Adventures with Escape Velocity

We enjoyed 2 wonderful weeks with Bill, Nina and Katarina Atherholt from Virginia aboard Escape Velocity a high-tec 35' world capable catamaran. Katarina is age 10 and had a wonderful time exploring Abaco with Lexie and sharing many, many sleepovers. They are currently on a 2 year cruise having left the Chesapeake in November. Yesterday, we bid them bon voyage from Little Harbour and they are on their way south headed around the world through the Panama Canal, Galapagos, South Pacific and beyond. Or maybe they will head east through the Leeward and Windward Caribbian Islands, Bermuda, Azores and the Med. Although we only spent a couple of weeks with them, we are sure that we have founded an enduring long distance friendship.

Born and raised in Maine, Bill has had several interesting careers - from catamaran charter captain to sea urchin diving in Maine (during winter!). Most recently he was a network specialist for CarFax, so we shared some technical background as well. Although our voyages are on a rather different scale - they have planned for 2 years sailing around the world - we were kindred spirits in how we wanted to spend our lives and raise our children. We talked about raising our kids with a sense of self reliance and independence, without the usual infatuation with suburban trappings or mind set. I got a kick out of Bill's can-do attitude, most poignantly his conviction that he would become a bonefish fly fishing guide in a future career even though he had never been bone fishing, and that I would give him his first lesson - Never mind the small fact that I had never been bonefishing. We fished the flats behind Little Harbour one sunset evening. Although we never saw a bonefish, we did cast a line and Bill got the hang of it quickly. It was a quiet windless evening on the flats as we waded around this isolated place. I am sure that one day, he will be guiding me on the flats of Belize - or some other exotic locale.

Nina was born in Siberia and met Bill about 14 years ago when Bill was visiting Russia. She holds a PHD in Economics and is also a trained massage therapist. We enjoyed our conversations with Nina and she provided a healthy perspective on many subjects. She was wonderfully friendly and gracious and we enjoyed having cups of tea with her admiring the beautiful harbors that we found ourselves in.

Katarina (aka Katya), now ten years old, became good friends with Lexie when they first ran into each other at the Jib Room in Marsh Harbour. Play dates, home schooling, and sleepovers followed as we roamed around Abaco.

We have lots of photos of our adventures and these are just a few of them.



Lexie and Katarina hanging on Tide Pool



Bill and Nina with Jillian during our first visit to Tahiti Beach


Lexie and Katarina snorkeling the sand bar at Tahiti Beach


The girls with a starfish at Tahiti - you can clearly see these starfish in 20' of water when running the banks - even at 16 knots!


Lindsay exploring Tahiti


Snorkeling!


Katarina, Nina, Bill, Jillian at Tahiti Beach with the Tilloo cut in the background. Tilloo Cut is one of the few navigable passages between the Ocean and Sea of Abaco


Lexie playing on the kayak at Tahiti


Katarina and Jill at Tahiti


Katarina kayaking



Bill and Nina approach in Hopetown


Dinghy Safari!


We had a great day exploring Elbow Cay aboard Tide Puddle.




Checking out the shoreline of Elbow


Katarina taking a break to read on the Dinghy Safari


The girls set up their jewelry shop in Hope Town playground. The shop is named 'She Sells Sea Shells'. They made a small fortune selling to their family members.


The ultimate climbing tree in Hope Town


What started as a leisurely stroll in town benignly turned into a trek all the way to Sea Spray marina 3 miles away. But we did find this cool sign tree!


Bill and Katarina were outside the harbor experimenting with the surf board and dinghy thinking that Katarina would be able to kneel on the board. Before long she was standing and ended up surfing all over the place, including a final lap inside Hope Town Harbor stopping at Tide Pool.


Lexie and Katarina later paddled the board back to Escape Velocity.


The night before leaving Hope Town, the girls came back from a body surfing trip surfing the dinghy back from town. They could be heard across the harbor signing classic surfing guitar tunes such as 'Wipeout!'.

The next day we left Hope Town after a memorable one-week stay and headed south exploring Tilloo Bank and Little Harbour. Those posts are on the way!

We look forward to crossing paths again with this inspiring family on Escape Velocity