We are awaiting the coming storm at the stunning resort at Highbourne Cay. We had a lovely afternoon and evening here yesterday, and today promises to be equally nice in spite of the rising winds.
I am having my morning coffee now while looking out at the palm trees that are bending dramatically in the rising wind. This is the first truly cloudy day I have seen in the three months I’ve been down here. In that same three months we have had only one brief, 10-minute rain squall. Later today should bring some squalls, but many times there is no precipitation, so I’m curious to see what will happen later. We’d love a little rain to wash away some of the salt on our decks! Right now we have ‘deck shoes’ and ‘going ashore’ shoes, and we try very hard not to wear them into the cockpit and certainly not down below! Keeping Pandora ship shape and salt free is always the top priority!
I feel very lucky to be here right now, and when we arrived we were the only sailboat here in a snug harbor full of mega yachts. Later in the day another sailboat arrived, so now there are two of us. And that will be it since the docks are full. We definitely feel like the country cousins here!
Everything on this island is meticulously groomed by the resort, so although the island is covered in native plantings, it has definite look of being beautifully maintained. People arrive here by either helicopter or seaplane. In fact, as we entered the harbor yesterday a seaplane was landing right beside us! That’s the first time we’ve given way to a plane rather than another boat! There is a little launch that goes out to meet the plane and pick up the passengers! Wow…
The beaches are also groomed here. Someone rakes the beach every day (must be in the middle of the night though because you’ll never see them) and there are umbrellas and Adirondack chairs every few yards, spaced just far enough apart to give everyone their privacy.
In early evening we took our cocktails, a gin and tonic for me and a Dark and Stormy for Bob, to the beach and sat in the Adirondack chairs watching a gaggle of adolescents ride their ‘skim boards’ in the surf.
We had dinner in the restaurant, Xuma, that overlooks the Bahamas Banks. There was a film crew making a promotional video for the resort, taking footage of the sunset from the best table on the balcony. They set up their Go-Pro on the railing of the balcony, and then the table was ours! It was a stunning sunset with the coming storm clouds massing in the sky. And dinner was delicious! Bob and I shared some conch fritters, a roasted beet and goat cheese salad, and a Bahamian risotto dinner of prawns, scallops and a spiny lobster tail. I did get another lobster dinner!
Today is cool and very humid with coming storm. We will walk to the ocean beach today. It is 2 miles long and gets raked each day. I will probably take my latest knitting project and we’ll bring a picnic lunch. I have finished the body of my ‘Mary Tudor’ and will probably put it aside until I get home. It is time to cut open the front and the armholes, and I haven’t got any sharp scissors on board. Better to wait until I have the proper tools.
Knowing that whatever I work on now will probably end up on the plane with me when I fly home (in 34 days!!), I looked through my stash with an eye for something portable. About five years ago I started a traditional circular shawl from the Orkney Islands in an online workshop led by Elizabeth Lovick (http://www.northernlace.co.uk/). I put it down for what I thought would be a brief hiatus, and then I lost it! I did look for it several times over the years, but I didn’t find it until we moved to Connecticut and I began unpacking my stash. I was happy to find it and put into the bins I brought onboard last fall. It’s time has come! Although I am not using the traditional Shetland lace yarn for this shawl, I am using something that seems very appropriate to me! Quite a long time ago my English friend Lesley took me to Uppinham Yarns in …. and among the many things that tempted me was a stunning cone of fine wool and cashmere in a wonderful shade of heathered claret red. I’m happy to be reunited with this project!
Dinner tonight won’t be Xuma, but it should still be memorable. We bought some Strawberry Grouper filets yesterday from a fisherman cleaning his catch on the docks. There are fresh veggies at the resort market, so we will also have a salad! …the first in about 2 weeks! What a luxury!
