Ty & Hanne arrived yesterday and this morning were greeted by a playful dolphin which swam around the boat so they jumped in with snorkel gear and swam alongside him (her?). Of note, we were anchored in about 7' water in front of town. I called Jamie & Behan (sv Totem) who were anchored nearby to let them know about the dolphin, so their entire crew also donned snorkel gear and joined the dolphin fun. This went on for about 45 minutes and was a wonderful experience. Jon & Ashley's flight was delayed in Tampa, so they missed the connecting flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Georgetown and had to be rescheduled for the next day. They did, indeed, arrive, albeit a day late, and it was a wonderful mini-family reunion aboard. The next two days we had rented a 17' Boston Whaler from Minn Water Sports in town, as we figured 6 of us with all our snorkel gear, snacks, etc would have really been squeezed into our 10' dinghy. This proved to be a great decision, as we were able to go from one end of Elizabeth Harbour to another, stopping to explore, walk or snorkel the many spots available in style and comfort. We found a few decent snorkeling spots where the coral and fish life was plentiful, also spotting an eel and a nurse shark. The guys brought up a beautiful, mature conch, so he was a saver that we kept until we finally had room in the freezer to place him for 24 hours, at which time we defrosted him in salt water and easily removed the entire conch from its shell. We had an obligatory stop at the Chat n' Chill and enjoyed the conch salad, ribs and fish platters. T, H, J & A also hand-fed the stingrays, as the parts of the conch not used in the salad are set aside for anyone to feed the rays. They're quite used to the attention, coming right up to your legs looking for a handout. Their skin is soft and their barbs are intact; we haven't heard of anyone having any problems with them. J & A left after a few days for their resort up island, so we took the next day off to stay out of the sun and just hang out. The last few late afternoons have seen happy hours on the beach with a few of the remaining folks still around waiting to head off. We've enjoyed getting to know Jamie & Behan a bit more, and have met a few of the other "kid" boats anchored here at Monument Beach. Behan is one of the co-authors of "Voyaging with Kids," a beautifully written book (available from Amazon.com) about cruising with children. So, it's been lots of fun aboard Infini, and I should also mention the Mexican Train dominoes we've been playing, the great meals we've prepared and the beach walks and hikes we've enjoyed.
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