April 25, 2019 Little San Salvador and cruise ships

We moved to Little San Salvador today.  Dave was able to utilize the things he learned in the radar class last night.  This is a small island that is a cruise ship stop.  We’re allowed to anchor at the west end of the bay.  But we can’t go on shore past a certain point.  There was a cruise ship anchored there when we arrived.  We watched their ferry boats shuttle people back to the big ship.  We met someone who worked doing that and he called it "moving human cargo".  We knew they would leave for the night.  After they raised their anchor, I told Dave that I expected them to blast their horn as they left.  I said “do I have to give them the signal like we used to for semis and trains to blast their horns?”  Just as I did the hand gesture of pulling on a lever, the ship blasted three times.  We burst out laughing because I couldn’t have timed that better.  

the red boat with the circle is how a cruise ship shows up on our chart

shuttle bringing people to the ship

moving alongside to the small door open on the side of the ship

people moving from shuttle to ship

We were able to listen to the second night of the radar class on the laptop.   When we were in the fog in New England, we felt we needed to know more.  Dave did pick up several things that he was looking for.  But it was presented in an “old school” manor.  We have the radar integrated with our electronic navigation systems.  Some of the things the instructor was showing us to calculate by hand is done automatically for you now.  But we have more full use of our radar now.  At least Dave does, he’ll show me things as we go along.