Yesterday John’s boat “Stopp Knot” was launched late in the afternoon. Laurie and I were on hand the day before for the scheduled launch, but it didn’t take place. No problem however, as John was quite happy to be on land an extra day hooked up to shore power with showers just outside his door. John treated all the dockyard boys to a drink at the Boatyard Pub and then an extra one for us on his boat when it was all the hoop-la was finished.

This morning we woke up to John’s voice on the VHF radio requesting a slip in the lagoon from the Marina. Laurie and I are anchored outside the lagoon out in the big bay where the water is clear and swimming is a choice. John will eventually come out here but for now he’s having his refrigeration fixed, the 2 heads working and the engine working properly before he ventures out.

As soon as we heard John on the radio this morning, I planted a coffee in Laurie’s hand and sent him on his way to see how he could assist. That was at 8:00 this morning and at 2:00 pm, he’s still not back at the boat. I received a radio call from Clark, a friend of John’s letting me know that Laurie was scrubbing the deck of the boat and wouldn’t be back out here until later this afternoon. Now, you have to know that when we’re in John’s presence, we call the 2 of them Oscar and Felix. No need to say more! We’re taking dinner to John’s boat this evening where we’ll entertain a couple of his friends. I expect the boat to be in shipshape by then.

This morning we also heard on the radio a distress call from someone here in the bay telling the coast guard that a boat was sinking just outside the channel to the lagoon and that it was almost out of site. We quickly looked through the binoculars and what a horrible sight. It would appear that the owners of the boat were not around; perhaps enjoying a leisurely breakfast at the Bread Basket, or shopping for groceries. So far, nothing has been done and you can only see the mast sticking out of the water along with his fenders. They were tied to the back of the boat at the time of sinking. I remember Ken Ward back home telling us that the most common way for people to lose their boats is to have the sea cocks leak or the head malfunction leaving the boat taking on serious amounts of water very quickly. Maybe Laurie will have more information on the situation when he comes back from the lagoon later on.

I’ve enjoyed my morning all alone; reading, making dinner for tonight, putting together a batch of hummus – all the time listening to MY music at a nice volume!

There is a boat identical to ours anchored right next to ours today. Laurie was pretty excited when we saw it sitting here last night when we got back from John’s boat. I spoke briefly with them this morning and found out that although they’re Canadian, they speak little English and have a baby about a month old. We may not get together afterall…

All for now, still sitting in the same spot at Rodney Bay, St. Lucia.