This week was great. Like I say basically every week, but I do love it. Don't get me wrong, being on a boat in the middle of the bahamas working all day every day gets exhausting but I have a great boss and fantastic groups to charter and it makes it easy. But I loved my group this week. Another group of boys, but they were still great even if I was still the only girl. Keep in mind it was just bruce and I for crew, usually it is bruce, sheila, a first mate and a deck hand. The group was all family and a couple of friends. Ok here is how it went:
Vince: the grandpa and head of the group. He was so great and really easy to talk to and get along with. He was also from Tryon (SP?) in NC where Andy's group had been from and we had some long chats about those guys!
Rusty: one of Vince's sons who was highly entertaining and easy to get along with. He was the witty guy who kept trying to get me in trouble.
John: Vince's other son who was so friendly and the most positive person I know (other than Ginny)
Walter: Johns father-in-law and my favorite person to talk to. He was so cute (I hope thats not an insult) and he would clamber down the ladder and just float in the water and then give me a hard time because I was worried about him the whole time. Then he would get back on the boat have his scotch and start wailing songs with Bruce and all I could do was chuckle at his love for the water and the Bahama star.
David: Vince's son-in-law and a real character. We spent time discussing charleston, him being a huge cofc basketball fan, and all the restaurants that must be visited, and why IOP or Folly is better.
DT: David's son and he's going to CofC next year! I spent all week giving him advice and talking dorms and classes. He was also a big help all week.
Logan: also a senior was Vince's grandson (his mom being one of Vince's daughters) and he was also great. He was looking into going into the Army next year, but by the end of the week he was reconsidering being a deck hand next year...
Joe: a good friend of the guys and real fun, being the oddball he handled it well and was extremely fun to have around.
Chris: Friend of the group and a real great guy. He owns a cigar store/bar in spartenburg (dad I think you would love it) and had brought a giant tupperware of cigars so I got a little spoiled trying great tasting cigars every day (Bruce also being a big cigar fan as well as all the guys on board).
Drew: Chris's son and really interesting to talk to and a life savor at times. Drew had worked on a charter dive boat before so he was great tying cleats and coiling water.
Highlights for the week... we went to Allens Cay the saturday night when they got in. The sail over was great and everyone was so friendly and interested in how on earth I wound up with Bruce and of course what my future would hold... We got in after dark but it was a decent crossing and the stars were beautiful. We did some snorkeling and iguana seeing and I struggled a bit with driving the dingy and went to Hawksville and on down to Compass. Lots of afternoons spent diving and flipping off the bow – a favorite pass time. The boys loved to hike and Bruce would take them on different trails on the islands, Vince leading the way in his hightop socks and great hat. Cheyenne, the girl around my age who lives on a boat with her parents in Compass, and I got to do yoga on the beach one morning and it was fantastic. We went farther south to Staniel Cay and snorkeled around thunderball cave, where the 007 movie was filmed! We fed the wild pigs that live on Big Majors and then headed back north. A couple scary dingy rides with David and Joe doing acrobats on the bow made it all the more interesting. We stopped in Wardwick wells where the Exuma Park headquarters is and the views from there were spectacular. Then one last day in Normans Cay playing on Corona Island and collecting conch shells before the sail back to Nassau on Good Friday. Bahamians take Good Friday very seriously and only one restaurant was open for dinner that night, but we enjoyed it anyway and had a great exploration of the Atlantis aquariums as well. Including seeing all the sharks that Steven (one of Bruce's friends who works for atlantis) insisted were all nurse sharks. I told him if he was so sure why not go swimming with them (he wasn't that confident). In the end the week was great. Even being short handed everyone was willing to help and pitch in. By the end of the week Walter was insisting I tell him what really was going on in my love life (unable to believe I was single) and Rusty was discussing catholicism with me and leaving catholic magazines for me to read. Everyone was concerned on what I would do next and it made me so humbled because I cared for them so much. Chris even said if I ever found myself in SC again the bartenders made great tips at his cigar shop. I felt very blessed to have met all these great guys and was sad to see them go, which I told them on saturday morning but they just insisted I told that to every group (which so far has been true) but still, I was very sad to see them go.
Your life sounds pretty rough =) It's beautiful there! Wish i could join you on your weeks off. Miss you!
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