Last month, I went on a  week trip with John Kernan and traveled to 4 islands in the Bahamas.  THANK YOU FOR AN AWESOME EXPERIENCE, JOHN!

For those of you curious about John, he is an advisor to OCA Ventures and the founder of one of our portfolio companies (Brickfish).

For the entrepreneurs that are reading this, here is John Kernan and Allen Morgan’s (of Mayfield) take on how to manage your board:‍

http://allensblog.typepad.com/allens_blog/2005/06/managing_your_b.html‍

For more on the details of the trip:

Fort Lauderdale: My girlfriend, Lauren, and I flew to Fort Lauderdale on February 3rd and stayed one night with my fraternity buddy, Kevin Singer and family. Kevin’s daughters, Jordan and Ashley, are absolutely adorable.  That night, we watched the NY Giants upset the NE Patriots. It was an amazing finish! The next morning, we woke up early and met John Kernan at the Lauderdale marina. John was up early and getting Wanderer V ready.  Wanderer V is a new Grand Banks 47 Europa. This is John’s first powerboat; his first 4 boats, Wanderer I – IV, were sailboats. 

Bimini Islands: Five and a half hours on the Atlantic Ocean, and we were at the Bimini Islands.  Our two days included exploring the island, an afternoon on some remote beach, courtesy of Mr. Kernan, and some fresh fish and conch (my first experience with this sea critter).

Freeport, Grand Bahamas: The 4 hour trip to Freeport was miserable for me.  The waves were choppy, and I left breakfast and all my fluids in the ocean.  When we finally landed, it surprised me to realize that I had been in this very same marina 6 years earlier (with my fraternity buddy, Todd Hedberg, on an impromptu deep sea fishing expedition). We had a nice dinner in the Grand Bahamas and got some sun at a beach/pool of a fancy resort across the street.  Lauren and I had a crazy adventure on a fold-up bike and tricycle. John’s wife, Diane, joined us the second day we were at Freeport.

Berry Islands: I don’t think anyone lives on these islands. We docked our boat in a cove. I had to swim 12 or 14 feet deep to make sure the anchor was properly stuck in the sandy bottom. Lauren and I took a small motor raft to the island and explored. Then, we traveled around the cove and followed a large stingray for a bit. The nights were crazy dark. It was probably the most stars I’ve ever seen. John pulled out his latest X-mas gift, a star finder; Being the romantic guy that he is, John showed Lauren how to use the star finder and proceeded to find an unnamed star and named it Lauren.

Paradise Island, Nassau: First time to Atlantis. We docked in the Atlantis marina and proceeded to walk by some mega yachts. These yachts were like mini-cruise ships. I will always wonder who owned them. Atlantis is a mega-resort with 6 huge towers of hotel rooms and a theme park of water-rides and aquariums filled with awesome sea life. We spent two days sun-bathing and playing on the rides.

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