Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Happy Kwanzaa and Happy Holidays!

Friends and family of Small Hope celebrated the holidays today with our annual Christmas feast! The chefs outdid themselves again with a huge meal, including TWENTY desserts!!

We here at Small Hope Bay Lodge wish you and yours a very merry holiday and a Happy New Year! Pin It Now!

O Tannenbaum!

It's that time of year again -- time to go Christmas tree hunting! The Small Hope Elves headed out into the pine yard to find the perfect tree to grace the main area of the Lodge. Brian, Alvin, Christian and Amanda played elves and headed out into the forest to find their tree. It took a couple of hours but finally the perfect Andros pine made it back to the Lodge to be decorated by the staff at the Small Hope Staff Christmas party. Pin It Now!

Turtle Eye View

Divemaster Dennis got this great footage from a "turtle's eye view" while diving at the Giant Staircase. You can see the Caribbean Reef Shark and a couple of Nassau Groupers in the background. The green turtle stayed around for most of the dive, much to the enjoyment of our divers! Pin It Now!

In the Wild World

While walking along our mile long stretch of private beach, some of our guests this week noticed two pairs of nesting ospreys. The birds were putting on an aerial (and vocal!) display while they searched around for the perfect nesting tree in our pine forest.

Ospreys are large raptors who have a mostly fish diet. They can spot fish from over 100 feet in the air and can dive to about 4 feet in the water, feet first, to snatch up their meal. Ospreys are found on every continent except for Antartica. They typically mate for life and can lay up to four eggs at a time. They use the same nesting sites annually, with some nesting sites having been used for 70 years! We at Small Hope hope that means we will be seeing these beautiful creatures for years to come!

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Happy Thanksgiving

All of us at Small Hope Bay we giving thanks yesterday. Thanks for the beautiful weather, the great diving and the wonderful guests that chose to spend their Thanksgiving holiday with us!

The day began with a picture perfect sunrise. The divers all headed out the Ocean Blue Hole and Lieben's Point for a morning of great diving.

Since our divers had been here and diving for a couple of days, they were game for a game. Norm, Conor, Duane and Kim took part in the First Annual Small Hope Bay Lodge Underwater Turkey Bowl, along with Divemasters Amanda, Loren, Ashley and Dennis. It was a tight game of flag football using the Toypedo as a ball but the Hammerheads managed to pull a win out against the Fighting Devil Rays, thanks to a clutch "run" by Duane. Check out the entire video here!

After we had all worked up a healthy appetite, it was time to enjoy our Thanksgiving feast. Once again, our chefs outdid themselves with four main entrees, delicious sides and SIXTEEN desserts! The Lodge hosts dinners like this four times a year (the other three are at Christmas, New Years and Easter) and all the staff, guests and discerning members of the community were very enthusiastic about their meal (especially the chocolate mousse!)

Presentations were done after dinner as usual with the addition of presenting the trophy to the winners of the Turkey Bowl. Loren, the captain of the victorious Hammerheads, accepted the trophy on behalf of his team (Duane, Conor and Dennis). Duane "The Destroyer" Romanello was awarded the MVP award for scoring the only touchdown in the game.
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Small Hope Bay Internships

Small Hope Bay Lodge is now accepting applications for Summer 2009 interns. We run a true internship, which means that interns work in exchange for room, board, and training.

Intern requirements:

- 18 and over
- Great attitude
- Ability to adapt to different jobs
- Great interpersonal skills
- Good swimming abilities

Diving experience and certification are a bonus but not necessary. If you have the right attitude, we'll give you all the training you will need!

Small Hope internships give you experience in not only diving and watermanship but you will also leave with a great working knowledge of the hospitality industry as a whole.

Apply for internship at shbinterns@gmail.com. Write us a letter telling us about you and why you would make a great intern. Application deadline is April 1, 2009.

In 2008, we had three interns, Seicha, Tanya and Hayley.



Seicha is a sophomore at Brown University studying linguistics. She is a native Androsian who was raised in and around the water by her parents, Tim and Beth. Seicha has worked at SHBL since she was 13 and started summer interning after she moved to the States for high school. Seicha became a PADI Divemaster when she turned 18.

Tanya is a sophomore at Amherst University majoring in theater and dance. She has been coming to SHBL with her family for years and has been an intern since she was 16. Tanya has completed her training through Divemaster.

Hayley came in as our youngest intern this year. She is a sophomore in high school in Louisville, KY. She has been coming to SHBL with her family for years. Hayley worked her way through her Advanced Open Water certification this year and will hopefully move on to Rescue next summer.

The interns work hard helping out the regular staff but everyone gets to have fun. We take our jobs very seriously but as you can see from the video below (a clip of a video that Tanya made at the end of the summer this year), sometimes we just have to cut loose and dance!



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Check out Small Hope Bay Lodge on Jaunted.com

SHBL was recently visited by Lost Girl, Jen Baggett, as she and friend, Mark, took a "field trip" down to Andros for the pop culture travel site, Jaunted.com. Check out the first of the series of posts here and keep an eye on Jaunted for the next week for the rest of the series.

As for Jen, we hope to see her back here soon. Our jam sessions are missing her harmonic talents immensely (and Mark's input on our playlist is also sorely missed!)
Lost Girl Jen and Divemaster Amanda at Shark Emporium Pin It Now!

Meet The SHBL Pooches

This is Rex, aka Rexus Maximus or just plain Rexie. He is a three year old (we think) potcake

that is native to Andros. He's been at Small Hope since he was a puppy that followed one of our kitchen staff to work every day. Rex was adopted by Divemasters Loren and Amanda when they joined the staff in April of 2008.



Rex enjoys laying in the sand, crab hunting in the lagoon and along the beach, wading in Davis Creek, and belly rubs. He has also been known to follow bike riders to Captain Bill's Blue Hole.

Photo: Mike Jones

Meet Sarah, aka Sare Bear, Beara, or Sarah Bear-Bear, Small Hope's newest addition to the family. Sarah was living down by Davis Creek with her companion, a Great Dane names Andros, when Andros was adopted by SHBL guests and taken on an adventure to New York City. Sarah eventually started hanging out around the Lodge and once again, Divemasters Loren and Amanda adopted a dog (they're dog people!). Sarah is very sweet and a little timid and can usually be found waiting at the end of the dock for her people to come back from the dive. She enjoys crab hunting with Rex, soft ear scratches and laying on Amanda's yoga mat.

Photo: Jill Brickey

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Moving Into The Digital Age

For all of our guests, past, present and future, that have Facebook accounts -- come join our group! Post pictures and videos. Reconnect with guests that stayed here at the same time you did. Share stories and adventures!

Join here.

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Election Night

The elections in the USA have an effect on all of us globally and some of the guests and staff were anxious to watch the returns live so we decided to have an Election Night Party. The kids made election posters and a TV was brought in and tuned to CNN so we could watch the events unfold in our "Non Partisan Zone" aka The Games Room.

Only a couple of us made it to the concession and victory speeches but a fun time was had by all.

We at Small Hope Bay Lodge realize that it has been a tough election year. We are proud of our neighbors in the USA for their commitment, enthusiasm and enduring spirit of democratic progress.

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SHBL Music Project

Any of our guests who have been here since April probably have seen Ashley bring out his guitar to entertain after dinner on the patio or in the lounge. Those same guests may have noticed that sometimes there is a lull in the music or sometimes someone just singing along because no one knows all the words to the song we are playing.

We've also been noticing our CD collection at the Lodge. Some of the CD's we have are older than the newest generation of divers that we are taking Over The Wall!

So we at SHBL are challenging (and imploring!!) our guests to take part in the SHBL Music Project. We would love it if our guests would bring us mix CD's of their favorite music. Before your trip, burn a CD with all of your favorite songs, label it as "Your Name Here's SHBL Mix" and bring it with you on your vacation. We'll put it on a special shelf of guest mixes.

If you are REALLY ambitious, you can print the lyrics out for the songs for us to add to our song books for sing along nights. If Ash doesn't know how to play the songs, he'll learn!

So put your thinking caps on and put together your ultimate playlist. This should be an interesting and musical season!

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What's The Weather Like?

Cool and breezy with the sun shining and the seas flat, it is just another perfect day at Small Hope Bay! Divemaster Loren and Small Hope Bay Pooch, Rex were out enjoying the sunshine!

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Small Hope Bay Lodge's Inbox

Here are some emails and pictures that we have received recently from our wonderful guests!

Giorgio Brancaleoni, a divemaster from Italy who recently visited us sent us this phenomenal shot of a Caribbean Reef Shark.

Jim Cribb, a repeat guest sent some pictures from his visit in May with Sheila, Lynn and Ashley and his visit in October.

From left to right : Ashley, Divemaster Amanda, and Sheila showing off their Androsia pareos and a little leg!


Below : Jim snapped a picture of Divemaster Amanda doing her thing with video

Right : Divemaster Loren getting photographed photographing Atlantic
Spadefish at the Ocean Blue Hole Pin It Now!

Check Us Out On Youtube!

Come and see what is happening and how the diving is going on the Small Hope Bay Lodge Youtube channel! Subscribe to us to be updated automatically when a new video is uploaded and leave comments to let the world know what you think! Pin It Now!

Small Hope Bay Lodge Opens For The 49th Time!

Today marks the start of the 49th season of Small Hope Bay Lodge. Our first guests are due to arrive any minute and we are off to the races!

And the reefs! The dive staff is ready to go and see our sharks, groupers, eels and rays!

The house staff has been working hard over the last month to spruce up the grounds, cabins and lounge.

Everyone at SHBL is looking forward to seeing our returning Small Hope family and looking forward to meeting all the newcomers to Small Hope Bay Lodge!

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Whale Boys

The Whale Boys made up this tribute for Skeebo in appreciation for his awesome divemastering ten or so years ago that resulted in the Boys seeing a humpback whale swimming in the Tongue of the Ocean. Randy managed to get a snap of it and brought it to show off at the Lodge during the spring.

We know where Skeebo is and we miss him dearly but we are still looking for that whale! Pin It Now!

All Is Well at SHBL

Preparations for the 2008 - 2009 season are continuing in earnest while we enjoy the calm and sunny days! The dive staff is hard at work doing all the annual maintenance on the dive equipment and boats and the maintenance staff are spiffing up the lodge and cabins with new coats of paint and varnish. We can't wait to see all of our beloved guests again!

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Bahamas own Androsia Batik Factory goes global with a new online ordering system

In 1973 the Androsia Batik Factory was started by the Birch Family. Its goal was to employ local Androsians and promote the beauty of the Bahamas through the art of batik. Androsia is still fulfilling that original dream. Androsia Batik is now not only available in stores in the Bahamas, but via an online shopping system from their website www.androsia.com. For the new season Androsia has just launched fresh colours and designs so if you that are missing the feeling of Andros Island take a look at the 150 batik fabric, garments, and accessories in 25 colours and designs on their online shopping cart system.

In case you didn't know, the cute little girl on Small Hope's beach is Tracy and Skeebo's daughter, Mia. Tracy, Skeebo, Mia, Mariah, and Harrington have just moved to Tracy's hometown of Lowell, Massachusetts. Tracy is working part-time for Small Hope assisting with our Bookeeping and Marketing efforts.

We hope to see you on Andros soon! Pin It Now!

Small Hope Storm Watch : Ike

Hurricane Ike made landfall in Cuba so all we are seeing is 20 mph winds and some rain. The weather is not so bad that we can't begin getting the Lodge cleaned up for everyone next season! Pin It Now!

Small Hope Storm Watch : Ike

The calm before the storm?



Small Hope pups, Rex and Sarah, took advantage of the calm water to go crab hunting.





Hurricane Ike looks like it will take a turn to the south and miss Andros Island for the most part. We are still in full hurricane preparation mode in case Ike decides to turn but for today at least, we are clear. Pin It Now!

Small Hope Storm Watch : Hanna and Hurricane Ike

This is what Small Hope Bay looked like when the staff showed up to work this morning:








Hanna passed us by last night with a little wind and a little rain but all in all, we are in the clear from that storm.

Even the creatures are coming back out:



We are definitely keeping a close eye on Hurricane Ike and will know more about the path of the storm as the weekend progresses. We'll keep everyone advised! Have a great weekend! Pin It Now!

Small Hope Storm Watch : Tropical Storm Hanna

All is still well on the Bay. Hurricane Hanna has been downgraded back to a Tropical Storm and is hanging out around Haiti trying to make up her mind which direction she is going to go. We are on hurricane watch as Hanna is supposed to regain hurricane strength by tomorrow but everything is fine for now! Pin It Now!

Small Hope Storm Watch : Hurricane Hanna

We woke up this morning to a little high wind, which is probably still not from Hurricane Hanna. Everything still looks good at Small Hope Bay!

Thanks to all of our friends for their good wishes and thoughts! We appreciate you all. Pin It Now!

Small Hope Storm Watch : Hurricane Hanna

It's a windy day today on the Bay but not from Hurricane Hanna. It looks like we may seen some rain and wind tonight or tomorrow from the hurricane as it approaches us from the east.

The last guests of the season checked out already so we are battening down the hatches and getting ready! Pin It Now!

Small Hope Storm Watch : Hanna

Hurricane Gustav passed Andros in the west and Tropical Storm Hanna is approaching us from the Northeast but the track is supposed to continue to the NE and it is possible that all we will see is some wind and rain.

We are getting ready to close for September to do maintenance so hopefully the rain won't get in the way of our painting! Pin It Now!

A Family That Dives Together

Has fun together!

The Rudolfs, Chris, Nanette, and Max came down and spent a week diving with us at SHBL. They saw sharks, turtles, and played some underwater football with the dive staff. The Rudolfs also trekked out to Captain Bill's Blue Hole and spent an enjoyable afternoon jumping off of the platform into the water. Pin It Now!

Reflection

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Small Hope Storm Watch : Fay

The storm has passed us by completely and is headed north to Florida. All is clear in Small Hope! Pin It Now!

The Birch Family

The eldest Birch children all stopped in to have lunch at Small Hope today and said "Hello!" to all of our big Small Hope family. They hope to see you all soon! Pin It Now!

Small Hope Storm Watch : Fay

Friends and family of SHBL, don't believe everything you hear on the Weather Channel! Tropical Storm Fay is far to the west of Andros Island and we are not expecting to receive anything more than a little wind and rain.



We are operating business as usual, which means the dive boat is heading out for another gorgeous dive!

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