Entertainment Disaster

We normally introduce guests onboard to the cruisers life by forcing them to watch the movie Captain Ron, an important part of their safety-at-sea orientation. It is a 1992 classic comedy that won less than rave reviews from just about anyone who reviewed it:  The New York Times review gushes: “"Captain Ron" looks like the pilot film for an unsold sitcom.”; ”The cast is headed by Kurt Russell as the skipper, who talks like Long John Silver”; ”Though the film could not have been too inexpensive to produce on its Puerto Rican locations, it manages to seem threadbare, mostly because of the lack of a comic imagination”. But then, a more balanced review from a reader of the NYT who effectively sums it up for cruisers: “Without question, this is the most loved movie aboard EVERY cruising sailboat (and the boats of many not cruisers). Most have memorized every line. If this movie is not funny; there are no funny movies!”

“If its going to happen, Its going to happen out there.”
-Captain Ron

A list of filming mistakes in Captain Ron: http://www.moviemistakes.com/film235
Somehow our valuable copy of Captain Ron has gotten deleted from our hard drive. It is no where to been found. This meant we were unable to fully induct Derrek and Mary into the cruiser’s life. Perhaps a little Netflix searching will allow them to finish their homework.
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We met up with our good friends Denny and Becky on Kokomo. We’d spent a lot of time with them in Mexico, El Salvador and Panama. They are headed north to Florida and then the Chesapeake. We met up at Normans Cay for a reunion dinner with them and their friends Steve and Rena.
Next morning we took off from Normans into the deep Exuma Sound. A beautiful all-day downwind sail in 22kts of wind. Ended in Rock Sound, Eluthera. We spent a couple of days sailing north inside the Bight of Eleuthera. It was a beat to weather into 8-15 kts of wind that had us making 2 or 3 mile tacks out and 8 miles runs in with smooth seas and 80*F air. If you have to sail to weather, i.e. into the wind, then that’s the comfy way to go. Ended our time in Eluthera in Royal Island.
We entered the almost completely enclosed narrow oblong shaped bay of Royal Island looking for a space to anchor. There were 10 or 12 boats all nestled together on the west side, with no one on the east side. Must have been the cruisers herding instinct. We dropped our hook in 11 feet on the east side, all by ourselves; just in time for a swim to the empty shore before sundown.
Next day was a long one making 50 miles or so to Little Harbour area of the Abacos. Light downwind sail. We had our spinnaker up for most of it, but still had to motor the last 1 1/2 hours so we could get through the ocean pass before the sun was too low in the sky to see the reefs.
We’ll be in the Abacos for about a week. Saturday we pickup our friend Bill from San Francisco, then we’ll be watching the weather to make the jump north to the Chesapeake.
Paul