Just —Crew Istaboa— again

It was nice having Karen over for a few days... Gets us up and doing stuff. We had a lot of fun (sometimes too much) running around in the Albury, snorkling, harvesting conch, and other island type things. (Rum)

The first day we rode over to one of the many deserted beaches and dropped anchor. Got a nice shot of the Albury. The color of the water matches the hull color. That's Lily's Villa on Compass in the background.

The girls wanted to do some shelling and Radar was up for a swim. The wind was blowin pretty good so I stuck around the boat just in case the anchor pulled.

Later that night we  prepared the Spider Crab that Jamal had kindly given us. They're really good. We've never had Spider Crab before; very sweet and tender and big. Look at that claw.
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Island dogs

Seems every year there are more and more boaters bringing their dogs to the islands.

Dock and Bumper on NoMoYdWk

Don't know a name, but couldn't resist snapping a pic of this one watching as the bow line is being tied. There were two of these guys... the other ran to the back to watch the stern being secured.

Of course we can't leave out Radar. He loves going to the beach to run, but he knows beach day is bath day so he makes the most of it. Not sure why dogs like to wallow in the sand, but they all seem to.

 And Sugar... aka "Suggie". The singing dog.
This is not a good picture of Suggie and he was our favorite pooch on the dock. A true comedian that everyone loves. This picture was of Suggie being held by his human Thelma as he was singing happy birthday. He loves to sing.
Suggie is a resident here at Compass who's enjoying a bit of a respite in Virginia right now.
More pups on page 2

Manana...

Man... have we really gotten into this island life or what? Actually been sleeping in a bit—wake up, have a cup of coffee, leisurely check out the internet, (that is still running smoothly)  check the market, check emails, then walk up to the office here at Compass, sit and chit-chat with others that are in the same state of mind, watch the tourist who come in to play with the sharks, then look out into all this blueness and enjoy the tropical breeze.

Folks love to pet the sharks and the sharks seem to enjoy it too.

Peggin the Procrastination Meter

Yeah... a little work. Still tweaking the virtual phone system for the marina and coordinating with the Memphis office who's designing a system that will make life much more efficient here on Compass.

So that's why there have been no recent posts on this blog.  Manana...

Did go fishing with Preston a couple of days ago... Right out in front of the island on the Sound side behind Refrigerator Rock. Caught dinner; a Strawberry Grouper and a few Trigger fish. Good eats.

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Become pretty quiet around here

Big night at Fowl Cay

Our young friends from Texas have safely made it back home, but before leaving they shared their last night celebration with us at Sandals' Fowl Cay Resort. This is as good as it gets in these parts so we cleaned up as good as we could. Fun night.

The Fish Slayers

We became buddies with these fellows during their stay. They really enjoyed their time here. Hakuna Matata fished almost everyday and usually brought home a bag full. They were also the only Miami Heat fans on our boatload of Texans during the NBA playoffs. Blake and Andrew... good kids.

Bart and Nat left yesterday so it's become really, really low key. Not so bad though... A quiet paradise.
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The Big Man is dead... sadness...

We have nothing else to say...
Bruce just said, "Immeasurable" 

Islands of the rich and famous.

Today we noticed Radar was a little glum... we've been busy doing human stuff and not including him. So we decided to crank up the Albury and do a little island hopping. He likes to ride around in the Albury and feel the wind in his face as he sits up high and scopes everything out.

 photo by Bruce McElya

Our first stop was at the Aquarium in the park where we saw our Texas buddies out for a snorkle.

Next stop was Little Hall's Pond which some of you may know belongs to Johnny Depp. 

Yup, Capt. Jack Sparrow's hideaway. 

Nope, we didn't see him.

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59 and counting

363 days until the big 6-0. So time to stop thinking about that for now.
Thelma did make me a delicious cake that everyone enjoyed very much. It was a great birthday party and I thank everyone for their kindness and all the good food at the Potluck. Everything from fresh Snapper, sausage from Carmine's in Palm Beach, Smokey Dog BBQ, to Doc Shippley's fresh Conch Salad.
It was a feast for sure.

Earlier in the day we made a supply run to Staniel and lunch at the Yacht Club. We walked over to the Pink Store and saw a pin full of Land Crab. As you can see in the video, they look like some prehistoric creature from an old 60's Sci-Fi film.
video on page 2

NBA Playoffs with a boatload of Texans and a singing dog.

Codi and Amber were both bartenders in their past lives and someone threw down a challenge for Chocolate-Chili Martinis in celebration of the Dallas win. They rose to the occasion.

The folks over here are always looking for a reason to party. Last night it was the playoffs, tonight, I'm the excuse. Actually it started last night at midnight with a surprise and slightly slurry chorale of Happy Birthday after the NBA final game was over. Had too damn many Texans aboard.
Even Sugar the poodle joined in. (Sugar had the best voice of all....looking at the picture, Radar was appalled)
Yup... it's my birthday. Not much of a birthday party kind of fellow, but tonight it's my turn.

Somehow I've managed to survive 59 of these birthdays. Still got all my fingers and toes... A few less brain cells and a lot less hair though.

We had a great time and I'm sure tonight will be fun as well.

Adios,


Istaboa

Still chillin

Been taking one of these everyday...

Crew Istaboa has caught a severe case of Islanditis.

Codi, Mel, and Radar from back in 2009

But our friends Codi and Brad along with their friends, JD and Amber, have been livening things up. We had a big time last night and today Tucker and I took Brad and JD out exploring, as Tucker put it.
We didn't catch a fish or even get a strike... I think that's why Tuck said we were going, "exploring".
We took the Albury south through the Land and Sea Park, passing Johnny Depp's island, and over to White Bay, which belongs to Tyler Perry, first to check on a possible WIFI hotspot opportunity.

That island is just the first stages of construction.

I think we will run back down to the park tomorrow, to a place called the Aquarium, and do some snorkeling.
So that's it... not much going on but existence, which is enough here.

I did take a few pics of Compass Cay's new beach house. What a view!