Who’d-a-Thunk?

Subtitle: Good Bye Colleen and John!

When we left Useppa Island and the DeFever Rendezvous, who would have thought there would be a follow-up mini-rendezvous in Staniel Cay, Exumas, Bahamas? Yes, I did not make this up. Six DeFever and one SOB (Some Other Boat) celebrated at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club on Tuesday, April 29, 2009. The stars aligned and everyone we have been talking with on the VHF radio all just happened to convene at Staniel Cay for lunch. Jim and Pam Shipp donated a used but in good shape DeFever burgee which was hung from the ceiling rafters along with hundreds of other burgees. Who was here?

Dan and Carol aboard Lucky Stars from Illinois
Rick and Lynnie aboard Rickshaw from North Carolina
Bob and Stephanie aboaard September Song from Georgia
Todd and Brenda aboard Life’s 2 Short from Colorado
Doug, Tammy, Colleen and John aboard Gypsies in the Palace from Maine
Jim and Pam aboard Silver Boots from Tennessee
Us abard Tide Hiker from Delaware

The mini-rendezvous was followed by happy hour at the Club Thunder Ball just a short dinghy ride away, which in turn was followed by a pizza and pasta buffet. Does Thunder Ball ring a bell? It might because it was at this location that the James Bond 007 movie Thunderball was filmed. Magnificent spot with great scenery and a great anchorage just a short distance around the hills. And the sharks are real!!

There is grocery shopping to be done here at Staniel Cay. There’s the Pink Store, the Blue Store and the Iles General Store. Of course the Iles General Store was the best spot and was the furthest away. Rick and Lynnie rented a golf cart and toured the island. We just hiked it. Nothing was really too far. But, to Vicki, Lynnie and Tammy’s delight, there was a library that allowed book exchange. After finding the hidden key on the front porch of a home, they had to walk a short path to another unsigned building—the oldest building on Staniel Cay. They were instructed to leave the door open for light. But, there were two Pulitzer Prize winning novels on the shelves. In fact, this library book exchange was one of the best we have seen at any port.

After the book exchange, we stopped at the grocery stores and stocked up on some fresh vegetables—you see the mail boat came in today with provisions. So everyone storms the stores when they learn the mail boat arrived. Very expensive however--$5 for a head of lettuce is a good example.
Not having seen Jim and Pam since the rendezvous, we traded visits on each others boats for dinner. It was great just the 4 of us getting caught up in a relaxing way. That ended the next day however. We all decided to have pot luck appetizers and roast weenies on a bon fire on a local beach. But not before we visited the famed “Pig Beach”. Wild pigs live on this beach and are looking to be fed. They reportedly swim out to your dinghy and swarm the beach when you land—looking for food. We’ll tell you about this in our next update.

Unfortunately, it was also a sad day. Just when everyone got reconnected, John and Colleen, aboard Gypsies in the Palace left today for Ft Lauderdale and eventually to their home in New Hampshire. Doug and Tammy will continue to cruise alone. We will miss Colleen and John very much and are looking forward to seeing them when they return to “Gypsies” in August on the Chesapeake. See you then, guys!