As the Pelican nears our anticipation grows. This is just a surreal sort of experience. This thing just should not be here, but it is. It shouldn’t survive out here, but it does. There are a couple of boats here already so we’re really going to get this place hopping. It’s late afternoon by the time we pull up to the dock, we are going to make this the ultimate happy hour.
Disembarking from the boat to the bar is a bit of an adventure and the boat captains who are there and the bar staff all assist. Stepping into the Pelican is a trip. Light filters in from everywhere, including the roof and reflected off the water and up through the floor. There really aren’t any solid surfaces here, even the bar itself is a patchwork of boards and driftwood and thatch. The bar itself holds a lot more people than I would have expected. There were 5 or 6 visitors when we arrived plus their captains plus 2 or 3 bar peeps plus a couple of rastas with a wood carving business and our 15 plus our captains. I have figured at least 25 people and the place did not feel crowded. It seemed to have a kind of Tardis effect, it seemed bigger on the inside.
I’ve been worried that Sweetie Pie’s camera has been soaked on the way out. It has taken some humidity damage but it recovers, after snapping this first fuzzy pic in the bar.
We wander around the bar a little bit, check out the pier and decide we need a dip in the water. I look out to see Ninja nearly out to the reef and head out that way, Sweetie Pie follows behind. As I’m on my way Ninja makes it to the reef, there are a number of places where the water barely covers the surface of the reef and Ninja is standing on one of them. “Walking on water!” yells Ninja. Damn, this cat has water command skills. “Splash high!” and it does. “Support my weight!” and it does. “Take care of my used Red Stripe!” and, well, it does…
As we're on our way out to the reef, a wayward pirate appears to have been kicking sea urchins...
Sweetie Pie and I go to the surf side of the reef. Hubby-man is behind us and he and Ninja get into a National Geographic episode. It’s just a very cool spot. You move very slowly and watch each step to stay on the dead coral around a variety of different shallow tidal pools. I’ve never been any place like it.
After a bit we regroup with Ninja and Hubby and head back toward the bar. We all successfully navigate the water shoe eating pit of muck. Somewhere just before the bar we pull up short and shuffle kick the water trying to alert the wildlife to our presence. You know how it’s always good to have some winnowing members of the bale? Slower than you so you can out swim the shark, deafer than you so they don’t hear the click of the spear gun, less cautious than you so they’ll check if that pile of hot dogs has a hook in it, less aware than you so they don’t notice an entire bale of turtles splashing up on them? Yeah, it’s great to have them around! I don’t think they thought of it as winnowing, though, I’m pretty sure they were thinking #winning…
