This was an amazing experience…easily one of the BEST we have every had! We were invited by our friend’s Ted and Gail to join them for a long weekend at their home in Eleuthera, Bahamas. They had not been able to visit in over 6 months due to Covid and this was their first opportunity! Captain Ted would be flying us in his 1983 Beechcraft Bonanza B36! Of course, we said yes!! And, BONUS…we were able to see our friends, Lisa and Shane before the flight AND from the air!
We enjoyed so many memorable moments, the most significant one was that Brown and I had never flown internationally in a private plane and Brown had never visited the Bahamas before. Wow…flying private is SO easy and pleasant! Customs and immigration is a dream! (WHO SAYS THAT???) It turned out there were a lot of firsts on this trip and they have been well documented in this video.
We hope you enjoy the beauty of the amazing earth from the air, land, water, and under the sea. It’s truly amazing! Thank you, Ted and Gail for your friendship, hospitality and generosity!
NEW TO OUR CHANNEL? We are Eileen and Brown Councill. Welcome to our channel and a glimpse into our life adventure! 2020 was a year of uncertainty and change (for all of us, right?), but we overcame the challenges and decided it was time to chase our dream, to sail around the world! Did I mention that we had very NO sailing experience? Before leaving Qingdao, China, our home of 4 years, we sold almost all of our earthly possessions and started our international search to find the right sailboat that we would call "home." After 5 months of unanticipated twists and turns, we found what we were looking for, a used Leopard 44' Catamaran located in St. Lucia.
So, here begins our journey, filled with unmatched excitement and honestly, a bit of trepidation as well. We have much to learn as we travel the world on our floating home and we intend to document that journey and share it with you. We are so glad you have decided to join us, and we hope that you will find our story so compelling that it will inspire you to chase your dreams too!
As a viewer, we consider you to be part of our family and look forward to getting to know you. Don't hesitate to comment on our videos and ask questions. We will do our best to answer every correspondence! All we ask is that you have patience with us as we work really hard to improve our camera/video techniques and ability to tell a story. Hopefully, you will be as BLOWN AWAY from watching, as we are in experiencing and producing our adventures!
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Today we get to do something we have never done before.
Thanks to our dear friends Ted and Gail, we get to fly in a private airplane
to another country, the Bahamas.
Are you excited, sweetie?
Yeah!
See you guys!
Bye!
Bye-bye!
Okay.
Are you sure?
Yeah.
I'm leaving on a prop plane.
I don't know when.
I'll be back again.
Okay.
Off we go.
Wait.
Smile, cuties.
That's a cute pic.
Bye!
Love you!
Okay.
Just hold that door.
Okay.
You got it.
Flying private has incredible advantages, like our departure time is whenever we finish
our conversation with our friends, no TSA, no removal of our shoes, belts, or any items
from our bags, a full bottle of water, and no need for a mask, just to name a few.
Our flight will take approximately 90 minutes, flying non-stop from Marathon Airport to a
private airstrip on the island of Eleuthera.
Friendly and unassuming, the Bahamian island of Eleuthera offers daydreamy toes-in-the-sand
getaways.
The 110-mile-long island beautifully displays its stunning natural features with rugged
high cliffs that brace against the wild Atlantic Ocean in contrast to the clear, aqua water
lapping the west-facing white, powdery beaches.
Like most countries, COVID has wreaked havoc on this tiny Bahamian nation, but the island
of Eleuthera seems to be rebounding, and with the acceptance of international flights, tourism
should assist with economic recovery.
To receive permission to visit Eleuthera, we completed an online application which required
evidence of a negative COVID test and a plan for quarantine.
Well done, Captain Ted!
Way to go!
That's awesome!
Upon arrival, we were asked to buy provisions for our stay and then self-quarantine until
our departure.
This was easy to do given the remoteness of Ted and Gail's Bahamian abode.
What do you need?
I think my sunglasses are on me.
Your sunglasses are on your face.
Oh my gosh, thank you.
He didn't take his medicine today.
I just took half of it.
We're in the Bahamas!
Yay, we're in the Bahamas!
What a flight!
Yay!
Going through customs was a dream.
No lines and staff ready to assist.
It took us all but five minutes to complete the process, and on the other side was a fresh
conch salad waiting for us.
Wow!
Now you gotta share.
I'm sorry.
You guys enjoy.
Thank you.
Oh, that's gross.
Oh, that's service.
You know you're in the Bahamas when fine ambassadors show up with conch salad, and it smells amazing.
Visiting a grocery store in a foreign country is one of our favorite things to do, and this
shop was no exception.
But we really scored when we stopped off at Uncle Tommy's Bakery.
Hello!
How you doing?
Oh, look it.
Oh, smell that.
That looks good.
We have guavas, we have corn fritters.
Do you want corn fritters?
Oh, it smells so good in here.
Do you want to fry some for you?
Yeah.
It has fresh conch, it has onions, sweet pepper, celery, tomatoes.
That's amazing.
Fresh thyme, flour.
I am not worthy.
Yes, you are.
Three orders.
Yeah, sure.
We're special people in special areas.
That looks beautiful.
It's fresh, fresh native guavas in this today.
Now I'm going to put some sauce on.
You've got too much food now.
It has guavas in it, it has some egg, it has cream, it has sugar, and butter.
Some nutmeg in it as well.
My name is Thomas Aubrey.
Thomas, it's so nice to meet you.
Let me show you so you can take a picture of it.
Oh, that's really cool.
I don't think you're going to want to see the cash register.
That's awesome.
High tech.
How's your fast going, Brown?
It's non-existent, cheeky monkey.
There are times when the ocean is so rough that there are walls of water coming over this.
No way.
You have to wash the cars off right here.
They're hitting out there and exploding and dropping so much water onto the shore that it's creating this river like instantly.
It's just dropping thousands of gallons at a time and just starts flowing.
Wow.
It's bizarre.
The stone arch connecting Eleuthera's two narrow strips of land that Winslow Homer saw and painted in 1885 is long gone.
It was washed away by hurricanes.
But the name he gave the unique site has stuck.
Still called Glass Window Bridge, it's a vulnerable spot that has been destroyed and rebuilt many times in the intervening years.
Even the newest bridge was picked up and shifted more than 10 feet during a hurricane.
Glass Window Bridge is one of the more popular attractions often called the narrowest place on earth.
From the bridge, you can see a phenomenal contrast between the dark blue Atlantic Ocean slamming against the cliffs and the calm turquoise waters of the Caribbean Sea.
The colors are truly amazing.
Oh, wow.
This is awesome.
Wild.
Privacy.
It's like the entrance.
No way.
Sea grapes.
Can you eat them?
Oh, yeah.
The ripe ones right now.
Really?
What's ripe?
Purple?
I have never heard of a sea grape.
Wow.
Look at that view.
What are you talking about?
Me?
No.
No?
Oh, my goodness.
Wow.
Look at that.
So, we have arrived and getting the house set up, and we've come for a little snack.
Sea grapes.
I had no idea sea grapes existed.
Did you know about sea grapes?
If you did, leave some comments down below.
Check them out.
You know what it smells like around here?
It smells like fermentation, like you're in a winemaker shop.
Doesn't it?
They're really interesting.
Like it's in the barrel.
They're like 99% pit, and you just suck off the skin.
It's a little bit of a rough skin.
They're a little sweet, a little sour.
That one's a little sour.
That's what the pit looks like, so it's mainly all pit.
But if you're a pirate and you're looking for a good snack, argh, you may too.
Argh.
Not bad.
Yeah.
Mmm.
Oh, that was bitter.
Do you want to get some coconuts?
Oh, yeah.
Argh, jungle boy.
Yield to me.
Coconut.
Oh, yes.
Argh.
Let's take it and see if...
Let's hope we have a machete.
I can do it with me bare hands.
Harga.
If you plant one of these, then up to the ground springs a fresh white lily.
We had the best of both worlds.
An incredible view of the Atlantic Ocean with its cool breezes and colorful sunrises,
and just a short walk across the peninsula provided us access to the bayside
with clear, warm water, lots of fish and turtles, and colorful sunsets.
After dinner, we tried guava duff for the first time, and it was amazing.
The guava is one of the few indigenous fruits to the Bahamas.
These splendid fruits are plentiful on the islands and are considered vitamin powerhouses.
As much as the Bahamians enjoy this fruit in its pure form,
the most common and celebrated way to eat guava is in the famed guava duff.
This traditional Bahamian recipe combines guava fruit, a sweet dough,
and a special rum sauce to drizzle on top.
The recipe also employs the unique cooking method of steaming the dough, or duff as they call it,
similar to the preparation for British pudding.
Guava duff is decadent and oftentimes reserved for special occasions,
like our first visit to Eleuthera.
Always ready for an adventure.
All right, Captain Ted, and co-captain Gail, off we go.
Some white, sandy, beautiful beach.
Paradise.
That we might as well think is all ours.
Right.
Right now it is.
We're leaving in about an hour and a half or so, and it's our final snorkel.
So we're headed back to the beach, and I'm going to enjoy the beautiful blue-green water.
This place is spectacular.
Bye, beautiful beach.
How was your final morning swim, sweetie?
Oh, it's great.
Awesome.
Good times.
Time to go.
This was an epic long weekend, and easily one of the best experiences of our lives.
Thank you, Ted and Gail, for your incredible generosity and hospitality.
You guys are absolutely amazing.
We hope you enjoyed this video, and if you did, please subscribe and share it with your friends.
Thanks so much.
