After the delivery to Chesapeake, I went to see my parents and then had no upcoming plans and I decided I would go see Steph in the Bahamas. I hadn’t seen her since January and missed her, Zeaky, and everything about that life. Steph and I got in touch shortly after the 4th of July, and a few days later I was on my way to Long Island, Bahamas.
Going to the Bahamas has always felt like going home, this time even more so. The second I landed, every Bahamian was kind and helpful, even with my large Gili checked bag, that held my Headhunter spear, that airlines in the states complained about. Between connecting flights, I had a few drinks and loaded up on duty-free for the boat as I know how expensive liquor is in the Bahamas, especially the outer islands.
Flying over the Exumas chain, the flight to Long Island was quick, easy, and beautiful. Minutes after gathering my bags, a red pickup truck filled with the Sail La Vie crew showed up. It was so good to see and meet everyone, I felt I was right where I needed to be. We spent over an hour on the back of the truck laughing and exchanging stories, in the sun and dust, on the way to the grocery store, then to the boat. While the groceries were being put away, we had happy hour at the bar on the beach where we were anchored. We got picked up an hour later, took an ocean shower, and had dinner with everyone.
The following days were spent spearfishing and freediving in northwest Long Island. We caught enough fish for dinner every single day we went out, despite any weather conditions. One of the days began with some depth training and I broke my PB, then we went spearing and I shot my first snapper, and we ended the already perfect day with a cookout on the beach.
We then sailed to Clarence town, it has a great anchorage and reefs, but it’s also next to Dean’s Blue Hole where Vertical Blue, the international freediving competition was happening. Hosted by William Trubridge, it is one of the most elite freediving competitions due to the conditions at the blue hole; there are very few waves or current due to its location and it is 202 meters deep, which is deeper than any of the divers would be competing at.
Every day was filled with visiting the blue hole and friends that were competing, spearfishing for dinner and lunch the following day, and ended around the dinner table with people that had become family. After a few nights there, we decided to do another beach bonfire. Some of us went out spearing to get fish for dinner while the others stayed behind and had fun while getting the beach ready. Once we were all at the beach it was one of the best nights of the trip; we attempted line dancing, had great food (on grape leaves as we forgot plates), exchanged stories and jokes, and finished the night dancing in front of the fire.
After that night, we planned a beach cookout for the freedivers the night before their day off. We expected 50 people and planned a spearing mission to catch enough sushi fish and fish big enough to grill. The day of the party, we went spearing, relaxed, and rolled sushi for an hour while Will prepped the rest of the food.
We got to the beach and set up, then started dinghy runs to/from the dock, which lasted about 45 minutes. We had another amazing night surrounded by so many great people making more memories and lasting friendships. Our group lingered around after dropping everyone off and finished the night dancing, once again. Once we were back to the boats and covered in sand, Stephanie and I jumped in the water to take an ocean shower, then we all stayed up not wanting the night to end.
The next few days continued the same way; visiting Vertical Blue, spearfishing, and spending time together. Every night we all gathered on the catamaran Karizma, which belonged to our friends Hylt and Amy. Some nights we played cards, some we just talked and listened to each other’s stories, some we listened to guitar and sang, but every night was special. One of the nights Will went to check on the smoked fish on the beach, assisted by 3 others including Hylt. Amy received a call one hour later that the dinghy was gone. The boys had not dropped the anchor and the dinghy had drifted away. Amy, Luke, and I jumped into Steph’s dinghy and went to search. We were lucky that the area was a bay and the wind was blowing towards land. We didn’t find it the first time around, but Hylt and Amy found it on the second loop around the bay against one of the docks. That night also marked the start of finding my dream boat. Despite how late it was and the events of the night, we continued to stay up and were happy we were able to laugh about the dinghy getting lost.
The following day was the last day of vertical blue. Throughout the competition, we were able to watch multiple world records, national records, and attempts of both were made while making lasting friendships. The day after the competition ended, we took some friends, that had competed, out spearfishing. I ran the dinghy while Steph ran the big boat to keep track of everyone
After a little bit, I got in since we were in 70-80 feet and I love spearing at that depth. I was using Steph’s Headhunter Nomad Roller since we were in deeper water, I wanted to get used to using a nomad, and I let someone else use my predator. On my first drop I was hanging around 70 feet when I felt a weird presence, I looked up and saw multiple sharks racing above me. I looked over and saw a shark fighting on the end of a spear, it had gotten the fish that was just speared and excited all the other sharks in the area. I booked it to the surface to go help, and on my way up we all heard a huge snapping sound; the sound of the shark taking the whole spear and the handle snapping from the polespear. We moved spots, since we knew we wouldn’t be able to land any more fish, and drifted in some seaweed patches in 50-80 feet of water. We didn’t see any fish, but it was beautiful and fun diving under the patches.
We dropped anchor mid-afternoon and got ready for a final beach cookout with the freedivers since they were officially done with the competition. We chose a beach they could drive to for flexibility with timing and to minimize the time that would have taken shuttling people over. It was another fun night full of meeting more amazing people, exchanging stories, and making memories. It was my last night, but I soaked up every moment, extremely grateful for everything the 16 days brought, and knew I would be coming back sooner rather than later.
