We are currently anchored off of South Caicos waiting for a weather window to head for Sand Cay where we will stage ourselves before heading to the Dominican Republic. It looks like there will be a weather window this weekend so hopefully we will be in the DR Sunday. I feel like we have been trying to get there forever.
South Caicos is a very poor island. It is a tried and true fishing village, mostly lobster/conch. Every morning, bright and early, the colorful fishing boats whiz past us on their way to search out conch and lobster. They don't set traps for the lobster rather they free dive for them. They use a pole with a sharp hook on the end which they put under the belly of the lobster then pull up and hook them. This takes the lobster by surprise and doesn't freak out the other lobsters waiting in the hole. Pretty interesting.
The town itself used to be the salt mining capital of the world(I think but don;t quote me) before the bottom dropped out of salt in the sixties(god knows my family is doing it's part to keep the salt industry afloat!) Anyway, as a result there are dilapidated 'mansions'(for lack of a better word) scattered about that have been abandoned. They are overgrown with the flowers of the island and crumbling. It's really cool in an eerie ghost town kind of way. I have taken photos which I will try and post.
The locals live in one room homes(some may call them shacks) and lots have outhouses in the back. However, most of the homes are painted the prettiest Carribean colors...light blue, seafoam green, pastel pink. This is the Caribbean before the cruise ships and large resorts...a simple fishing village. Horses, donkeys, goats and chicken roam the streets. At night/morning, the sounds of dogs howling and roosters singing fills the air. It is a wonderful place full of character, smells, sounds and beauty all it's own.
The people are extremely friendly and quick with a smile which makes it all the better.
O watched the football game at a local restaurant in town and was invited by a local to a superbowl party. It was at someones house and O said there was loads of food such as fish, chicken, rice etc, beer, conversation, music and laughter. I was sorry I didn't get to experience it because he said it was a lot of fun. The next day as we were walking through town everyone stopped and said hello to him.
While we have been here Ben has had an accident on the trampoline. He and Daphne(the nine year old on Wind Borne) we jumping off of the chair on the bow onto the trampoline. Ben was NOT suppose to be doing that, but I was in the galley making pasta salad and O was talking to Kevin(D's dad) on the aft deck. Anyway, Ben landed on his elbow wrong and came running back in SEVERE pain. It was awful to watch because I couldn't do anything to take the pain away. O and Kevin checked it and didn't think anything was broken, we iced it, gave him Tylenol and read him books trying to soothe him. I, of course, wanted to take him to a dr but it was Sunday afternoon and there was NOTHING open. I think the VERY WORST feeling a parent can have is helplessly watching your child in pain. I would not wish that on my worst enemy.
Monday the elbow was still swollen. We continued icing it and giving him Motrin for the swelling. D brought over a sling and a half cast from a previous elbow injury of hers. Ben was not in nearly as much pain, it was sore but NOTHING like the day before. Except fro an evening walk, we kept him onboard all day so he wouldn't move around to much. Tuesday morning we noticed that Ben's hand was swollen and the swelling on the elbow had not subsided at all so we took him to the local clinic. After waiting two hours in the extremely clean, well run clinic the dr saw him. She said it was impossible to determine anything without an xray. However, the xray machine is in Grand Turk a FOUR HOUR boat ride away. We couldn't leave that day or we would have arrived at sunset which is not a good time to navigate the coral heads. So we decided to leave today, however, it has been blowing and continued to blow 25kts all last night and well into late this afternoon, so we would have been bucking into 8ft seas with 25kts on the nose for five hours(it would have taken longer due to weather). So last night I made some dr phone calls and was advised that we should wait until tomorrow to travel when the weather calms down, one day would not make a difference. The savings grace is that Ben is not in any pain. The hand is not as swollen today and he seems to have more mobility in the elbow so it is healing. We have made a sling that keeps his hand above his heart which reduces the swelling. Other than immobilizing it, I don't know what else they will do, but I am not a doctor. So tomorrow at 6:00am we will go. Fingers crossed that it is a pulled muscle or something which will not involve a cast. I am optimistic that all will be well. Ben is a trooper and I couldn't be more proud of him.
It's late and we have an early start so i will sign off.