island life.

after lunching with a lovely group of bette's friends at the snack shop, we recooped, walked the beach that afternoon, and then showered up for our second appointment down the island.. heading to john and candi's for wine and appys, we were joined by david beckman (not the soccer player) and proceeded to have a very pleasant evening on their deck filled with travel stories and great conversation.. john is a doctor and spent much of his life working for unicef.. he and candi lived in new dehli for 12 years, and they now reside in capetown for the majority of the year.. besides the 4 months they come here, and a month in india.. incredible life, incredible people. the wine flowed, the sun set, the snacks disappeared, and before we left i had a sailing lesson in the morning..

scheduled to meet down at the dock, we woke to no wind. so, instead john, david and i took the dingy out and spent the entire day exploring. pulling out of the harbor, we hadn't got far before we came across a group of dolphins splashing around.. i was ecstatic so john suggested i should get in and swim with them(!), so in a went.. with a snorkel mask and holding the tow line, they pulled me along behind the boat.. unbelievable. when i got back in the boat, we started off.. and looking behind me, there they all were.. following the boat, surfing our waves! they were jumping right out of the water and flipping around.. it was incredible.

once the dolphins dispersed we shot off into turquoise and emerald water.. the water was crystal clear, as always, you could see the bottom from the boat. stopping at several different spots for snorkelling.. (john knows all the secrets..) dove an old train wreck.. saw some huge spotted eagle rays.. big fish.. puffer fish.. starfish.. coral.. went to preacher's cave.. went all the way down to current cut where we got out of the boat and drifted down the current to the other side, then got back in and went out the way we came.. (it was really deep water.. found out afterwards that there are often sharks hanging out there, waiting to snatch up food coming through the channel.. eep!) on the way home we stopped at the 'octopuses garden' a shallow area john knew of.. so we snorkelled that and saw a few octopuses (octopi?), that tucked up into their holes when we came along.. pretty shy. got squirted by a sea slug.. saw a little reef shark.. held a sea turtle.. almost ran out of gas.. and got dropped off at bette's dock, v.i.p..

the next morning i got a phone call from david saying the wind was perfect for a beginner sail.. so off we went in john's bodie cat 16.. when out for a few hours, 'tacking' and such.. getting stranded when the wind disappeared, then jutting off again when the sails filled.. john caught up with us after in his laser, and we raced around the reefs and over to a beach on eleuthra where we took a break to swim.. dropped off at bette's just in time to wash up and help with last minute preparations before all the ladies showed up for cocktails and appy's on the deck..

yesterday john, david, and i stacked the dingy with bicycles and boated over to eleuthra in search of a 'blue hole'.. we biked a few kilometers down the island and then went off the road to find it.. and there it was.. about 50 feet across and 40 feet down to deep blue water.. ensuring that the rope hanging in was sturdy, in we went.. it was an intimidating jump.. swimming around with our snorkel gear we found nothing but bright red, blind shrimp and crabs scuttling along the cave walls.. apparently there are blind fish, but they hang out in the bottom far below..

back in spanish wells, i dined on david's 58-foot sail boat which is what he now calls home.. he is waiting for his grandmother who will arrive next week and they are off on a two month adventure south..

and today was chill. it's been an action packed few days that it has been nice to stay out of the sun and just relax. bette and i had a late stroll along the beach and i'm going to bed with a book.