Friday, September 25, 2015

Castaways…

Sorry about falling off the face of the earth.  Being off the grid and on deserted islands does a lot to demotivate you from any type of writing. I guess you can say we were having a little too much fun in the Bahamas.  Where did we go?  What did we see?  Well, I won't bore you with every single detail of everyday, but we pretty much explored the whole of the Bahamas; Bimini, Berry's, Exumas, Long Island, Cat Island, Eleuthera, etc.  I will write about the highlights in other blog posts.  It's been a month now since we've been back from the Bahamas.  

Right now, we're in St Augustine awaiting weather windows to get north.  We are still not sure where exactly we are taking Moitessier, but right now the priority is to get her somewhere and work again to rebuild the kitty. The past couple of months in the Bahamas have been, not to sound cliche, life changing.  I can't say that I'm not having a little trouble adjusting to the "real world" again.  Living the life we have been living the past couple months have really changed my perspective on things.  Since most of the places we stayed in were deserted with no place to buy groceries, every day was spent spearfishing and hunting for our dinner.  It was always an adventure looking for a new reef to dive on.  There is something about having to hunt for your food and being nomadic that brings you back to your primal, animal self.  I can't seem to find the words to articulate just how gratifying that can be. We live in a society so full of technology and ease that we forget that we as a human species are ultimately animals. 

Living life where all you need to worry about are satisfying those needs without the distractions of social media, television, materialism, etc is incredibly rewarding. Being at the mercy of Mother Nature, where weather dictates your plans for the day, and whether seeing a shark determines if you will be predator or prey, and simply living life going with the ebb and flow of things can be very humbling.  You start to realize that you are not a god, and that you are in fact a mere mortal.  It makes you appreciate all the luxuries you've ever had in your life, and it makes you grateful for how easy it's been for us in the first world to obtain something as simple as fresh water and produce.  It also makes you a little indignant to the society in which you come from because you realize that so many people around you will never ever come to this realization and live life trying to fill it with material goods and other useless crap.  I know because I've only been back a month and am getting sucked back into these filthy habits of frivolity and consumption.  What is it about society that does that to you?  You can be so cognitive and aware of what is important, but somehow the moment we step back into the "real world" we just revert back to our default selves.  Is it adaptability that forces us to be this way in order to fit into society?  We are after all a social species.  Haha, I'm sorry for the existential rant....I know this was supposed to be a post about the crystal clear waters of the Bahamas, so here are some photos to give you an idea of the beauty of these islands... 

4 comments:

  1. Good to see you two doing well out there and continuing to enjoy yourselves.

    Some beautiful pictures.
    Take Care,
    Dan

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  2. A very nice reflective post! Good food for thought, especially the part about how easy it is to slip back into the "real" world. Cheers - Ellen

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for the compliments, that means a lot especially from a 'Cynical Sailor' ;-)

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