ASA Flotilla #1- April 20-27th

Our ASA Flotillas have officially come and gone. These first couple of photos will show you some of the treats I was busy preparing for the trips on this end. I was very pleased with the menus we had for these trips. Hopefully everyone out on the water enjoyed them as well.

I like to do as much as I can to help Dallas before he heads out because when the hungry campers start gathering around the camping stove and make-shift kitchen, I'm sure thing can get pretty stressful for the cook. Especially when you're talking about cooking for 14-18 people. YIKES, I get a knot in my stomach just thinking about it, but Dallas pulled it off and I for one am very proud of him (and Andrew & Ryan)!

Some of the homemade items I sent out to compliment the meals included items like Banana Nut Bread, Bahamian style macaroni and cheese, Fruit & Veggie Dips, Chicken & Veggie Braids (like below), and the sweet-tooth treats like key lime pies, chocolate macaroon pizza (first photo), sugar cookies (above), lemon squares & chocolate toffee delights...I'm getting hungry just talking about them!

Of course we don't expect our sailors to survive off of a few baked goods and sweets all week, and for this trip the dinners were something like this: Chicken & Veggie Fajitas, Fresh Fish (with Dallas' awesome marinade) with veggies and rice, BBQ Chicken (another awesome marinade of Dallas') with Baked Macaroni and veggies, Steak & Veggie Kabobs, Fresh Fish with potatoes and veggie stir fry and then of course the final group dinner at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club.

Joss & Emit were momma's little helpers and did really well for me with all the 'crazy' going on around them. Thank you to all of you who were patient and interacted with out little dudes! They love meeting new people and got very excited when they were about to see everyone. If only you all could have come home to play trains with them, they would have been on cloud nine :)

Most of you probably aren't too interested in the baking and food stuff, so I'll get to the good stuff now!

The Sea Pearls turned out beautifully and I am so proud of all of Dallas' hard work that went in to them.

The fun part about big groups like this is meeting people from all over. It builds character when you step out of your comfort zone and have to co-exist with a large number of people for a week at a time, while camping! Everyone has their own unique 'flavor' to add to the pot. Can you see my Army brat upbringing coming out here?? Sure, it can be challenging at times if it isn't a setting you are comfortable in, but as the old Beaches song goes, "You've got to give a little, take a little..."

Our first flotilla with ASA this year had 10 guests (plus Dallas & Andrew, the guides) from locations all over the place. We had folks from New York, Florida, New Jersey, California, Georgia and Virginia.

Werner, Dana & Jack

Travis, Brent & Roger

Just a side note about these guys above in Lucayan...You guys were some crazy dudes (so I heard)!! :) Dallas was telling me all about how these guys emptied the ballast tanks, which are generally used to stabilize the boat, in order to gain speed and add the extra little tilt you see here. They were also known to toss a snorkeler overboard, with a tow line, while underway to view the scenery from below as they cruised the turquoise waters. Sounds like something I would have fun doing!

Rick & Mary

Mary was part of the entertainment around the campfires at night. She brought her guitar along with her, which is a first for us. I'm told that the Beach Boys "Sloop John B" was quite the hit and had the group dancing around the fire one night. And the remainder of the trip folks were singing "I feel so broke up, but I don't wanna go home! :)

John & Brenda

 Two nights on the trip were planned for fresh fish. This first group had a lot of wind for sure. This meant they made really good time sailing up the cays, but it also meant that it was too rough to do much trolling on the ocean side for fish that first night. Spearing is always an option, and one many folks prefer to deep sea fishing. The only down side I would see is that it usually will take more fish spearing than line fishing to feed 12 people. For instance, the ones that wanted to give spearing a shot spent 4 hours in the water spearing groupers, hogfish, turbot and snapper to catch dinner for that night.

Whereas, 30 minutes of deep sea fishing at the end of the trip resulted in two good sized Mahi, Mahi (dolphin...not the flipper kind) that fed the group. Dallas feels that the Fish dinners were by far the favorite on both trips. How could it not be?? Grilling fresh fish on a campfire that you had a hand in catching with Dallas' awesome marinade....trust me, if you haven't had it, it is worth a trip to come see us to enjoy this treat :)

Dallas & Andrew (trip guides)

The final stretch of sailing for this first group from Compass Cay back down to Staniel Cay was a bit of a challenge. We even lost one and a half lee boards on the sailboats to that wind. Sailing for almost 5 hours upwind is enough to drain the most seasoned sailors, much less if you've been in the sun and camping all week. Way to go gang! I know you all slept well that night in Staniel Cay.

The tow back day is the final hurdle for these trips. As the guest flew back from Staniel Cay in the charter planes (and buzzing by the boat on the way), Dallas and Andrew towed all the Sea Pearls and gear back to Great Exuma. It takes them about 4 hours if all goes well with the weather and tow lines and boats. And on this particular trip, there wasn't much time to unwind when they got back.

DING DING DING, ROUND 2
In 3 days!
Time to cleanup all the gear, fix the things that got broken, repack the gear, buy and bake more food, and whatever you do...don't leave any guests hanging at the airport when they land. I think we actually made it through both of these trips without this happening... which considering for about 2 weeks we had about 28 folks all together coming and going at all different times with flights delayed and cancelled and changed without anyone getting stranded...I'd say that's pretty good :) 

Stay tuned for photos from the second ASA Flotilla!!

Reaching Out

Over the last couple weeks I have barely had time to sleep (some nights I haven't even been able to do that), let alone blog with all the work that has gone into our trips lately. I want to mention this before I get in to the fun stuff that has happened on our ASA trips. April 27th brought some heart-breaking and life-changing storms through my Sweet Home, Alabama. Hundreds of lives were lost, thousands have been left without a roof over their heads, running water, electricity, and so much more. I won't sit here and pretend to know how any of these people are feeling back home. From the ones that lost everything including loved ones in the storms to the ones that were left feeling guilty that they weathered the storms without so much as a scratch. I don't try to fully comprehend the emotions and environment around there, because I can't. I see the photos and hear some stories. Honestly, I can't read all of the stories or watch all of the footage because it is just too sad. My prayers are going out to the sweet southerners that I cherish so deeply in my heart, but I know there are physical and financial needs that can be supported as well. If you are at all willing or feel led to help the victims of these horrible storms here are a few locations that I have friends and family working with: Kids4AL, First Baptist Church of Williams (the community my parents live in), and Samaritans Purse. Of course, these are just a couple... there are many more organizations and ways to help. Please consider the needs and reach out!

"For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands."- 2 Corinthians 5:1