We joined a lovely group of cruisers on Princess for Happy Hour on Thursday where we made another one of those "six degrees of separation" discoveries. Carol happened to mention their friends on Wind Ensemble. When I commented that we knew a boat by that name back at our yacht club in Ontario, we quickly learned that it is the same boat; Tom and Ginny are members of Trident Yacht Club and good friends of Richard and Carol (Kilissa) from Solomon's in the Chesapeake Bay. So, if you're reading this, Tom and Ginny, we all say Hi!!

After enjoying Sandi and Steve's hospitality, we all moved on to Snappa's - a very casual waterfront bar at Harbourview Marina - for great music and more partying. Browntips was centre stage - chatting up the crowd, filling the DJ role, playing the saw and dancing a bit. We were absolutely entranced by Christian's dancing - that young man could move every part of his body - up down, sideways, in a hundred rhythms. Little Brendan, Browntips' 4-year-old grandson, looked to be well on his way to being an entertainer too. He played the saw and danced and was an all round sweetheart. If you're not familiar with Bahamian saw music, it is a pretty interesting thing, and ranges from basic percussion to complicated pitch and percussive rhythm. The performer uses a regular handsaw and a knife to "rake and scrape". He bends the saw to change the pitch, and scrapes the teeth or the side of the saw to produce the different sounds - all this while moving in time to the music. We've seen it a few times now and this was real art -and my description doesn't do it justice at all. Browntips says the music is in his genes, and now, having seen him in action, I truly believe it!

An extra plus on Thursday was the presence of Jan and Cam, and their guest Paul from Te Amor. Besides being a person of extraordinary sociability and generosity, Jan sings and plays drums, Paul is an accomplished drummer, and I've never seen anyone fly around the dance floor like Cam! Jan brought 2 big drums - and reportedly has several more musical instruments on board - and that beat just vibrated right into our bones. By the end of the evening, some of the rest of us got into the flow of things too. Deb and I had a go at the drum and loved it. Paul commented, "Everyone is a drummer" and I think he's right; it's a matter of eliminating all the head "stuff" and falling back into kinesthetic knowledge. We were a tired and happy crowd as we retrieved our dinghies and made our way back out to our boats in the harbour. In my "regret" column: I didn't have a camera there so no pictures. In my "yeehaw" column: Jan and Paul play in a band back in the Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia so we'll catch them next summer when we'll probably be cruising NS waters again.

On Friday, Jim and I ran a few last minute errands - more coconut bread, batteries, produce (there's a good stock in right now), a bottle of smooth, sweet Nassau Royale for late night sipping - and then headed off to Man-War Cay for a change of scenery.