It’s June. End of June. The start of summer back home and what seems like, the height of summer in the Bahamas. But I would be lying if that were true. Every day seems to get a little bit hotter. Every day I start to sweat ten, twenty, thirty minutes sooner. Simple things like sleeping are a chore. I move around the boat. I try different locations throughout the night. Sometimes outside. Usually on the saloon bench. Sleep comes in two hour chunks before I wake covered in sweat. I sit here drinking coffee. Perspiring having done nothing. Why not go for a swim some would ask? Today the water reads 30 degrees celsius under our keel. It’s hardly refreshing. Every day, it get’s a little bit hotter. What I wouldn’t give for a snowstorm right about now.
The heat isn’t the only sign that it’s time to go home. There are less and less boats in the anchorage every week. Beach bars are empty. Some have closed shop for the season others have posted signs, “We’re here somedays. Usually Sundays. Maybe not. But you’ll find us somewhere. Open until.” Only the most seasoned of cruisers remain and then there’s us. Two kids trying to squeeze every last day out of this season.
Last week I went to the US embassy in Nassau for an interview. After a 30 second chat with the officer, I was granted a Visa to enter the United States on my “pleasure craft”. This is a necessary step as I am a German citizen. My lovely Canadian partner is in like flynn. Germans generally can’t be trusted. I don’t blame them. But there is a slight complication. Their printers aren’t working. No US embassy on this globe is currently able to print Visas. I could suggest they go to Staples and get a bulk discount but I suspect they’re a little more complicated than that.
So here we sit in paradise. Waiting. Sweating. Hoping on printers.
