"Born to Wander": "Traighli Bay"

Leaving Nassau was extremely hard. I had fallen in love with the culture, the food, and the people. We headed over to Atlantis on Saturday just as the rain started falling in sheets. Pete got to the boat early and I was so excited to see him again. Dave came with him who I hadn't met before but always goes on the sail ups. Pirate Don, Wayne, Ron and Richard were soon to follow. We spent the evening making friends in the hot tube by the boat and catching up. Hearing stories of the Jimmy Buffet concert, Dave's Appalachian trail hike, and the like. Doug and Sarah, his wife who I had been dying to meet, got in just in time for dinner. That night we had a big feast of Berthas conch and fish and I even made some delicious guacamole from some of the 20 avocados we were given that were blown off friends trees from Irene. All our friends came by including Tim, Chris, houseboat Mark, Tina, Steven, and more that I can't even think of right now. We had a blast and it was so good to spend time with everyone one last time and the goodbyes were very hard for me.

We went to NPCC the next morning one last time and then said threw lines and were on our way to the Abacos. The weather was great and we came into Marsh Harbor the next day and found that they had a good bit more damage than Nassau did. We tied up to the dock, real close to the other boat to fit on the dock and talk them into getting us some fuel (an adventure). We had a delicious barbeque of dolphin and pork chops and I was so happy to be in such great company. The next day we headed up to Manjack Cay to see Bill and Leslie again. We enjoyed time on their beautiful porch watching a storm roll in while drinking delicious fresh squeezed key lime juice! The next day we spent the morning helping Bill and Leslie clean up their beach since they had a lot of trees and brush down. Then we headed up to spanish cay but made a stop for one last lobster spearing session. It was a huge success and we came back with well over 20 lobsters! It was a delicious dinner. We anchored out of spanish cay because the dock was pretty beat up after Irene! We had a blast, Pirate Don won over another Pirate and August 31^st became Sarah s declaration day! She got her skull bead placed in her hair which started the many pirate jokes and pirate music and dancing. Great fun. We also had a crazy plankton show and say on the dive platform for 10 minutes kicking the water and watching it light up with tons of dots like fireflies! (that is until sheila told us not to swim because there were a lot of sharks here!) It was also our last night in the bahamas and Don and I made it a special night by piercing our ears (with my peace sign studs) and Doug who was a jeweler so he had “done this a hundred times”.

The days catch… thanks for the shirt Matt!

The next morning we hoisted anchor and set sail for the states. Our first stop was Jacksonville but it was a long way away. We sailed for about 48 hours and it was an adventure. We had fun and had beautiful weather and enjoyed the trip and each others company. And of course Sarah pirates practice and Don's playlist and Matt and I's fight for control over Grateful Dead or Kenny Chesney.... We even got both sails up and had the engine off for a little bit (a belt broke on the engine). We sailed by close enough to see Cape Cod and where all the space ships used to take off and I learned as I said my goal was to see one take off that they had just stopped! It is what it is. We got in to Jacksonville just after sunrise and watched tons of boats take off as we came in. We tied up and learned that Pirate Don, Matt, and I had to go to customs because we didn't have boater cards. Turns out the only customs place opened on a saturday was in St. Augustine so we had to borrow a car from Mary Beth (from a charter this summer) and drive down to check into customs! It was a crazy system. My family has good friends, Sandra and George, who live in Jacksonville. My aunt Valerie and Uncle Brian came up from Tarpon Springs and the four of them came over to spend time with me. It was so great seeing them and we had a blast! They came with us as we did the annual BBQ and BBQ Bill's house. He cooked delicious ribs and opened his home to all of us and we had a blast! It was so great spending time together and celebrating the great season the Bahama Star gave us over a harpoon.

the boys and their grill!

The next day brought in our first goodbyes. Matt, Dave and Pete all headed back home and it was hard to realize that our season really was coming to a close. We spent an day exploring Firdandina Florida after sailing up the Inter-coastal. It was beautiful and so much fun. Firdandina was a quaint little town on the inter-coastal all about boating and good food. We had a delicious low country boil and Sheila was pretty excited about having shrimp again. The next day because of some weather coming in we decided just to dash straight to Charleston. The crossing went well and I was sad as the sun set for the last time on my sailing. We got in around 5 the next morning into Charleston. I came up as Bruce sailed us in and I could not believe he could look at the lights of Charleston and know what was what and which lights to follow. It was beautiful watching the Sullivan Island light house reach out to us as we sailed in. The docking was pretty interesting since we came into a full dock and tied up in a slip that had another boat in. But Bruce made it work! The afternoon was spent have good food and getting things packed up and ready for dry docking for the season. We spent the night at Bob and Squeaks house in charleston and got spoiled with a pool and delicious ham dinner and TV! It had been so long. The next day was spent getting everything off the boat, sailing it up to where we were stored and also taking Don to the airport. Not before getting him to experience Bojangles! It was a great day and as we filled Bruce and Sheilas rental van I started thinking, where on earth did all these tools and food and gear and clothes and bags come from? Our boat is only so big!

Throwing my message in a bottle!

Well the moment came, the it's official we are done and the boat is stripped down and there is nothing left to do but say goodbye. My mom met us off the interstate and we said our goodbyes quickly so I wouldn't be sad. By then only Doug, Sarah, Ron, and Bruce and Sheila were left. It was so hard to tell them bye unsure of when we would see each other again. Working on the Bahama Star was one of the greatest adventures in my life so far. The lifestyle and people will be sorely missed and I was not ready for it to end. I don't know if I will every work for two more wonderful and loving people who I got so close to and got to really share my life with. I hope to one day find a job that I am as happy and passionate about as the two of them. All I can say is THANK YOU. Not just to Bruce and Sheila, who deserve it a million times over, but also every person who came on that boat and shared time and their lives with us and all the prayers and emails from friends and families that blessed us with good weather and safe traveling. Thank You, and God Bless.