Friday, November 05, 2010

First night aboard on the water and we slept well...if a little warm without the AC...but more comfortable than I expected to be tied to a dock. Thursday Jim had the Electronics guys here to work on the wind indicator...to no avail, still not properly registering and I went to Port of Spain shopping with Sharon. A busy and vibrant downtown area with lots of fabric shops and other vendors large and small.
The not so good news is we are still waiting on our dingy, which they promise we will be able to get on Monday..as we would like to leave soon after that...that would be good!

And the things that go bump in the night....Last night a very large commercial fishing vessel, about 75 feet long was maneuvering near us and decided to use us as a fender. We were sleeping and all of a sudden hear very loud engine noises, and shouting...where none should be. We jump up and run on deck in our PJ's and see the bow of this vessel backing away behind us, with a guy running down the deck holding a fender and trying to get it between our boats. Jim is close to the boat on the port side and desperately wants to fend it off...but thinks better of it and keeps his hands to himself. Next thing we feel is this huge bump that pushes us and jerks the boat and then they are backing off us. As it was dark, we couldn't see if there was much damage. We called in to the marina office, and at the same time the dock master and security were beside us as they had seen the boat hit us and came to check. We made a report, but decided to wait until morning to see what the damage might be. As you can probably imagine, sleep the rest of the night was a bit iffy for both of us. When we woke this morning it was to find a few rubmarks/paint transfer on our port sugar scoop rub rail...but the rub rail did its job and protected the boat from damage. Thank goodness. I can't tell you all the various little things that happen that confirm to us that we are truly blessed and protected. A vessel easily three times our size bumps into us in the dark - and nothing but a rub mark to show for it. We have had rain nearly every day here since we arrived, sometime sprinkles, sometimes downpours that last for hours, yet the day we launch it is bright and clear and not even a hint of a storm threatening us. God is good, and cares for us in a million little ways, every day.

Today is a national Holiday here, Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights so all businesses are closed and there are events happening at various locations. We had a very productive day, Jim put the grill together and it is now mounted on the stern rail ready for its first meal to cook. I built the shade awning for the fordeck and we got some laundry done. Jim had his first haircut in 5 weeks, which is about 2 week overdue...we was threatening to club it back into a pony tail like 50% of the men down here. We also spent about 2 hours in the pool...finally a little relaxing and enjoying the life of a cruiser.

Tomorrow it's off to the market for me and then we have sea trials with the electronics guys, a few more chores around here and I'm guessing more pool time. And right now, we are sitting in the cockpit while a light rain sprinkles on the bimini and the setting sun casts such a bright glare that I can barely see the computer screen. Ahhh, Trinidad!