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.