Watching The Freighter Depart
31 October 2008
• West End
by Perfect
Last night was one of the those perfect tropical sunsets. The sky was redder than I had ever seen. As I was taking the dogs for an evening walk I noticed that the freighter that had earlier unloaded tons of supplies to the island was calmly pulling up its docking lines in preparation for departure. Eventually the ship was held in place only by the rear door lying on the hard. Then they raised it and were slowly on their way. Heading out into the relatively calm ocean with the darkening red sky ahead, the captain and crew probably thought they had the best jobs in the world and for that moment they did. Now, 12 hours later, another front has come in and it has been blowing between 20 and 30 knots inside the marina. I've got the wind gen on and it is providing the power for this posting. I created a list of things to do yesterday for the first time in a long time but didn't get to any of them. Instead I rode the bike into town again with friend Rob and wound up having fried shrimp, cracked conch, and french fries (i.e. everything was fried) at the only restaurant that was serving. While in town we checked out the old Texaco Star marina which was once the nicest in West End and which is now run down and nearly in ruins. They will store Rob's boat there for $100 per month if he can't get out during the next planned weather window. When we got back I was too pooped to do anything and wound up watching a movie and snacking until bedtime. Woke up at 6:00 a.m. to this howling wind. Thankfully the boat is well secured at the dock and I don't have to worry about the anchor holding, waves, or taking the dingy to and from shore. It still amazes me the amount of hard weather I've encountered in the Bahamas this trip. Probably 7 or 8 cold fronts or the equivalent at this point in additional to all the rain and humidity and bugs at first. There have certainly been some nice days, but a lot of hard weather too. It's generally pretty mild in Tucson so it's been a completely new experience. This is the 3rd front since I arrived at the marina. I've been checking weather regularly and its looking pretty good for the crossing Sunday night and Monday. Listening to the wind this early morning that is hard to believe.
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