A Lucky Life

Our buddy boat, s/v Earthling living large in Long Island

Back in the natal stages of this journey when we were in the Bahamas Scott and I, along with two friends, decided to do a little day drinking on a deserted beach.   The setting was spectacular: azure water stretched out endlessly before us as we looked upon our boats, the only two in the anchorage, bobbing gently in the ocean swell.  What was unique about this day was not the fact that we were day drinking on a beach (because that happened a lot in the Bahamas) but what transpired after...

Just as we popped the cork on our first bottle, a friendly local strolled up to us - as they often do - to say hello and offer his services as a local "jack of all trades".  "You wanna go fishn'?" he asked, "I gotta fishin' boat, all I need is some gas money an' I'll take ya to da best fishin' on de island!"  we thought about it, but declined.  After all, we had wine to drink. "How 'bout an island tour? I got a truck - I jus need gas money and I'll take ya on a tour of de island!" Again - we thought about it, but we were pretty comfy and said that we weren't going to make any aggressive plans to do much of anything that day.

We offered him a glass of wine.  "Sure" he said excitedly.  I poured him one which he promptly gulped down without pause.  He then plopped down on the sand next to us and talk turned to the Bahamas, life in the islands, and travel.  I offered him another glass, which he drank in it's entirety just as quickly as the first. "We're going to need more wine" I recall thinking to myself.

We were all in a jolly mood by this point and uncorked the second bottle.  "So where have you traveled?" we asked our new friend.  "Man, I ain't never been anywhere but a few islands in da Bahamas!" he replied in his sing-song Bahamian accent.  "You are all so lucky to have come from where you do..." he continued, "You are so lucky to be traveling all over on a boat...".  My slight buzz combined with the hot sun made me more introspective than usual.  "Gosh," I thought to myself, "we ARE so lucky.  We come from the best country in the world, we can do just about anything we want.  We are young, educated, well-traveled and, comparatively, have every opportunity available to us".  I mean, the four of us were living on boats and sailing around the Bahamas for heaven's sake!  "Lucky" didn't even begin to describe what we were.  I thought about our new friend, living his entire life on an island that was no larger than a city block without much access to higher education, career opportunities or the outside world...the differences in our lives were vast...

"I mean, you guys have no idea how lucky you are to be able to sail the ocean" he repeated, snapping me out of my own head, "You can be sailing along, see a bag floating in the water, pick it up and it can be a huge bag of cocaine that a drug boat ditched!"

Insert sound of record scratching.

What?!?!  Did he just say "bag of cocaine"??

"...if you were to find a big bag of cocaine, you would be millionaires forever!  You would be set for life!"  He was incredibly excited by this prospect, and what was even more amusing was the fact that he was 100% serious.

I think the four of us sat there with our heads cocked to the side and just blinked for a few moments before we burst out laughing.

Here I thought we were lucky because of the opportunities our lot in life bestowed upon us, but apparently, we were lucky because there was a chance - albeit a slight one - we would literally run into a big bag of cocaine somewhere out in the ocean and be able to live like Johnny Depp a la "Blow".

It goes to show, luck is in the eye of the beholder.  For some it might be their health, for others their opportunities and for a select few - it might even be happening upon a giant bag of cocaine on the ocean.

For the record, I think we'll just stick to sailing and bypass any mysterious floating bags we see...

Love,
Brittany, Scott & Isla