Many of you readers know our wonderful friends Ann and Harold Raper. They are long time members of the Fredericton Yacht Club and well travelled cruisers. Well, Ann and Harold are more than that to Judy and I; in many ways they have been our cruising mentors and are much like older brother and sister to Judy and I.

Ten years ago, we were invited on their boat, Rumpot, to sail with them in the Bahamas. We joined them, here in Georgetown and sailed with them back to Nassau as they began the slow return of their boat to Canada. We had a wonderful week or so with them and had vivid memories of the warm, azure blue waters, interesting communities and of course their warm companionship. This rich experience fuelled our desire to do the same thing and here we are ten years later.

So, it was particularly poignant for us that Ann and Harold would join us for a visit.

Unfortunately, the weather did anything but cooperate - we had very strong winds virtually all the time they were here - winds always in excess of 20 knots and gusting to well over 30 on occasions. So, it made leaving the relative comfort of the anchorage not practical. But, we had fun nevertheless.

Harold is a very competitive guy and also a terrible tease. When we were down ten years ago (and I referenced this competition in an earlier blog posting) we'd play cribbage in the evening for bottles of rum. Ultimately I lost six bottles the last time. I figured it was time to even the score! Well, Harold certainly has not lost his edge and I think the final reckoning this time was me owing Harold eight bottles!

Despite our being boat bound, we had lots of fun. We spent time with our neighbouring boats, did a great taxi tour of Exuma (will be covered in a subsequent posting), did beach walks, snorkelled, played volleyball, and generally thoroughly enjoyed their company.

Ann and Harold, thanks for joining us!