Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Monday was a lovely day here in the Keys. We had another first for us. We took the dingy over to the turtle beach and beached it up on the sand, then snorkeled with the turtles for a while. We took a little hike on Baradel Key then spent the rest of the morning lounging in the fabulous water. Beaching the dingy was an experience. Jim had to kill the engine and raise it, while I jump out and haul it in. Then he jumps out and we drag it above the waterline on the beach. We actually looked like we knew what we were doing! Launching it is the same thing in reverse, only you have to jump back IN the dingy...and I can tell you, you don't want to be too deep in the water when you do. Fortunately I watched Jim throw one long leg over a pontoon, like boarding a horse, so I followed suit and that also worked well. Ok - one more thing we learned how to do!

Some friends we met in Trinidad are also here, and later Monday we discovered them on another beach while dingying around, so we beached the dingy again. We discovered that it is much easier on a shallow beach, rather than a steep one. We made plans to visit them for sundowners later and had a fun time. Tonight was the total lunar eclipse, so 3:15 am, Jim wakes me and we sit on the sugar scoop watching the night show, as the moon turned a dull red. The sky is very clear tonight, and the moon incredibly bright and it obscures all but the brightest secondary stars. As the eclipse becomes complete the stars appear and the sky was just full. We even saw a few shooting stars streak by. Definitely worth disturbing sleep for.

Tuesday, we met up with everyone, and went out to the north end of the reef for a snorkel. Today...another first. We anchored the dingy on a borrowed anchor from Neal and Peggy, on a sandy patch in the reef and snorkeled right off the dingy. The coral in this area is amazing with the water no more than 10-12 feet deep. Coming over one of the coral heads we saw a nurse shark, nestling in the sand crevasse. This time I didn't panic and swim like crazy in the other direction! While we watched it, it changed position a few times, then burrowed deeper into the coral as if to say...'Please, leave me be!' so we did. Mental note...do not free dive under any innocent looking coral heads.

So now comes the hard part - boarding the dingy from the water. We bought a ladder for this purpose and tied it on the hoist chain. Then Jim holds the bottom, while I attempt to climb up it. It was not graceful, but I managed and hauled myself into the dingy...then Jim followed. This system we'll need to improve, but it worked. Another first behind us! We headed over to a different beach then, then headed back to the boat after making plans for Pina Colada's on Regenero tonight.

Just after we finished lunch we look up to see a boat anchoring near us and it is Jost, who we met in Port Louis, and his friends. This is the most fun part of cruising...when you meet up again with people in different places. After setting and then checking his anchor he swam over to say hello. We quickly added them to the party list.

This morning on the radio we heard that another storm might be building nearby, and has a chance to form into a tropical cyclone (Yea - Hurricane!), so with one eye on the weather we continue on with our day.

Two of our group couldn't make it...but we cranked up the blender and carried on anyway. About 5:30...the wind really picked up, and Sea Otter made a hasty departure back to their boat. They are anchored out of sight just around the corner and with the wind pushing 30 in the gusts wanted to be sure to be safe aboard. As Jost and crew are right next door they stayed and we laughed and laughed some more! The wind settled, then picked up again and the rain came in for a while. They left during a break in the storms, and we watched them till they were aboard. Then we stripped down our canvas to reduce some windage and went to bed. The squalls blew thru on and off all night, sometimes with heavy downpours. One at 4am woke both Jim and I as we were once again shutting the hatch! That was the end of my sleep for tonight, and so I again watch the sunrise, this time thru many clouds, which makes for a spectacular dawn. There are lots of high cirrus clouds now, and at 7:30 we will again listen to the forecast in order to plan the next few days. But all is well here in the Grenadines.