Enjoying a glass of Vino and waiting for pizza, watching a spectacular sunset after a hard day's work. Rodney Bay Marina, Saint Lucia.
****
Yes, indeed, I did it again. What I mean is that it's been
almost, but not quite two weeks (
WEEKS !!) since we last left you, way back in, where were we? In Dominica... back in the other Chart Book !!
Where we were busy Adventurin' and having a blast of a time exhausting ourselves hiking to waterfalls and soaking in hot springs, and...
"Don't you wish we were still there?", I asked the Capt'N?
"Yes, but..., I'm reading" he replied, which means, in Capt'N-speak, don't interrupt me.
"Oh, what you reading?" I couldn't help myself, as I glanced over his shoulder at the webpage on equalizing batteries which kind of hazed itself out-of-focus as I sipped my morning coffee and left him to his... reading!
And so back to (
almost, but not quite) two weeks of time missing via blogs... Mea Culpa. So Many Promises to Keep... they're coming !! Double swear, I will... !!
However, today... this blog... now has you finding us having spent the last 4 days in a marina. A (
very hot) marina visit that was initially planned to be a quick in and out. Two days, perhaps?
Clean the boulder sized salt crystals off
Banyan, wash and wax, vacuum, get the batteries equalized...
"Oh, and maybe we can tackle..."
"And while you're doing that, I'll do..."
You know how it goes?
And so the list started. We all know how I feel about "
top number of anything" type of lists, right?
Top ten things to do while in a marina? Believe you us, it somehow rarely, if ever, includes using their pool, or going for long hand-holding types of walks along the docks, or sitting in the restaurant overlooking the dock (while swatting the sundowner mosquitos away) watching the sun set and having a pizza.
Instead I could give you the top fifty things to NEVER attempt when in a marina. Like trying to equalize your batteries using shore power and the numbers are just getting to the sweet spot when
click...
"What was that?"
"Effin shore power is off..."
AGAIN.
I wonder if Eileen Quinn might write a song about this? How many phone calls to the marina staff, 4 days in a row, to inquire about the power situation?
And WiFi? Don't even get me started on the lack of WiFi. Even had we had decent WiFi, where in my dream world I could sit in my (freshly cleaned cockpit) and sip a margarita and write blogs on amazingly rapid connections all day long, wouldn't you know that in real life, all loads to the boat had to be OFF while the Capt'N was attempting to equalize. That means WiFi, and don't use the computers as we can't charge them up, as there's no power - until the equalizing is done. Seeing the conundrum? Le Sigh.
Anyhow, not to bore you with our list of Top 105 Things We've Accomplished (as we're patting ourselves on our very sore backs at the current feel and smell and knowledge that Banyan is squeaky clean),
or the Top 67 Things we Haven't Accomplished (a list that we've hidden away in the freshly dusted and oiled Nav Table, to Never Speak of Again). Until the next marina visit. Perhaps.
And all lists aside, there are always the stories. Of Remember When...
One evening, in the almost cool hours just before sunset, we spent an hour or so cleaning our dinghy. Very early the next day Dave used (the clean) dinghy to propel himself along as he sweated and waxed and sweated and buffed Banyan's sides. And Murphy struck about minutes before the end of the job.
Suddenly, Dave in typical sailor-speak cursed "
*^%$&%**" !!
When I jumped topsides to see what all the expletives were about, I discovered Dave with a very sad and pouty face, standing in the dinghy, his toes, or rather his entire feet, and both feet at that, almost totally submersed in a rather large pool of white wax.
Yes, the brand-new container (of way too liquid-ey stuff) had spilled all its contents.
I suppose that that Thankful and Grateful Acts of Life would have you re-perspectify this and Thank the Universe that the dinghy had JUST been cleaned, and as such the spilled wax could be used to finish waxing the boat. At least there's that, right?
So once Banyan's sides were waxed and buffed, the dinghy had to be cleaned. Again.
A few beers and a pizza were desperately needed after that. So, ever grateful once again, we did get to take that hand-holding type of walk down to the end of the dock, order up that pizza, and watch the sun set (while we swatted the evening mosquitos away).
After the fourth and final power outage yesterday, we raised our arms in surrender type of fashion, dropped our lines,
and are now happily back at anchor, planning our next Adventuring's.
Oh, and P.S.: The WiFi out here is MUCH better than in the Marina. There are no Power Outages affecting us and the Boulder Sized salt crystals are gone as we are blinded by the very shiny whiteness of Banyan's newly polished self. I am sipping a Margarita in my newly cleaned cockpit and writing a blog, and with a smile realize that dreams do have a way of coming true.