Big night on Compass Cay

 To be added to the "Shots over the Bow" collection

Compass Cay's first Junkanoo

As posted earlier, Josh threw a great wedding party for his brother Zack and new sister in law, Gergana. He really pulled out all the stops.
It all started the night before with a steak and lobster dinner on the deck next to the marina. The next day brought the wedding on Crescent Beach followed by the Junkanoo Band from Blackpoint escorting the  bride and groom back across the island Junkanoo Parade style to the marina and the wedding party.

Zack and Gergana

It was a very fun night... Thanks Josh, you did good.

More on page 2.

Just a few pics

Last night was a big one... got lots of pics to process then post. Our friend Josh threw an incredible party to celebrate his brother's wedding. What a night!
In the meantime, a few pics that came out well.
These are the barrel houses on Wild Tamarind. We have finally completed the WiFi project here and it's worked out really well. We've managed to lite up the whole island with internet without disturbing any of it's natural beauty.

And the infamous Vinnie... sans ears.
Scarey at first, but now he's our bud.

More barrel house photos on page 2.

Lobster Season

Apologies for not posting in a while, we've been busy with the wifi project on Wild Tamarind Cay and when not being gear heads, there has been some good fishing and eating going on.
With the threat of TS Emily passing, the marina has been filling up again. During this mid summer season the marina becomes even more international. French, Argentina, German, and Korean folks have come over from Miami to enjoy the great weather we have. English speaking folks are now the minority here.
Most folks think an island in the tropics would be incredibly hot this time of year, but to the contrary, It's very nice. Yes, the sun is hot, but if you stand in the shade, the breeze will keep you very comfortable. Avg. temp... 85.
And its Lobster season!

Jamal Rolle  aka The Lobster King

(notice the sharks in the water)

Jamal, Tucker's son and heir apparent to Compass Cay, has been diving for lobster since he was a child. This time of year is the big payoff for these guys. Lobster brings a good price in Nassau and Jamal knows where to find them.
He's always kind enough to share a few with us. Some we eat fresh and some we will freeze to take back home.
Jamal's not the only one that's been diving for these critter's since childhood. Check out these girls.

The girls are the daughters of our friend Josh and they've grown up doing this every summer for 12 years. They too are quite good at bringing back the bugs, but not only Crawfish.... Check out page 2.

What wind?

Happily, we can report that T.S. Emily has blown herself away and is now just a surface trough down around the Turks and Caicos.
Again, much ado about not much... but it did get us back to Istaboa and we're very happy about that.
Rather be safe than sorry.
Had a nice dinner in Ft Lauderdale and a smooth flight back to the islands. No complaints.

Into the wind

At this moment we are at about 30,000 feet on our way to Fort Lauderdale, hoping to get on a little plane tomorrow that will take us to the Exumas and Compass. The weather seems to be deteriorating, but who knows. That's what I thought last year when I flew into Earl and that ended up just being a party and a hangover, not a blow. Hope for the same with Emily. Don't like our position though. Turn east, baby, turn east!!

Anyway... If Watermakers flies tomorrow we will be back home to take care of whatever this all brings.

Adios,

Istaboa

ps... Thanks Diet Coke for giving us complementary Wifi on our Delta flight.

Yoink!

Not what we wanted to see this morning

It's starting...

Happy Birthday

Silas Rui Taylor

 

All the way to Memphis

Woke up early Monday morning, thinking about taking Istaboa to Lauderdale for maintenance and resupply before heading back to the islands. The satellite comms were glitchy, so I walked to the office to reboot it. Had a quick chat with Tucker about future projects, then sauntered back down the dock. Suddenly, the phone rang.

Next thing I know, Crew Istaboa is loaded in the Albury. Tuck is screaming down Pipe Creek, racing us to Staniel to catch a plane to Lauderdale, where we'll link up with another plane to Memphis.

Though we've been expecting my mother's demise, the actual act took us by surprise. After fighting a hard fight for more than 2 years, she ultimately succumbed to a very painful illness. She finally let go. Good for her.

We had never flown out of the Exumas before so I took a little camera and got some very interesting shots.

Bird's eye view of our little paradise

It turned out to be a group effort to get us home and I really appreciate everyone's kindness. 

Tucker swiftly running us to Staniel where we discovered we had left our cruising certificate on the boat as well as Radar's health papers that are required for re-entry to the US. 

Ginger and Will hustling around after I called them in the air over Andros and asked if Will could get the papers from the vet in Stuart and send them to Ginger in Memphis so she could digitally transmit them to my Iphone before landing in Fort Lauderdale and customs. Amazingly, they pulled it off. Yes, even more amazing, the US customs guys were nice enough to accept a PDF on my Iphone as Radar's health cert and let us pass. Whew! 

Next, there's Karen waiting in the parking lot at customs to take us to her house to spend the night before driving us to the airport to catch the early flight out the next morning, and cooking us a great steak dinner. Thanks to Steven at Delta Airlines for bending the rules and getting us a pass on the non-stop to Memphis, even though Mel has retired. Yes, it was a group effort and thanks again everybody.

More on page 2.

Geneva Mae Taylor 3-13-1923 — 7-25-2011

May she rest in peace

Crew Istaboa is heading home for a few days.

More on page 2.