Two Gringos in the Caribbean

The 2 Gringos... Gringo and La Gringa

What a great couple we met!  Polly and Byron Selman have a boat on the dock at Southside Marina.  Have you ever met someone with whom you had an instant connection?  Well, that was us and Polly and Byron.  We had a mutual interest in boating and travel.  They are working on their dream of cutting the dock lines and cruising on their boat throughout the Bahamas and Caribbean.  So, naturally, we had lots to talk about.

Byron, Polly, and their Jack Russell terrier, Dooley the Demented, have been living in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos since 2005.  LA and I became quite attached to Dooley, much to LuLu's dismay.  Dooley came over to Genesis for a little visit and checked LuLu out through the companionway window.  Lots of barking ensued, but LuLu just checked Dooley out through the window.  We had to escort Dooley off the premises, but I don't think he is going to give up easily!

Byron and Polly already made one dream a reality.  Originally from the States, they decided to put down roots on this beautiful island and built their lovely home atop a hill with a spectacular view on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.  Can you imagine that? Living in paradise full time? And now, they want to cruise in paradise????  Some people just can't get enough :)

Twisted Sheets, Docked to the left of Genesis

  These days, they are working on the new dream.  Every day, they came to the marina to work on their Catalac catamaran, Twisted Sheets. We had such fun getting to getting to know them.  We commiserated about working on boats, and talked about the realities of cruising life.  Actually, I knew about Byron and Polly before we arrived here, I just didn't know it.  I had been researching a neat video camera, called a GoPro, while I was in the Bahamas.  I accidentally wondered onto Byron and Polly's blog, 2 Gringos in the Caribbean  and came across some very cool footage of some aerial views that was filmed from a boat in the Turks and Caicos. It was only later after meeting Polly and Byron that I put 2 and  2 together and realized that I was meeting the authors of this fun blog!   Click on the name of their blog to check it out.... it's very neat and has so many interesting and unusual photos.   

Polly and Byron invited us to their lovely home.  We had a great time regaling each other with tales, drinking, and eating.  We finally crawled out to our rental car well into the night and made the 15 minute drive back to the marina.  The next day, I did not emerge from the boat until 3:00 p.m., citing a case of the "cocktail flu".  But, I could not remember when I had such a good time.  We felt like we had known Byron and Polly all our lives. We laughed all the way back to the boat.

All good things must come to an end and this was no different.  Polly and Byron had a grand baby on the way and had a trip planned home for Christmas and the birth of the baby.  They left and promises were made to follow blogs, Facebook and e-mail to keep in touch.  We feel like we will see them again out here in paradise!