Boat Trip - Days 10 - 12

Boat Trip - Days 10 - 12

June 13^th – 15^th

WEDNESDAY  – June 13^th

Our cruise from Nassau to Pig Island was perfect.  The water was amazing and there was hardly a ripple in the water.  It was like boating on glass.  We arrived at the anchorage around 2 PM.  There were two monster yachts already at anchor with a bunch of smaller 30 – 60 footers around.   This is a very popular place to anchor in the Exumas due to the deep, clear water and the protection from just about all sides.  The crew quickly got the dingy in the water and we all jumped aboard for a quick dingy trip to Staniel Cay.  Sweet Savannah (the pup) was excited to hit dry land.  After a decent walk we got back in the dingy and took the pup back to the boat.  We all grabbed our snorkel gear and headed over to Thunderball cave.  This is a great snorkel sight,,, it is named after the old Sean Connery James Bond film (1960s I think).   The snorkeling was great but due to the high currents some of the kids couldn’t make it in the cave.

Back at the boat, the crew had all of the toys in the water.  We took turns riding jet skies, tubing, paddleboards, etc.  Katie and I took the dingy over to some rocks so that I could do some hunting.  Unfortunately we picked a bad spot and I didn’t have any luck.  Around 7 PM we called it quits for the day and everyone showered up and prepared for dinner.  The kids wanted to eat inside so us adults sat upstairs and watched the sunset during dinner.  Around 9:30 PM the four of us (the adults) took the dog to Staniel Cay for her nighttime walk.  We stopped at the bar and hung out for a bit,,,, we played a few games of pool but, due to all the afternoon activities, we were all beat and ready for bed.  It’s worth mentioning that on our way to Staniel Cay we saw the most amazing shooting star ever.  It came out of nowhere, right in front of us,,, and we saw it burn its way to earth for at least five seconds.

THURSDAY  – June 14^th

We all slept in a bit Thursday.  Assunta and I did some computer work on the top deck while we enjoyed some coffee and admired the calm cool morning.   The first thing on today’s agenda was a fishing expedition.  Bubby had the poles all ready to go for our trip.  If you’ve never fished with eight people on a 14 foot dingy in the middle of the ocean,,,,, with 3 fishing poles,,, I can honestly say it’s quite an experience.  Although it was a little crowded, we made it work.  Assunta said we can’t come home until we catch six fish,,,, two hours later we had six fish.  It was great,,, we found a reef in 50~ feet of water, we set our anchor and dropped the poles in.  Rich had the first fish, Katie was next and it was a free for all after that.  When it was time to go we realized we had a problem, our anchor was stuck.  We ended up backing the boat up and finally setting it free.

Back at the mother ship the kids played with the paddleboards and kayaks while Assunta and Katie sat in the floating island.  The floating island is one of our new favorite toys.  It sits six people, has a built in cooler, sound system and a screened in floor.  You really need to see the pics,,, hopefully I’ll be able to upload them on Sunday.  Rich and I had Bubby take us on the dingy to the rocks by the inlet for some spear fishing.  We had a good catch including an average sized grouper.  After a couple hours of that we headed back to the boat to relax,,,, at this point it was almost 4 in the afternoon.  The kids were begging to do some tubing so I jumped back in the dingy and pulled them around the anchorage for an hour or so. 

After tubing we docked at the mother ship and Stevo, our chef, had just finished cleaning the fish we caught earlier.  We chummed the water behind the boat and before long we had one stingray and four nurse sharks behind the boat.  The kids got in the kayak,,, which has a see thru bottom, and they paddled around the back of the boat looking at the sharks.  We have some great pics and video of this.  Bubby jumped in the water with a mask on to watch the action first hand while taking some pics with Assunta’s underwater camera.  We had all the fish guts in my scuba gear bag.  The bag had weights in it to keep it on the bottom and we had it tied to the back of the boat to ensure the sharks didn’t take it away (they did try).  The sharks ended up biting a few holes in the bag and bending the metal handles that keep the bag closed. 

After the action died down we all showered up for our fish feast.  While dinner was being prepared we sat around and played “Beat the Parents”,,, which is a parents vs kids board game.  It was a lot of fun watching the kids all try to come to consensus on what their “final answer” would be.  We had three different types of fish and some additional sea life meat, which we’ll talk about later.  After dinner we had a repeat of the night before.  The adults jumped on the dingy and headed to Staniel Cay to walk the dog and hang at the bar for a short while.

FRIDAY  – June 15^th

Today was yet another lazy morning,,, my favorite.  We had decided that today we would reposition the boat about 27 miles further south to Darby Island.  Darby Island is owned by a few folks who I have actually never met.  Back in the day I did a website for them in exchange for use of their island.  It’s a great place to be because there isn’t anyone around and we have the entire place to ourselves.  Around 10 AM, Bubby and I took the dingy in to Staniel Cay to fuel it up, drop off trash and take Savannah for a walk.   By 11 AM we were back at the boat with everyone ready to go on a dingy trip.  Because it’s such a short ride we decided that we would take the dingy and jet ski while the crew took the big boat to Darby.

The first half of the trip was a bit bumpy and it even started to rain.  It reminded Katie and I of last year when we did the same thing,,, but in reverse, with the Farrells.  The rain was more of a mist for 10 minutes or so,,, the rest of trip was dry and warm.  We made it to Little Farmers Cay after a bit more than an hour.  We fell in love with this place last year after we ducked in to take a break from the rain.  Terry, the guy who opened his restaurant last year just for us, was there again.  Funny enough,,, he remembered us.  His first words to me were,,, “Hey Captain, you’re back!” --- We were all wet from wading in from the anchorage (bad planning on my part) so he offered us a hose and a towel to get cleaned up and dried off.  Once again we were the only ones there.  His wife took our order and we hung out while they got the music going for us.  After lunch we all sang the “Farmers Cay Song” which has now become a summer time tradition. 

After lunch we bought a few t-shirts, made our way back to the dingy (and jet ski) and headed out to the Atlantic.  The wind was strong from the west, which caused the bay to be choppy.  Out in the Atlantic the seas were flat,,, like glass.  As soon as we made it out of the pass we saw Entrepreneur about 6 miles south.  We caught up with her,,, rode the waves for a while and about 15 minutes later were at the Darby Island inlet.  Abby did the radio calls to Entrepreneur to help the captain stay in the deep water.  They got the boat docked and within 20 minutes Rich, Bubby and I were on the dingy off to go spear fishing.  We spent about 45 minutes in the water and I ended up getting the biggest fish I’ve ever speared,,,, a grouper.  Again, you’ll have to see the pictures.

Back at the boat we spent some time taking pictures, playing in the hot tub and finishing up the day.  We’re now all showered up, waiting for dinner.   Tomorrow we have a full day of play planned for Darby Island before heading to George Town Sunday AM.  Stay tuned.

Boat Trip - Days 8 - 10

Boat Trip - Days 8 - 10

June 11^th – 13^th AM

MONDAY – June 11^th

We set sail for Atlantis around 1 PM.  I had warned everyone to prepare for some rough seas to start.  It was blowing East / North East at 18 MPH, which is a lot for the open ocean.  Only the first part of the trip was in the open ocean and the waves weren’t as bad as predicted.  After 20 minutes we made the turn towards Nassau, which put North Eluthra between us and the open ocean.  The waves died down and the next 5 hours to Nassau was as good as boating gets.  We spent the trip reading, playing games, eating, etc. 

We pulled in to Nassau and got ourselves docked around 6:30 PM.  My good buddy Evan happened to be at Atlantis this weekend with his family so we invited them all to the boat and hung out for a few hours.  The kids all wanted to go to the kids club so we approved that request and us adults headed to Nobu for an amazing dinner.  After dinner we did a small bit of gambling before calling it a night. 

TUESDAY – June 12^th

We had a slow morning – we all sat around the dinning room table sipping coffee and catching up.  After everyone was up we put on our bathing suits and migrated through the Atlantis lobby, through the casino, out the back door and down to the lazy river.  We blasted our way through the rapids, down the slides and eventually made our way to the pool.  My daughters still aren’t doing the big “leap of faith” slide,,, perhaps next year.   We grabbed some lunch and then made our way through the big dig over to the family hip-hop pool.  Around 5 we decided to make our way back to the boat but not after one more hoo-rahhh down the slides.   I’m sure the Atlantis loves their marina customers walking through the casino soaking wet since there isn’t another way to get to the marina.

Back at the boat the kids jumped in the hot tub while the rest of us did our own thing.  The kids had a quick dinner before Rich took them all to Jonny Rockets for milk shakes.  They were LOVING it.  The kids didn’t want to go to the club tonight so they setup their own club on the boat, complete with a VIP section and DJ.  We weren’t invited.  We ate our dinner on the back of the boat and watched the people walk by (we had a great location on the dock).

The kids hit the sack around 10 PM.  Katie and Assunta hung out on the back of the boat while Rich and I sought out a blackjack table that would pay us lots of money.  After donating a few bucks to the Atlantis and learning about Rich’s “chaos theory”, we decided to find our own table and create our own positive energy.  It worked,,, we made a new friend (Mike from California) – and a lot of high-fives later, we walked away happy.

Back at the boat we found the girls right where we left them.  Joey and Jerry (friends from Sarasota) were sitting with them so Rich and I joined the party and sat around telling stories (and making up new stories for the people docked next to us).  We even used the infrared radar camera on the boat to spy on folks around the marina.  We called it a night around 2 AM knowing we could sleep in.  The crew was instructed to set sail at 7 AM for Pig Island.

WEDNESDAY AM – June 13^th

I heard Jessica knock on our door to take Savannah for a walk.  Shortly thereafter I heard the engines start up and the boat starting to move.  I drifted back to sleep and woke up two hours later.  We’re now three hours in to the six hour trip from Nassau to Pig Island.  We call it Pig Island because it’s famous for the wild hogs that will swim out from the island to get food from the generous boaters on their dingy.  We plan on anchoring for two nights just off the beach.  The seas are perfectly calm; you can’t even feel the boat moving.  We’re all sitting up top as I write this (well, a few kids and Rich are still downstairs presumably sleeping) and there is a cool breeze,,,, life is good.

Boat Trip - Days 5 - 8

Boat Trip - Days 5 – 8

June 8 - 11th, 2012

We arrived in Harbour Island without a hitch.  The boat ride from Treasure Island was a LOT smoother then what we anticipated.  It took us about 8 hours to go the 90ish miles.  We met up with A1, the local pilot, who guided us in through the reefs to the Valentines dock.  The first order of business was to get some transportation on the island.  One of my best friends, Joe, has everything any visitor would need on Harbour Island.  He hooked us up with his two golf carts and we were set.

We all hopped on the golf carts and started the island bar tour.  Since we were at Joe’s house to get the cart we figured we’d start at the Blue Bungalow.  We grabbed a drink there and then headed out for a quick diving tour around the island.  We ended up at Ramora Bay for their famous Goombay Smashes.  As we were enjoying our drinks (and appetizers) the weather quickly turned and the rains started.  It poured cats and dogs,,, mother nature entertained us with sideways rain, lightening, thunder, amazing wind and she even caused the power to go out.  We all tucked in to the bar where the girls (Barbara and Katie) got to enjoy the attention of some guys that thought they were both in college. 

After the rain and wind subsided we headed back to the boat to regroup and drop the kids off.   After the kids were tucked in bed us adults headed back out for a little more exploring.  We went to Coral Sands where, to my surprise, we ran in to an old bartender / friend of mine, Tee Jay.  We hung with her for a bit but we were all starving and their chef had already gone home for the night. 

Back in the carts we drove to a local favorite for late night food.  Brian’s is a rib & chicken shack (“shack” is putting it nicely) that is open for late night dining.  We ordered some ribs and took them to go.  Back at the boat the dove in to the food and enjoyed every bite. 

Saturday morning started out great.  We slept in a bit,,, woke up around 8 or so.  We decided to do breakfast at the Landing,,, Joe’s restaurant.  Breakfast here cannot be described it has to be experienced.  The food is amazing as is the presentation and the atmosphere.  After breakfast Todd and I decided to try our hand at SCUBA.  We got everything loaded in to the dingy while the girls took the kids to the beach.  Todd and I set out on the dingy with Bubby, our first mate, along to watch over us.  We went to sea in three to four foot waves and traversed the shoreline to a buoy that marks a great 45-foot dive site.  We tied up, suited up and jumped in. 

The water temp was great, the visibility was good (40-50 feet) and the sea life was abundant.  There wasn’t a bit of current so we just swam along the rocks ending up back at the boat 40 minutes later.  We hopped in and headed back to the mother ship.  I don’t think I’ve ever had a “first dive of the season” go so well.  Todd and I rinsed off with fresh water and, while soaking wet, we set out to find the rest of our crew.  We quickly realized they didn’t leave us a golf cart so we started walking to Sip Sip.  Sip Sip is a beautiful bar/restaurant that overlooks the Atlantic Ocean.  The place was packed but not with anyone we knew.  We walked along the ridgeline to the next most likely place they would be, Runaway Hill.  Sure enough, both golf carts were there.

Todd and I walked in to the bar / restaurant area and didn’t see them.  That meant they were at the pool or at the beach.  Regardless, we were thirsty and hungry so we sat down at the bar and ordered solutions to both problems.  Mark Messier, a famous hockey player, owns Runaway Hill.  His sister, Jenny Messier, runs the place.  She was there and greeted us with hugs.  I’ve known Jenny for a few years and she is always a pleasure to see behind the bar.

Katie and Barbara found us at the bar and, before long, the entire crew had joined us for lunch.  After lunch we went for a quick dip in the pool and then headed back to the boat for some more fun in the water.  We took everyone over to Joe’s island to do some exploring.  Barbara and Katie wanted to stay behind so Todd and I, along with Jessica, took the kids.   Gordon and Jill live on the island with their dogs and, like most times we’re there, they were home.  We hung for a bit while the kids played in the ocean.  Gordon gave us a tour of the island and showed us what has changed since my last visit.

Back at the beach, just as we were leaving, Jessica got stung by a jelly fish,,, OUCH.  Gordon took her back to the house to treat it and before long we were back on the boat headed to snorkel island.  I forgot to mention,,, the entire trip to Joe’s island and then to snorkel island, I was towing the kids in our raft.  They loved it!  At first, only Abby wanted to go fast but before long Hailey and John joined in the desire to speed things up.  The kids bounced all the way to snorkel island. 

Todd, John, Abby and I did some snorkeling while Jessica and Hailey hung on the dingy.  Towards the end of the trip around the island I spotted a nice size grouper and I was able to get him on the end of my spear.  I quickly swam back to the dingy to get him in there before the barracudas came.  Back at the dingy I noticed the jet ski had floated away, about 200 yards to the beach.  I laughed at Jessica for not noticing and I swam to the beach to retrieve it.   We loaded up and headed back to the boat.

The kids didn’t want to get off the tube but us adults had dinner plans at the Landing.  The kids were happy to have a dinner without us,,, they were complaining of eating “adult food”, putting their napkin on their lap, being polite, etc --- you know,,, all the stuff kids hate ;-)  Before we left the boat Stevo had cooked the Grouper so we stayed to enjoye it as our appetizer.  The dinner at the landing was amazing, as always.  The goat cheese raviolis are the BEST,,, words can’t describe it.  After dinner we went up to the Rock House, the other 5-star restaurant on the island.  The bar was just closing so they let us look around but drinks were out of the question.

After the Rock House we drove to Gustys,,, the island club.  It’s a unique place for a lot reasons, one of which is the floor.  The inside floor is all sand.  We stopped at the bar to order drinks and then we made our way outside.  The Bahamians love their loud music so outside was our only option.  We chatted out on the balcony for a while but Todd, Barbara and Katie noticed my deteriorating condition.  I have been coughing for days now and tonight it was the worst it had been.  We finished our drinks and made our way back to the boat where we called it a night.  I decided to start the antibiotics my doctor had given me before we left on the boat trip.  I had to kick this cough before it put me back in the hospital the way it had two years ago.

The next morning, Sunday morning June 10^th, we ate breakfast on the boat and then took the kids out on the tube.  They couldn’t get enough of it.  I had planned for the plane to arrive around 2 PM so we could have a little more time with Todd, Barabara and John, and they could have a little more time with Harbour Island.  After tubing we took everyone to lunch at the Blue Bar down on the ocean.  Blue Bar is a very cute place that sits as closer to the ocean then any other restaurant on the island.  The view is amazing. 

Back at the boat I helped Todd, Barbara and John get their stuff on the water taxi.  We all boated over to the main dock and then hopped in a regular taxi for the quick ride to the airport.  I said goodbye to them, which was hard because we had such a great week together, and I said hello to Rich, Assunta, Emma and Ethan,,, week 2 had officially begun.

I got the Swiers back to the boat with enough time to repeat what we did the day before.  We loaded up the dingy, tube and both jet skis and headed back to Joe’s island.  We said “Hi” to Gordon and Jill again, played on the beach and then headed to snorkel island.  I shot another grouper (this one got away) and then we headed back to the boat for dinner.  We decided to eat dinner on the boat and then head to the Landing for their most excellent Chocolate Lava Cake desert.  It didn’t let us down.

Today, Monday, we left Harbour Island.  We really wanted to show the Swiers how awesome Harbour Island is before heading south to my favorite boating destination, the Exumas.  We did some shopping in the AM and then had lunch at Runaway Hill again.  We were off the dock around 1 PM, on our way to Nassau for a night.  Stay tuned! 

Pictures from last week are being uploaded but I expect it’s going to be a while before the Internet here gets them all up.

Boat Trip --- The First 5 Days

2012 Summer Boat Trip

June 3rd - June 8th

If you've been following my blogs you know I like to keep things as up to date as possible.  However, we started our boat trip in a very scary way which required a bit of discretion prior to making news of the incident public.  I did confirm with Barbara that sharing the story to possibly prevent others from the same fate was a good idea.  So, with that in mind, here goes:

7 AM Sunday morning came quickly.  Katie and I, along with a group of friends, were at the Kenny Chesney concert in Tampa Saturday night.  We got home a LOT later than expected, about 2 AM.  I shut the alarm off and dragged my tired butt in to the shower.  An hour later we were out the door and on our way to get the kids.  We picked the kids up and arrived at the airport at 8:30 AM, departure time.

The flight over to Grand Bahama was uneventful.  We cleared customs and hopped in a taxi for the short ride to the marina.  Our driver was kind and courteous but he darn near knocked me on the ground when he asked for $50 for the ride over.  This is definitely pirate nation.  The van he drove us over in was hardly worth $50.  Anyway, I paid him is fee and were officially on vacation.

We all boarded the boat, said Hi to the crew and unpacked our items.  We decided it would be a great idea to take the dingy and jet skies out for an exploring trip around the island.  We change in to our suits and headed out.  We spent a few hours going through canals that wind their way around and across Grand Bahama.  After that we headed out to the ocean and found a shallow area to do some swimming.  About three hours in to our trip it was time to head back to the mother ship and get something to eat.

Disaster Strikes

On the way back to the boat, I was driving the dingy with Katie and all the kids,,, Todd was on one jet ski and Barbara was on the other.  I've owned and/or been around jet skies my entire life. I've seen experts ride them and I've seen people who should just stick to laying on the beach ride them.  Barbara is an expert.  The whole day she was in complete control, using forward, neutral and reverse to maneuver the jet ski, dock it, tie up along the boat, etc.  She is as good a jet skier as I've seen.

As we were coming in from the ocean to the inlet we rounded the outer-maker and turned right, in to the channel.  I was first with Todd and Barbara just behind me.  I heard a loud "bang" but didn't think much of it.  A boat that was coming towards me started waving their hands wildly to get my attention.  I quickly slowed down and they said "one of your jet skies just had an accident."  The instant I turned around I knew we were in trouble,,, I knew what the "bang" was.

I looked back and saw the jet ski up on the rock jetties and Barbara laying in the water.  I saw Todd dive off his jet ski and swim to Barbara's side.  My first reaction was to call for help.  I didn't know what we were dealing with but I knew it was bad.  I went to the boat that had slowed me down and found out they were already on the phone with emergency services (lesson 1: know what the number for EMS is,,, it's different in each country).  After that I slowly boated back to Todd and tried to assess the situation from the dingy.  At that point John (her son) jumped in to the water.  John was visibly and verbally upset but I knew it didn't help to have more people, especially kids, in the water.  I quickly instructed John to get back on the boat and we pulled him.

Katie was confident she could handle the dingy (she had been driving it like an expert all day) so I gave her the controls and I jumped in to help Todd with Barbara.  I don't think it's appropriate to describe the detail I saw but it was bad enough that Todd couldn't look at it.  If it were Katie or the kids, I wouldn't have been able to either.  I instructed Todd on how to hold his hands to best keep things together while I figured out what to do next.  At that point (or just before that point) an angel fell from the sky.  A Bahamian man ran down the rock jetties to help us out.  He was a strong black man wearing nothing but boxers.  He ran across the rocks barefoot.  I couldn't believe it, watching him was amazing.  The rocks were volcanic looking,,, extremely sharp and ragged.  It turns out this man runs the rocks daily and has the feet to do it.

He and I agreed it would be best to get Barbara to the sand about 30 yards away.  He picked her up and walked her over to the sandy shallow water.  Our goal was to stop the bleeding and keep Barbara conscience while we waited for help.  About 15 minutes in to the ordeal we heard the sirens but the EMS was on the other side of the canal.  It took them about another 10 minutes to commandeer a boat and get to us.  The EMT along with two police officers took off their boots and jumped in the water to get Barbara secured on a board with her neck immobilized.  We lifted her up and put her on the boat and off they went.  Todd rode with Barbara to the hospital while Katie and I returned to the boat with the dingy, the working jet ski and the kids.

During the wait Barbara kept saying she felt fishing line across her face and she had the cut lip to prove it.  A Bahamian on a jet ski came up to us and we explained she felt a fishing line across her face.  He explained that kids climb the marker all the time, tie fishing line to it and then come back later to check for fish.  He jet skied out to the poll, looked around and then came back with a big bunch of fishing line with meat still on the hook.  It turns out that Barbara got caught by the line and as she was being pulled off the ski she grabbed the throttle, lost control and went straight up on the rocks.  The pictures look bad but it's actually worse because at the time the tide was another 1.5 feet lower.  (Lesson 2: Don't jet ski or boat fast around anything that could hold fishing line, including under bridges.)

Back at the ship I instructed Katie and Jessica to get the kids' minds on to something else while the rest of the crew came with me on the dingy to get the jet ski off the rocks.  It took about 10 minutes to get to the inlet where the jet ski was.  We beached the dingy outside of the jetty and walked up on the rocks and made our way out to the jet ski.  The police showed up just after we got there and instructed us not to touch anything until the police photographer got there.  We waited about an hour for them to get there and finish taking pictures before we "heaved" and "hoed" the jet ski off the rocks.  Surprisingly there wasn't a ton of damage and Bubby, our first mate, rode the jet ski back to the boat.

Back at the boat Katie and I got ourselves ready to go visit the hospital to see how Barbara was doing.  We decided it would be best to take John with us.  Katie also came up with the great idea to bring them dry clothes.  We took a taxi to the hospital and waited just a few minutes before Todd got the message we were there.  He quickly came out to see us.  He was wearing his bathing suit and some see-thru hospital shirt.  He was in good spirits and happy to have a dry shirt to put on.  He explained that Barbara was being prepped for stitches but that she was doing great.  They had already had a CT scan with good results,,,, no internal bleeding.  We waited around the hospital about an hour and half so that John could see his Mom but it never ended up happening.  The hospital, although nice on the outside, is like an old school army hospital with only one room for everyone.  It turned out there was a man in the same room who wasn't going to make it so they weren't letting any guests in the room,,,, even Todd.

Katie and I decided to head back to the boat with John so that Todd could be Barbara (none of us knew that he wouldn't be allowed back in).  Later that evening I was up working when Todd came back, about 11:30 PM.  He explained that he had waited outside the room, standing up, but was told to leave around 11.

The next day Todd was off the boat early and back at the hospital.  Katie and I chartered a local fishing boat to take the kids fishing.  We had a fun day on the water catching tiny snappers.  When we got back we were happy to hear that Barbara was back on the boat.  A few minutes later she appeared and she was looking great.  Most of her wounds around her body were light in nature and only took a few bandages.  Her leg is banged up and well covered but there were no broken bones.  She took a bunch of stitches to her head but the second CT scan confirmed there was no internal bleeding.  We're still not sure if the fishing line cut her head or if she hit it on the rocks but either way she is all back together.

The next day Barbara had a few doctor appointments so we took the kids out fishing again, this time on the dingy.  Katie caught a 20" snapper but I failed at landing it in the boat.  After three hits with the gaff the fish got away.  Next, John was reeling up something big.  About half way up the fight got a lot easier. He ended up pulling up half of what was probably a 22" grunt.  A few minutes later we saw the 4-6 foot shark that enjoyed 1/2 of John's fish.

Back at the boat Barbara had the "all clear" so we packed up and pulled out that night (Tuesday night) for the West End.  We arrived three hours later and secured ourselves for the night.  We were trying to get tonTreasure Cay but we had to stay on Grand Bahama because we found a guy who was able to repair the jet ski enough so that we could safely keep it on the boat.  The next day we spent some time snorkeling off the beach and hanging around the island.  At one point Todd and I did a little unplanned drift dive that ended with him walking back on the rocks and me swimming my tail off back to the beach.  There isn't a whole lot going on at the "West End" (as it's called) so we were excited to leave.  At 4 PM (Wednesday night) the guy delivered the jet ski.  We loaded it up and headed off on the 15 hour trek to Treasure Cay.

We boated in to the evening.  It ended up being a very rough ride but everyone seemed to get some good sleep in.  We woke up just outside of Treasure Cay with only about 1.5 hours to go.  At Treasure Cay we did some exploring, ate lunch off the boat and then took the dingy over to Green Turtle for some more exploring.  We did some snorkeling at Whales Cay on the way back to the boat.

Back at the marina we hung out at the pool for a while.  The pool was freezing so we went back to the boat and jumped in the hot tub.  The marina has a "speciality" night every night.  This night (Thursday night) it was "pizza" so we had some pizzas delivered to the boat for the kids and us adults went to eat our pizza there.  We hung out for a couple hours but after the rough night on the boat we (at least Todd and I) were ready for some sleep.  The girls stayed up and talked while Todd and I passed out in their laps.  I'm told there are pictures of this but I haven't seen them yet.

Friday AM we had to wait for high-tide,,, about 9:30 AM, and we set out for Harbour Island.  We're excited to get there and show our guests around.  Harbour Island is one of our most favorite places to be.  Stay tuned,,,, I'll do better to keep everyone up to date.

Here is the link to the first batch of pictures:
https://picasaweb.google.com/113169248147362226921/20120603_BoatTripWeek1?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCLjQh77-o5GtGQ&feat=directlink

Below is the email Katie sent our family shortly after the incident:

Friends & Family,

We arrived on the boat all very excited, myself, Jesse, Abby, Hailey,

& Todd, Barbara, and John Stainbrook. We got settled in and then took

the dingy and 2 jet skis out for some fun. We took turns driving the

different vessels but mostly it was Todd and John on one jet ski &

Barbara on the other (Jesse and Abby took a spin on one too while

Barbara rode in the dingy with my captioning skills.)

The bad news: We were heading back to Entrepreneur coming into an

inlet  making a turn around the post in the water... The dingy (with

all the kids) and Todd's ski were all together when we heard the

crash. Barbara got caught on a fishing line that was tied onto the

post, some kids had tied line to the post with bait and a weight (to

catch a fish) and the current took it out which is when she went

through it. She was sitting at the bottom of the rocks and the jet ski

was about 10 ft up on the rocks.  Jesse jumped out of the dingy and

Todd was already with Barbara. She got cut really bad on her head. It

took about 15 minutes for the boat ambulance to get there. The guys

moved her from the rocky area to a spot that was a bit smoother. She

was talking, moving her legs, arms, and even telling John (who was in

the boat with me) to stay in the boat, she was ok. Jesse was asking

her math problems and she was getting them all right. Todd had a tight

grip on her head because that's where the line had sliced her. Caught

on her lip and sliced behind her head. They tied my sarong (soaked in

salt water) around her wound. There was a lot of blood. And since I

was with all the kids I didn't want to ask any questions I didn't know

the answer too.

The kids and I went up and down the inlet waiting for the ambulance

while Jesse and Todd and a very helpful bohemian man tended to Barb.

The medics wrapped her up and put her very carefully on the stretcher

into the boat. Todd went with her and we all headed back to

entrepreneur. Jesse got the crew and the went back to the crash site,

the police were there taking pictures and statements from people that

were there at the time of the crash. I took the kids for a walk and

John bought his mom a beautiful candle in a half coconut.  I had John

take a shower so when Jesse returned we could go see his mom at the

hospital. Jess and I showered up and I grabbed clothes for both Todd &

Barbara. Abby and hailey stayed at the boat with Jessica. We arrived

at the hospital and waited about 10 mins before Todd came out and gave

us the good news. She was doing good. They (luckily) had a CT scan at

the hospital and she had no internal bleeding. John went back with

Todd but unfortunately wasn't able to see his mom b/c she was being

prepped for the stitches (and he had to be 14? He's 10.)  Todd was

grateful to put on a shirt and get out of the hospital gown. I was so

relived to see a smile on his face! He said Barb was giving the Dr's a

hard time b/c she wanted to hurry up and get back to the boat for a

margarita. :).

However, they kept her overnight with an iv for the pain and

observation. She was finished with her 39 stitches at about 10pm. They

didnt let Todd stay the night with her but he left early this morning

to go be with her. They want to do another CT scan today to make sure

there isnt any slow internal bleeding. She's going to be okay!!!!!!!!

Phew!

This was a VERY scary freak accident. We said many prayers yesterday

and have continued today. Please can you guys all pray for a fast

recovery, for her to be in the least amount of pain possible, pray for

the hands that are working on her, pray for John as he was a nervous

wreck (so was I) but doing much better, and thank God that it will

just be a scar. It could have been much worse.

I want to tell you all I love you so much. Accidents like this really

get your mind going. We are so blessed & grateful. She should be back

on the boat tonight. She wants to stay for the remainder of the trip

but we will see how she is today & after the scan to determine if they

will fly home.

Keep strong in Faith. Jesse and I both have our email working. We are

in Grand Bahama right now, we are at the least, staying another night.

Please don't share this story just yet, I don't know who Todd has

communicated with and I don't want to get people freaked out.

We love you all,

Katie

Katie Biter