Last friday was my birthday the big 24. I think that if 5 years ago you told me that I would be living on a boat in George Town, Bahamas on my 24th birthday I would say you were crazy but here I am.
We have a Birthday Banner aboard that I brought from home and that we used for Liz's birthday party in New Bern, NC and I slipped it to Trevor on Thursday for him to put up so that I wouldn't have to decorate for my own birthday. He did and we had a great time on Stocking island across from Georgetown hanging out with local cruisers and playing some volleyball. Then we cooked a huge dinner of pasta and chicken cheese steak and Adam even baked a cake for the occasion. It was technically a pineapple right-side-up cake and it was delicious. We even had eggs to put into the cake (a real treat). We didn't have any candles aboard but a few matches stuck in the top and of course the birthday song made it as good a birthday as ever. We also enjoyed the company of a new friend Doug and his girlfriend who are also headed south to Panama. Doug has lived in Panama for quite a few years and we had plenty to talk about. I hope we run into them again somewhere down south.
So what did i get for my birthday? I was finally able to open the birthday gifts given to me in Hampton, VA that I have kept under my bunk (thanks Mom and Dad) A tin of chocolates, a new quick drying long sleeve sun shirt, and a harmonica! And of course thanks to my girlfriend, a BANJO! That's right, a shiny new banjo. We have been having some impromptu band practices on the boat and I am catching up with the banjo parts. Seems like we could have a pretty good run as a bluegrass band after all.
We have been waiting out a front that blew though on Sat. and plan to leave tomorrow morning for Turks and Caicos when the winds and seas are forecasted to die down.