5-9 Tuesday. We made one last trip to shore this morning to leave our garbage at the public dock’s deposit area. Then we moved our boat about 20 nm north to the Pineapple Cays near South Palmetto Point. At 4:00, we were about 3 nm from our destination and felt a shudder in the engine. We immediately shut off the engine. Dave could see a line trailing behind us. We had caught a crab pot or fish trap line, even though we didn’t see a buoy. We anchored the boat in 25 feet of nice clear water. Dave pulled out his snorkel gear and his handy dandy blade attachment for a boat hook which can extend. He also attached a float to a floating line to grab if he lost hold of the boat and started drifting away. We didn’t put the dinghy in the water, but we reviewed what I would have to do to put it in the water if I had to rescue him. That’s usually his job. He put on his snorkel gear and went in for a look. He could see a 3 stranded cable line loosely wrapped around our prop. By extending the boat hook/blade, he could reach the cable and cut it without having to go under water himself. We stopped the boat at 4:00. Dave set everything up, was in, cut the cable, and was out within 30 minutes. He did dive under the boat to check out the prop. If we had continued to run the engine, the cord would have wound tighter. And sometimes it melts onto the shaft, making it much harder to cut away. After rinsing all the gear and tucking it out of the way, Dave started the engine. It sounded fine. Whew! 
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| Dave could reach the cord with his knid | fe on a pole |
| piece of the tricord |
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| pieces floating away as he cuts them |
5-10 Wednesday. We had a nice calm day, so decided to spend it in the water. There are several cays in the area, small uninhabited islands. We took the dinghy and swam with it around 2 cays. Dave speared a large channel crab, a grouper and a grunt. I took photos and help wrangle the dingy while he was diving to spear. Nice day.
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| loved how the starfish were tucked into the coral |
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| this one was waving at me |
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| Dave was holding a grouper in place. I held the spear while Dave dove down to grab him |
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| coral and shells attached to a sea urchin |
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| not sure what these balls were, maybe sack of eggs |
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| Dave put the seasoning in cheese cloth |
5-11 Thursday We wanted to go to shore in South Palmetto Point for a couple reasons. We were here last year and enjoyed meeting Mr Thompson and Thompson’s convenience store. We also enjoyed pizza. I went to a great store along the highway last year by car with friends from Governor’s Harbour. It looked like it was within walking distance, so that was our destination.
We were anchored almost a mile from the beach in town. And with a 3.5hp outboard, it seemed to take forever. Dave got out of the boat to anchor the dingy. I asked him where his shoes were. Well, he forgot to bring them. He actually considered going without them. But there is always broken glass along the road. So we headed back to the boat. We weren’t on any schedule. We throw out a bow and stern anchor to keep the dinghy off the shore. The waves would have crashed over the stern and into the boat. Plus the tide was rising and we would have had to drag it up the beach. So getting my legs wet and Dave wet up to his waist was ok.
We walked 1.4 miles to get to Island Farm. Half of that was the road from the beach to the Queen’s highway. The second half was along the highway with a shoulder most of the way. We bought several fresh vegetables. I had enticed Dave into making the trip because they had homemade bread and cinnamon rolls. When we got there, we found out that is only on Tuesdays and Fridays. I don’t think he’ll walk back tomorrow.
Our next stop was at Mate and Jenny’s pizza. It was located near where the beach road and highway intersect. We ordered enough pizza to have some left overs. They are made from scratch and very tasty. But not as good this year as last year. Hmmmm
Last stop was at Thompson’s convenience store. Mr Thompson is very pleasant to visit with. We picked up some fruit juice and potato chips to support him. Great guy.
Back at the boat, we unloaded our treasures and started the water maker. That is also the time we fill buckets of laundry and let them soak overnight.
5-12 Friday. We were expecting squalls today, so Dave ran lines in our cockpit and hung all the laundry under our bimini. That way we wouldn’t have to take things down if it started to rain. Plus, it was rather windy. So walking on the deck as the boat is bouncing around can be dangerous. Good plan and it worked well. Because of the rough weather, we decided to stay put a couple more days. Dave made bread, always good.
5-13 Saturday. Another stormy day. I did some cleaning. Dave heated the inside surface of our snorkel masks to decrease fogging. When they are made, they place a silicone separator on the surface so they can remove it from the mold. Heating the mask helps remove that. Using baby shampoo with a cloth, not your fingers and spit, had helped a lot. But the longer we’re snorkeling, they start to fog. So thought we’d try this again.
Lazy day with occasional showers.
5-14 Sunday. We had a nice Mother’s Day breakfast then moved the boat to Governors Harbour. It was only an hour away. They have mass there at noon. Dave took me to shore since there’s no dock. That way I didn’t have to anchor the dinghy. I did take a bottle of water and towel to wash the sand and salt off of my feet and sandals. I met a young couple outside of church. They were visiting for a week and were staying at a resort. I answered some of their questions about the island, and told them of some of my favorite places. Kevin, the organist and song leader, remembered me from last year. The Monsignor that he usually travels with from Gregory town had a stroke, but is recovering well. The priest today was from Nassau. I just love Kevin’s lively music.
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| my uber home from church |
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