AHOY FRIENDS AND FAMILY! It’s been a while since our last Kyle and Halley Update, so we have a lot of catching up to do. Where did we leave off? Crew house, day work, okay here we go!
Where We’ve Been
Kyle and I moved from our crew house in Fort Lauderdale to a friend’s apartment up in West Palm Beach for a couple weeks because we were getting day work more up North.
While up there, we both were able to find consistent day work together helping to prep for the Boat Show. Plus, we both got the chance to hangout with our pal Thany more. It was really exciting checking out a new area. Conveniently, just in time for our lease to be up, our friends from Colorado planned a trip into our new state!
Colorado Gang Comes To Florida
Kyle and I definitely thought we’d have full-time jobs by the time our friends came to town. Though on the other hand, we were so happy we didn’t! Buzz, LaNora, Henry and Andrew were able to visit Kyle, Thany and I for about a week. Once again, the gang was all under the same roof, this time we’re going full Floridian.
We did everything from snorkel up in West Palm to having a cheeseburger in paradise at Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville, from spike ball on the beach to dinner in Little Havana (amazing restaurant by the way), from renting a boat on the intercostal to getting saucy pictures with a flamingo. We all had a fantastic time together, even when we couldn’t agree on a place to go. More so even on the night of Henry’s Birthday which we spent arguing about good vs. evil, Happy Birthday Henry.
Anyways, we also managed to pile 6 people and all of our stuff in my car, mind you Kyle and I are still basically living out of my car, and surprised Thany at her coffeeshop job, visited her turtle rescue job and showed the boy’s Mar-a-Lago all on their last day.
Like a clown car, we dropped them off at the airport. Mighty quick too, I’ll say, because I accidentally parked in the bus lane. All in all, it was heartening to have a piece of our hilarious, dysfunctional home again. Now we can’t wait for it to be our turn to go back to Colorado and visit them.
Back To Work
After that, I got a freelance job to help deliver a boat to the Bahamas. I ended up driving down (like in a car this time) with the captain to this crazy (rich) place called Ocean Reef. The most exclusive private beach club in all of America. It costs $235,000 just to be a member. WTF?! The place was insane; private airstrip, cute beach club, restaurants, custom golf carts, yachts everywhere. Since crew is not allowed everywhere, we instead did some snorkeling off the coast! So far, the best freelance job ever.
Though in the morning we really got to work and headed out for the Bahamas. We rode two boats in tandem, both just needing an extra person for safety purposes. I got to ride in the MTI, AKA a 2.2 million dollar speed boat.
The ride itself was beautiful, but sad to see how many balloons specifically were floating around in the water. Just in that 8 hour trip we picked up 4 big celebration balloons. This is a devastating problem for sea turtles who think they are eating jellyfish.
In true freelance fashion, I was able to get another temporary gig that started in the Bahamas the day this delivery ended. I was needed as a deck/stew for a boss trip on a 75′ Monte Carlo. Another fast one.
While I got to explore Nassau and the island of Eleuthera, poor Kyle was getting flooded back in Fort Lauderdale. A 1-in-1,000 year rainfall hit dumping 24 inches in 7 hours. Thankfully, his house was not affected and he still even made it to work the next day!
A Little More Vacation Time
Don’t feel too bad for him yet, after the guests had left Kyle was able to come visit me in the Bahamas! He had never been to the Bahamas before and so together we set off an another mini trip.
I didn’t know this, but the Bahamas are actually composed of 700 islands, 30 of which are inhabited. I’ll do a whole article about the Bahamas very soon and talk about it more. Kyle and I just checked out New Providence Island, which is where Nassau is.
One day we rented a car and basically drove the whole island. We checked out the BREEF, known for the famous sculpture garden, the pirate’s staircase, the caves and Junkanoo beach strip. Honestly, I thought the sculpture garden was a little over rated, but the conservation concepts behind it are absolutely awesome.
Another day we miraculously were able to sneak into Atlantis after being turned away by 4 different security guards. Right time, right place, twice and we had ourselves a lovely day on the water slides, lazy RAGING river and checking out the aquariums.
Of course we checked out the casino too, both at Atlantis and at a new resort not too far away called Baha Mar. Again, I’ll go more into detail about my Bahamas preferences in another article.
After a few days of being a tourist, Kyle helped me finish some work for the boat and was on his way back to Florida. I finished up my freelance job and within another week I was back in Florida as well.
We Have Exciting News!
Which leaves us to the present! Kyle and I are back together and currently are getting our Open Water Scuba Certifications. Today, we completed up our pool training, this weekend we head out to the open ocean to finish our training and Monday…
KYLE AND I START OUR JOBS!
The bad news? It’s not on the same boat. The good news? We will both be working on the East Coast this summer as deckhands for smaller boats where we will learn a lot more.
Both of our jobs begin in Florida and as hurricane season approaches we will begin to move North. We are sad to be doing long distance, but are ready to take this step so in the future we will be more qualified & distinguished as a couple.
Thank you to everyone who actually has read this all. I’m sorry it was so long, there was a lot that happened. We miss you guys and are excited to see some familiar faces on the East coast this summer!
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