Sailing Ohana

The most exciting part of Cat Island this season was the trip there. We caught a good sized tuna, and while we were reeling it in, the boys spotted something in the water, in the distance. At first we couldn’t tell what it was, but Jackson quickly identified it as whales! Jackson and Spencer got out the drone and very carefully flew it over the open ocean to follow the whales. The boat was barely moving because we were still dealing with the tuna, and it was a very calm day, but it was still nerve-wracking for Jackson to land the drone on the boat. Finally getting to watch whales for longer than a second, and have footage of them was thrilling for us all! Later on we got a bite from a fish so big that it ran with our drag at the highest setting, and broke the line. We have been discussing whether it was a giant tuna, marlin, or shark…. We’ll never know.

Anchoring in the Bight, we looked ashore at all the colorful little shack structures where we spent many happy days last season, and the quiet, empty settlement of this season was a marked contrast. We went ashore and saw the same guys who did the rake n’ scrape for us, as well as the food shack where we ate last year and danced to “All da Meats”. Spencer got takeout and we went back to the boat to make tuna for dinner.

The next day after school in the morning we stopped at the ice cream shop and then walked to the grocery store. It was very, very hot and humid. As soon as we returned to the boat, Spencer and I swam and played in the water to cool off, until “shark thirty”.

Moving up Cat Island to Fernandez Bay was a really short trip. We went ashore and played football and soccer with the boys and visited the tiki bar at the resort where Jackson and Spencer learned about piña coladas last year. Omar the bartender wasn’t in, and according to the manager they didn’t know when he would be back. The bar was set up as an honor bar where you make your own drinks and keep track, then turn in your notes to the front desk and pay as you leave. We decided that we could do that just as easily and a lot cheaper on our boat, so we went back and made piña coladas. We enjoyed a movie night in spite of Starlink threatening to downgrade or block service to boaters, which everyone is very worried about.

We took the dinghy to a different store which was much easier to access and had great produce, and spent some time tidying the boat for a couple of virtual showings we had scheduled. Tommy and I recently listed the boat for sale on Facebook and another boat listing website, just to see if we could get some early interest and plan for people to meet us when we get to Fort Lauderdale. We have had a good response and scheduled a couple of calls with people who wanted to see more than just photos, and who had questions. The calls went well and we feel confident that it will sell once we are back.

We are feeling the pull towards home, but also want to savor every bit of this before it’s gone forever. We are homesick, but also know that we will miss this life once we’re home. I can feel that this journey will be coming to a close soon because we are not actively seeking out buddy boats, we don’t go adventuring as much, and things feel a bit subdued. There are definitely adventures to be had and new places to explore before we jump back into the Gulf Stream, but I can tell that it is not far off.