Blog #5 Bahamas Arrival

Yesterday was our big travel day. We woke up bright and early at 3:50 and headed to the airport. We ran into a few issues starting at the check-in desk where the gate attendant wouldn’t let us through because of our sketchy appearance and a one-way ticket to another country. Luckily we had lots of papers and documents which got us through to the never-ending security line. We made it through with not much time to spare, but nonetheless, we made it to Atlanta Georgia. Our next leg of the trip worked much more smoothly. We landed in Marsh Harbor right on time and the security at the tiny airport of The Abacos was quite minimal, so we walked right through to meet Vince for the first time in person. As we met our taxi driver, Sandra, I knew this trip was going to be a fun adventure. She was quite the energetic woman who enthusiastically hugged us and showed us around her beautiful town. She took us to the port where we boarded Flight Plan, our home for the next week and a half. After getting settled we took the dingy for the first time to lunch at a small dive bar to talk about our future endeavors. I tried fried conch for the first time, which is very similar to calamari, and I give it a 10/10. After lunch, we motored the sailboat to Manowar Key to get our first snorkel in. We saw a turtle and some fish, but nothing too crazy yet. We came back to the boat relaxed and went to sleep early after a long day.

Our first full day on the boat has been great so far. We had an amazing morning snorkel session where we saw a turtle, lobsters, jellyfish, and a ton of colorful fish at Mermaid Reef. After that, we went to buy our final provisions at Maxwell’s. I learned how to drive the dingy as we dropped our trash off at a public dumpster. That was both terrifying and very exciting. Next, we took sail for the first time which gave Amelia a chance to gain some experience with the boat. We learned about the different sail, how to control them, and what to do when the wind switches what side of the bow it is on. We saw how to perform a jibe and a tack, and we even steered the Flight Plan itself.