Shopping, rotis, fridge defrosting
06 April 2020 | 18 20'N:64 56'W, Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas, US Virgin Islands
NC
6th April
18 20 N
64 56 W
Weather; overcast, wind n/a, waves n/a
WISHING ROSE A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ENJOY IT EVEN IF IT ISN'T THE USUAL FAMILY GATHERING AND CELEBRATION!
We had a good night, it wasn't too rolly and was just cool enough to be comfortable. Gerry listened in to the cruisers net but nothing new came out of it, apparently there are 2 flotillas going back to the USA in the next week or so, they will have good weather for it according to the forecast but it's going to take them about a week to do the trip as there will be no stopping at islands along the way - needless to say we aren't going to join them!
Once the cruisers net was over Gerry took off over to Gypsy Palace as Dale and he were going to Budget Marine over near Red Hook to get some essential boat bits. Lorie and I were going to make a trip to the grocery store to be able to browse the aisles in peace and pick up some essential supplies of our own (both boats are running low on rum!) the guys were going to have to get a safari bus to Budget Marine and then do a short walk - fingers were crossed that they would have the parts that the guys needed. About an hour after the guys had left Lorie came to pick me up in their dinghy and we dinghied into the cruise liner dock and tied up before walking the couple of blocks to the grocery store. We arrived to find there was a short line outside the store waiting to go inside, we were about 6th in line so we didn't have to wait for too long before we were admitted. The shelves were being restocked as we went around so we were lucky enough to fulfil our lists and not miss out on anything. Lorie had let the guys know that we were still in the store and they should get off the safari bus at the supermarket to assist us with carrying the bags back to the dinghies - it prevented me from borrowing a trolley and wheeling my shopping back to the dock but Lorie still borrowed a trolley to wheel her shopping back, Dale wasn't doing his bag carrier job!
The shopping got stashed away, without Gerry making too many comments about the stuff I had bought - mostly because I had bought a bottle of rum and some coke to keep him happy!
We had discussed going to the roti shop for lunch, knowing that if it was open we were going to have to have a take out bag. The 4 of us dinghied into the town dock and walked up the road to the roti shop which was open, ordered our take out rotis and a soft drink from behind a 6 feet barrier, then took our bagged meals to the nearby park which was empty of people (not so the birds and chickens - they haven't got the memo!). there is one table with 4 seats for playing chess so we sat there and ate our food whilst it was still hot. Dale wanted to go for a short walk down the main street to get some exercise, Gerry and I chose not to do this as it was the middle of the day, stinking hot and we thought it the wrong time of day to be walking around, besides which everywhere was closed so there was nothing to see anyway. We returned to our boat and Gerry announced that the time had come to defrost our fridge as the bottom shelf was covered in ice. We emptied all the food stuff into a cold bag and Gerry set about chipping away the ice - it was much worse than we first thought -an ice monster had taken up residence on the back plate and by the time he had finished chipping it all away we had 2 sinks full of ice. Once cleaned and everything was back in place we then had to have the fridge running for 3 hours to get it back down to temperature - the amp Nazi wasn't pleased about that! Lorie came across to our boat as we were sitting in the cockpit having our sundowner drink, she gifted me a colouring in book and some colored pencils to occupy my spare time - it was much appreciated and will be put to good use! We had a quick dinner of Shrimp Caesar Salad and then it was time to relax, read, answer emails and type the blog for today. Well that's it until tomorrow.