A Very Happy St. Patrick's Day- Lucky is returned!

Top of the mornin’ to ya!  Happy St. Patty’s Day to y’all!  Got another full day planned…today we planned to sail to Sombrero Reef to do some diving!  Dave and Diane helped us round out all our gear by borrowing some of theirs, and we were off the dock by mid-morning.  It was a gorgeous day for a sail- more wind than we had last evening.   

Willis was his usual helpful self in the cockpit while Donnie was setting
up the dive gear.  Lesson learned after Donnie's dive trip with the boys last
week off of Marquesa...it was MUCH easier to have the dive gear all set up
and ready to go while we were safely tied to the dock, rather than
trying to do it while pitching and rolling out on the reef! 

Here's my BFF's as we're getting ready to pass under
the Seven Mile Bridge on our way to Sombrero Reef.



You haven't seen many 'bridge' pictures since
we came down the ICW back in January.



Uh-oh...Willis is getting that glassy-eyed seasick look.
At least he had the good sense to come up in the
 cockpit for some fresh air.  He had himself wedged
 in between Ellie bug's legs.



Momma's at the helm while Donnie's picking up the mooring bouy.



We were right near Sombrero Reef light; in 20+ feet
of water for us to dive, yet it was also near about 10
ft. of water for Greg to snorkel.  What a beautiful dive.



Oh dear, all suited up and ready to go, until it was discovered
that the O-ring was rotten and leaking air.  Fortunately, Donnie
is one for redundancy, so he had spares on board Marquesa.

Thumb's up! Now she's ready to go...she's got her game face on! 

It was Elle's first ocean dive- and she did great!  She looked like an old
pro down there, very comfortable and relaxed.  It was an amazing dive.
We got to see barracuda, queen angel fish, parrot fish, sargeant majors,
legal size snapper and grouper, a green moral eel, little fairy basslets (my
favorite!) blue tangs, french angel fish, blue chromis, tons of yellow tail
snapper and grunts, and a whole bunch of others I didn't recognize. It
was so much fun.  Donnie showed a live conch and the moray eel  to Elle, and
I got to dive holding hands with her.  These were great memories in the making!

She was all tuckered out after her first ocean dive!  This is how she rode
back home.  We made sandwiches on board to eat while we were underway.
(Wanetta got a taste of preparing a meal in Cafe Marquesa while she's
sailing :) We had to hurry and get back before 5pm as that was the
meeting time with Lucky's captors for her long-awaited fateful return!
Oh, and for those of you wondering, this was Willis' third sailing trip
in a row where he did not get seasick- yay!!!



Here Donnie has his game face on as he is coming back
in to Banana Bay Marina.  He's a leprechaun on a mission
to get his beloved Lucky back!



It was not a simple exchange for Lucky.  It seems the ransom
involved a scavenger hunt with various clues as to her
whereabouts. The kidnappers clearly had way too
much time on their hands- geesh!

The kidnappers had us pedal, pedal, pedalling our decorated
clown bikes all over Banana Bay :)

Being the lush that she is, Lucky was eventually discovered at the tiki bar
by the pool.  She was so wasted that she had fallen off the bar stool and
landed in the bushes.  Donnie was so happy to have her back, he
grabbed Wanetta and danced an Irish jig all the way around the pool :)

What a riot!  The gang's all here; Donnie, Karyn, Polly, John, Marge, Fran,
(in the mask), Ken, Brian, Ellen, Wanetta, Greg, Jean and Mac.

Some random drunk woman stopped by to kiss Lucky...
I'm thinking that's about as Lucky as she was gonna get
that night- kissing a beakless flamingo! That woman
really laid one on her.  She had about two more seconds
or else I was gonna call the Animal Abuse Hotline!

Another perfect end to a perfect day in paradise.
Um, yeah...that would be a cluster of shamrocks on
Elliebug's foot.  She was given the 'tat' by some other
drunk woman at the bar.
The crazies were out in full force tonight :)
HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY, Y'ALL!!!