Bob and Carolyn's Visit
07 March 2009
We were fortunate to have Bob and Carolyn Gamble aboard Sea Sharp for a week. Recall that they had also joined us in Georgia and Florida last December.
Their visit with us was part of an extended winter vacation; they are travelling directly to the British Virgin Islands following our visit where they've chartered a sailboat for a month. Unfortunately, as with our earlier visit by Ann and Harold, the weather did not cooperate with strong winds mostly through the duration of their stay. Being stuck at anchor would have been worse if they were not going to sail the BVI and, as you will read in the next blog, had we not had a wonderful sail/race around Stocking Island.
Anyway, it was great having them on board and we introduced them to the Georgetown cruisers' lifestyle. We hiked, did Yoga on the beach, socialized, chatted, read and generally, had a very good time.
Bob and Carolyn have bought a new boat and are in the process of naming it. The boaters among you readers will know the significance of boat naming. Often in the boating community you are known more by your boat name than your actual names. We get all the time, "oh, you're Sea Sharp". There are many considerations in the selection of a name; often it describes something about the owners; it can be a conjunction of the owners' children's names; it can describe the outlook of the owners (racing boats often choose names like 'awesome", rage:, "Vigour". Cruising boats often select names which reflect the adventurous nature of our lifestyle, hence such names as "Whistling Winds", "Adventurer", "Winterlude", Next Horizon", etc. Names are often taken from foreign languages like "Sitatangua", "Kisimul", "Shibumi". One consideration is how the pronunciation of the name on the radio, especially when repeated the mandatory three times. In any event, the selection of a boat name is a serious thing and Bob and Carolyn, who have owned their new boat for over half a year now, are aspiring to the perfect name. So we have a guessing contest a to what their current favourite name is. I will not disclose the name (it could easily change again) but I'm pleased to say that we got it in something like five guesses.
Now, as I described above, winds continued high and while we had planned to take them to some interesting places throughout the Exumas, we were stuck at anchor. However, we there was a race in preparation for the upcoming regatta and we decided to enter. More about this in another blog.
Bob and Carolyn, thanks for joining us again,