Saying Goodbye

Holly left yesterday afternoon after a week of perfect weather and beach days. We had plenty of entertainment around as she came right in the middle of Regatta week. And the beach is entertainment in itself. She was a fabulous guest, so easy going and always smiling. It is always fun for us to have friends visit and take some time to enjoy and understand the life that we lead. Although most people think of it as glorified camping, they can also appreciate the views it brings and the ability to travel to new and beautiful places and to meet people who are similar to us with a passion for traveling and exploring new worlds.


As usual, from the moment she arrived Koa and Moo thought she was here solely for the purpose of petting and loving them. And she didn't let them down. Since she was occupying Moo's "room", they spent a lot of time together and Moo thoroughly inspected her suitcase and belongings. Koa made sure to deposit enough drool and kisses on her to last her for awhile after her departure.

We were also able to give her a morning send off sail around the harbour before depositing her on dry land for her trip home. All in all, I think she had a great trip and we definitely loved having her here!

Margaritas with little umbrellas immediately make you feel like you're on vacation!

We even let her blow the conch horn at sunset:

All Day Every Day

So for the next three days, Brad signed up to do every event in Regatta. I made sure he got to all the events and entertained Holly along the way.

Thursday was the in harbour race. We had scored him a spot on our friend's boat, Cloud Messenger, and since neither of us had ever raced before Brad was pumped just to go out and race and see what it was all about. Holly and I delivered him to the boat early that morning and towed their dinghy back to our boat so they wouldn't have to leave it at anchor by itself. They spent the first hour just putzing around the course checking out the wind direction and familiarizing themselves with the course. Finally, around 11am, they were off. There were over 40 boats, but they were broken down into 5 different heats, each starting at a different time. Brad had 8 other boats in his heat and took an early lead. They were doing great, but unfortunately Brad quickly realized that the boat didn't point well into the wind, so in the upwind portion of the race, they fell behind a bit. The final nail was on the last leg of the race when they had a very near miss run-in with another boat. They gave way, since the other boat showed no intention of doing so, and it cost them a few precious minutes sending them into 5 place. But, Brad learned a lot and had a great time.

Meanwhile, Holly and I camped out on the bow of our boat, watching the action as it passed by. It was a perfect day for sailing and is always such an awesome sight to see all those beautiful sails up in the harbour.

Friday morning brought early morning beach golf. All three of us trekked over to the ocean side and Holly and I set up for a beach day while Brad walked down to the course to try his hand at golf. It was a perfect beach day, with calm ocean swell allowing us to get in and enjoy the crystal clear water. A couple hours later, Brad rejoined us, having not done so well at golf, and we all headed up for a delicious lunch at St Francis.

Lunch was followed by an very unorganized Bocce Tournament. We thought the tournament would be a somewhat short event as so many of the others had been, but instead it took a few hours. Holly and I played around on the beach and in the water, keeping one eye on Brad and his teammate. Brad had been paired up with a French Canadian who had placed in the tournament for the last four years. Other than curling, Bocce could be the country's sport - all French Canadians are inherently terrific at Bocce. And Brad being Brad and being fabulous at most sports he puts his mind to, the two made a great team and soon climbed through the initial rounds into the finals. It was a great final game, and they just barely lost. But they still came out with another burgee and a bottle of wine! That's a win in my book!

Saturday was the final day of the Regatta, ending with an around the island race. We once again ferried Brad over to the racing boat and towed their dinghy back to our boat. We waited until the race started and they had passed by our boat on their way North out of the cut and then we headed over to beach and hiked up to the Monument for a better view of the race on the ocean side. Another perfect sailing day and they looked great out there!! We had high hopes of them placing this time, until the line of squalls moved in. They were near the South entrance back in the harbour when the squall finally reached them. They hadn't reacted in time and were extremely over-canvassed. They opted to pull all the sails in and motor through the squalls. Once you turn the motor on in a sailing race, you are disqualified. They were only one of about 10 other boats who made this same decision, and there were a few squalls lined up behind each other, so perhaps it was the safer route. Either way, it was good experience for Brad and great fun for us to watch.

We attended the final party that night, along with most of the harbour and had a great time - we even closed down the party! Although we had fun with Regatta, it sure will be nice to relax tomorrow and not have to rush around to all these events. Seems like a lazy beach day may be in store...

Volleyball Tournament

Unfortunately, as timing would have it, Holly's first day here was our Volleyball Tournament. So, while Brad and I played ball, Holly just sat on the sidelines and watched. Luckily, it was a short tournament and in the meantime, we had a great cheerleader and photographer!

There were six teams of four players each; Brad and I were on separate teams and we played each other the first game. My team was a bit rough and Brad's team easily defeated us. But, we came back, rallied and won all of our other games! Brad's team did great as well and also only lost one game. So....we met again in the final match for the championship!

Everyone thought this was great and there were cheerleaders for each side, with sly comments about whether Brad was ever going to eat again if his team won, or if I would get a ride home in the dinghy if my team won. It definitely made for an interesting final match for everyone. Though everyone was exhausted, it was a good game with lots of good rallies. Unfortunately, my team did not come out on top. Brad's team was the better team and we just couldn't seem to get ahead. But, in the end, we got two more Regatta Flags to add to our inventory AND a bottle of Rum and Wine!! So, I think it was a win win for everyone (it has only taken me a week to be able to say this without bitterness ;-)).

That night, we had dinner outside in the cockpit and then Brad headed in to the Poker Tournament while Holly and I stayed on the boat and had sundowners and carried on with my poker night tradition of popcorn, wine and movies. We had a fabulous night catching up and when Brad came home I was so proud to learn he had won First Place in the tournament!! This was his second big win of the day! And he even got a plaque to commemorate his win, along with cash winnings - always a welcome addition on this boat!

It had been a very successful and enjoyable day aboard All In and we have more Regatta events in store!

First Regatta Flags!

Monday was a busy day for us as we had signed up for two events. We started first thing in the morning with the Scavenger Hunt. This, of course, was my idea. I'm like a 12 year old when it comes to these things. I was so excited I could hardly stand it! We had teamed up with two other boats, whom we did not previously know, and were going to split the list into thirds. There were five other teams of 6 competing as well, so we would have to be fast!

The list was long - two whole pages - and we had two hours to complete the hunt. We quickly went over the list and separated the items into areas around the harbor. Meaning, one team went to town, one went South and Brad and I went North. Some of the items we had on our boat so we were able to run and get those and then others were things that we had to collect off of other people's boats or questions about buildings around the harbour - how many butterflies are on a wall, who is the contractor of this building, etc...

We made it back before the allotted time and were thrilled to find that our team had collected all but one very elusive item (a cruisers regatta tshirt from 2000?!). We gathered our items and had the judge check us in. Once all the teams had returned, they announced the results - and we came in First Place!!! I was so excited! We each got a blue Regatta Flag and a gift certificate to a local restaurant. It was already shaping up to be an excellent day!!

Next, we wandered over to the beach to watch the small boat races. These were very entertaining, especially the blind rowing race. Two people were in a rowboat, the rower was blind folded and the other acted as a guide. They had to row quite a ways out around two buoys and back in. It was hysterical, with boats ramming into each other and going far in all kinds of wrong directions; most boats ended up having to be towed back in, but it was very entertaining to watch. There were also kayak races and downwind dinghy sailing races (homemade sails only).

In the afternoon, we, along with our friends on Hello Texas, had entered into the Coconut Challenge. This involves four people in a dinghy with no outboard, rowing out to collect as many coconuts as you can from the 1000 coconuts that they dump into this little inlet. The kicker is, you can only use snorkel fins as paddles and there are over 30 other boats in this tiny area with you, all trying to collect coconuts. Every team member must wear a life jacket in some way. Sinking other boats and soaking other players is encouraged. Unfortunately, we got stuck in a bottleneck and couldn't get out fast enough. We did not get anywhere near enough coconuts, but we had a blast anyway. And I think it is just as funny to watch this event from shore as to participate, if not more so. Watching adults paddle with fins, flailing around in the dinghies and acting like 10 year olds has to be an amusing sight for all.

All in all a fantastic day and when we got back to the boat, we had a flag raising ceremony and hoisted our first Regatta Flags up. Tomorrow Holly comes and more regatta events commence!