Last night, we went to the St. Georges Yacht Club with two other couples who made the trip from Trini with us: Sue and Maurice, and Kathy and Greg. Over beer and barbecue, we relived our 19 hours of discomfort, telling our best and worst stories. Apparently, Maurice had stayed relatively dry until after nightfall, when he looked over the side and marvelled for a short moment at the phosphorescence given off by the disturbed microbes along the side of the boat. He lingered too long, as the sea jumped up and gave him a mighty, sloppy lick. He could add being salty and soaked to being tired and bruised. Kathy and Greg were the last to come in to anchor, but had to fight another half hour with their ground tackle, which had formed a giant, impenetrable ball in the locker below the bow.
The sleeping was great last night, and we are in good humour, almost totally recovered from the crossing. I have only one 4" wound across the back of my hand from when a 5' sailfish (yes, five foot) attacked my brand new lure while I was hauling it in to check it. He/she tightened the line around my hand and gave me a mighty yank before relieving us of the $20 lure and leader. I was occupied with my hand and the line, but Dawn saw him leap in all his glory, completely clearing the water. I guess you call that "sportfishing". It is almost a shame that my hand will likely heal without a scar. It would be a great opportunity for a story.
We plan to be here for a few days: do some walking possibly to retrieve some limes from a tree we found last year, rewire the watermaker for the higher amperage that the new configuration requires, replace the primary fuel filters since motoring during the rough crossing would have allowed all the tank fuel to be bypassed and poilished through the filters, and get ourselves sorted out. The flatter water might allow us to remove some of the wax that had to remain on the boat after rains stopped that job in Trinidad. Tonight, we will go to "Da Big Fish" restaurant, to have callalou pizza, meet old friends, and enjoy live music. We'll try to sit at the same table we shared with Mike and Anne O'Brien last April. It is great to be here.
