Bahamas Birthday! - Blog by Britt
My name is Britt Olsen and I was 64 years old the other day. Now I am 65 years old, because yesterday I celebrated my birthday on board the Oceans of Hope. I think it might have been the best birthday ever for a person turning 65. It started at 4:00am in the morning with the toilet running over, but we had Mikkel to stop it, so I could go in peace! Later in the morning we were to go to the Bahamas! Even though we had all been looking forward to get going, we had a bit of seasickness on board, but everything went well and we arrived in the Biminis in the middle of the afternoon.
My first birthday present was to take down the main sail, offered by Mikkel. And my second and third birthday presents were to see a shark and two dolphins in the water! The fourth present was to really see these islands right in front of my eyes here on my birthday. We had a wonderful birthday dinner in the cockpit, using our brand new BBQ. Before dinner one of our crew, Ann, made us some enormous piña coladas, so we were already in good moods when we started our steak dinner. The dessert for this wonderful dinner was hot chocolate with whipped cream like back home. And as my last birthday present I got a wonderful pineapple with lights in it saying “65” with candles.
After a long day of sailing we all went to bed to be ready for our next adventures here in the Bahamas! And the adventures I have really been looking forward to. When first I got the call that I was going to be a part of the crew on Oceans of Hope, I almost didn’t believe it. Because so long time had passed since Mikkel and I first talked a year and a half ago, even before we had the applications and all that, so I had even started to think: “I am probably too old.” But no! Here I am sailing on the Oceans of Hope around the islands of Bahamas. Who could believe that!
When I think about my first experiences on boats, sailing on the ketch “Galeasen Hilda of Kalundborg,” in my younger days as a student, I think it is incredible that I now sit here on my new boat Oceans of Hope as a 65 year old MS-crew!
Report from Bosun Bertram:
Goodbye Fort Lauderdale and hello Bahamas! We left Wednesday early morning sailing through the day to arrive in the afternoon to a beautiful anchorage off North Cat Cay. Our brand new dinghy took our skipper and papers safely to shore and now we are officially in the Bahamas. The fishing rods are out and the exotic drink is served, and we are all excited for the next 10 days here in the turquoise waters!
Local time on board is 11:30 and our current position is 25.33'776N 79.16'602W.