Justin Wassouf Hadeed turns nine

This past weekend it was another Adventure Antigua party and this time Justin was the main man who was boss. Justin told me he was 7, his cake said 9 but i think he was acutally 29. He is a very mature charismatic 9 year old and told his parents that he wanted to go out on our boat again, but this time he wanted it to be different to his sister's party. The lovely Rax seen with her Dad above had a real adventure several weeks before and this birthday party was equally enjoyable for all guests and crew alike. Big Justin invited a bunch of his friends from school as well as some "older" family and friends for a long cruise up the coast from Jolly Harbour all the way up to Green Island. First we had to stop at Stingray City park to visit the rays as well as Greedy Bob the hawksbill turtle who hangs out nearby. Some of us were lucky enough to see him on this day too. The rays were swimming by and Justin seen in the pic above and below was the first to say hi. After everyone had drinks and had seen the rays we were off to Green Island. Tony, JD, Ross and Olly took the Arawak Odyssey up past Devils Bridge and into Green Island's Non Such Sound while i followed in the boston whaler. We had JD's whaler so that we could pull the Jumbo Dog once again which was a favorite in the last party. The kids then felt that they didn't get enough and if you remember i took some heat from one of the young ladies who thought i was a bit "evil". hehehe

We set up two lunches. One for the kids and one for the grown ups. My crew decided that peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, hot dogs, tuna, patties and cheese sandwiches were better than the adult food. I guess this happens when you eat the same thing every day. That being said the adults loved our regular buffet.

After playing on the beach for a while picking on the biggest kid there (Elias) and making enough noise to wake the dead it was time for the Jumbo Dog. Who comes up with these names?

Anyway, Justin, being the main man, invited 4 of his best pals to come on with him on the first ride, and once they had belts on, Captain JD took off. We could hear the screams for the whole ride even though JD kept the speed limit to a very low pace the thrill was still big enough. Each child had several turns and then all of a sudden i heard screams from all directions. It was Justin's last ride with his friends and they managed to flip the dog over. I counted 5 little heads swimming quickly towards JD and Tony who were already back alongside them. When they got back to the boat they were talking all at once recounting the adventure from all different angles of bravery.

IT was now time for a bonfire! Ross and Olly had been in the forrest looking for dead wood and within minutes of the last Jumbo Dog rider coming back to shore the first marshmellows were getting roasted. In fact we had to let the little fire cool down a bit before the kids were allowed to get close enough, but they were amazingly patient. One and a half bags of sticky gooey marshmallows later and we had some hyper kids on our hands. They also had marshmallows on their hands and on their faces. Cameron Hadeed was covered in the stuff, but i think that's because this tiny skinny little kid had managed to consume about 10 marshmallows. He's too cute! I think he would have kept on going too but we told him we had to out the fire. Olly took careful care of that before coming back to the boat just in time for the cake. ....and what a cake it was! With all the sugar in the systems of those kids it was time for me and JD to abandon ship with the Boston Whaler. Tony, Olly and Ross managed to take Justin, his family and friends all the way back to Jolly Harbour. The day had been a 50 mile round trip of fun in the sun, and i hope enjoys many more such birthdays to come. The crew and i enjoyed the day out too. I went to elementary and high school with some of the adults on the trip and it was good to hang with them again. Thanks to Laila for asking Adventure Antigua to be involved once again and thanks to her also for all of these great photos. Well done! OK now since i know there are some smart kids reading this. Please make notes and comment on all my spelling mistakes so that i can correct them. My spell checker doesn't work after 11pm. hehehehe

Kids Birthday Party in Antigua

My old school friend from back when I was 10 years old called me a few weeks ago asking if I could help her with a party. Laila Hadeed, now has three children some 20 years later and her lovely daughter "Rax" had a birthday on Thursday. Yesterday we organized a party for her family and little friends. IT was quite an event. Tony and Chris collected the kids and a few parents from Dickenson Bay and cruises up the coast towards The North Sound where JD and I were waiting in his Boston Whaler with food and the Jumbo Dog. I think JD was more excited about the Jumbo Dog than the kids were. We had rented it from a watersports operator as it was one of the main things Rax wanted for her and her friends. Captain "J-Dog" dropped me off onto the Eco Tour boat, "Arawak Odyssey" in Great Bird Island channel and I was able to show the kids Magnificent Frigate Birds and Red Billed Tropic birds as they flew around the bluff of the island. I told the kids that the Tropic Birds needed caves to nest inside and that Bird Island was ideal for that. I also told them that caves were also used by pirates long ago to hide their loot. Tony steered us closer to a large cave at the base of Bird Island. As we approached, one of the kids screamed "there's a bottle in the water". Another quickly yelled "there's a message in it". I told Captain Tony to maneuver the boat closer so that I could grab it. Sure enough it was a message in a bottle. I told them we would anchor on the shore and then open it up. Rax read it and the rhyming message explained that there was a clue under a coconut tree on the North beach of Great Bird Island which would tell us where treasure would be found. The kids all began scrambling over the sides to make way for the beach on the other side. I had to yell at them to stop pretty quickly for two reasons. One was that none had shoes and another was that they had North and South mixed up. I asked Tony to check the compass and to tell the kids where North was. Chris brought down the shoes to the eager kids and was nearly swamped by them. We all rushed over to the nearest coconut tree on the North beach. No luck! We then moved on to the next one and sure enough another message was enclosed inside a palm frond at the base of the tree. The rhyme inside explained that we had to go to the top of Bird and look South for a rock with a bridge. As Chris, Tony, JD and I guided the group slowly to the top we explained about the wild life and plants we were passing. Once on top we spotted the island off to the South. We found some fossils and explained a little about the unique geography we had all around us. It was now time for a quick swim before heading off to the "isle with a bridge" where hopefully we would find our treasure. One child asked how we would share up the treasure. I explained that the way it usually works was that Captain keeps a third, crew keeps a third and owner keeps the last third. The kids told me that Captain Tony didn't need a third and that we could share the treasure between us. I explained that what they were suggesting was close to mutiny and that keel hauling was the punishment. They didn't like the sound of keel hauling and said that Tony could keep his share. We were then off to Hell's Gate.
Once Tony, Chris, and I had gotten almost all the group to the shore safely, it was time to find the "treasure that lay inside".
I led with "#2", Rax (the birthday girl) right behind me. Once we were all in the cave, I let Rax go ahead. A few steps and she blurted out "treasure!!!!". We had found treasure and despite much doubt earlier, there was enough for everyone. It was now time to eat and we cruised down to a nice protected area between Rabbit and Read Head islands. This is where the Jumbo Dog had been anchored up slightly out of sight from the kids. Man were they excited. I don't think I have ever seen food consumed so quickly and only kids could have done that kind of speed eating without heartburn. Once the other crew had eaten, we got belts ready for the kids and J-Dog got the Jumbo Dog loaded up for the first ride. For the next hour or so, J-Dog and his small crew pulled happy kids (and a few adults) back and forth in the nice calm waters to the lee of the "Arawak Odyssey". I just realized that the only person who didn't join in the fun was me!! Wait a second.

It was now time for the trip home where the cake would be waiting at a dock in Hodges Bay near the kid's home. Unfortunately the dock was a bit small so the cake was transported to Dickenson Bay where Tony and Chris said goodbye to the group. JD and I had left the group when the last of the kids took their last ride. Actually, a very pirate like little woman called Marissa had to be removed from the Jumbo Dog before we could leave. She had had too much fun and didn't want to get off. She told me I was an "evil evil evil man". I told her thank you....it’s what all of us pirates want to hear and strive to become. Ahhhrrrrrrrrhh!
All in all it was a fun day and I hope to do something like this again.