Girls arrive

Photos:
1. Happy parents on the beach at night.
2. Even happier kids!
3. Captain and crew waiting for the Galley Maiden to serve breakfast.

Emily flew in first to find Mom slumped over in an airport wheelchair (past her bedtime?) while Dad was pretending to not be with her, which was hard to do since they were wearing matching t-shirts and Santa hats.

MJ arrived to find all three in matching t-shirts and the ridiculous Santa hats only to be ambushed by Mom trying to pull one of the t-shirts over MJ’s head and Emily stuffing one of the ill-fitting hats on her.

MJ almost reduced Dad to tears when she had to break the news to him that the only piece of luggage that didn’t seem to make it from the states to here was the cardboard box carrying the Nutter Butters. However, after a long wait in line we reporting the missing item and Dad seemed to buck-up somewhat when the man behind the counter told us to come back in the morning.

It was close to midnight when we walked in the dark from the airport to the dock where the dingy was waiting. Emily and MJ were thrilled with the perfect breeze while Mom and Dad were shivering behind them in what they thought was an arctic chill.

Now the concept of the dinghy is a fairly tricky one…it’s this goofy little float-like boat that if four nearly 6’ adults, a large duffle and beach tote get in it, the motor feels like it needs just a few more ponies to get anywhere.

Emily and MJ were happy to find that Mom and Dad rearranged the sleep quarters and they weren’t forced to sleep on the deck. Em and MJ took over the master berth (where they think they have ample room), Dad sleeps in the V-berth and Mom is confined to the dining table (converted to a sort of bed). MJ slept great that night (owing to the fact she didn’t really sleep the night before) but Emily found the movement of the boat and the funny noising (lapping of the water) kept her up most of the night.

The next morning Emily and MJ kept commenting on how tan Mom and Dad looked! So young and thin and well-rested (Mom and Dad keep asking for additional clarification and details)! As for the girls, fresh from finals and snow-laden States, Mom and Dad informed them that they looked “pale”, “sickly” and “frail” (MJ: “Well thank you Mom and Dad…some of us have been working hard the past month, instead of putzing around on a boat in the Caribbean!”). After a pancake and sausage breakfast, we went back to the airport and voila, the missing box had arrived! MJ was especially thankful because she had included a “Christmas Surprise”. Mom always made sure that every Christmas morning there is a “toy” to play with. So MJ found some remote control boats to bring along! We will be having our Christmas 2006 York Regatta when the weather permits. The winner will receive an extra helping of Nutter Butter bars (and if that winner is a female under the age of 25, she will probably give up her Nutter Butters for a few extra minutes under the fresh water shower off the back of the boat…the Galley Maid told us the Captain can be bribed!).

Emily and MJ had their first sailing experience as we were off to Norman Island. It was all fun and games at first; MJ enjoyed sitting on the bowsprit (a boat’s equivalent of a hood ornament for car) and Emily took up residence tanning in front of the mast on the bow until we passed the red and green buoys. (MJ: “As we passed the red ones, Emily proudly informed me of the “Red-Right-Return” rule, which is some sailing nonsense about coming back into harbor or something, I wasn’t really paying attention.”) And then it was “Girls, get to the stern…no, no…MJ! The back of the boat” and up went the sail in front. And it was all steering, ropes, gloves, “winch this” and “winch that” (MJ: “I wasn’t sure if he was complaining or giving instructions-get it…wench?”). Mom and Dad were fairly impressive with all their sailing knowledge, we made it up to eight knots at one point and they even pulled off this tricky wing-on-wing sailing technique.

After we “provisioned” at Road Harbor (the harbor has an unfortunately inadequate sewage system resulting in MJ uttering “breath through your mouth” comments), we sailed to The Indians for snorkeling, right before heading to “the Bight” for the night.

MJ: Now, my biggest fear is big open water so I was Dad’s “pilot fish” until I was certain no sharks would come and eat me (or at least they’d go for Em since she’s the smallest of our bunch) and then I felt free to explore. There were all sorts of neat fish and Emily impressed all of us with her lung capacity as she dove down to take a picture of a particularly large and colorful fish, and then when it swam away, she followed it, getting deeper and deeper until after about a minute she decided to come up for air.

After a quick change, we went “bar hopping” with the parents. First to Willy T.’s where, being the fine upstanding citizens that we are, we did not jump off the boat naked, even with the alluring offer of the free t-shirt (although Dad did have to be restrained). From that bar we took the dinghy to Billy Bones Bar on the beach where Dad bought us all drinks (non-alcoholic for the minors), however the evening was cut short as we ran back to the dingy to keep from being eaten alive by mosquitoes. We were all ready to go to bed at 7:15, but we forced ourselves to play a round of Contract Rummy and were finally asleep by 8:30.