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MORTECH
COMPUTERS
"No matter how much you have, you can always use MOR"
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Day 2: Half Moon Cay- Bahamas: Our first stop was at Half Moon Cay- Bahamas- which is located about 300 km off the south-east coast of Florida. One might think the island was so named because of its crescent moon shaped appearance when viewed from overhead... However, we have it on good authority that it was named in honour of the Dutch exploration vessel The Half Moon, (“Halve Maen”) of the early 1600’s. An English explorer named Henry Hudson made use of this vessel when he was hired by the Dutch government. The Half Moon is also the smaller of the 2 ships on Holland America’s logo. We awoke on day 2 to a beautiful (and HOT) sunny day. We looked out our windows to discover that we had already arrived at Half Moon Cay. Although tenders weren't starting until about 9:00 am, our first excursions weren't until later on so we decided to head up to the Lido Restaurant for some breakfast. As I explained earlier- the Lido Restaurant is the buffet- For breakfast, passengers can choose from a variety of culinary delights: your choice of eggs any style which they cook to order ensuring the freshest quality, omelets again made to order with a variety of selected toppings, hash brown potatoes, sausages, bacon, ham, pancakes, French toast, assorted cheeses and cold cuts, fruit salads, fresh fruits, assorted breads & rolls assorted pastries assorted cereals, and of course coffee, tea, and a variety of juices. The service in the Lido deck is also outstanding and 2 personalities come quickly to mind. Not so much because of their service, which is also notable, but due for their comic personalities: Jim Dandy and Burt Reynolds! (Not the actor from Smokey and the Bandit fame). Jim Dandy was always singing a song and greeting people with such enthusiasm... while he was handing out coffee and tea! And (Burt, Burt, Burt, Burt, Burt) Reynolds always had a joke to tell! After a hearty breakfast in the Lido Restaurant, and slapping on a healthy coating SPF 40 sunscreen, we made our way to the tender boats for our day on the island. On a sad note- the horseback riding excursion was sold out, and the Jet Ski's and glass bottom boat excursions were canceled due to rough sea conditions (Quite frankly I was starting to get angry with this whole "Dennis" thing, although it didn't look so bad to me!). Regardless, we still had the parasailing and snorkeling to look forward to, and none of us had ever been swimming on a Caribbean beach before, so we were excited about the day's events. Although it was still early in the day, it was already about 32° celsius so the sand was HOT! We picked up our snorkel equipment and the kids went straight into the water! I couldn't hardly blame them since it did look so refreshing & inviting... I don't know what it is about the ocean in the caribbean, but it just looks so much more clear and blue here. Maybe it has something to do with the reflection of the sky and the sun's higher angle of refraction or something but it sure is beautiful. Anyway, they weren't gone for more than a minute when they ran back to complain that the water tasted funny and hurt their eyes! That's the thing about swimming in the ocean for the first time... They got over it pretty quickly and before long were swimming around like a bunch of water babies. At one point we saw a number of people pointing down in the water, so we went to investigate and we discovered it was a small stingray. There it was, swimming amongst of us humans... without a care in the world. Some pictures of Half Moon Cay:
One of the highlights of our day at Half Moon Cay was our parasailing excursion! Unfortunately one of the parasailing boats got damaged during "Dennis", so Angie and I were unable to go on the same boat, so she graciously decided to go with our niece Rebecca because she didn't want to go alone. That left Jim and I on one appointment and Angie, Wendy and Rebecca on another appointment. Someone also had to stay with the monkeys since they were too young... the minimum age was 12 and they are very strict about that so they were out of luck :(. This means that we don't have any close up shots of Angie, Wendy or Rebecca Parasailing... Anyway, it isn't as difficult as one might think, and the guys that run the excursion have it down to a fine science. There is a platform to stand on, and they hook you up in the harness and basically let you sail away quite literally like a kite! They let you out a couple hundred feet and then drive the boat around the bay for a bit... then they start to reel you back in and slow down so that you lose altitude until your feet drag in the water... then, they speed up the boat and let you out for a bit longer. When it is time to come in, they just reel you back in until your feet touch the platform again... It was a most exhilarating experience!
When Jim and I got back from the parasailing we met up with Angie and the girls and some of us walked down the beach for a sampling of the BBQ that they had set up... that is except for Robbie. He wasn't hungry and decided to play in the fountains with some friends he had made. We were gone for about half an hour and when we got back, Robbie was nowhere to be found. Angie, Rebecca and Wendy had to get ready for their parasailing adventure; so I stuck around to look after the girls and to look for Robbie... he couldn't have gone too far. We walked up and down the beach, but he was nowhere to be found... I picked up my binoculars as I started to get a little worried. I noticed a couple people snorkeling way out by the buoy lines and one of them was wearing blue swim trunks. Could that be Robbie? I grabbed a set of snorkeling gear and headed out.... Sure enough, it was him! Wow did he ever have stories to tell of all the marine life he had seen... It kind of made it hard to get angry with him for not telling us where he had gone! Boys will be boys I guess. After our day and Half Moon Cay, we took the tender boats back to the ship to get ready for Dinner and set sail for Roadtown, Tortola British Virgin Island... In spite of having SPF-40 sunscreen on, we all got what the locals call a Caribbean Tan- or what we commonly refer to as a "badass sunburn"! Dinner in the Vista Dining Room was a burst of culinary delights and Antonio had all our drinks ready as soon as we sat down. Tommy and Ahmed were also starting to get to know us better... After dinner the kid's went to Club HAL and we lounged around in the Crow's nest enjoying some cold drinks and each other's company. After we got the kids settled in for the night, we headed out to Northern Lights for a bit of 80's night! Forward to Day 3: At Sea: |
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