During the weather learned that "Strathspey" was in Black Point with us. We had never actually met these folks but they are friends of friends and have spent quite a bit of time in Georgetown during the last couple of months. I have been looking forward to meeting them and to hopefully gain a little information about anchoring in Georgetown.

The big question was the dinghy. Was the floor going to stay in place or not? It actually looked solid but without a test we were never going to know. We hoisted it back into the water an inflated the tubes... no leaks. We lowered the motor in place and still no leaks. Finally, I took off for "Strathspey" and put it up on plane. Again no leaks.

I spent a few minutes with Blair and Mary before returning to the boat to run a bag of garbage ashore and to collect 12 gallons of water while we had easy access. After getting things organized, we hauled the anchor and headed for Little Farmer's Cay. It was an uneventful cruise down the bank until we arrived. The approach called for us to run just a few feet from the limestone outcropping. It was scary. Around the point and into the harbor it wasn't much better. There were channels of deep water but there were also shoals in the middle. As we motored through and got the lay of the land...or water in this case, it was not a problem.

We ended up on a mooring and wandered to into the settlement later in the afternoon. There wasn't much there but as always, the people were friendly and polite. We wanted to go to the Ocean Cabin, a restaurant that had been recommended, but it was closed until later and we didn't want to wait around.

Back at the boat, we had a nice meal and watched the first half of a movie that Jim and Beth had sent along with us.

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Feb. 18

After the weather and coffee, we pulled up the dinghy for some more patching. Yesterday I found two small places that seemed to be leaking water. We hoisted it to the foredeck and while in the upright position, I patched the two areas. Then we turned it up-side-down to ride on the foredeck for the trip to Little Farmer's Cay... our destination for the last few days.

When we flipped her over we found that the 4 foot strip of fabric that connects the fiberglass floor to the tube was completely detached on one side. A major problem.. and one that could have been avoided if we weren't so cheap. A new dinghy at the boat show was the proper course of action.

Anyway, we were here... and some work needed to be done if we were ever going to get to shore again. The strip of fabric was still connected to the tube so we carefully rolled it back and wire brushed the side to be glued. We did the same for the section of hull that where the fabric was going to be place and then cleaned everything with solvent. We gathered as many reasonably heavy items as we could find to weigh things down after gluing. Finally, I mixed up a batch of West Systems, (epoxy) liberally painted both surfaces and stuck things back together. Next I covered the glued area with paper towels and put the weights on top.

After a couple of hours drying, I removed the weights, scraped off the paper and inspected our efforts. Things looked good but I found two small places where water could find its way in so I filled them with 3M 4200.

I mixed up another batch of West Systems and cut a 6 in wide strip of fiberglass matting... half of which was placed on the newly glued section of fabric the other half on the adjacent section the fiberglass bottom. When that dried, I sanded the rough pieces of matting and applied a final coat of epoxy.

By that time the day was gone so we put off our departure until tomorrow.

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Feb 17

We were going to leave today but never got around to it. After listening to the SSB we went to shore to phone Kathy's mom who has just returned home after her hip injury. At the pier there is a building, the front half of which is open on three sides with half walls. It looks like some type of concessions should be sold here but the inside is empty except for a bench on inside of all three walls.

Gathered here were a group of young men who were debating politics with some gusto as we walked by...
While Kathy was on the phone I really tried to eavesdrop on their discussion...there is somewhat of a language barrier although I am beginning to do a better job of following the drift of native conversations. When speaking directly there is no problem, but when they are talking among themselves, the English language is stretched a little. One poor fool was arguing the republican line...he was outnumbered to say the least.

Back at the boat Kathy made breakfast and then we hiked to the other side of the island with Jim and Beth. There were no treasures to be found, but there was lots of trash on the eastern beaches...again mostly plastic.

Before we returned to our boats we bid the Madcap sailors a fond farewell with promises to track each other down again. Jim and Beth have been a great couple to travel with but the need to stay here in the Staniel Cay area to entertain family and friends for the next few weeks while we need to continue south to connect with Sam and Erin.... we have enjoyed their wit, charm and sense of adventure ( read sparkle in her eye) for the last few weeks and will miss them dearly.

Instead of heading to Little Farmers Cay, we spent most of the afternoon reading with a quick run into Lorraine's for a bag of ice and a final check of our email. Tomorrow, weather permitting, we will move south.

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