Life is funny. Just when you think you are resigned to one course of action, the tide changes and brings in new forces that set you on a new direction.
It started with an email from James, acknowledging that he and Alma would be alone for Christmas and the reality of missing family for the holiday was just setting in. Then Ed and Karin suggested that we look into flights from Miami. Then I found a morning flight from Fort Lauderdale to Nassau that would enable us to make the afternoon connection from Nassau to Black Point.
However, Flamingo Air was closed for the weekend, and I was skittish about booking a flight on Jet Blue w/o knowing we could make the connection in the afternoon on Flamingo Air. Then Dan has a moment of genius (which he does a lot!) where he finds the name of a couple we know who live in Black Point half the year and northern California the other half, looks them up on the internet, calls them, and it's actually them! Jean gives us the name and number of the Flamingo Air agent in Black Point, who actually answers the phone, and says that she will take care of the reservation.
Seriously?
Next up was contacting Ida Patton who is renting James and Alma a studio cottage at Black Point. Phone service is down so I send several emails and then figure that we've got plane tickets so we are going no matter what!
Sunday, December 20.
Ida returns my call. She doesn't have a cottage available next to James and Alma, but there is a rental available in town. Done. We'll take it.
Less than an hour later, she calls back to say that she just had a cancellation and the studio unit right next door to James and Alma is available after all. I actually cried on the phone.
We are going to the Bahamas Dec 22 - Dec 28 and will staying right next door to the kids. Life is indeed good!
Monday, December 21.
We call the mechanic and cancel our spot on the Dec 23 list. They are so happy to hear that they guarantee us a mechanic on Jan 4th. But by now, who in the hell cares!
We call Flamingo Air so we can pay for the reservation to make sure two seats on an 8-person plane don't go to someone else. They tell us that Esther, the Black Point agent, paid for the tickets herself, in cash, to ensure our reservations. Who does that???? Only in Black Point!
We call Ed and Karin to share some good news for a change, and they volunteer to drive us to the Fort Lauderdale airport on Tuesday .... or, let's make it Monday afternoon so we can have some fun together first!
We call the Diesel Injector Service and they say the pump will be ready at 8:00 am on Tuesday when they open. Our flight is at 10:30am, so no problem getting the pump before the short drive to the airport.
Done. Done. Done. and Done!
What a difference a weekend can make! We had given up all hope of a Bahamas Christmas, and in a matter of two days everything comes together just perfectly (well, yeah....still some remorse about not being on the boat there, and staying for the next 5 months .... we are human after all!).
Tuesday, December 22 - Monday, December 23
I'll let pictures tell the rest of the story. Sure, we missed the boat, but the wind in the Exumas was gale-force all week, and none of the boats in the anchorage moved anywhere. Meanwhile, we had a golf cart and got to see parts of the island we'd never visit on foot. We collected sea beans and sea glass, went swimming and snorkeling, had our favorite rum drinks and conch fritters at Scorpios, our favorite bar. I taught Alma how to weave baskets from palm leaves and she took to it like a crazy woman. We brought a backpack full of meat that we had on the boat so we were able to cook our meals at the cottage. The view of the front porch was the anchorage and the view from the back porch was the ocean. Open windows meant sleeping to the sounds of the crashing waves at night.
The cottages
Wearing sunglasses to eat breakfast!
Anchorage in front
Atlantic in back
Flying to the Bahamas had a view of the islands that we never could have from the boat.
Dotham cut ... the entrance we use from the banks to the Exuma Sound.
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