All Smiles at the Happy Reunion

"Don't you miss it?"

"No."

Our good friends and fellow sailboat cruisers -- more serious than us; they live on their boat! -- arrived in Chesapeake Bay. They are the couple who we met when we first arrived on Bimini, in the Bahamas, on December 23 after a rough ocean crossing. I was traumatized and wanted to fly home. Bruce and Gayleen of the vessel Pearl welcomed us at Brown's Marina, helped organize a Christmas dinner with other boaters, and convinced me to continue the cruise because "the worst was over."

Gayleen, Bruce, and Pope, on the beach in Bimini

 

We spent many hours with Bruce and Gayleen in Bimini, partying at Junkanoo in Nassau (all-night parade; see photo), and up and down the Exumas island chain, imbibing Dark 'n' Stormies at happy hour, snorkeling at Thunderball Grotto, and tracking down boat parts. 

All-night Junkanoo parade on New Year's Eve in Nassau

On our return to the US, we met again at a marina in Fort Pierce, Florida. 

 

It's our turn to show them around our home port! Naturally, we started with our traditional happy-hour special, the Dark 'n' Stormy, a rum-based cocktail that hails from Bermuda, today served on the curb in a tiny "street-end park" on the Annapolis waterfront. 

Amber, Gayleen, and Bruce creating their own waterside happy hour in Annapolis

Then on to a local seafarers' hangout (exact location a secret; we don't want to encourage the hordes of Annapolis tourists). Followed by a lift to the local Safeway-slash-liquor-store to stock up on lettuce and gin--yum, great combination--then shooed them aboard the water taxi to teturn "home" to Pearl (their boat) and their two cats.

 

One more night of fun and games: highly entertaining outdoor concert with the Eastport Oyster Boys singing sailing ballads of Chesapeake Bay -- "Hard Aground," "Get a Little Dinghy," "Tiki Bar." If they come to your neck of the woods, don't miss the show!

 

Eastport Oyster Boys at Annapolis Towne Center; photo by Bruce Donadt