OHHENRY! : An alternate way, for the purpose of this blog, of professing surprise, excited anticipation, and just plain ole WOW, or perhaps even WTF? moments, and as visually supported by the photo below, and humbly offered up to you, dear reader, for a morning smile type of moment.
When we first sailed into Hermitage bay a couple of days ago, mostly in order to get some Fast and Furious WiFi, seconded only by our desire for some quiet R&R after the hectic pace of Antigua Classics, we were (almost) the only boat here,
in fact, early the next morning, the other two boats that were anchored beside us, upped anchor and left. Funny when that happens, and you are left being the only solitary boat left behind. Made us wonder if there was something we didn't know about, that we perhaps ought to know about and THAT, was an
OhHENRY moment indeed.
We splashed our Kayaks into the waters and armed with camera in a Ziploc Baggie and water, off we went to explore, (
OhhEnry !!),
the water closer to shore pretty crystal clear compared to the rather silty waters out in the anchorage,
the rocky shoreline speaking volumes of different sized and types and colours of rocks,
with sugar mills perched on top of hills, just waiting to be explored,
always keeping an eye on pointy underwater things,
as you might well guess, inflatable kayaks and sharp coral type edges would not bode well in a jagged encounter of any kind.
We landed on one beach,
and went for a bit of a stroll,
getting our feet wet,
and then heading back to home to task on some more boat chores, that were quickly nixed and put on tomorrows list, as we both sat in the cockpit and enjoyed the peaceful solitude instead.
And speaking of peaceful solitude, we used some of that Fast and Furious WiFi to google ourselves some additional information on our next stop(s). And therein arose a pet peeve of mine, of the perhaps not-so-latest, however, very prevalent trend in the online world.
Everything, and I do mean everything, needs to be quantified in a most dire way, have you noticed that? I don't understand, and proclaim that I tastefully dislike, this itemized scrutinized analyzed bucket list of items to cross off my life list. Talk about unneeded Pressure that OHMY where's the list of How to Feel if you've not accomplished one item on that list??
"Top Ten things to DO on Thursday"; "166 things to DO in XYZ". "27 surreal places to visit before you DIE". (DIE?) If you knew you were going to DIE would you limit yourself to 27? Surreal? Places? "52 places to go in 2014": that's what, one a week? And while you're busy living someone else's list narrowed down to some odd number, you should beware of the "31 healthy foods you SHOULD be eating" to fuel you along, and the "25 fattening foods you should NEVER be eating" lest you die before going to 27 surreal places. But,
ohhenry, wait, before you do any of that, there's a list of 75 books you MUST read before you watch 86 best movies of all time, and seriously?
Made me (almost) want to click on the link just to see, in some perverse anger me moment, to confirm whether I was doing what I SHOULD be doing, and did we have one of the foods on that DO or DON'T list for breakfast before we went kayaking, and dare I even google whether kayaking Inflatable Kayaks is on a ok'd DO list somewhere of things to do, or not do, after breakfast or before lunch, in Antigua, and (gasp) did I read the book about it, or perhaps I should wait for the movie
OHHENRY!
Swim Club was started over a week ago (thanks Dalynn for the gentle nudge, nudge and persistent picking me up at 07:30 a.m. for the 4 lap swim across Pigeon Beach,
oHHenry!!) and mySELF has been challenging me to continue on my own, despite the place or time of day. Today is Day 5 and Proudly Counting Along, and given the initial bodily fatigue that one feels when first re-starting any fitness regimen anew, energy begets energy, and I am happy to report that despite the sore muscles, I am feeling a tad more energized.
oH Henry indeed!!
We are prepping to leave here using the weather window opening up on Friday. Weather on all fronts is indicating a perfect East Wind that will allow us to sail straight South,
OhHENRY !!
And so yesterday after another kayak, and another swim, and another wonderful evening shared with great friends David and Libby (and SuperDog, Brody) from
SV Peregrine,
over great food, where we watched our solitary anchorage get increasingly crowded as the sun went down.
Earlier in the day we deflated and fresh water rinsed and dried our kayaks, and packaged them away. That's a rather sad
ohhenry moment. Today its time to pick up our laundry, check out with C&I, get some provisions and then get some more (as its probably best to stock up
Banyan's empty cupboards here in EC dollars instead of Euro Dollars), and depart in the wee hours of tomorrow morning for the 40some odd nm's that will get us THERE.
THERE being Deshaies, Guadeloupe. Write to you on the French side.
OHHENRY!