth),
Then he repeats a briefer synopsis of Chris Parkers weather, goes on to announce tides, and then it's a "come back" type of deal for the local businesses to announce their events.
Then its a "come back" for the cruising community to broadcast games of Mahjong, or Volleyball, (fun or regulation), Chat'n'Chill's Pig Roast or Valentine's Dance, or Conch Oom Pa Pa, all happening... ON THE BEACH.
Then it's the Boater's General, come back...
"Anyone have Season 7 of Dexter?"
"Need help fixing this..."
"Anyone know how to... ?"
"Looking for... getting rid of..."
All standing by on 68 after the net.
You can just imagine what Channel 68 sounds like "after the net". It's a free-for-all mumbo-jumbo chaotic mess of voices...
Decidedly Volleyball Beach is where "it" happens... "IT" being life in Georgetown, either for the "transients" who come and go, or for the people who seem to spend a whole season, or more, here. And boats here there are ! Someone actually did a boat count, and reported it on the net this morning, 284 and counting...
That's TWO HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FOUR. Boats. Here. On a 9 mile stretch of coastline. When Herman arrived back in November, there might ave been 5 boats. Sometimes records show up to 500 ...
Georgetown is a bustling community filled with cars speeding by the very narrow streets, honking their horns as you walk by, an awesome (and well priced) grocery store, a hardware store of sorts, two banks, cafes and a few shops, two liquor stores, a laundromat, trucks selling their wares of tarts and lobster tails by the street, and much, much more. There's a dumpster for cruisers to offload their bags of trash (for free), a dinghy dock (with free) RO water, all thanks to the proceeds of the Georgetown Cruisers Regatta, that is in the throes of being planned and starts just a couple of weeks from now.
This is a great place, after weeks of slowly dwindling USA brought provisions, to replenish supplies at very reasonable prices.
"Wait Dave honey, there's fresh fruit and veggies, we've got to go back and get some more..."
"yes, dear" he sighs, at the thought of yet another fresh fruit salad for breakfast, when he was seriously hoping for steak'n'eggs...
We've been enjoying our sunny days here in leisure fashion, doing a bit of this and a bit of that, connecting with some of the 284 boats here; some we have met along our journeys and some we are meeting for the very first time. This is a social event en masse, that's for sure.
It's decidedly a small world, when we end up sharing some lobster chowder with fellow Nova Scotian's, can you guess where ? Why, ON THE BEACH, of course !
We've hiked up to Monument Hill, had a Rum Punch at Big Dee's at Hamburger Beach, and got soaking wet as we tried to dodge the rain back to our boat.
Some Great walks happen... where ? Along the beach, of course.
And how gorgeous is The Beach ?
We've been swimming laps around the boat (seriously, for exercise !), and snorkelling the reefs, and spending afternoons feeding the rays (and how soft are they?) the conch innards provided by the Conch Shack, located, hmm... do I really need to tell you?
and well, when all is said and done, and life throws you a Beach... what's left but to do some serious Headstands.
Headstands. On the Beach. Why not ?