The water here has been a bit cloudy lately but today is as clear as an aquarium, so I think I'll get back in and swim to the reef.
Later today, John Fallon and his guests Henry and Gail will be coming to our boat for lasagne and salad. John cooked up a nice wok of stirfry with beef last night aboard Stopp Knot, so we'll repay him tonight. Gail and Henry leave tomorrow after being on John's boat since the first of February. They have fixed everything in sight, right down to taking winches apart, which is no small job! They leave at noon and his next company arrives at 3:00 the same afternoon. It's a couple and their high school age daughter from Saint John. We'll play with them as we buddy boat down to the Pitons for the first week of Paul's visit to our boat and then we'll take Paul up to Martinique for wine and cheeses.
Laurie has been working straight out on all the repairs that have been lined up and waiting for our visit to St. Lucia. Our bimini (sunscreen over the cockpit, and our jib went into the sail maker's and are both all re-stitched and repaired. The sun has taken its toll on the threads but the sunbrella fabric is still pristine. The job was 103.00 US which we thought was pretty reasonable.
After sending our watermaker membrane back to Trinidad by FedEx for warranty, we received the replacement just this week. Yesterday Laurie got it hooked up and we're now making water again. Just in the nick of time too because of the drought that's been going on here for the past month. It was made law yesterday that because it's a state of emergency, nobody is allowed to wash their boats, cars or anything else. There has been little water available to purchase at the Marina which leaves people without water makers in a bad position. We're very lucky to have our part arrive in a timely fashion and free of charge except for shipping and customs brokerage. It would be terrible to have to drink beer all day instead of water. The hell here never ends, mon!
Besides those 2 jobs, Laurie has been working for the past 3 days to replace one of our windows/hatches. He has had one glitch after another, but he thinks the job will be complete today. The old window's bolt holes don't line up at all with the new window, and it isn't built for a curved surface, which is of course where it's going! We won't know if it leaks or not until the next rain or the next passage to another island, but he thinks it will be fine. The new window was $500.00 US and we're a little cranky that the old one split a seam and can't be repaired here. Most people say that those hatches should last the lifetime of the boat. It's been a BIG MONEY week for Cat Tales!
While Laurie worked all day in the heat yesterday on boat chores, I accepted an invitation to meet up with women in the bay who get together on Wednesdays for lunch and a dip in the pool at a local high class resort, Bay Gardens! There were about 18 of us, some of whom had met each other in that past, and others who were out looking to meet new people. I ended up with lots of boat cards and a face to put on a boat name now when we pass their boats in the bay or hear them on the radio. I started off with a diet coke for $8.75 and later on a beer for $7.00. Now what will I do the next time??? Go figure! Remember to divide by 2 to get the approximate Canadian dollar amount! We all had a ball drifting around in the pool in fresh water. This is definitely on my Wednesday to do list from here on in while in Rodney Bay!
All for now, I'm off to the reef!
