Ottawa Magazine’s Kimberley Johnson is in Barbados for Hockey Week, courtesy of Barbados Tourism Marketing, Inc. Follow her dispatches from the Caribbean every day this week, as she explores sun, sand, and the Senators. She’ll also be tweeting (@ottawamag) and posting photos via Instagram (ottawa_magazine). And read an exclusive excerpt from Bruce Firestone’s new book about the Senators, Don’t Back Down: The Real Story of the Founding of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators, on our website.
For people who have returned to Hockey Week in Barbados for the second or third time it was the catamaran that was, by far, the most-anticipated daytrip. It’s all anyone could talk about from the very beginning.
Seriously.
All the hype definitely got new people excited. When there is hype there is the possibility of being let down — but this day did not disappoint.
“It’s something I really look forward to.” says Former Y101 broadcaster Linda Warne. She is here for the second time and says she really loves it.
“It’s really great because you may not know everyone when you get on, but by the end you definitely do.” Warne laughs, “It’s really one of the highlights of the trip.”
“That’s why I include it,” says Owen Shortt, the trip’s organizer from Winchester Travel.
“It’s definitely a little more expensive, not going to lie. But it’s so worth it,” Shortt explains. “I have fun, the people have fun, and it’s all a part of the experience.”
For the 30 people who ventured into the water the turtles got close and were pretty calm. When there are more than 10 people in the water, all the limbs can cause sea turtles to get confused.
Colin and Patsy Bromfield are on the trip for the first time and agree the catamaran was the best so far.
“I’ve been on a catamaran before but it was overcrowded so I didn’t know what to expect. But this was great,” says Colin Bromfield. “The water was the best part. I was the last person out everytime.”
His wife, also on the trip for the first time, agrees “it was amazing.”
Then with that out of the way, the 63-foot craft pulled the anchor and moved to One Sandy Beach on the west side of the island for some swimming and a sunset dinner (One Sandy Lane is rumoured to be music superstar Rihanna’s island condo and where she was interviewed by Oprah in 2012). In all for five hours people spent the day jumping off the sides into the ocean, sliding off the back on the slide, and suntanning and chatting on the front. There was even a beautiful sunset dinner to enjoy.
At the end of the day the Hockey Weekers were raving: the catamaran trip definitely lived up to the hype.