The photo was taken at the awards ceremony, Hope Town Sailing Club. Jim the Captain/Owner of Patty Jean (Cabo Rico 42) from Vancouver...aaaaa, Harry 'The Trimmer' of Irish decent and Jerry the Englishman. Carl from Canada...aaaa... was not available at press time. Eighteen starters, tied for 1st!!
SMSA was well represented with my Screwpile shirt and 2013 Cruiser of the Year award 'very large sippy cup'! See details in previous post.

3-8-2015: Catholic church services at 12:30 under the fig tree with my Irish Catholic friends. The priest came on the ferry which was 25 minutes late. Only in the Bahamas is church service late. Wooden benches facing the water under a sprawling fig tree near the ferry dock with folks coming and going....Nice.

Afternoon with everyone by the pool with 'spring breakers' coming in.

3-9-2015: Took three dinghies down to Tahiti Beach for the day. OMG!!! Nice!! It was about a half an hour run with all three on a plane. Tahiti Beach is where a woman was attacked by a shark a month ago and very lucky to be alive! BASRA (Bahamas Air - Sea Rescue Association - cruiser volunteers) was there in eight minutes and had her in Miami within the hour...amazing. No government agency could ever do that. You can see the Tilloo cut from the beach and watched a big sports fishermen go through...not a good day for Piper to try it. Stopped at White Sound to check out the Sea Spray Marina and the gals found flip flops on sale. Back in time for happy hour by the pool.

3-10-2015: Left for Marsh Harbour and let my neighbors know to keep an eye out for anyone removing my reserved milk jug and taking my mooring. I will pick Donna up in the morning at the airport. Joe Frost (Gemini) is here and picked Jody up today. I will have a slip at Mango's Marina tomorrow next to them. Jody is in and had a beer on Gemini. Laundry and provisions at Maxwells.

3-11-2015: Arrived Mangos Marina after a wonderful night on the hook next to Gemini and they were soon off for Hope Town. Salt off the boat, fill tanks, clean boat and off to airport. Donna is here!!! Dinghy over to the Jib Room for their Wed. night rib special. Donna loved the 'bilge burner' specials while waiting for the buffet to get started at 7. Nice crowd there and late returning to Piper.

3-12-2015: Left early to get back home to Hope Town. Toured the lighthouse, all over town and the beach. Happy hour by the pool and stopping by Gemini on the next ball over for world famous Vernon's key lime pie.

3-13-2015: Piper left early with Harry and Finola, Chris and Liz on board to go to the Bare Foot Man concert at world famous Nippers. Joe and Jody (Gemini) left the harbor 45 minutes after us after calling to get the depth report which was under 5' outside the harbor. It was a beautiful sail up in 18-20 on the quarter. There were about 100 boats anchored in Fishers bay and settlement harbor. You can check out his music at www.barefootman.com. Attending one of his concerts should be on every ones bucket list. The Friday show is a little more mild mannered than the Sat. evening one. Spent time with Joe and Jody there and lots of friends from along the way. Showed Donna my old home for a month at Orchid Bay Marina. She loved the world famous beach at Nippers and spent a lot of time in the waves. Left at 5 for a motor back still in 18-20 on the nose and caught a beautiful sunset while arriving back at the mooring just after dark.

3-14-2015: Rented bikes to go to the end of the Cay to Tahiti Beach. Stopped at the Abaco Inn for the art show and complimentary wine/cheese by the pool overlooking the pounding waves of the Atlantic...best view ever. On to Tahiti...great again...stopped by Sea Spray for a drink and to buy flip flops...resting in the rocking chair on the porch and did not want to leave. Stopped at Papanasty's BBQ for dinner...not much in decor, but great food. Back to the boat at dark while stopping at a couple of boats to catch up on the days events.

3-15-2015: Brunch at the Hope Town Harbour Lodge...beautiful morning over looking the Atlantic again. Spent three hours there while waiting for Church services under the fig tree at 12:30 and the priest late again. Back to Piper to change and go out to watch the Abaco dinghies race, but the races were called off due to lack of wind. Kept on across in the dinghy to a island and Donna collected lots of shells. Happy hour by the pool.

3-16-2015: Pulled out a calendar and it hurt!! Need to start working back North...very slowly. Plan is to Marsh Harbor tomorrow to meet our Irish friends Harry and Finola to celebrate St. Patrick's Day with the shortest parade in history! They left the harbor last evening on high tide and anchored out. Gemini should be there as Jody is leaving tomorrow. Short stop at Treasure on Tuesday and hopefully through the Whale Cut on Thursday weather permitting. Soooo much to do ...soo little time! There are new pictures in the photo gallery.