The Joy Is In The Pursuit

Great Harbour Cay   

Last night after our dinner together on Paradigm Shift, Glenda and I planned a walk to Seashell Beach today as our big outing. Once again, we would have to time our arrival to closely coincide with the afternoon's low tide. Today that was at 3:42. We watched showers pass through the area and set a departure time of 2:00. Barry dropped us off at the marina dinghy dock and we set out on our latest adventure. The walk to the beach was approximately three miles, but the draw of the destination powered us along the way. When we emerged from the trees and passed through the sea oats, we got our first glimpse of the exposed sand bar. Our timing was perfect and we were all smiles. We removed our road-walking shoes and drank some water before starting our hunt for sand dollars. After Barry and I visited here a few days ago, I received a request to bring some of these seas treasures home. It didn't take long for us to spot them in the sand. Some were more visible than others. Glenda and I were "competing" to see who could find the largest and/or smallest complete specimen. Extra points were earned if buried deeper in the sand. It was another great afternoon of two friends enjoying the setting and the company.

The ripples in the clean sand and the reflection of the sky in the tidal pool were mesmerizing. Glenda announced that she found a crab and stopped to get a picture of it. She captured a great photo of the little guy posing for the camera. I envision him saying, "I'm not afraid of you."

The clouds came and went. We had no more rain as we spent an hour walking around the shallows. After only a short while I had picked up as many sand dollars as I wanted. Afterwards we were on a spot-and-release mission. The joy of the afternoon was in the pursuit and just spending more time together. We could have stayed much longer, but the day was ticking away and we still had an hour trek back to the dinghy dock. We walked along the beach for as long as we could before putting our shoes back on and hitting the pavement. The marina had filled up in the time we were away with many boats coming in to ride out the upcoming blow. Tomorrow is likely to be our last opportunity to go ashore in The Bahamas. Once the front passes through we'll pull anchor and join a growing flotilla crossing back to the States.