So what did we do for Adams birthday ?
It’s always hard organising a birthday party, but especially hard in a new country during Covid so we (the girls) decided we would buy and cook Adam one of the beautiful imported French steaks that everyone had been eyeing off and talking about, but were not prepared to buy for themselves, Fruit Bat offering to host the dinner.
So off we went Sam, Khiara, Molly and myself dinged and walked up to Carrefour to get the necessities. Choosing the meat was not as easy as we thought and we wished we had taken Craig with us for advice, there was soooo much choice and the labels are all in a French, even we as a collective group could not justify buying the huge brontosaurus size rib eye that we initially intended, it was too big and too hard to cook on the boat, so we settled on 2 packs of bulk buy porterhouse looking steaks and a huge imported from France piece of a similar cut for Adam (Adams being the largest cut).
The steak was cooked on the BBQ and accompanied by a rocket, feta and pear salad w balsamic dressing, green beans and scalloped, baked in cream potatoes (a luxury as the tray bake takes about an hour to cook which uses so much propane)
We had a fun night, the eight of us had bellies full of decadent food, we drank a few bottles of cheap French red and even the store bought cheesecake (imported from France) was delicious.
It was probably all the more poignant as we knew we were about to say good bye to Scott and Sam.
We had met Scot and Sam in The Bahamas but didn’t really get to know them until Luperon in the Dominican Republic, that’s where they rescued Captain Lupe as an abandoned kitten and we spent time with them in Los Hatis National Park, it was Sam who came up with the name Quaran-Tilla I have so many good memories of our time together very open generous lovely people, it’s so hard to say goodbye, who knows we may catch up with them again I’m sure they would love to get to Australia one day.
Well it’s NYE
Well it’s NYE and Craig and I are on our own and we are anchored out the back of Marigot Bay, way off to the side, in front of the power station and commercial ship dock. It’s not very picturesque but it’s calm and safe.
We are hiding from the forecasted “Christmas Winds” blustery weather full of constant wind and strong gusts, topped off with rain squalls, some showers are light where they have eased off before we even have the hatches closed but some are heavy downpours and you just never know what your going to get.
Our New Years tipple was a bottle of €2.95 champagne and we drank that with our 3 cheese pasta w chorizo, garlic and tomato sauce, listened to some music, had some quiet time reading, then we both went to bed around 9.30pm thinking that was it our lonely New Years Eve only to be woken up by the siren of the anchor alarm going off !!
It was smack on midnight, we had swung around as the wind changed but hadn’t dragged just swung close to the parameters Craig had set on the alarm. So no drama but it did allow us to watch the midnight fireworks.
And what a show, fireworks were going off all around us, the best ones though were across the water in Anguilla, the English owned island we could see just across the channel. So close but we can’t go there without...multiple PCR tests, 10 days quarantine and current health insurance that covers COVID-19.
The Anguilla fireworks were just as good as our local town put on and there were showers of light explosions at each end of the island quite a sight.
After it was all over we snuggled back in to bed in our nice clean sheets that I’d washed the day before, it’s a bit of a treat to have clean sheets.
Just before Christmas Adam and Khiara had some work to do on their boat so they had rented an airb&b and very kindly offered us the use of the washing machine and wifi while they were out working on their boat.
Taking advantage of this rare opportunity we knew the winds were due to pick up and even though we worked as quickly as possible it was still an ordeal dingying back and climbing aboard Adriana, the wind had picked up along with the swell, Adriana was rocking from side to side so much that I had to put the glass jar with the kombucha along with the other bits and pieces on the bench into the sink like I do when we are underway.
We couldn’t stay in Marigot close to the unit, with this huge swell running, it was so uncomfortable, so we decided to head back to Grand Case where we were hoping it would be a bit more sheltered and hopefully it would be calmer.
As we were motoring along we spotted the boat that belongs to the guy who works at Island Water World, he is a live aboard local and dingys to and from work each day, so we figured a local would know the best spot to be in the forecasted bad weather. We turned in towards the shore and anchored just in front of him, instantly it was calmer with no rolling and although we could hear the wind whistling through the rigging it didn’t seem to reach the deck, it was a constant 25 knots with gusts over 30 knots showing on our instruments but only the occasional gust went through the dodger.
We felt bad leaving Adam and Khiarra, who had rented the unit but then had to take it in turns sleeping back on the boat scared she would drag anchor if no one was there to do anchor watch.
We also felt bad about slipping in behind the power station as we had planned to go back to Grand Case and anchor alongside Paul and Molly on Happy Times, they had upped anchor and left about half an hour before us. We messaged them but they had already dropped their anchor and were happy to stay where they were.
We eventually moved back around to Grand Case 3 days in to the 4 day bad forecast and yes our industrial spot was way more protected and comfortable.
What we did for Christmas
It was hard to decide what to do for Christmas Day, we knew there were going to be six of us but there was talk of Dan and Nawal arriving plus Estelle (a French single handed sailor we met in St Augustine when we met Alexis) And maybe Chris and Katie were planning to leave the Dutch side to join us on the French side so it had the potential to be too many people on anyone’s boat.
Us girls had visited a few restaurants asking if any were open on Christmas Day. We found a couple but none of them seemed just right so we decided to move around the corner back to Grand Case, one of the you tube channels Craig follows was there and they had written in a post that they were having local BBQ on the beach on Christmas Day so we sort of knew at least one of the four BBQ restaurants would be open.
As it turned out there was just the six of us and only one of the restaurants open.
To start the day we had egg nog and a feta, caramelized onion and pumpkin tart (made by Craig) on Adriana. That had us a bit giggly, a good start to the day.
Then we went ashore to the local BBQ for lunch, it was actually quite tasteless and disappointing but still fun. Absolutely no reference to the day, special menu or decorations so not very Christmassy.
These open air bbq restaurants always smell so good with the smell of the cooking meat wafting down the street as you walk past. We discovered later that the one that serves the really tasty food was the one in front of the one we ate at but on Christmas Day the one we visited was the only one open.
They serve ribs and chicken, lobster and prawn skewers straight off the grill, the sides include Mac cheese, coleslaw, fries, potato salad, plantin and a spaghetti squash with a cheesy topping. Not really Christmas fare but it was easy and cheap.
The afternoon was spent on the beach with everyone trying waterskiing behind the dingy and playing on the stand up paddle board. Everyone except for me, who had to spend the afternoon next to the toilet as the milk and cream in the egg nog went straight through me.
But I was ok later, in time to go over to Millennial Falcon for dessert, lemon tart (made by Craig) and chocolate cheesecake (made by Molly) there was just the 6 of us, Craig and I, Adam and Khiara and Paul and Molly, beautiful desserts and more drinks finished up a different kind of Christmas Day.
I had a great birthday, Khiara shares her birthday with me so on Boxing Day we had a huge day on Happy Times with chaturie plates and cocktails - so many cocktails, some fun in the sun jumping off the roof of the Catamaran, Chris and Katie called in to say hello, it was a 10 hour day finished off with puffy dogs, thank goodness someone had thought to bring something for dinner.
There had been a shark attack a few days before Christmas around in Orient Bay (only a few km around the corner) a lady who was swimming 100mt from the shore was attacked and died from her injuries, attacks like this are really rare on these islands either that or kept very quiet because of tourism.
I saw Jaws at a very impressionable age and have always had a fear of what’s under the surface so my swimming activities have been somewhat curtailed.
It didn’t stop everyone else have a ball jumping in the sea off the top deck, or off the back off Happy Times, we talked about playing a board game but the time went so quickly everyone was happy just chatting and hanging shit on each other as only Aussies can do.
Our trip to St Barths
There are four islands in the collective of St Martin, St Barthelemy, Martinique and Guadeloupe. These islands are subsidiaries of mainland France and and travel between the islands is usually easy and unrestricted but now with Covid entry requirements have changed, we wanted to visit St Barths it’s only a day sail away and from what we read and heard, the entry requirements were - that we had to fill in an online form to let them know we were coming.
Forms completed we upped anchor and headed out, we had a lovely downwind sail gently heeled over, some larger waves breaking over the bough but nothing too heavy just cruising along when suddenly there’s a bang and the foresail is flapping - it’s dropped down, something has given way up on the mast.
Turning into the wind we heave to and pull down the sail, not furl it in but actually pull it down onto the deck arggg that slows our progress so we have to turn on the engine much to Craig’s chargin, he hates turning on the engine using diesel that we have to pay for but it’s also the principal that we are a sailboat and the engine is auxiliary, anyway lucky we have the luxury of being able to turn it on otherwise it would have taken us hours to get to our destination.
We had passed a cruise ship off to our port side, the ship contacted us on the radio, it’s always a thrill to hear your boat being called on the radio, Adriana Adriana Adriana this is sailing vessel (I actually don’t remember the ships name but let’s say Bounty of the Sea)
They wanted to let us know that they were sitting out there just drifting so not to get too close as they had no steering, it wasn’t a drama as we had no intention of going anywhere near such a big ship.
They were sitting waiting to go to fuel up at Philipsburg. There are all these cruise ships just hanging around probably with a skeleton staff to keep the ship moving, there is no where for these huge ships to go. So they are just slowly aimlessly moving around.
Our approach to the harbour of Gustavia was full of mega yachts, so much wealth, apart from the purchase price, these things cost millions of dollars just to staff and run each year.
We had James Pakers mega yacht ELJ behind us in Grand Case and it is here again behind us in St Barths, Mark Zuckerberg’s mega yacht is there too. We googled a few of them they are mostly Russian or Arab millionaires , we watched a helicopter land on one of them, quite a feat of skill. This other one had a sailing yacht as big as Adriana just sitting on its deck in case the owners wanted to go for a sail.
I also read Paul McCartney was holidaying on the Island. In other news there had been a scandal early on during Covid with a Canadian politician being on holiday there while his country was in lockdown.
This one island really is the playground of the rich and famous.
We manoeuvred our way past the mega yachts then the super yachts, past the huge chartered sailing boats and slipped in close to the other travelling cruisers and the small live aboards anchored closer in to shore. It was after 5pm so too late to check in.
And of course just as we drop anchor and start refolding the sail that is still sitting on the deck, it starts to rain, then stops just as we finish, time for a cold beer I think.
The next morning we had showers and got kind of dressed up ready to go ashore and explore, Chris and Katie called past they were anchored close by, they had hired a car and were off to explore the island by road, but we had to check in before we could do anything.
So many super yachts all beautiful and shiny with crews straight off the series “Below Deck” (worth a watch if you haven’t seen it)
We tied up the dingy and headed off down the immaculate harbour walk to find the Capitianier to check in, a low wall lined the harbour and colorful pots of bougainvillea and bench seats along the way added to the feeling of decadence, there are “footpaths” it’s been a while since we have been anywhere that has consistent level well maintained footpaths !!
A word of advice don’t use $ signs in your password in foreign countries, we could not work out if the symbol was in the lower or upper case and had to ask for help just with the signing in.
Turns out we had missed an important step in the Check in process - we were meant to have gone to customs in St Martin and checked out, for some reason we thought that letting them know we were arriving was all we had to do, we had checked this information on Noonsite, but things must have changed with Covid, there was no arguing we had to return to St Martin and check out.
The customs guys were very nice about it, “of course please come back” “but no you cannot stay, you have to go and check out”.
So much for getting all dolled up.
We walked back through the cobblestone streets, passing a photo shoot with a blond girl being fussed over by hair and makeup, huge light reflecting panels, the works.
The shops were stunning, all the big labels are represented but we scurried past back to the dingy and Adriana.
This island was also hit by Hurricane Irma in 2017 but you wouldn’t know it has been completely re built, there was no evidence, no rubble or abandoned buildings here, not like St Martin where the place has an air of brokenness and disrepair.
We had been told of a quiet bay at Colombier Beach just around the corner from the main harbour, Craig wanted me to pull him up the mast so he could have a look to see why the foresail had come down.
Then when we were lifting the anchor there was a new smell emitting from below, an ugly almost electrical smell, shit what now!!!
We limped the few miles around the rocky shoreline to Colombier a beautiful sheltered horseshoe bay inhabited by lots of what looks like loggerhead turtles and with only a couple of mono hull yachts and a couple of huge charter yachts on mooring balls it was flat and calm, the perfect spot to send Craig up the mast. But it did cross my mind that we were out of phone range and this bay was only accessible by boat, there were no roads in or out a disaster if anything should go wrong pulling or lowering Craig the 64 meters of the mast.(210 feet)
The smell turned out to be the seal on the prop shaft it had disintegrated and the smell was the rubber heating up when we turned the engine on and the propeller started turning.
A bit of a worry as salt water is now pouring in through the broken seal when we run the engine, not so bad when the engine is stopped.
The water falls into the bilges, an area below the floor, right down into the keel of the boat, there is an automatic pump that switches on and discharges the water when it reaches a certain level and there is an alarm that goes off if the pump fails or the water gets too high. So we are not going to sink but still not a comfortable feeling.
This meant that we should only sail back to Saint Martin avoiding using the engine at all costs.
Concerned with what the problem was but happy to have found the source, we proceeded to tackle our first issue, the foresail sitting folded on the deck.
I’ve manoeuvred Craig up the mast a fair few times now and I’m comfortable with the process but it doesn’t mean things can’t go wrong, his arm or leg could get caught in the rigging, the wind could gust at the wrong time and send him swinging out of control (he grips onhard with his knees) or any of the ropes or shackles could give way, it is very stressful for both of us so full concentration is required, no getting distracted by the huge turtles sticking their heads out of the water to take 3 breaths, it looks like they are coming up to say hello as I’m sure they eyeball us, anyway full concentration and up he goes, the shackle holding the sail to the top of the mast has burst open the sides holding the pin in place have widened under the pressure and the pin slipped out, a simple explanation as to why this has happened.
Craig drops the line but it comes down on the wrong side of the mast, so I winch him back up (I’m using the electric winch thank goodness) he sorts out the lines and I slowly let him back down, my lowering him gets a bit bumpy where the line I’m dropping is weathered and expanded and doesn’t run through the cleats smoothly but he’s down safely phew.
The halyard knot that is holding the broken shackle on is well and truly knotted and undoable so Craig cuts the line, keeping the broken shackle in the cut off knotted line for show and tell when he’s back sharing a beer with the boys.
Instead of replacing the shackle he decides to use just the halyard knot and once he has sealed the end by melting it with the small blow torch I winch the sail back up, Craig feeding it into the furler as it goes up, that’s that problem fixed.
We up anchor saying goodbye to the turtle heads that pop up as we pass aww they are so very cute.
Luckily it’s all smooth sailing back across the St Barthélemy Channel and back up the Sint Maarten coastline and back around to the French side we even managed to sail right into the anchorage and drop the anchor without turning the engine on, that’s quite a feat of skill from Craig and extremely nerve wracking for me !!!
The prop shaft seal had been replaced almost exactly 12 months ago when we were in Nassau in The Bahamas, the previous one had been on the boat since new about 12 years so we don’t understand why this one has deteriorated so quickly.
We couldn’t source a new seal on the island so had to order one (plus a spare) in from Miami, it only took a week so we just sat tight in Marigot Bay.
The process of replacing the seal and placing the spare on the shaft was tricky and probably should have been done out of the water but somehow Craig managed to pull it out enough to slip the 2 seals on without sinking the boat, we did have to spend a whole day hand pumping the water out of the bilges, there are 3 bilges the one directly under the engine is on its own the other 2 down the Centre of the boat are connected, it was a slow tedious job and I had to stop Craig from getting too OCD about making them dry and spotless.
Dear ........
We are good still bobbing around enjoying the sunshine, thankfully it’s a lot cooler here than it was in Grenada, probably ranging between 26c and 20c the nights are cooler but it still doesn’t help me sleep.
We have days that are super calm with no wind and lovely flat seas and then days where the wind is constant and the seas are like a washing machine, on those days I have to hold on to the different hand rails as I walk through the boat.
We spend most of our time outside in the cockpit, we can open up the canvas to allow airflow or close it up to shelter us from too strong winds.
We live with very little on tables or kitchen benches as things will slide and move with the movement of the boat. It’s not always comfortable. Some days there is a swell running and if there is no wind to face us into the swell and it hits us side on, then things get really rocky. At the moment we are tucked in to a little sheltered bay as there is a huge swell , bigger than normal forecasted.
The view is not very pretty with the power station onshore but the volcano shaped hills behind remind us that we are somewhere exotic.
It’s a small space to live in and quite often we don’t leave the boat so not much walking gets done, lucky we have stairs otherwise I’m sure my leg muscles would be non existent.
Just now I’m trying to eat less as we are both getting rather plump with all the baguettes we love, that and lack of exercise.
My Dad was in hospital with a bowel infection, mum had to be home by herself, Steven was more than great but I felt awful not being there, but there is not much I can do about it, we are a bit like refugees living in another country, lucky the French don’t require visas that can expire so we can stay here for a while at least until hurricane season starts again. We might move but for now we are sitting here just waiting to see what’s happening in the world.
We are fine, missing home obviously but we have some Aussie friends that we hang out with that we are comfortable to be around, the French food is awesome and we have good internet
Love and miss you
An addition to the boats means of power generation has been purchased a SilentWind 400+ wind generator, a propeller on a shaft that sits above the solar panels it spins in the wind and with magnets it generates a low stream of power it doesn’t put in big amps but it runs 24 hours a day unlike the solar panels that have limited hours of input even less on cloudy days.
A fellow cruiser was selling the unit, he had bought it but never installed it.
We had to get a pole and brackets made to hold it securely in place plus order in a part, our boat works on 120v and the unit is 240v.
The part took ages to get here it had to come from Portugal and when it did arrive Craig spent hours trying to get the old one out
After a trip to the hardware to purchase a small rubber hammer that they used on the “how to” YouTube video and a “maybe this might work” blow torch,
Eventually it came out, the heating of the casing worked - expanding the plastic enough to allow the coils to be tapped out.
We had been starting to think we were going to have to spend more than we paid for the unit to get a whole new magnetic part, it took so long to get it unstuck.
The structural pole also took a few trips over to the rigging workshop on the Dutch side to get the angles right.
But now it’s completed we have a much better power supply and can even watch tv of an evening plus we just worked out (after a couple of years) that we can stick a usb directly into the tv and watch downloaded movies, we swap hard drive full of movies and tv series’s when we can.
January 2021
More nasty weather there is a huge swell running through the Atlantic, reaching down into the Caribbean and hitting us full on, big rolling waves coming into the anchorage, we decided to move back around next to the power station which was fine for a couple of days until a huge steel fishing boat dragged its anchor right in front of us.
luckily it happened in daylight, we were in the cockpit having our morning cuppa when it became obvious the boat was getting closer, and closer, throwing on some shorts and a T-shirts we stashed the kettle and our tea cups, turned the autopilot and the engine on and upped the anchor swinging Adriana around and out of danger just in time,.
The crew onboard the fishing boat must have just noticed when they heard us moving as they finally appeared on deck and lifted their anchor too, they moved forward and reset close to the shore but we decided to just keep going and motored around the corner to Grand Case. Paul and Molly were already there, they had said the roll wasn’t so bad and there was the added bonus of bbq ribs back on shore. Millennial Falcon decided ribs sounded like a good idea and came around too.
Well maybe we were a bit ambitious thinking we could go to shore in the big swell...
First we had to drop the dingy from the davits no mean feat, the dropping is not so bad although the dingy can build up a good swinging motion of its not lowered quick enough, it’s the jumping in and undoing the shackles that are used to attach the dingy to the poles, that’s the hard part.
The dingy is in the water but tied in 4 corners to the 2 poles by short lengths of rope.
The dingy is jumping and splashing around and once I (it’s usually me who jumps in and Craig does all pulling up of ropes) I undo one side I have to hang on to the pole and undo the second shackle, then hold it out at arms length until Craig pulls it up and away enough to prevent it from hitting my head, then we do the same on the second pole, I have visions of a pole swing around and knocking my teeth out.
So we maneuver the dingy down, closed all the hatches, we are still getting surprise showers, grabbed the wallet and face masks and headed to shore.
Omg the huge swell was smashing into the buildings on the shoreline and had taken out a lot of the timber slats on the dingy dock, we watched in disbelief as a dingy was thrown actually up onto the dingy dock, shit there goes our ribs for dinner, but no Paul makes it to the dock, Molly jumps out and promptly gets drenched by the next crashing wave, they tie up and hop over the missing slats to safety.
Honestly if they hadn’t have gone first and made it ashore we would not have even attempted it but they were not just going to jump back in their dingy and the call of the bbq ribs was too strong.
The swell was running with lulls between the big sets so after hanging around for a bit and watching we timed it between sets, throwing out a stern anchor so we didn’t mount the dock.
Adam and Khiara followed suit and we all made it to shore without incident and without giving the audience in the beach facing restaurants too much to laugh about.
The bbq chicken and ribs were worth the effort, we even had a walk onshore the first in a few days. Craig has been having the mixed plate bbq chicken pieces and a pile of pork ribs served with your choice of 3 sides. I have been having a grilled chicken salad, quite a basic lettuce tomato cucumber salad, to tell the truth I’m getting a bit bored with this place.
The return trip was just as fraught with danger, the swell was literally lifting the timber slats as it surged through the dock, they are still piled at the top of the walkway waiting to be repaired.
Adam and Khiara hired a car for a couple of days, a patron of their YouTube channel has gifted them a new dingy engine and they needed the car to pick it up, but on the Monday it hadn’t arrived so they called us and asked us to join them for the day, “yes please” we haven’t seen much of this island really, only that one day we were driven around by Chris and Katie at the start and just the places we have explored on foot.
It was lovely to see the other suburbs, Cul de Sac, Orient Bay, Quarter of Orleans, Oysters Bay to name a few.
We drove over to Phillipsburg the main town on the Dutch side it was incredibly sad this is where the cruise ships normally arrive - daily, three or four at a time and there was literally no one there just us, we were hassled by the shop keepers, “come in, have a drink, have lunch”
because it is such a tourist area there weren’t even any locals on the street.
You could see how vibrant and fun it would be normally and the saddest part is this should be their busiest month. There is very beautiful turquoise blue water and a lovely clean sandy beach, a huge promenade with sheds for market stalls (all empty today) lots of beach bbq, restaurants and bars.
We skipped the beachfront and took refuge in Second Street, the next street back where a lady sitting out front of an interesting laneway said “come in here we have $1 beers and free French fries”, there were no free fries and the $1 beers were out of best before date Bud Lights, still they quenched our thirst and we stopped for a rest, the sun had come out and we were feeling the heat, maybe we are just used to being in our always windy boats.
We took advantage of having the car and checked out a couple of anchorages and a distant shopping Centre and best of all had our propane gas bottle filled without having to carry it for miles.
The next day Khiara and I continued our tour of the island and visited the beautylicius store (a huge cosmetics, hair care warehouse) checked out a Leader Price Supermarket, another European brand, then did a huge shop at Davico a just opened bulk supermarket where we stacked the trollies high with toilet rolls, kitchen rolls, rice, flour, tinned stuff, soft drinks, beer,
(Amstel Light 3.5% $5 a carton of 24 !!! Full strength 5% was $17.50)
I tried to buy all the bulky heavy things this will make shopping easier for a while, we filled up the tiny hire car, I actually thought it would bottom out going over the speed bumps.
We caught up with Tom and Carol on Gina Lee our friends we met in USVI’s they had left Grenada earlier than us and spent time in Saint Vincent and The Grenadines a group of small islands close to Grenada. They were leaving soon to go to Saint Kitts and Nevis we will hopefully see them again back down either in Grenada or SVG for hurricane season.
Dear .......
Our path home by boat is not possible at this time due to closed borders.
Covid has really stopped the world in its tracks, I don’t know if you fully understand our position at this time, we are like refugees taking shelter in a French outpost, we are accepted to remain in French waters by the French government ( these islands are like French Polynesia or Marquises Islands or New Caledonia in the pacific) our boat is a huge investment we cannot just abandon it or afford to put it in a marina indefinitely if we could get home.
Our path home by boat is not possible at this time due to closed borders.
Flights cost thousands of dollars and there are taps on the number of returning Australian citizens.
I’ve have had to accept that if anything happens to my 86 year old Mum or my Dad or even my boys we are stuck here and won’t get home, it’s rather frightening and upsetting.
We are not under any health care system so not in line for a vaccine although I did read that when the vaccine does get to these islands the French government will inoculate even unregistered residents, but that is a long way off.
I must say looking from the outside Australia and New Zealand are the envy of the world and I really hope for everyone at home that it stays that way.
Masks and social distancing are compulsory here but very few people follow the guidelines and it’s only the bigger supermarkets and banks that enforce the protocols. Cases are rising here after the holiday season when they allowed international flights in to help boost the economy.
There was testing of course but watching what’s happening in Melbourne quarantine hotels this virus seems impossible to contain.
We are happy and safe enough at the moment, it’s warm and we have access to beautiful food imported from France (subsidised by the French government so not expensive).
Stay safe
We are missing everyone
Love Zena
It’s not all doom and gloom, we just try not to think about things too much.
We keep ourselves busy, maintenance on the boat is ongoing and doing any one thing just seems to take the whole day.
I just spent Tuesday and Wednesday walking to the shops using the laundromat (it’s now 11th Feb, we did our last laundry in Adam and Khiara’s unit just before Christmas).
I hand wash most things but tea towels, bath and hand towels, Craig’s shorts and T-shirt need a good wash in a machine.
It would have taken one day if the two of us could have gone in but it was extremely windy and Craig wasn’t happy leaving the boat unattended. So two trips as I couldn’t carry it all.
We are heading around to Maho Beach to say goodbye to Molly, she is heading home to chilly Chicago, Paul’s partner in the boat Myles has arrived from Australia, apparently there is no problem leaving Australia, it’s the getting back in that’s the problem.
Paul and Myles will sail Happy Times back to the USA to sell it, then they will go their separate ways, Paul will go to Chicago, Molly is a teacher and has been applying for international schools positions, it was lovely to spend time with them and who knows we might even have a wedding to look forward too.
