Marooned in Paradise

White Sound, Green Turtle Cay
N 26 46.62 W 077 20.19

Oh life is hard. The wind has been relentless for the past couple of days and it will continue to blow for another day or two. However, we're anchored in a cozy little protected harbor. There is nothing to do but swim, snorkel, explore the trails and roads of this tropical island. Oh yes one thing more, we invited the crew of Eagles Wings over to Tarwathie yesterday to play Balderdash.

I learned from Eagles Wings yesterday about a very different style of living the cruising life. Walt and Pat on Eagles Wings do mostly day sailing, and they make short hops. For example, from NYC to Cape May, they stopped in Barnnegat Bay and in Atlantic City. Libby and I never stopped in either of those places, preferring to sail through the night making longer passages. Eagles Wings is planning to leave the Bahamas next week and make a 20 hour passage to Fort Pierce. They said that it would
be their longest passage ever. Don't get me wrong, I'm not looking down my nose at Eagles Wings, I admire them for making it here to the Bahamas on their first year, all without long blue water passages. It took us three years to get here.

The point is that there are many styles of the cruising life, both stylistically and financially. They cover a very wide range, on the adventure scale and the luxury scale. However, two things seem to be nearly universal. First, the cruisers are very happy with their choice of life style. Second, the most treasured feature of the cruising life is freedom. One captain said to me the other day, "Every day we face the same choice. Stay here or move on?"

I apologize if I sometimes sound like a paid lobbyist for the cruising life association. Nobody is paying me. I'm just amazed at the new and varies stories we hear.