Glorified Hunks of Coral

With Emily headed home to temporarily pretend to be a real adult, I was in need of crew to help get the boat up to New Providence to meet my sister who was flying in for a visit. Long story short, I called my friend Trevor, lead with “How much vacation time do you have, and how much money do you have?” A few hours later, he saved the day by buying a plane ticket for three days later, and we were set. Logistics make my brain hurt.

Back in George Town, it was a lightning quick pit stop. Emily packed, I figured out the thermostat issue, and I refreshed our grocery stores and water supply. We confused the heck out of our friends still in the harbor (Is something wrong? Why are you back?), and had one last, for real this time, goodbye party with our closest friends.

With a 40 knot front looming and a schedule to keep, Trevor and I raced north to the protection of the islands and easy cruising grounds. Luckily, we made it, and nothing wildly exciting happened during the rest of our cruise. No news is good news.

We spent perfect days spearfishing, exploring caves, beaches, finding hiking trails, and snorkeling every chance we got. We returned to Black Point for amazing homemade coconut bread, went back to the pig island, got to swim in a cave where a scene from James Bond was filmed, and checked out a sunken plane. The Exumas are really just overly glorified hunks of coral: they just barely stick out above sea level and host a desert-like environment, trees clinging to life and lizards darting in and out of scraggly bushes. The true beauty is the water and sea life, and we made sure to spend as much time swimming as possible. I wish we had an underwater camera. It was gorgeous, it was amazing, and I am very thankful for Trevor for dropping everything and helping bring Elpis to the beauty of the islands.

The only hiccup was finding a massive and growing hole in the seam of the floor of the dinghy. Without being able to stop to fix it, it continued to mercilessly grow. By the end of the week, we basically had to pop a wheely while motoring, otherwise we’d risk sinking. It was exciting. I was not happy. Lessons learned: never trade a perfectly good dinghy, no matter how much lighter and better a new one seems, and an inflatable bottom is not the answer. Next trip will be with a rigid dinghy.

Last point. After many philosophical discussions with Trevor, we’ve come to a few conclusions. You can spend your life living according to the rules and save your money and retirement for adventures and be perfectly content, but you don’t always get to do that- on a grim note, you don’t always get to live that long. If you want to live fully, if you want to have the experience you’ve always dreamed of, DO NOT WAIT. I understand most people can’t drop everything and leave because of responsibility, family, careers, etc. It’s not easy to get away. But if you have the dream, desire, and opportunity, run with it. Emily and I recognize how blessed we are to have taken our chance and live, and we want everyone to take a good look at their own lives and figure out how to follow their dreams. It breaks our hearts to hear “Oh I’ve always wanted to do that!” Please! Get out there! Go live your life! Life doesn’t wait around for you, you have to chase it down and embrace it and feel every moment it has to offer. It will be the hardest thing you ever do, but I promise it will be worth it.

Direct quote from our ship’s log: “IF YOU ARE UNHAPPY WITH YOUR LIFE, GET OUT THERE AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.”

In the meantime, here are some really beautiful pictures of really beautiful pieces of coral.

Trevor ironically reading about our heroes Katie and Jessie

The Black Point anchorage when it's not trying to kill us

Discovering the hole, assisted by a smelly pig

Thunderball Grotto on the left at Staniel Cay- where they shot the James Bond scene

Scurvy protection

IT'S GROWING

So dead on land, so alive under water

Elpis contributing to Boo Boo Hill

Salt water mangroves at Shroud Cay

The final tear

With the help of a really expensive cab ride and glue and new-found beach friends from Michigan, the dinghy was finally repaired (The directions on the glue said don't use in humidity or direct sunlight, whoops!)