It’s the last week of February, I know it’s go-sailing time because I got the email from Chris Parker (the sailing weather guru) that my subscription is about to expire. We always re-upped before leaving for the Bahamas to make sure we had access to his great weather information. I guess we will be saving that $200 this year. Last week when I got the Email, it must have commemorated the anniversary of our last departure.
Normally we leave Texas for the frosty trip toward Florida and points beyond about this time of year. The cruising season unofficially starts with the Cruiser Regatta in Georgetown Bahamas around March 1st. This year I couldn’t have left until the end of March due to the current job, but that’s not why we aren’t going this year. Linda has been on the boat long enough and wants some roots. Any off time I get will be spent working on the lake house.
The reason for this whole post is; this morning while we were saying our hellos to the night shift and talking about their night….. one of the guys jokingly said “There’s no place I’d rather be”. Let me put that in context for you… it’s 38 degrees and drizzling here in the refinery. His joke instantly made me think of exactly where I would like to be magically transported at that moment. There is a little deserted island in the middle of the Exuma chain that instantly came to mind. Somehow thinking about that little island, the shallow sand bars with ankle deep sand, baby blue rippling water and 80 degree days…. gives me warmth. The memory of the places I’ve been on SYL can even make an oil refinery at 5AM, with it raining and 30 degrees much more bearable.
I was off last Saturday for the first time in 14 days and finally got to explore the water up and down the Bayou. It will be a wonderful place to tour this summer. The bayous have great big cypress trees and spanish moss everywhere. There are nice houses lining the bayou, I can imagine the water will be a teeming with activity when it warms up. SYL will make a great party barge up and down the river with plenty to see and wonderful places to anchor out for the night.
Rusty