Hello Freeport

After a 4 day sail Athena and her crew arrived in Freeport, Bahamas. Every crewmember's face had a look of hesitation as we stared at the numerous smokestacks, massive cranes, and rusting barges. We wanted tropical, and got industrial. Instead of palm trees with hammocks cinched on we got blocks of concrete and rusting shipping containers.

You may wonder why. Why would we even be in a place like this.

Athena is a big girl. Very big. When she was launched in 2004 she was the largest privately owned sailing yacht in the world. She weighs 1100 gross tons, and is 295 feet long. So when Athena needs to be on the hard, she needs big facilities. Most yachts would normally use a marine travelift, but Athena is far too big. We have to be drydocked like the freighters and cruise ships. So over the next couple weeks we will be up on the hard painting our bottom and checking systems.

Of course, the weather is gorgeous, it is still the Bahamas. Sunny and beautiful. Yesterday it was 37 degrees celsius (98F, but I am trying to get on the metric system lately).

The crew and I have definitely made the best of Freeport. As soon as we arrived we caught a cab about 25 minutes out of Freeport and into Port Lucaya. We stuffed thirteen into a cab meant for nine, and had a hell of a night out on the town. Port Lucaya is full of bars, nightclubs, and of course good times. It's a cool little Bahamian town with live music in the town center where both the locals and the tourists congregate. The next day, mostly dazed from the night before, we hung out in Port Lucaya, sampling the resort pools and Bahamian cocktails. It was great to have a day off of work to just laze and hang out with the crew.

Back to work on Monday, but of course there is always time for play. I've been working on my wakeboarding skills after work. We cruise up and down the harbor with the rescue tender while the locals just watch and wonder what these crazy white boys are up to. The water tastes a bit funny (probably due to the chemical plant just 300 meters away), and the dockmaster keeps telling us about all the sharks in the harbor, but after a boiling day on deck we just can't resist. Check out some photos of the crew and I in Freeport and Port Lucaya by clicking here.

All is well on Athena. Look forward to me posting some pics of my dive trip next weekend.