The Last Few Caribbean Days
We left Nassau for a quick stop in the Berry Islands on our way to Freeport. We were reeeaaaaalllly hoping SV Emma would be able to meet us there for a final weekend together. It was also Lieke’s birthday so it would be awesome to be able to celebrate together. We were overjoyed when they pulled into the anchorage - of course, Russ and I knew at that point that they were coming - but the kids were so excited to see their friends after we managed their expectations that likely no one would be there. Rosie and Julie have been truly the best of friends since they met in Cape Verde and we have one of those special relationships where each of our families enjoys the other immensely.
Like all of the Bahamas islands, the Berries are small, with a population of around 700 people. The roads are gravel, sand and coral and even in the winter it is dry and hot. We walked all over the small town and Lieke and Hugo made a reservation (mostly so that you know there will be food, not because there are crowds) for her birthday dinner. The kids came over and helped make their Mom a birthday cake. In the evening, Russ drove Lieke and I in the dinghy to the only other restaurant in town, that wasn’t really open, and she and I got to sit on the water, with our own bottle of wine. They fried up some conch and french fries, both unexpected and delicious, and we had the best time watching the sun go down.
The following day they rented a golf cart and we all squeezed in to go to beautiful beach to spend the day. There was a fire and s’mores, snacks and music, a few beers and Julie’s homemade pie for her Mom. After the beach day we all re-grouped and the Parets quickly went ahead to the restaurant to decorate for the ‘party’. Lieke would definitely prefer not to be the center of attention, but I believe in celebrating, especially when sailing can be quite isolating at times and it’s rare to be with friends on your birthday. Rosie and Julie did a special birthday tribute dance that they had been rehearsing all through the Bahamas. And, after this whirlwind, it was goodbye to them for a long time.
We headed to Freeport where we spent a week at a pretty desolate shipyard. But how lucky we were to meet the crew of a charter cat, Jess and Laura, and the crew of a hospital ship, which included a dog. We celebrated Jordan’s 14th birthday (what?! when did that happen!!??) with a resort day on the island, and then we had pizza and cake with our new friends. Laura made cupcakes and the South Africans from the hospital ship brought the kids SA candy. This is how you turn nothing into something when living on a boat! Somehow, people come together and it all works out. We enjoyed fun meals with our new friends as well as some basketball, and were sad to say goodbye to them, although not to the shipyard! Instead of going straight to our next stop, we moved to a marina around the island to wait out some big waves. There we met more awesome people and enjoyed the marina pool and restaurants, as well as a bag of fresh lobster tails for $100 (a great deal here).
The last and final stop was the best Bahamas send off we could hope for. We were invited to the private island of Cat Cay (yes, their gift shop sells logo-embroidered velvet slippers and Jimmy Buffet had a house here) to visit with Jose Luis Fassio and his girlfriend Sarah and her 3 kids. They have a beautiful motoryacht and a true fishing boat, with crew to match. They have jet skis, sea bobs and all the water toys Jordan dreams of. It was Mother’s Day weekend and the four adults got to celebrate Saturday evening at a special meal for put on by a celebrity chef. How fun to dress up and go out!
Jose Luis and Sarah arranged several fishing excursions for us and although we didn’t catch anything other than barracuda when we were with them, Jose Luis went out on the last day in a bit of rain and caught a massive grouper, which they kindly fileted and gave us. It was phenomenal. Grouper may be ugly, but it is beautiful on a plate! We enjoyed all of our dinners on their boat and their Mexican crew even made scrumptious chilaquiles when I mentioned it was one of my favorites. Their hospitality on this beautiful island made it the best Mother’s Day weekend I’ve ever had, and we always love spending time with them. And Jordan is still talking about his many hours on the seabob and jet skis. Thank you!
On May 12 we left with a full fridge, a freezer of fish and full tanks of diesel and set off for Bermuda, 850 miles away. Goodbye, Caribbean, you were lovely, and it’s time to go.
