2025 SALTY DAWG EXUMAS RENDEZVOUS 

Written by Stephen Bell, SV Pilar

The 2025 Salty Dawg Exumas Rendezvous was an outstanding success. There were 16 Salty Dawg sailing vessels and 41 sailors in attendance and what a great crew we were. 

Under the command of Kathy and Chris Kubic of SV Island Time we sailed to five of the beautiful Exuma Cays, most within the Exuma Land and Sea Park.  Anchorages in Staniel Cay, Sampson Cay, Compass Cay, O’Brien Cay and Warderick Wells Cay had plenty of room for the Salty Dawg Fleet. Each day offered the best in beaches, snorkeling, hiking and visiting fellow Dawgs aboard their vessels.  And of course, the beauty of the Bahamian turquoise and sapphire blue waters is the best in the Exuma Cays. 

The Island Time crew organized daily activities for the crew with beach parties, float parties at Rachel’s Bubble Bath on Compass Cay and snorkels in the Aquarium at O’Brien Cay. Each evening were Dawg events including dinghy races (human powered only and a bit of dirty sabotage including grabbing a competitor’s anchor and throwing it out). SV Brenna easily took 1^st place in the human powered dinghy race with their wooden dinghy built to paddle. 

Animal Olympics brought out the best as each team went all out for the Bottle of rum prize. The kids on team SV TIDEYE easily outmaneuvered the other adult teams for the win. I think the parents happily accepted the rum prize on behalf of the kids. 

Maggie Salter took the bottle of rum and the booty in a game of “left, right, center”. She was happy with her booty even though some showed up with rocks and shells for their booty offering. 

We are happy to report there were no injuries or quarrels even though the level of “ingenuity”, ok, outright cheating surpassed our expectations. Best of all there were no reported cases of scurvy obviously due to the daily rations of grog supplied by Chris Kubic each evening. Each ration offered a daily flavor including Bahamas Goombay Smash, rum punch, Dark & Stormy and the obligatory Painkiller. How SV Island Time carried all the grog ingredients on board is beyond me. I did notice their vessel was floating a good eight inches higher at the last anchorage in Warderick Wells once all the grog had been consumed.  

While there was fun and beauty all around, the camaraderie of fellow Dawgs was by far the best part of the event. We all made new friends, learned new cruising and boating techniques and enjoyed one another’s company during our Bahamas cruising. That’s what makes the Salty Dawg Sailing Association so special. 

Special thanks again to Kathy and Chris and to all the boats who participated including Aida, Alectryon, Brenna, Changing Keys, Epic Air, Everything Zen, Gratitude, Island Time, Moxie, Off-Piste, Paper Sails, PILAR, ROAM, Stayin Alive, Sweet Dreams and TIDEYE. We hope to see more fellowship in the future Salty Dawg rendezvous events.

Check out Dawg Pix for more photos from the Exumas!

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