December 28, 2015 Old Port Cove marina facilities

Originally, this was our departure date for the Bahamas.  We now know what they are talking about when they say “Christmas winds”.  There hasn’t been a good weather window to cross to the Bahamas.  And it keeps changing daily.

Today, I loaded up laundry and the computer and went to shore to use the Old Port Cove facilities as guests of Bob and Olivia.  They had a nice laundry, business center, lounge, and restrooms with showers.  While doing laundry, I was able to get GREAT wifi reception and get caught up on a lot of things online and just storing things in the computer with unlimited power.  AS land lovers, we really took our power for granted.

business area

TV lounge

While I was away, Dave brought our new pillow top mattress pad and our mattress out into the saloon area.  He laid them on the table and cut the pad to fit our mattress.  Now we’ll have more leg room.  The rectangular mattress pad was curled up at the bow (the V of our bed) where we put our feet. 

He also checked our smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors.  That’s one of those things they say to do on New Year’s day.  But we hope to be in the Bahamas by then and wanted to know now if they needed replacing.  Everything was fine. 

Dave gave himself a haircut just cutting the same length all over.  I had been planning to do that for him for over a week.  Now I can add the finishing touches. 

I visited with Bob and Olivia for a little while (long enough for 2 beers) before going back to the boat.  Bob had recently had a dental exam, cleaning and full mouth x-rays.  He had the x-rays on his computer and the estimate in writing.  So I gave him a second opinion.  I agreed with the treatment plan.  And I thought the fees were fair.  We also discussed spending $9,000 on his teeth vs getting implant dentures down the road.  I tried to convince him to keep his teeth.  Implant dentures are not cheap and it is a miserable process to go through IF you have the bone you need.  But I also thought he could wait 3 months until he was home in Michigan with his family dentist as long as he wasn’t in any pain.  We have felt like we owed Bob and Olivia something for all the things they have done for us.  Now Bob feels like he owes me.  And there is my dental infomercial for the day. 

Bob and Olivia's boat is the closest to the shore on the left.  We are the sailboat in front of those anchored

Bob and Olivia's boat and our dinghy

We ran the water maker again tonight.  And we found salty water in the bilge again.  Not a lot, but it keeps showing up after using the water maker.  Once the water is desalinated, that water goes overboard.  So Dave is going to check out that pump and the hoses tomorrow. 

Running the water maker means showers!  Yeah.  I love complaining about the heat and humidity to all my northern family and friends.  We have an awesome breeze coming in over our heads at night and only need to use a sheet.  That’s what we expect for the rest of the winter.  

most of these boats are waiting for good weather