Green Turtle Cay 14th January 2012

So…. what’s been going on since we last updated this blog ?  Simply put,  not  a great deal !!

One event that I did not relate in the last posting occurred as we left the Lake Worth anchorage at 04.00 hrs on the 23^rd… I lost the pin which secures the anchor in the chocks over the side.  Whilst we were leaving Catherine secured the anchor with rope and it stayed the course across the Gulf Stream with no trouble but I wanted to get a new pin.  We had , in fact, been searching for one at a number of marine stores all the way down the ICW, but nobody had one of the size that we needed..  Once settled into Green Turtle we decided to take the bull by the horns and called the manufacturer in California.  No problem they did not have the exact pin that we needed but they did have one that was slightly longer than the previous one, so I asked them for two and prepared to give them credit card details etc.

The response was “there’s no charge..  we will call them samples … happy Christmas “!!  We were amazed and delighted ‘cos these stainless pins with a locking system in them are not cheap.  I asked if they could ensure that the pins reached our friends in Vancouver by the 4^th January and offered to pay for the shipping… “Don’t worry we’ll get them there “!   They arrived the following day having been shipped by Fedex Express, and Reg and Val brought them with them when they came to their boat on the 6^th January.  So we now have a smart brand new pin and two spares, just in case I get clumsy again..  What a pleasure to deal with such a company, and for any of you sailors out there,  the company is – Avibank Mfg of  North Hollywood, California.

Beyond that, what’s to report ?   Catherine is doing her aqua aerobics every morning with a group of cruisers, thoroughly enjoying it and feeling better for it.  The pool is heated and the ladies (and occasional gent) enjoy it.  As a result we are thinking that we may invest in an Ipod with stereo speakers since the boat is sadly lacking much in the way of entertainment – our radio and disc player being pretty useless.

We have now booked our flights to and from Washington DC for our dear sailing friend Steve Russell of  “Indian Summer” funeral and wake in Arlington National Cemetery.  We intend to leave here after our month is up on the 24^th January , to go around Whale Cay  probably spend a day or so in Guana Cay and then head over to Marsh Harbour where we will leave the boat on the 30^th January.  Our flights outward are from Marsh Harbour to West Palm Beach and then direct to Washington National whilst on the return flight we have to change planes in Charlotte,  N Carolina and West Palm Beach before getting back to “Soli ‘ on the 3^rd February.  After that we shall probably head over to Hope Town .

We went for a walk on Gillam Bay Beach with Gail and Lily of “Orient Express), where we found quite a few good sand dollars to add to the many that we already possess.  We really do need to find something creative to do with them…  one suggestion is to tie ribbon to them and make them into Christmas Tree ornaments.   

We have taken a dinghy ride over to the Bluff House Beach and wandered the beach but found no treasures, except for a well preserved sea urchin shell.

With the exception of a couple of days just after Christmas the weather by and large has been warm and sunny although chilly enough at night to require a blanket – good sleeping weather!  When the front came through just after Christmas we really rock and rolled in our berth with sustained winds of 30 + knots for much of a day and a night , but we were quite safely tucked up.

Think that‘s about all there is to report…good night.

David did not mention our  Junkanoo celebration...which started off with my croc rescue...

Of course she was right!!!

Go Ruthie!!!

Then we had a lovely rainfall Soli looks beautiful after her shower...too bad we did not save more of the water in the dink...the gas tank was floating.