THE REALITY OF DREAMING

Warderick Wells, Exumas 24º23.74N | 76º37.925W

Remi and Casey borrow a free kayak from Exuma Park.

When we were only dreaming of sailing, Warderick Wells was one of those places that loomed large for us, a place we talked about, read about. Some days we even watched videos of the north mooring field.

Today we moored in that same field on our own boat, another milestone for this plod in paradise. We hadn't even thought to dream that our daughter might be with us.

The reality is a place to dream of, like parking your boat in an aquarium. When we pulled in, a nurse shark dropped by the transom, just to say hi.

I would have gotten a better shot had I not been so excited that I nearly broke my nose on the backstay.

I'm pretty sure people who build swimming pools are trying to replicate this look. I keep thinking it looks like we're sailing in a swimming pool, but that's just all wrong. This is miles and miles of pure water, so clean we wash our dishes in it, water that makes you ask 2-year-old questions like, "why is water blue?" That never happened to me at the Y.

The four of us stand on the deck and gaze into the water and the aquarium below it.

Yellowtail snappers looking at our bottom paint.   Photo by Remi Langlois

The guy on the trawler next to us sits in a lawn chair on deck, calling out to us what he's seeing.

"Big nurse shark coming your way!"

Friendly Bananaquit.

The tiny birds here are friendly enough to light on your hand -- or, in this case -- Remi's hand. A poster at the park office says they are called Bananaquits, and I found out why when I turned around in the galley to find one helping itself to our last banana in the salon. He was happily pecking away, calling out to his friends that he found another stupid cruiser. We donated the banana and watched the whole flock gorge at the Cara Mia fly-through.

Friends from Rêve d'Oceans stop by for a boatside chat.

Old friends and new are moored around us. Being here in reality is dreamlike, but the color is so much better.

Warderick Wells, Exumas 24º23.74N | 76º37.925W

Sunset gathering, 40 yards off the starboard bow.

Cara Mia keeping an eye on the fish.

Chip and Yan, together again.

The happy crew of Rêve d'Oceans.