Today my first job was to don foulies and get out on the deck to lower the aft end of the dingy so that the collecting rainwater will drain out and not put undue strain on the davits. Damn. If it was any colder it would be snow! Even poor long suffering Peri had to think twice before heading out for his morning poopambulation and he wasn't long in conducting his business and then straining to get back to the boat and the heaters.

Barb and I took the day to explore the town a bit on the "free" bus system. I put the free in quotes because they ask for donations so being good little Canucks we dutifully stuffed a dollar bill into the collection box only to see that most of the other people were handing it directly to the driver. Turns out you have a choice - the box or the driver, or indeed nothing at all. I'm sure that the municipality would prefer that all the monies go into the collection box but the drivers put so much personality into their job we just felt that they should get it, especially when we found out that all of them were deliberately kept on part time status so that the town wouldn't have to pay out benefits. I can understand the town management making that decision, just as I hope that they can understand ours in giving our "donation" to the drivers.

The buses themselves are sort of like the smaller school buses that we use at home and are reasonably comfortable, clean and mechanically quiet. I can't say the same for the passengers since a lot of them seem to treat the ride as the major social event in their daily calendar and are carrying on with great abandon. There also must be an assisted care facility or special need learning institution in the area as there were quite a few high effective learning disabled folks riding the bus to their jobs or out shopping.

We went to the Fresh Market (very nice, great selection and products, but also very pricey), Lowes to get some bits and pieces for me to fix the forward head, and finally Publix to get some groceries.

It looks like there won't be any sort of weather window for at least a week so we will probably be staying here for three or four days. We'll come off the dock tomorrow and go out to one of the moorings. That will keep our costs down and we'll still be able to enjoy the town.

From Barb

We had a pretty good day overall, in spite of the foul weather, with the initial exploration by bus - I can not say enough good things about how friendly the drivers are! I can see why sailors get comfortable about staying here for sure. There was even a daily paper delivered to us this AM - Mike rescued it from the deck before it was a sodden mess.

There was one blot on things for me though. I knit avidly for a passtime and had made a list of needles and yarns needed for future projects over the coming months - nothing exotic. With that list in hand we travelled via two busses all the way to the Michael's here. I came away intensely disappointed - unable to get any of the yarns and with only 2 of the sets of needles. The staff were pleasant but clearly were not knitters and could not suggest substitutions for the yarns and looked a bit stunned about the needles I need. I was wishing that I could have been transported back to The Loop on Barrington Street in Halifax - all I would need is 20 minutes with the knowledgable staff there and my list would have been checked off. After an online search I found a store in West Palm Beach that looks like it might fit the bill - I will have to hang on to my Christmas $ until then. If I can't get what I want there I will just have to slow down on using the few skeins I have left as I don't really expect to find a wool store anywhere in the Bahamas - maybe I will be pleasantly surprised. If not, it serves me right for not bringing more with us when I provisioned the boat for this trip.

Enough whining, time to shut down the propane heater and crawl into the sleeping bag. I sure appreciate the great quality bags we bought from Mountain Equipment Co-op prior to last year's trip - they are not showing any signs of wear even after multiple launderings.