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Story and Photos by Dave Withrow

The crowd was a liTTle down; there were 1,400 pirates this year. That could be due to the Alas-kan Cruise this year or the excite-ment of the 10th Anniversary Western Caribbean Cruise in 2012. What wasn’t down was the fun factor and the generosity of the participants. The total raised for the H.O.H.S. Di-alysis fund this cruise was $173,000. On this year’s cruise, 16 dialysis pa-tients were brought on board, along with a caregiver, doctors, nurses and all of the equipment needed to provide for their care. The generosity

of this year’s participants will allow next year’s cruise to bring 18 dialysis patients aboard the ship, offering them a once-in-a-lifetime trip. With warm weather and clear skies, this year’s cruise was a perfect ending to the riding season. After last year’s detour to CocoCay in the Bahamas, it was nice to get back to Labadee in Hispaniola. Labadee gets better every year with more attractions and activities. This year, Falmouth became the official stop in Jamaica, replacing Ocho Rios. About half of the High Seas Rally

9th AnnuAl HigH SeaS Rally WeSteRn CaRibbean CRuiSe

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participants took a long bus ride to Ocho Rios to party at Margari-taville, while the other half explored Falmouth. I decided to explore the still-under-construction Falmouth. Inside the gated port were high-end jewelry stores and tourist shops that charged a 17.5% Jamaica tax. There weren’t any great bars or restau-rants to explore. You could leave the safety of the port at your own risk. We chose to do a tram tour of the city with the highlight being a stop at St. Peter’s Anglican Church. If Ocho Rios was considered too depressed, then Falmouth would be too sani-tized. All of the great Jamaican adventures are closer to Ocho Rios and require a minimum 45 minute bus ride each way. By next year, Fal-mouth will be more developed, but it will still have that sanitized feeling. I miss the gritty Ocho Rios. Our next stop was George Town, Grand Cayman. It was back to familiar territory where we felt safe to explore and there were a number of options. Everyone was back together and Margaritaville was the place to be. Our last stop, Cozumel, Mexico, was my favorite. We may not have bought

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out the island, but we did a great job to help stimulate their economy. Dueling HSR parties at Senor Frog’s and Margaritaville kept the cruisers occupied until boarding time and the HSR staff was on hand to make sure that nobody was left behind. I can’t think of another cruise that has the captain of the ship perform a mini concert with his band. Only on the High Seas Rally! A trike and a customized Softail were given away, as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars from the national vendors on board, including Performance Ma-chine, Rivco, Scott Jacobs, Wind-Vest, Condor, Von Braun Exhaust, Medallion Gauges, Diamond Heads and many more. Biker bingo, ’60s – ’70s night, a world-class Hallow-

een party, poker walk, cabin raffl es, and the belly-fl op contest were just a few of the HSR events, not to mention what the ship had to offer: a climbing wall, basketball court, putting green, wave rider, casino, shopping mall, Johnny Rockets, an arcade and much more. The good news for next year: 2,100 pirates have already registered. The bad news: the cruise is sold out. Your only chance at being on next year’s cruise is to check the HSR website on the fi rst Monday of every month at 9 a.m. for cancellations. For infor-mation on future High Seas Rallies and the H.O.H.S. Dialysis Fund, log on to www.highseasrally.com. For additional coverage of this event, log on to www.americanbagger.com.

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