Day 30 – 1/31/11

Well it has been a month and we are still travelling, although not going anywhere.  Our traveling companions have an issue that will keep us here another day.  Damn, another day to explore the island and again snorkel the Thunderball grotto.  After discussing the issue with Dennis, we decided to stay until they are ready to move on.  Having them as traveling companions has helped us a great deal in making decisions and understanding cruising.   In fact, Dennis commented on my strategy to move when the anchorage became too crowded, and noted that where we set up was a wise decision. 

After it was determined that we would be staying another day, we dingyed in to discard another load of trash and add some water and gas to our inventories.  We went to the Emerald's bread kitchen and obtained a loaf of their whole wheat bread, which was still warm.  After returning, we off-loaded the supplies and waited for the tide to change for a second attempt at snorkeling the grotto.  We brought our fins this time and were rewarded with being able to cruise with ease through the water.  We captured several of our finned friends as well as the cavernous view of the grotto.  It was well worth hanging around for another day. 

After drying out, off we go to explore the island.  We headed south, stopping at Isles General Store, hoping to find a spare spark plug for our generator.  As we have detailed in our upgrade log for the next trip, we need an additional solar panel and battery.  The culprit is the freezer which draws significant amps, but we wouldn’t want to travel without it.  Buying the goods, broccoli, spinach, soy burgers, rolls, etc., stored in our freezer, if you could find them, would be expensive.  The store while fairly well stocked did not carry the plug we needed.  Beth commented; do we really need this?  Responding; no as long as we find one, we’ll never need it.  I do have one in the garage that I neglected to bring. 

We hiked on to the south end of the island, where it was all private; so turning around we headed back.  As we reached the government docks, a fisherman was cleaning his catch, and selling to the residents who had gathered.  He had sold 4 lobster tails, and was beginning to clean the conch.  I watched intently as he hit the top of the conch with a hammer to crack the top, and then inserted a knife to release it.  As he was cleaning, several large rays circled below waiting for the leftovers.  As soon as the good had been separated from the waste, into the water it went.  Small fish first grabbed at the waste, and then the rays swooped in scattering the fish. 

Returning to the marina, we stopped by the bar for an afternoon cocktail with Dennis.  Two Kalick’s for Dennis and I, and a Bahama Mama for Beth, and we recounted the day.  At the end of the bar was a TV, the first time in a month that we had watched, and we now know that Green Bay and Pittsburg are in the super bowl.  We also know that the Midwest and Northeast are about to get another major snow storm.  We will have gusty winds tonight, and I will be on GPS patrol.  When we returned to the boat, a new boat was in the same area as we were. Up to now the closest boat has been over 300 yards away.  One additional thing to consider tonight.