Saturday, January 9, 2016

Life In GT - Part 2

The bath mats I use to line the floor storage are working great!
We don't know how long we will be here in Georgetown.  That really feels strange.  How can we NOT know???  But as the days unfold we somehow fill the time and I'm sure at some point we will be ready to go again.  For now, we seem to have a lot to do!

Our morning routine seems to be more or less the same every day.  We have coffee, Bruce does some exercises in the saloon while I check the weather, piddle on the blog or Facebook, or maybe do some route planning... We listen to Chris Parker weather and plan our day.

I get up and make the bed then straighten up the kitchen which may or may not include dishes and refilling the ice trays.  I clean the catbox and maybe wipe the saloon floors with a damp cloth.  Then I make breakfast and we (and the weather) decide what we will do for the rest of the day.



Each can had to be washed and dried before returning it to storage
There.  That's all nice and tidy, right?  But it is at this point that things kind of get out of hand.  What we think we're going to do and what we actually DO may be vastly different!  Somehow the days are filled and the time passes and we are having a great time... but I'm really glad that I have pictures as a record of it all because it becomes a pleasant blur...

The supply boat came on Monday and the shelves in the Exuma Market were promised to be overflowing with fresh foods by 3pm.  Since we need to have a good idea of what we have on hand before we do any more provisioning, we launched a full inventory of all our food and household goods.  This ended up taking all day long.







All clean and accounted for!
Doing inventory also provides an opportunity to clean as well.  All of the compartments are emptied, cleaned, and the contents washed, counted and returned to their place.

Some are discarded.  We have things with expired "best by" dates and have to decide if we want to eat them or not.  That's a huge discussion on board Dos Libras due to our different backgrounds.  I'm a by-the-books girl and Bruce came from a family of 11 children where you do NOT throw away food.

In the end he won and we just moved the older things up to the "use first" cabinet.  Bruce agreed that he would take the first bite of the expired stuff when I cook them since he has health insurance and I don't.


After everything was counted and put away, I created a new Excel spreadsheet to help us remember where everything is and how much we have onboard.

Once we were done with our inventory, I wasn't so hot to get to the market...  We had enough food to eat pretty well for over a month without buying another thing...

Sooooo... we settled in for a relaxing evening and called it a day.





Even gloomy days are beautiful.  Love the emerald cloud bottoms!
The weather dictated a move the next morning because the winds were coming from the east and we would be more comfortable over there.  Rain was forecast for most of the day but it held off until afternoon.

Our spot at Sand Dollar Beach
A day onboard in our jammies was on tap, but when I got the call on VHF from Jillian to come meet her to talk about a charity event that I am planning, we suited up and went to pick her up.

It started to rain softly on our way back to the boat.
As we were passing Magnolia, we stopped to chat and gained another passenger.  Annette was on her way to a meeting ashore as well... We spent the morning and early afternoon sitting on the deck of the St. Francis making plans.  It was fun listening to Jillian and Jill (the owner of the St. Francis) talking local stuff.  I sat quietly and tried to be a fly on the wall as they shared local gossip.  I felt almost like an insider!


When we were done with our meeting, we dropped Jillian back at her boat and headed for ours.  There were dolphin jumping and rolling in the anchorage right in front of us.  We stopped to play with them but they weren't having it.  It's such fun to see them in clear water!

Back on the boat, we got that jammie time.  It was almost cold as the rain fell intermittently and we were happy as clams snuggled in with our cat as a lap rug.
Prepping to move before sunrise
The weather the next day advised another move.  After an early shuffle from our anchorage at the south end of Sand Dollar Beach back to our spot on the town side...we got ourselves organized and loaded the dinghy with our grocery cart, two 5 gallon water jugs and our huge stinky trash bag!

The iPad needs some updates and a backup, and I haven't checked email in a while.  I don't usually open my email using data because of the huge bunch of junk mail we get.  I'm not using my precious data for that... so we needed to find a place that has wi-fi... and that usually means we get to have lunch OUT!!!  Yippee!

We strolled through town with our shopping cart in tow... The Exuma Straw Market is back up and running after burning to the ground on the day we left here back in April.  It is sad to see that it hasn't been rebuilt like it was.  The ladies are selling their wares from pop-up tents next to where the market used to be...


Bruce had a backpack full of books to exchange at the Cruiser's Library. This is a really neat thing.  Cruisers volunteer to work the three half days a week that it's open.

For $3 per year you can check out books and CDs.  We thought we would have to pay again but since it hasn't been a year, we still have a membership!  I sat on the porch outside and watched the world go by while Bruce chose some new books.  We haven't come to the point where I censor his reading material yet but we are very close...

My tummy was grumbling so our next stop was the Peace-N-Plenty.  Our table was waiting and we sat there for a long time updating all the apps on the iPad while enjoying a lovely lunch.

Unfortunately the wi-fi wasn't great so that backup will have to wait.  The burger and the mahi sandwich were delicious.  This is the place we eat out most often in GT and the pina coladas are sweet heaven.

We had a short list of things we needed from the Top-to-Bottom store.  This is a hardware sort of place with a little bit of everything.  I though they had EVERYthing... but they did not have the 8 gauge wire we need to upgrade our SSB transmission... and they didn't even seem interested in ordering it for us.  Oh well... it works like it is for now.

We looked at the selection of fishing supplies.  Bruce is on a mission to catch fish and lobster for us as we continue on our way down island... they had the spears but no tips, so we will pick that up later in the week after the supply boat comes again.

Instead of stopping back at the Exuma Market, we passed them by and walked around to the other side of Lake Victoria to see what the Shop Rite had to offer.  You can sometimes get a little better price on things here than Exuma Market, although this time they seemed to be about the same.









I get a thrill out of this tunnel every time!
We picked up almost everything on our list and with a quick stop at a tiny wholesale market up the road for ginger ale, we headed for the dinghy.  After filling the two water jugs we headed out through the tunnel and back to the boat with our treasures!











We got everything put away and settled in the cockpit to enjoy a spectacular sky.  The clouds were billowing up and the setting sun lit them like stage lights.  Unknown to me as we watched the rainbow come and go... we were in for a wild ride...  This was definitely the calm before the storm.

WOW was that every strange!  We had only a little bit of damage, unlike some in the anchorage.  The zippers on the center panel of our enclosure were broken.

One was unfixable but we were able to get the other one to work again using some extra zipper stops I have on hand.  I will have to replace the broken one but luckily I have one zipper that is long enough in my stock of spares.

The laundromat
The morning after...the net was abuzz with people in need of help fixing things and with lost and found.  We had nothing blown off our decks but lots of dinghies were overturned and things went floating away...  It was awesome to see how the community came together to help those in need.

The decision on what to do today was taken from us.  We had cat vomit to clean up.  All of our bedding and several towels needed to be washed and it wasn't going to be in a bucket.  It wasn't a large load but it was bulky items that needed proper cleaning.

We were happy to see Robert, the air-traffic-controlman-of-laundry still at work.  It wasn't a busy day so we got a machine right away.

Bruce read magazines and I chatted with White Bird to pass the time.  There was a woman folding clothes who couldn't hear or speak.  Bruce bought a raffle ticket from her and put her name on it.  It was nice to see her smile.

After our clothes had dried, Robert didn't even tell me...  I happened to notice him folding stuff that looked like ours... IT WAS!!! I went over and took the job from him.  No way was I letting him fold our laundry.  Before we left, I remembered to grab the one blanket that didn't fit in the dryer... Robert tole me to put it over the fence outside and it would be dry before we left... and it was.  I noticed when I took it off the fence that Robert had been turning it so that it would dry on both sides... Love that guy...

We stopped off for an unprecedented second day of lunch ashore!  I was able to get the iPad backup while we had pork chops and veggies at Redboone before we returned to the boat. The food was delicious and even more-so considering the condition of the place in which it was prepared.  They may not have fancy buildings but they are clean and produce delicious food here in GT.

In Cruiserdom you pretty much plan on doing one thing each day... and if you have time for more, you're lucky.  Well our day was pretty much over by the time we got back to the boat... so we didn't even try to pack any more in... A relaxing afternoon on the deck and dinner was it for us.

That left feeling behind because the boat was still covered in salt water from all the splashing during the derecho.  I don't like salt on the deck and especially in the cockpit.  I feel like it gets onto everything and the cat licks it off her feet... I'm not sure what that does to a cat but it can't be good.  So right after breakfast the next morning we got busy washing the boat.  It's nice to have plenty of water to spare for this activity... a thing that never happened before we got a water maker.

I cleaned the inside of the enclosure and the cockpit while Bruce worked on polishing the stainless steel stanchions.  We did yet another couple of buckets of laundry, leaving them to dry fluttering from the lifelines in the glorious sunshine.

The winds were almost calm and the water was glowing and crystal clear. The feeling of Life-is-Good was strong...






My preferred method of drying clothes...
With our work done and the sun really warming things up, we could no longer resist a dip in our "swimming pool".  The water was a little chilly but I got used to it quickly.

A friend had advised us that we should take a look at our snubber after the beating it took during the storm.  Evidently nylon rode can heat up by repeated stretching and should be checked regularly.


Bruce looked it all over and the snubber looked fine.  Our splice of rode to chain however, needs some attention.

We don't often use that much scope but it needs to be in good shape should the need arise, especially as we travel further where the anchorages will be deeper than here in the Bahamas.  Add re-splicing the anchor rode to the list-of-things-to do...


Sigh...


Soon it was time to get cleaned up for our dinner ashore!  I know... eating out AGAIN???  What has the world come to???


We, and ten of our closest friends were headed for Fish Fry! Magnolia and Agape V had already come by on their way, and here comes Mañana!


As the sun sank low, we followed Mañana across the harbour to the sandy beach at the little area of GT called inexplicably... Fish Fry.














Magnolia and Agape V took the scenic route...
Kelly Nicole and (new to the group) Odin the Wanderer arrived after dark from the other side of the harbour and rounded out our bunch for dinner and a "pub crawl".














The parking lot...
OMG we had fun.  Bruce and I don't normally do much away from the boat at night so this was a real treat!  We started at one end and had drinks there while waiting for Kelly and Odin.

I think conch may be on the menu somewhere...

Standing in line...Minced fish on the menu here... pass!

The early birds!
The bartender dressed this one nicely and danced a little jig while preparing it.
We wandered through the several bar/restaurants here and peeked at their menus.  The first place had only minced fish (whatever it is, it doesn't sound good) so we took a pass on that.  We thought we would eat dinner at Shirleys (? I think) but wanted to have another beverage and take a look around before settling.

Our group milled about like a flock of birds flying... reshaping and moving on in spurts.  It was great fun.


We arrived at this worthy looking place and one look at the BBQ pit had our mouths watering and our decision made.

We all perused the menu and placed our orders, then settled back to wait... and wait... and wait.

This IS the islands and no, you DON'T go back and ask how long until our dinner arrives!

I chose the lobster dinner for $20!!! Bruce got ribs for $14.  Prices aren't bad here.

Another couple joined our group, locals who own a home here on the island and split their time between here and the states.  It was interesting to hear about life on the island from a homeowner.
"The Closer"

Choosing our dinner.

Drinks and waiting

Lobster and ribs
We got our dinner finally and were impressed with the portions.  The food was delicious and we devoured it voraciously while some continued to wait for their dinner.  Orders are prepared one at a time...  By the time the rest of our group got their food we were done and ready to go back to the boat to bed.  What a fun night it was... maybe we should rethink our policy on going ashore at night.

One more day on this one and I'll cut it off...  Morning dawned beautiful.  We need to take a sail offshore to dump our waste tanks to avoid paying the (kind of) expensive pump-out fees...  But first we want to go into town again...
No... FIRST we have to fix the enclosure!  I keep putting it off because dragging out that heavy sewing machine and all of the stuff that goes with it is a pain...
Also a pain is the fact that these projects almost never go smoothly... They end up being way more complicated than expected and taking all day!  But we got lucky this time.  The hardest part was ripping out the old zipper.  

Sewing the new zippers on went relatively painlessly and we were done by lunchtime...  Even the cleanup!!!  
Our trip into town was a success... we stopped at the gas station dock and filled our two gas cans. While I was waiting for Bruce to pay the bill, I remembered that the bakery next door was supposed to have fresh baked bread today, Saturday...  I popped over there and picked up a still-warm-from-the-oven loaf of wheat bread.  Ohhh it smells heavenly.  

There was a young man dressed smartly hanging out at the fuel pumps offering help.  He followed us to the boat and insisted on helping us move the heavy gas cans into our dinghy.  He was so eager we couldn't say no, and so we let him help us for a tip. 
We had to refuse him when he begged us to take him for a ride in the dinghy but I let him pose for a picture pretending to drive.  I asked him what he would do with the money he earned today and he said he would buy himself a patty for lunch.  Patties are delicious pastries filled with meats, cheese or veggies.  Now I need a patty!!!   That's pretty much our day!
We dinghied over to the dock and walked to Top to Bottom for that spear gun, then returned to the boat.  We had planned to move to the other side of the harbour... We even got ready to move the boat when we realized that it was almost four o'clock and too late to move the boat if we wanted to take a sail... 

So we invited our friends on Mañana over for happy hour and dinner... and so ends another chapter of Life in Georgetown!  Stay tuned folks, we aren't gone yet!



4 comments:

  1. Greetings, So enjoy your blog ..... noticed your canned goods had the labels removed but some (salsa, etc.) were not - new purchases? Fordyce Nauicat 44

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, some new purchases or things we don't expect to store for very long keep their labels. There are also some storage places that are less likely to get damp. I'm not so worried about removing labels from plastic or glass jars either. The labels left on metal cans can get damp and cause the cans to rust through. Thank you for your kind words, I'm glad you enjoy the blog. I love to share and get a kick out of each and every comment. Keep 'em coming!

      Delete
  2. I am loving your blog too!! And it really makes me want to take a trip over to the Exumas sometime soon. What exciting days you have!! I totally think that having just one agenda item for a day is plenty, you never know what else might pop up. Sounds like you guys are having fun - I follow S/V ODIN - I think that's how I found your blog. It's encouraging to know others are out there "living the dream" and that we can too someday soon.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We've followed Odin as well and were excited to meet and share some good times with them. Hoping that our paths continue to cross as I really identify with Bonnie! She's a HOOT! Thanks for hanging out with us. It really is useless to try and stick to any type of PLAN... Life just takes over and it's awesome!

      Delete