The Dread Pirate Aiden

Grand nephew Aiden, alias The Dread Pirate Aiden, checks up on Pandion's crew through the top hatch.

After arrival in Spanish Wells, we were boarded by The Dread Pirate Aiden.

Aiden, our 8-year old grand nephew, was joined by his grandma (Brenda's sister) Cathy, and her partner Bill. They stayed with us for few days while we explored some of the islands in the local vicinity.

Cathy, Bill, The Dread Pirate Aiden, and Brenda swimming off Pandion's transom.

Aiden had a ball. He quickly became our boat monkey, showing off the balance and dexterity of youth as he climbed up and down every possible space on Pandion.

He also helped us with raising and lowering our dinghy Newt off the davits; assisted Brenda with the anchor, and ran around and closed all hatches when we had rainstorms come through.

Afternoon rainstorm means a movie and popcorn for the crew of Pandion.

The Dread Pirate Aiden loves scary stories, so we also spent time sharing the handful of stories that we all remembered from the past.

One of my favorites that I used to share with my daughters was the Hairy Toe (For my girls, I changed it to The Nose, and if you know me you know why :) It's a great tale about a boy named Aiden who walks through the forest, finds a big hairy toe (or nose) and pulls it up to take home for the stew pot. As you can imagine, the owner of said toe (nose) tracks down the boy that night, calling out "Give me back my hairy toe (nose)"... and gets closer and closer.

Sisters catching up while working on our new trampoline.

Bill's barracuda, caught with the Hibberd spoon.

Bill is an avid fisherman, and we spent some time trolling with a spoon that Dave Hibberd from S/V Cool Runnings had gifted to us.

Before long, Bill had a hit and reeled in a 4 ft. long barracuda that rivaled anything we had ever caught (so far) on Pandion.

Barracudas are always released. They are known to carry ciguatera, a neurotoxin that I had an unfortunate encounter with about ten years ago after consuming grouper at a restaurant in Nassau.

It's bad stuff, causing numbness and pain, extreme sensitivity to hot and cold, and other symptoms that can last for years. Mine lasted for over two years. So, all barracudas that we catch are released back to the sea.

The Dread Pirate Aiden takes a break from pirating.

We have had a great time with Cathy, Bill and Aiden aboard Pandion.

For the last few days, we have anchored Pandion off Gun Point near Spanish Wells. A dinghy ride on Newt to the beach takes five minutes, and a short walk from there takes us to Cathy and Bill's cottage.

We have been snorkeling, fishing, exploring cool islands like Dead Man's Chest (named for the Dread Pirate), and eating ice cream.

On Thursday, we have scheduled to take Pandion to a local marina in Spanish Wells for an overnight so that we can take care of charging/conditioning our battery bank, catch up on laundry, perform some needed work on our freezer (time to defrost and clean up), and secure provisions to last us through July.

From there, our plan is to explore more of Eleuthera, and then off to the Exumas, one of our favorite places on Earth. Life is good!

Dead Man's Chest (unnamed island off Spanish Wells) where we spent the day fishing and snorkeling.