It was held at the Bocas Marina's "Calypso Cantina and Grill" which is a mostly outside venue. One of the docks was converted to a raised runway and stage with the help of beer cases and plywood. Covered in black plastic it was lit with red LED rope lights and big spotlights. Decorated with some local flora, it looked great! Plastic chairs were put all around the stage, though not quite enough to sit the 200 plus people.
Dinner was a nice buffet, but knowing cruisers, they only provided a tiny plate to load up with the salads, cold cuts, lasagna and curried chicken and rice. They did run out of silverware at one point. The entertainment was, well entertaining! Bubba, the local chainsaw artist was doing a demonstration of his "art" which was being raffled as one of the night's prizes. Just before the fashion show would begin at 2030 (8:30 pm), two bathing suited women came on the runway (to music being played by a local band) and one woman proceeded to body paint the other. A few others joined in the painting as well.
Then to the song "hot hot hot" a bathing suited woman came out with a hula hoop aflame and did a fire dance sending the row in front of us scurrying She was very good (she was also the woman who did the body painting and we met her earlier in the week as the yoga instructor, masseuse and person who ran the spa at "Red Frog.")
Barbara was happy because the fashion show started with some very good looking men in swimsuits! The show was very well done and a lot of fun even though we aren't exactly fashion mavens. The models were good looking local folks who seemed to be having a lot of fun and they were well-rehearsed. There were swimsuits (Michael's favorite was the bikini set), casual clothes and even raingear from Helly Hansen, the boaters' loved that (Barbara loved it when the men took off the raincoats and had on boxers or swimsuits!)
Lots of prizes were raffled off and there was also a silent auction. Some of the prizes included dinners at local eateries, dive trips, local art, overnight stays at the hotels, massages, personal trainers and tattoos! Unfortunately we came home prize less but it was fun to see how excited people got when they won! Then, they auctioned a date with the doctor, Dr. Ben, who runs the "Floating Doctors" and he is quite handsome and really hammed it up on stage. We thought of bidding in the hopes of getting our annual physicals for a good price!. The bidding was between two folks and got to $275! Well out of our price range.
It was a fun evening and we called it a night around 2300 (11 pm) and dinghied back to our boat at anchor near the marina. It was a madhouse watching people leaving the event as water taxis were zipping and speeding every which way. Back on the boat, we listened to the music continue for quite awhile and were glad we left when the karaoke singing started!
We were glad to spend some of our limited funds on the night and support the "Floating Doctors." It was an entertaining night and the organization is a good one. "Floating Doctors" is an all-volunteer, non-profit medical relief team who work in remote areas to help in emergency situations (they were in Haiti twice – once after the earthquakes and once for the cholera outbreak) as well as to help provide education and care in remote coastal places. They work off a large motor-sailboat, the SV Southern Wind. Check them out at www.floatingdoctors.com
After all the excitement of Bocas Town, we moved to the "Dark Lands" on Saturday – more on that later!
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