Sunday, February 6th
Unfortunately, they had a slight breakdown in the hose systems at the Laundromat whilst I had still two loads of washing interrupted in full cycle. Had to leave them there to be picked up today or Monday. Had to improvise for bedding as it was all in the machines. Used t-shirts for pillow slips and a duvet cover for the bottom sheet. Yer makes do with yer got!!!
It was a busy day on the boat; de-frosted the fridge; baked up some more bread; typed up the blog while Lynton made modifications to the fridge an extractor fan for the compartment and more insulation. So we’ll pick up the washing tomorrow.
Monday, February 7th
After breakfast, took off for Georgetown. I sat too far forwards in the dinghy and, as it was quite choppy, got thoroughly drenched. Joined the library and got two free books in the book exchange program.
In the afternoon, we all took a walk along the nature trail on Stocking island. Buddy got a burr in each if his front paws. Whenever that happens, he stops dead, lifts up the offending paw and indicates “fix it”!!
Tuesday, February 8th
It’s been hotter than ever. Today, 87 degrees with not much breeze, so we’ve been quite lazy.
Had a pleasant surprise this afternoon when Gina and Graham aboard ‘Curlew’ anchored right next to us. We met them in Labelle and they were part of the group at the American legion for the infamous karaoke night. One of the reasons they are late arriving here is that they had to repair a broken water hose. The other reason is that Graham did a side trip to Africa to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, leaving Gina in charge of the boat for two weeks. His plan is to climb the seven highest mountains and cross seven oceans! He’s already climbed Everest and, yes, he is writing a book.
We are planning to go over to ‘Chat ‘n Chill’ for supper and exchange stories.
Wednesday, February 9th
Today is fill the propane tank day, so it’s off to Georgetown. On our return, we visited Pat and Addison on board ‘Three Penny Opera’ for a quick chat and catch up on their news. They scuppered their rudder while anchored in Cat Cay so had to spend time and money on repairs. They have also bought a condo in Vero Beach which they have been decorating. Apparently, it was a steal.
John, Lynton and Alfredo from ‘Jancris’ have ‘gone fishin’ this afternoon. Alfredo has a secret fishing hole where he speared a lobster the other day with his home-made ‘Hawaiian sling’. Maybe they’ll be lucky today.
Thursday, February 10th
A day for doing mostly nothing. Lynton cleaned a few more marks off the boat. Weather still very hot, but a front is supposed to come through this weekend starting around 4:00 p.m. Saturday. There will be high winds and possibly squalls for a few days. So we will be hunkered down aboard for the duration probably.
Friday, February 11th
Went across to Goat Cay with John and Rejeanne.
There is a huge NAPA store there, which is more like a small Walmart. Goat Cay is much more up-scale than Georgetown. There are some very nice houses.
Walked up to a large lumber store then dropped in to the local liquor store. The beer was a lot cheaper and the owner’s son offered us a lift back to the dinghies. The wind had picked up and we all got soaking wet.
On the way back, John, Lynton and Alfredo wanted to go snorkeling for lobsters in the water off the other side of Stocking Island. So we all went to the beach with them. They had no luck whatsoever. But on an impulse, stopped by a rock pool on the way back to the dinghies. John speared two (he gave one to Alfredo) and Lynton got one.
They make a lot of sounds when they get caught!!! It didn’t cook up very well on the bar-b-q although it looks pretty good.
Saturday, February 12th
Time to make one more trip into Georgetown before the big blow to renew the Internet card and get groceries. Sure enough, at 4:00 p.m. the wind picked up. Gina, Graham, John and Rejeanne were on our boat. Graham and Gina left at around 5:00 p.m. to start supper but no sooner had they got back to their boat, we hear Graham’s voice saying “Look out, Lynton. There’s a boat bearing down on you”!! Sure enough, the high winds had caused the anchor of the boat ahead to come loose. Dinghies buzzed over from everywhere (the owners were not around). It missed our boat by about 20 feet, but then John shouted “Hey, it’s heading for my boat”!! He and Rejeanne scrambled into their dinghy, off to their boat. Boaters managed to reset the anchor of the wandering boat and all was brought back under control. After that, everyone else who hadn’t done so put a second anchor out.
Sunday, February 13th
The wind continues to blow. Lynton decided to take the opportunity of being aboard with the generator running to clip Buddy’s hair. I cooked my next batch of bread. This weather is supposed to continue for the rest of the week!
Monday February 14th
It’s ‘tidy boat’ day. Lynton made adjustments to the cockpit table (cut the sharp corners off that we keep banging our legs on). Then took Buddy for a walk over to the beach with Graham and Gina.
Then we visited John and Rejeanne aboard ‘Bilbo’. Strangely, the wind went very quiet (wasn’t forecast to do this). It will probably pick up again tomorrow.
Tuesday, February 15th
The wind did pick up and it’s still pretty choppy on the water. Lazy morning reading and Sudoku. After lunch, went over to ‘Curlew’ to exchange movies. Graham wants to have them for the Everest base camp (which he is managing along with Gina). The base camp is 16,000 feet above sea level – reached by vehicle. He likes to have movies to show every couple of days to stop people getting bored.
Wednesday, February 16th
John and Lynton went to town. Rejeanne and I played cards.
Thursday, February 17th
Went to a seminar given by Bruce on “Hairball” at the St. Francis resort. The subject was ‘How to live longer’. Mostly things we are already aware of; don’t smoke; don’t drink (not much anyway); exercise; get 7 hours sleep a night etc. etc. Don’t play football, ride motorbikes or ride horses. Went for a walk on a deserted beach in the afternoon with a (not that badly) clipped Buddy.
Lynton finally enticed Buddy to go into the water for a swim.
He got so cocky (Buddy, that is!) that when we got back to the dinghy, he swam out to it instead of waiting to be carried!
Friday, February 18th
Very lazy day. The storm was brewing and it actually rained.
Saturday, February 19th
Graham came over to pick up Lynton to go to a seminar on battery charging. In the afternoon, went back to the beach.
Sunday, February 20th
Went for a dinghy ride down the coast of Stocking Island with John and Rejeanne. John and Lynton snorkeled. John saw a turtle and a large barracuda.
In the afternoon, Lynton gave Gina and Graham a lift to a hotel on shore. They are leaving their boat in one of the hurricane holes while they are away until September.
Monday, February 21st
We are planning to go to Long island tomorrow about 35 miles away, so it is time to do some laundry and groceries. It was a very wet ride over to Georgetown. An early night was in order as we will be getting up early tomorrow.
Tuesday, February 23rd
Departed Georgetown at 8:30 a.m. The weather is beautiful and the water was unexpectedly calm.
Lynton decided to put his Cuban reel fishing equipment to work and he actually caught a fish. On looking through our ‘know your fish’ book, we have decided that it is a fish called a ‘Permit’ or something else in the Jack family.
Whilst Lynton was bar-b-qing said fish, a visiting crab tried to get on board by climbing the swim ladder!
He was very determined, but swam away when Lynton jiggled the ladder a bit.
The fish was very good and tasty. After supper, the wind dropped completely – the water was like glass and the heavens gave us a wonderful show.
