Mar 25
We had a very laid back day today. We spent the morning reading and playing computer games. We can play computer games when we're at a marina because there is power to keep the computer on all the time. A little after noon, I decided to take the computer up to the picnic tables near the wireless antenna just to see if I could connect and browse the web for awhile. We are around the corner from the antenna, and I can't get a good enough signal on the boat to connect. As I walked around the corner, I notices a lot of cars where in the marina, which was unusual. Then I saw why they were there. An island freighter was at the entrance of the marina unloading. Turns out the Government dock is too unstable and too shallow for this boat to get into. The regular mailboat broke and went back to Nassau Wednesday, so this one was sent as a replacement but it is a little deeper than the regular one. The boat has a large fold down ramp on the stern which was on the rocky shore at the end of a spit of land by the marina entrance. They were unloading the week's supplies for the restaurants and grocery store by hand into several pickup trucks. This went on for several hours.
Another big story here is the fact that they are out of fuel. The marina is the source of all diesel and gas for the island, and they are out of both. The fuel barge was supposed to have come Wednesday, but it still hasn't shown up. The mailboat had a couple of 55 gallon drums of gas aboard and everybody was siphoning ten gallons or so each to put in their cars and golf carts. There was not enough to go around, and some tempers were flaring.
One of the American couples who lives here was there looking for a package. She was who told me about the regular mailboat breaking and being delayed. I asked her how they find out when and if the boat is coming. She said word spreads from island to island via the VHF radio. When the boat leaves one island, those people call somebody on the next island to tell them it's coming. Word then spreads around town and by the time the boat gets there, everybody is there to meet it. The Coconut Telegraph at it's finest.
I did get connected to the Internet, and found that even though it is a Direcway system, I was able to publish the website. So, everybody has some reading material now.
GPS N 23-38.203 W 74-49.919 Miles made good this leg 0. Total miles covered 4062.
Mar 26
Being Sunday, things are quiet, even at the marina. Except for one notable noisy thing. We were sitting below and suddenly a small plane buzzed overhead very fast and loud. By the time I could pop my head out the companionway, it was gone over the hill. The guys on one of the fishing boats were yelling that they had never seen him come by that low before. Immediately after the fly-by, I noticed Bobby the marina owner, hop on a golf cart and leave the marina. Later in the day, while up at the picnic table surfing the net, I noticed a new woman in the office. I'm surmising that she is Bobby's wife, who has been absent, and that the fly-by was the signal to come to the airport to pick her up. Things are simpler in the islands.
I also spoke today with Clyde from Gypsy on the SSB. They got to Turks & Caicos with no troubles. They had to motor the whole way, so they actually got there twelve hours earlier than he had expected to. They are in Provinciales, a.k.a. Provo, in a large fancy marina temporarily. They will move the boat to a yard where it will be stored on the hard while they do some work on it and take a month or so to travel to the States and Honduras to take care of some business.
GPS N 23-38.203 W 74-49.919 Miles made good this leg 0. Total miles covered 4062.
Mar 27
We did absolutely nothing worth noting today. We read and played games all day. We were going to leave this morning and head back towards Georgetown, but the forecast is for strong winds from the north, then east for several days, which will create an ugly swell in the ocean. This is supposed to die down by the weekend, so we decided to stay another week. I really enjoy the quiet pace of this island. The only constraint is that we are running short on cash, and there is no bank here. But, since the restaurant is pretty pricey anyway, we'll just eat aboard.
GPS N 23-38.203 W 74-49.919 Miles made good this leg 0. Total miles covered 4062.
Mar 28 - Mar 31
I'm going to lump the rest of the week together, primarily because we did absolutely nothing of note. We read, played computer games, and were generally lazy. We did enjoy the Buffet at Ocean View on Wednesday again, and again it was excellent. We dined with a group of people who own Coyaba, one of the large boats that spends the whole winter in the marina. Mark & his wife and kids, and his brother Kent and his girlfriend are here for the week. We learned that Mark & Kent were originally from Houston, and they are partners in the development of a new marina and canal homes near Galveston called Harborside. We had visited a booth for this development a couple years ago at the boat show in Houston. He told us if we ever got back there, we had a comp slip anytime.
GPS N 23-38.203 W 74-49.919 Miles made good this leg 0. Total miles covered 4062.