December 17th dawned bright and beautiful although still a bit breezy, however it was a great day for Bev to celebrate her birthday. After enjoying a fresh brewed cup of Starbucks coffee in bed it was time make plans for the day. There are several small coral heads near the anchorage that provide great snorkelling areas so after breakfast I headed out in the dinghy to explore one. Bev has been lamenting the fact that she misses her fitness classes so she decided to swim the 200 yards or so to join me. I arrived on site and after anchoring the dinghy in 15' of water I was over the side drifting over the reef marvelling at all the brightly coloured fish. Suddenly I realized I was not alone, checking out the reef was a 7-8 foot reef shark! They say you can't walk on water but I think you can run, needless to say I got back in the dinghy ASAP. Bev saw me waving to her and was wondering what I was up to, however, one word, "Shark" convinced her to join me in the dinghy. Everyone says they're not dangerous unless provoked, however the local fishermen who were trying to sell us lobster advised not to trust them. With our swimming over for the day we decided to take a leisurely stroll on the beach.

We were invited to 'White Bird', the boat next to us, for happy hour. The owners, Peter and Cathy, invited Bianca and Dominic to join us as well. I celebrated with a marguerita compliments of Cathy and Peter. Bianca arrived with a birthday cake all lit up with flowered lights! What a thoughtful gesture as it isn't a piece of cake to whip up a cake on a boat. What an amazing young couple! We had drinks, appetizers and cake before returning to Dagny for dinner.

When we got back to the boat I received a FaceTime call from Lesley, Ryan, Mary (sister) and David. They were celebrating my birthday in our house without us! I enjoyed our conversation and was happy that they were enjoying my birthday! The evening was topped off with a lovely BBQ steak dinner. Definitely a birthday to remember!