We anchored by Stocking Island for a few days so I could go to shore while Dave worked on the boat. He actually likes to have me out of the way at times. I guess there are fewer interruptions.
There is a cruiser’s net in the morning at 8:00 on channel 72 on the VHF. They let local businesses advertise. They have community announcements from boaters. For example, a lady offers a water aerobics class at a beach when she can. Then there is the section where boaters help each other. If you need help, or have something you want to sell, or you are looking for something, you can announce it and then connect after the net is over. Then they ask for arrivals or departures. There is quite a little community here. I compare it to people who go south for the winter in there RV’s. A lot of cruisers come here and stay for several months every winter. So they have activities on shore on Stocking Island everyday. At 2:00 there is usually volley ball and tables with people playing bridge or dominoes or just visiting. There is also a restaurant/bar called the Chat and Chill. So I wanted to go check it out.
I didn’t leave the boat until about 2:00, so I figured I may have missed the beginning of any organized games. But that was ok, I would just be happy meeting some other cruisers. I had to beach the dinghy by myself. There wasn’t a lot of wave action, so I could handle it without our new anchoring system. There is really a nice park/beach atmosphere here. Lots of people were hanging out on the beach or swimming. There were lots of picnic tables and two volley ball courts. At one end of the beach was the Chat and Chill and at the other end was a conch salad stand.
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| conch salad stand on Stocking Island beach |
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| picnic area with volley ball fields behind |
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| Chat N Chill restaurant |
I walked around checking out the place. At the tables, I only found families eating lunch, or a couple younger people hanging out. It didn’t seem like any organized activity. So I didn’t approach anyone, just checked out the place and headed to the Chat and Chill. Maybe there were a group of cruisers in there. I ordered a beer, but only saw a couple of guys visiting or people waiting for food and going outside.
So I had enough of the park and decided to go for a walk on the ocean side of the island. Niamh had told me where to beach the dinghy inside the bay on Stocking Island. Then you follow a path over the hill and sand dunes to the ocean side. It was beautiful with crashing waves. I took off my shoes and went for a nice walk along the beach and in the water. There were probably about a dozen other people there spread out along the shore or walking. I loved it.
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| dinghy in bay to hike to ocean side |
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| returning to the bay |
Dave had made 4 covers for our jerry cans from a couple of old t-shirts. He cut them in half and used the sewing machine to make them work. He also had to “fix” the environmentally hazardous changes that have been made to the new cans.
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| jerry can cracking |
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| jerry can covers from old t-shirts |
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| the jerry cans fill out the t-shirt better than I do |
He also used the Airline hookah system to change the prop and shaft zincs. As we were cleaning the hull, he noticed some corrosion in the shaft tube or shaft log. He has been trying to research what this part is called and how panicked we should be about it becoming a problem before we get back to the states. He has read that if it breaks down completely, it will most likely flood our boat. SO….. he has had a few sleepless nights.
This morning on the cruiser’s net, he asked if anyone had any experience with shafts that could help him. About 3 different guys on boats talked with him on the VHF. One had the best information about TIG welding it once you pull the boat out of the water. And he recommended a good boat yard in Ft Pierce, FL that lets you work on your boat. Not all marinas or boat yards allow that.
After I returned to the boat, we moved it across the harbor to Kidd’s Cove. It is a much shorter dinghy ride to shore. We had a nice evening in the cockpit in calm weather just relaxing.
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