Apparently you cannot clear customs on the weekend. So, we have extended our stay here on the northern tip of St. Lucia in Rodney Bay and have plans to leave first light Tuesday. The crossing from St. Lucia to the French island of Martinique will be my first open water sail. Till now we have been sliding up the east coast of St Lucia a few miles offshore. Tuesday will be about 35 miles between the two islands. Skipper says it will take about 8 hours. Really?! Eight hours?! Let's just give it a little more throttle and get there in an hour. lol. It's into the wind the whole way. Learning how to sail has been interesting. Lots to learn. I've been doing the steering and navigating while Steve and Michael have been handling the sails, sheets and winches. Since our sailings have been short so far we haven't been doing a lot of Jibing-?. But, when the wind really blows and grabs the sail it will lean the boat on its side and you feel all that power in the steering wheel.....it's pretty neat. The sheets (lines to the sail) draw tight around the winches and they make the popping and snapping noises from pressure on the sail pulls. Makes you think it's going to rip the winch right off the boat.
I forget to mention it again until I just got reminded on Facebook why I've been so tired. I got an ear infection and went to a local clinic for some antibiotics. They gave me some ear drops too. The Doc said I cleaned my ears a little too good before I left and it irritated my middle ear. The medical facility here was first rate and very professional. Reasonable prices too. I was expecting to pay a premium but, to my surprise it only cost $70 for the visit.
Everything here revolves around the yachts and sailors. Dinghy docks, restaurants with special spots to hook up your computer and just all of the little things to make life a little easier for the boaters. Of course they are doing it to get our $$ but, that’s why we are here.
We stayed up late last night playing cards on the boat. I taught Steve and Mike how to play Rummy while drinking rum drinks. I always thought rummy was an easy game but, I didn't realize how difficult rummy is to teach....at least to a couple of knuckle heads. ha ha. "Pick up a card to start your turn, play your runs or matches and then discard to end your turn" was said over and over AND OVER AGAIN! Maybe it was the rum....I don't know. It was a night full of laughs. During the game Mike had to go take a suppository. He hasn't taken a crap since he's been here even after several try’s with laxatives. This of course, with game night and rum drinks flowing you can imagine the teasing and torture we gave him. The worst part about it, even that didn't work! The next step was for him to go to the medical facility. However, I am happy to report that without any medical assistance he finally had his "happy ending" as we have labeled it. lol
Today Mike and Steve did a practice dive down the anchor chain. Mike hasn't dove before and needed to get familiar with his systems before Martinique. He is sooooo hard headed but, they got through it successfully. Mike has a natural tendency to argue about something before he even thinks about it. Even over the simplest of things. Plus he refuses to admit that he doesn't know something. I don't mean once in a while....EVERYTHING! I've never seen anything like it.
Us - "Do you know how to equalize your ears?"
Michael - "Of course I do, yes I am very good at this"...as he enters the water...."how do you do that again?"
Us - "have you locked the forward hatches"
Michael - "Yes! Of course I did"
I go and double check them, not one was closed or locked....WTH???????
Will post more with pix tomorrow, getting dark here and need to get back to the boat.
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