Today was another get-together for those of the rally fleet (and anyone else) who wanted to participate. We had a one o'clock lunch buffet at Tryphena's. The north beach was lined with dinghies, hauled up on shore and secured with anchors set in the sand. The crowd straggled in along the path to the dirt road, then to the right to the main road and then left along the main road the few hundred yards to Club Thompson Bay. We and another couple didn't walk, though. We got to the dirt road just as a van was approaching, and in typical Long Island fashion, the driver stopped and insisted on taking us all to the club. He was going there himself.

I took the iPad with the pictures I'd taken yesterday, determined to identify the boats. I had great success. The big Beneteau I knew was French Kiss. The woman who owns her doesn't have boat cards yet, but I gave her ours and she will email me so I can send her a copy. The Gozzard is Manatee; they joined the rally en-route. I have their card and will send them the image. The boat with the grey stripe around the main is Expatriate, and they were with Manatee, but didn't join the rally. It took me the longest to find out their name. I'll have to hail them on the radio, as they weren't at the luncheon. And that heeling ketch is Moxie, a Reliant 43. The owners of Moxie were pretty thrilled with the picture. They are going to email me, too, as they didn't have boat cards with them. I'll probably also see them tomorrow. (I'll add the other boat pictures to the gallery.)

The buffet was abundant and typically Bahamian. There were crab legs, ribs, fish fingers, chicken fingers, chicken wings, some sort of stew over rice, and of course macaroni and cheese, pigeon peas and rice and cole slaw. I tried a little of everything and had a plate so heaping I could hardly carry it. There were a lot of people there. I finally remembered to take a picture after folks were filtering out, but all these tables were full and several tables off to the side. Tryphena does all the cooking herself. She thanked us all for coming and we signed a guest book she had there. Bahamians really go out of their way to make the cruisers feel welcome.

On our way back from the buffet we stopped by to visit with Bill and Margaret on Margarita. They had been at the last day of the Long Island Agro Exposition, also known as Mutton Fest, when we arrived yesterday. They said they saw the red stripe on our boat as they dinghied back to theirs at about 10:30 at night. Bill shone his flashlight on our bow and determined that it was, indeed, Earendil, back in her old spot. They were happy to see us again as when we left for George Town we did not expect to be coming back to Thompson Bay again this season. But here we are, for one last visit. We'll definitely miss this place when we've finally gone.