We’re Totally Doing It [#21]

Not doing it well mind you, but we are, in fact, doing it. (It’s a bit of a running joke that our YouTube channel should be titled, You’re Doing it Wrong. But, in the spirit of the holiday season, gratitude and awe can rule this post.)

Our would-be YouTube channel can keep collecting fodder. Our laundry list of fumbles shows no signs of shrinking anytime soon. 

We have arrived at the crystal clear water and the powdered sugar sand and the private anchorages we dreamed about.

We’ve caught mahi mahi and wahoo on the trolling lines. We’ve caught lobster and conch. We’ve grilled and steamed and ceviche’d and fritter’d our fresh catches. 

Wyatt’s secured his role as Director of Spearfishing Operations as the record holder for biggest (and most) fish caught on a pole spear. He can stare at a rocky bank or cluster of coral and know where to find the biggest snapper or where the grouper is likely hiding.

We swim with turtles and rays and aquariums of colorful reef fish every day. In Rudder Cut Cay, we came face to face with a puffer fish the size of a bed pillow.

The boys are beginning to rediscover in themselves a fearless curiosity and confidence we haven’t seen since they were small.

They play with local kids. We eat local food. We’ve met other cruisers — some of whom are 30 years into this lifestyle, others who are just beginning — and chatted with island locals whose ancestors settled the land their families still call home.

When the dinner-fish don’t feel like being dinner, we eat rice and black beans and canned peas. Maybe we’ll add canned corn. Sometimes, we get a wild hair and stir in some coconut milk and red curry powder. Then we’re fancy. Plus, since taco seasoning goes with everything, Taco Tuesdays still reign supreme.

We’ve eaten more breakfasts of Costco oatmeal than seems doable and have decided powdered milk isn’t actually that gross.

(I mean, it's a little gross, but relatively speaking, not so bad.)

If we happen to be anywhere near civilization, we religiously scan the waters around us for the once- or twice-a-week Mail Boat — knowing it’s the key to any hope of finding fresh produce in the tiny markets in “town.”

Cabbage is my new favorite and, much to the boys’ dismay, I search for it with exaggerated and frantic commitment. 

Where we go next is decided based solely on the weather and our interest in going. 

We’ve detoured to secluded anchorages on a whim, left places early, stayed longer at others.

When we hired a captain to safely deliver us from Annapolis to Charleston — a four-day passage — it seemed wild to think that we’d ever be setting off into the deep blue on our own. When we hired Charleston Sailing School to stuff us full of sailing info till we burst, we had no idea those experts would become friends we still chat with from abroad.

See? Totally doing it.

To add frosting to our already insanely decadent life-cake, we’ve also enjoyed visits from two sets of dear friends. By far, the hardest part of The Boat Dream is missing our people — the detailed agony of which is an entirely separate post, so I’ll spare you. For now.

Needless to say, the overwhelming sugar-rush-bliss we felt from seeing some of our closest friends arrive, backpacks and duffles in tow, for a “campcation” with us aboard the Ruby Vi, was absolutely face-numbingly awesome and provided more laugh-till-you-pee-a-little moments than we'd had since leaving Park City over seven months ago.

The Bahamas, as many “warned” us — are ridiculously spectacular.

It’s easy to see why so many cruisers never leave these waters — and why those who do, long to return. We could probably stay, too. Enjoy the quiet perfection of these islands, the water, the pace, the people. The cabbage. 

But, with reckless abandon — as we are becoming adept at practicing — we intend to keep going. Down and around. And around. 

New places and faces. New adventures. New fish.

We have so much more to get wrong. Infinitely more to learn. 

We’ll likely table our Bahamas exploration sometime in January. So then, what’s next? Where do we go from here? More sailboat magic, we hope. And, for the first time ever, literally anywhere we want.