Heat Stroke & 90210

This morning Brent and I woke up around 7:00am and made our way directly to the Nassau Yacht Club. Around 8:30 the first of 4 containers arrived on site. We had a little bit of help from some volunteers and also some paid help. Once we unloaded the first container, the second one showed up. Once we unloaded the second container the third one showed up. Once we unloaded the third container, the last one showed up. At this point, my shirt and Brent’s shirt were completely soaked. It was so hot, or at least it felt like over 100 degrees, that I think I could hear my skin burning.

We unboxed about half the boats and then decided to take a lunch break and try to revive ourselves. After lunch, we decided to unload the last container, un-boxing the boats as they came out, and then load the last container full of all the boxes. That first container has been placed for us to use as a headquarters and storage for our spare parts. The second and third containers are already off site and the last container will get taken out tomorrow.

At this point it was 5:00pm and Brent and I were both ready to collapse. I had to try to slow down my breathing and lower my core temperature. I am pretty sure that Brent and I both got a little heat stroke. We slowly made our through the rush hour traffic back to the pool house where we both stumbled into the air conditioned room. We took turns taking showers, well, more like cupping water out of the nozzle and throwing it on our bodies.

We had talked about going to Outback Steak House for dinner, but by 7:00 I don’t think either of us would have been able to be at a sit down dinner without passing out. So we decided to go to KFC and take that back to the pool house. We spent about 30 minutes at KFC as they had to fry our chicken right then and there (which is probably better than getting the 3 hour old chicken that they usually have). We got back to the pool house just in time to catch 90210 on the TV……….pause for Brent making fun of Josh and calling him a girl and lame……..but whatever, it’s a good show. We chowed down on our delicious fried chicken while we watched re-runs of The Office. I passed out on the couch while we watched the show, so yet again, I ended up with the couch for the night.

Discovery Day

Today was an off day for Brent and me. As everyone in the US was celebrating Columbus Day, everyone in the Bahamas was celebrating Discovery Day. I think they call is that because Mr. Columbus may not have been the nicest guy. We both slept in since we knew this would be the only chance to do that while we were down here. We went to try to get lunch at the Subway that is at the local shopping plaza, but it was closed for the holiday.

So we made our way to downtown and had some Sbarro’s Pizza for lunch. We then walked around downtown a little bit and did some window shopping; downtown was actually pretty busy as there was a cruise ship in town. We decided that we would go back to the pool house for a little bit and then head over to Atlantis and check out Pleasure Island in late afternoon. We headed over the bridge around 4:00pm, parked and made our way to Atlantis. This hotel is so ridiculous it is stupid. They have shops, a casino, a water park, restaurants, and a whole cave style aquarium. We took a tour of the whole resort and then found a nice American style grille (Anthony’s Grille) to eat at.

Once we finished dinner we made our way back over the bridge and to the pool house to watch Monday Night Football and pass out. I again got the couch because I wanted to watch the entire game, not because I had any fantasy players playing, but because I HATE THE J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS. The Jets lost, thank god, which allowed me to sleep a little bit more comfortably.

Pool House Livin'

When I woke up this morning, I looked out the window and saw the beautiful turquoise ocean that makes the Caribbean famous. When we had come in last night it was very dark, so I had no idea that the ocean was that close. But I guess we are on an island, so I guess that makes sense. We finally got picked up by Avis at 10:00am, after I had to call them wondering where they were even though I had scheduled a pick up. We went back to the airport to fill out the rental car paperwork and then made our way to the Nassau Yacht Club.

So they drive on the other side of the road here (the left side) but mini van was an American made car so the steering wheel is on the regular side, which really screwed me up. I am pretty good with driving here now, but I am sure I will be screwed up again when I get back to the states. Also, they drive like absolute maniacs around here. I mean, I grew up driving in Massachusetts with all the Massholes, but they are ridiculous down here.

We made it to the yacht club safe and sound at 12:00 noon and had a meeting with the PRO for the regatta, the regatta chairman, and Franny (who as far as I can tell is the absolute man down here and is the guy to know if you want to get something done). Then Franny drove us to the place that we were going to stay which is about 2 miles down the street. We are staying in some guy’s pool house (kind of like the Fresh Prince of Bel Air). I think the guy’s name is Roger, but he wasn’t home so we haven’t met him yet. The pool house is disconnected from the main house and is gated off because their dog Rocky (a chocolate lab mix) lives there. He is not allowed in the pool house or out of the gate and it is a constant struggle to keep him away from both. I think Rocky is a little starved for attention because he is all over me whenever I am within 20 feet of him.

Curiously though, he does not seem to like Brent. Franny then took us for a little tour of downtown showing us where we should go and, more importantly, where we shouldn’t go. We then went back to the yacht club to pick up the mini van and conclude our meeting. Brent and I then made our way to downtown for some lunch. We really had no idea where to go so we ended up at the most American place we could find, Hard Rock, Nassau. After lunch we went back to the pool house and relaxed a little and watched some TV.

The pool house is really nice with a full kitchen, bathroom, shower (no water pressure though) 1 bedroom and couch. The TV gets full cable, a total of 54 channels, which is great since all we did in Canada at Laser Worlds was watch movies. We got to watch the Patriots game, which sucked, and also catch the end of the Red Sox game (and the end of the Red Sox season) which SUCKED EVEN MORE!!! We thought about going out for dinner, but we still were not sure where was safe to go, so we ended up going to McDonalds and bringing it back to the pool house. We fell asleep while watching Sunday Night Football, and I got the couch because I wanted to watch the entire game since I had Payton Manning and Dallas Clark on my fantasy team.

Josh Was 10 Minutes Late

This morning Brent and I departed for our “Spring Break” (or more like “Fall Break”) trip to the Sunfish World Championships in Nassau, Bahamas. My wife, Amy, was nice enough to drive us to Logan airport so that we didn’t have to park a car for 2 weeks. So Amy and I met Brent at LaserPerformance at 11:00am (well actually 11:10, and Brent would make sure to emphasize the 10 minutes that we were late) and we all made our way to Boston. When we arrived at Logan we said our goodbyes (I think I spotted a tear coming from Amy’s eye) and made our way to the terminal. We flew out of Boston to Miami and then took a little puddle jumper to Nassau. Our flight out of Boston was a little delayed, so when we arrived in Miami we had to book it to our connecting plane so as not to miss our flight to Nassau. We made it to the plane on time; however, our luggage was not so lucky. This actually made getting through customs a little easier as we only had our carry on baggage with us. We had rented a mini van through Avis, but since we were arriving at 8:00pm and Avis closed at 7:30 we had to get a hotel near the airport for the night. Ya, that’s right, Avis wouldn’t stay open for an extra 30 minutes. “Avis……we try harder”………..HORSE CRAP. Anyway, we got a taxi to our hotel (Orange Hill Inn), ordered Domino’s delivery and passed out as we watched something or other on the TV.

Today was an absolutely beautiful day on the water. The breeze was up to about 10 knots when the boats went out to the course. The wind was steady out of the southwest and built to about 15 knots throughout the day. The race committee was on point today, getting the first race started exactly at 12:00noon. They got 2 races done for each fleet in both the Full Rig and Radial lines by about 3:00pm, making it an early day for the sailors.

The boys and I went into downtown Halifax for a nice seafood dinner for my last night. I am very happy to be going home tomorrow, but there is a little piece of me that is sad to leave the palace and the guys up here. The trip has been interesting and fun, in many more ways than one. In the past month, more has happened to me than probably in the year preceding my trip. I could probably write a novel of all the stories and memories, and another novel of all the stories that I wish I could forget.

When we got back to the palace, we threw in Friday, with Ice Cube and Chris Tucker, for the last and final movie. Tomorrow I fly out at 11:20am, so I will make one last trip to the St. Margaret’s Sailing Club tomorrow morning, and then will be on my way back to RI.

"Don't let go of the rope."

Today was the rest day for the Laser Masters World Championship sailors, and boy did we need it; I mean, boy did THEY need it. We finally got to sleep in a little bit today. Carson and I made our way down to the yacht club around 10:00am to check on the boats. Carson stuck around the yacht club to use the internet while I went to try to get a haircut. Yup, that’s right, I haven’t cut my hair in 2 months and haven’t shaved in just over 1 month. As I am leaving on Friday to attend a wedding in Connecticut on Saturday, my wife has instructed me to get a haircut before I leave the country. So I made my way down to where the supermarket is and walked into the only place within a 40 km radius (no miles up in the northern country) that offered haircuts, took off my hat, and showed them what we would be working with. Unfortunately, this being the only hair salon in town, they were booked for the next two days.

So I made my way back to the yacht club, still with a full head of hair, but also with lunch for myself and Carson. We had the Double Big Mac meal from McDonalds. I have never seen a Double Big Mac anywhere in the US, but this is now the second place in Canada I have seen it. If you are trying to imagine this scrumptious sandwich, I will do you one better and describe it for you; FOUR all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun. Absolutely amazing, maybe I will miss this country just a little bit. Anyway, when I got back to the yacht club, Carson was so hungry I think he was foaming from the mouth.

After scarfing down our wonderful meals, I went up to the container and organized the sails in all their boxes so they would be ready for load up next week. Carson and I made our way back to the palace around 2:00pm, where we picked up Dan and Brent and headed to the other side of the bay. Angus Buchanan, owner of North Sails, Halifax, our local dealer and on site support for the regatta, was having a rest day BBQ at his house, complete with steaks, beer and waterskiing. Angus’ 13 year old boy, Duncan, is a champion sailor, snow skier and had just competed in his first water skiing competition, placing first, of course. I had told Duncan a couple of days ago that I would go water skiing (even though I suck at it and haven’t water skied since I was 12 years old) because he wanted to teach me how to do it.

When we showed up at Angus’, the water was freezing, so I really did not want to go. Angus said that if I didn’t, Duncan would make fun of me until the day I die. Like, he would be at my funeral and yell out “That pussy wouldn’t go water skiing”. Carson said that if I was going to do it that he wanted to go back to the cabin and get the video camera. I said that I would only do it if he got the video camera because I wanted proof that I didn’t wimp out. He said that if he went back to get it, I would HAVE to get in the water. So it was decided, I took the ride with Carson back to the palace so he could get the video camera and so that I could get swim trunks. When we got back to Angus’ place I was taken directly down to the dock. I did a swan dive into the water to try to get used to the temperature. Once my feet were sufficiently num, Duncan showed me how to attach the water skies. Duncan then pulled me to the side and said, “the most important thing to remember is that if you fall down, no matter what you do, don’t let go of the rope”.

Now this struck me as odd, why the hell wouldn’t I let go of the rope? So I asked Duncan, “why not?” Duncan looked at me with a wide smile and said “Cuz then we can drag you through the water.” What a punk, right?

So there I was, sitting in the water, with a life jacket, 2 water skies and holding onto a rope handle that is attached to a 17 ft Boston Whaler with a 70 horsepower motor on the back ready to sever my arms from my body. All I could hear is a mish mosh of instructions being yelled at me from all different directions. “Don’t cross your skies”; “Keep your weight back”; “Hold on tight”; “Just water ski” (I especially liked that one). The rope was suppose to be going right between the two skies as I kept the tips just above water. Somehow the rope got to the outside, when I heard someone say, “It works better between your legs!” That comment of course prompted a well deserved “THAT’S WHAT SHE SAID” from me.

That’s when the motor boat took off and before I was out of the water, my face was almost impaled by one of the skies. I mean, come on, for those of you who know me, did you really think I would be able to water ski without whipping out at least a couple times. Well, wouldn’t you know it; I got straight out of the water on the second attempt and stayed up for the entire ride. There were some shaky parts, like when I tried to wave at the video camera that Carson was holding, filming from the tow boat, and almost bit it off to the right.

After the one trip down the cove and back, I was done. I could tell my arms were most definitely going to hurt the next day. By the time we got back up to the house it was almost dark, so the boys and I said our thank yous and goodbyes and made our way back to the palace.

Since we ate steak at Angus’ house we weren’t too hungry so we just had some of the left over Chinese food from last night. We watched Harold and Kumar go to White Castle……again…….while we ate, and then popped in the VHS version of Robin Hood, Men In Tights to fall asleep to. Tomorrow is my last full day at the event, so I think I am going to go out on the water with Dan to try to get some good pictures.

Carson Holds the Video Footage Captive and Stepbrothers AGAIN

Today, the first day of September, we awoke to brilliant sunshine and a clear sky. Brent and Dan stayed on land today, Brent needed to finish up some work on his computer and Dan made love to the copy machine making sure that he had copies of everything in my Laser Worlds binder to make sure we are ready for next year’s worlds in Weymouth, England.

Carson and I took to the water, Carson again with his video camera and me behind the steering wheel. When we got out to the course, the sun was still shining, but it was a little chilly. The wind was out of the North which is very irregular for St. Margaret’s Bay and was coming off the land making for a very shifty day. There was probably about 15 knots of wind in the puffs, but the lulls were really low at about knots. The key to today was hitting the shifts and connecting the puffs to stay in the wind. We stayed on the full rig course the whole day and focused on following the Red and Yellow fleets as they had multiple local (Newport and New York) sailors in them. Carson got a lot of good video, but again, I have to try to bribe it out of him to let us post it, maybe if we take away his areo bed and make him sleep on the floor or something.

The fleets got 2 races off fairly quickly and were on shore by 5:00pm to get ready for the Welcoming Ceremony (re-scheduled Opening Ceremony that was canceled on Sunday because of the storm) at 6:30. In the second race for the Red fleet, Andy Pimental of fleet 413 (Newport, RI) had one of the biggest leads I have ever seen. He won the race by almost an entire leg over the second place boat in his fleet and probably ended up 13th or so in the 25 boat fleet in front of him that started 10 minutes before his fleet. Two other fleet 413 members, Scott Ferguson and Mark Bear, grabbed first and second for the Yellow fleet in the second race today, Ferguson edging out Bear in the last 2 legs. Scott Ferguson currently sits in second place overall for the regatta.

After hanging out at the club for a little while to make sure the sailors were all set, the boys and I made our way back to the palace and ordered Chinese food for dinner and watched Step Brothers; the 3rd time I have watched that movie since I have been up here, but it really never gets old. After dinner and the movie we watched some of Carson’s footage of the day. I think his camera work is getting better each day, but he has got to get some funny tag lines going. After watching the on-water footage we popped in Knocked Up, again the second time I have seen that movie up here, but again, very very funny. Tomorrow is a rest day for the sailors, but I will be making my way down to the club to check on the boats and do some organizing of the containers to make sure the boys are good to go when they have to check the boats in this weekend.