This morning, while we were running the generator, getting the pump-out boat to come and otherwise getting ready for the day we got a call on the radio from Top of the World. That is Paul and Melanie’s house, and Paul and Melanie are the original owners of Earendil, whom we met the other day. Paul said they’d taken their boat to town and looked for us but we weren’t there. I explained about our move to Monument and asked if they were still out and about if they’d like to come and find us here. They were home, but asked if we’d like to come by later. We would, we did.

We were going to stop in on the way to the St. Francis Resort to buy Internet time, but they were having a luncheon and the warning came over the radio for those participating to be courteous at the dinghy dock and be sure to tie off with a long painter (rope for you land lubbers). We figured that meant things would be pretty crowded there so we decided to go to Paul and Melanie’s place first.

It was a nice dinghy ride today. It would have been to the lee of the islands and so not bad if the wind had been blowing as was predicted, but there was almost no wind at all. If you zoom out on the Google Earth map from where we are, the next island south is Elizabeth Island and our destination. We called back on the radio as we approached. There’s was the house we had thought, and as we got closer we could see the two markers at the entrance to their channel. They have a nice dredged channel into a fairly large lagoon. The picture here is of their dock, their big boat (a power catamaran) and their runabout in front of their house. That’s Paul and Melanie next to their runabout, and Bud in our dinghy, as we got ready to leave.

The house is in two parts. What was a partially completed and partially falling down boat house they restored and finished into the common spaces of their home, living room and kitchen, etc. Behind and to the side of that was a partially built cistern. They finished the cistern and built a foundation right around it and built the tall part of the house that has a studio downstairs and bedrooms on the floors above. But what we toured was their part of the island. They have a small citrus grove and many trails that they cut and maintain. We walked south to a little beach near the end of the island but on the harbor side. Then we cut across the southern tip of the island to a beautiful little beach on the ocean side and a shaded little deck with chairs to enjoy that view. From there we walked up to the highest point on Elizabeth Island where their new gazebo sits. It’s a new gazebo because Hurricane Irene took the last one partway down the hill. They just finished the roof on this one Saturday (which has reinforced concrete around the footings to thwart the next hurricane). I took a picture from the gazebo looking down toward the ocean and the beach where we’d just been. I’ll put it in the gallery. We had a very nice visit. We learned that they had sent their kids a link to the blog and their kids were also happy that someone was caring for and enjoying their old boat.

We did stop and get Internet access at the resort and then stopped for a bit at Volleyball Beach, where Fuzzy made friends with another dog and we got to chat with another cruiser. Fuzzy is a great way to meet people. The other dog’s name was Roxy, and Ann, her owner, said people remembered Roxy, but not her. That happens to us, too. People don’t recognize me if I don’t have Fuzzy with me.

Fuzzy is pretty worn out from all this visiting and is now sleeping like a log. Let’s hope that lasts through the night.