It was an action-packed morning as Kaleo teamed up with Steve on “Anchor Management” and Erin on “SYL” to enter the “Texas Navy” in this year’s Cruising Regatta’s Coconut Challenge!
We listened to the weather report on the morning net as we gathered all the supplies for the morning’s race. Flippers-to-be-used-as-propulsion. Check. Bucket-to-be-used-offensively-as-well-as-defensively. Check. Life jackets. Check. Empty our dink off all its contents. Check. Then it was off to Anchor Management to meet up with Steve, remove our dinghy motor and oars, and tow it to secure a prime starting position on the beach by 8:30.
Matt and Steve chose a spot that looked like the best launch pad for the first challenge and then it was back to Anchor Management to finish breakfast and strategize.
The Coconut Challenge consisted of four events:
- The “Coconut Dinghy Harvest” where teams of four paddle an engineless dink with swim fins and scoop up as many coconuts as possible as they drift with only four total appendages allowed in the water at any time. “Any protests or challenges to the rules must be made in writing on a ripe coconut and tossed into Elizabeth Harbor on the first full moon following Regatta.”
- The “Coconut Hatch Toss” where we each attempted to throw a coconut through a small boat hatch hung above the volleyball net
- “Coconut Bowling” with the goal of each knocking over an empty Kalik (Bahamian beer) bottle
- The “Coconut Ring Toss” where we each lobbed a coconut over the volleyball net trying to land it in one of three rope rings
It was a running start from the beach and all 35+ teams were in the water desperately flipper paddling for coconuts floating and drifting in the wind-swept waters. We worked together as Steve and Christie propelled the dink while Erin and Matt reached for the floating points. The whole time being bumped, splashed and jostled by other competitors. “The Navy” rocked as we scooped 65 coconuts onboard before returning to the finish line.
Moving over to Volleyball Beach, we didn’t do as well in the Hatch Toss or Bowling but Erin landed a ‘nut in the 3-point ring during the Ring Toss. Ultimately, we had a blast and couldn’t have asked for better team mates.
