And... we're back!

Had a great time at home.  Weird to be able to live these divergent lives.

Blue Pearl... parked, waiting for us to get back

Batteries charging

Deeper!  Hurry up!!!

A barrow of trouble...

And now we’re back… and it’s been crazy windy.  So much so, that most boats have been hunkered down for the last 3 or 4 weeks waiting it out.

So, for the past few days, we’ve enjoyed long walks on the beach (sounds like a dating service, I know), done little boat jobs and waited for the wind to abate.  Pam continues to get amazing crib hands and cut cards to match.  So, like the wind, I’m waiting for the cards to change.

Looking for her Adonis

There he is!

As a diversion we took a bus trip into town.  Had a nice walk-about!

Fish Market... conch is too expensive... will have to wait.

Vegan!

So the message is not... Welcome!!!

Changed the oil this morning… only 67 engine hours since the last change but it’s been several months.  I’m pretty sure the guy who designed the engine placement in the boat is a sadist.  Either that or a really evil sense of humour.  

You can’t get to the oil pan to drain the oil so you have to suck it up through the dipstick.  The filter is mounted on the side of the engine so that when you remove it, oil drools down the side of the engine.  The engine is so tight in the engine basin that you can’t get your hand down to wipe up the drips.

Really?  Through the dipstick?

Really?  Oil filter on the SIDE of the engine?

 Thanks to some support from a couple of knowledgable old timers I’ve learned to minimize the mess… but there is a mess when I do it, rest assured.

I was putting stuff away from the oil change in a locker that has several seacocks.  They are supposed to be exercised once in a while so I opened and closed them several times and in the process gouged my hand on a hose clamp and bled all over.  As I was flailing around I noticed that the sewage macerator pump has come apart - seems to happen every couple of years so now I have to replace the macerator.  Don’t want to do that with an open cut so I’ll leave it for a day or so.  There is always something to fix on a boat.

Wine tasting after work! Primativa, Cab, Carminiere, Shiraz and a Malbec we didn't try.

The wind has come down now so we’re leaving for Barbuda tomorrow.  In advance of that we are cleaning up the boat to stow the things that are lying around so they don’t come flying across the cabin as we sail the 38 or so miles north.

Barbuda is home to the world’s largest (the only one?) Frigate Bird sanctuary so we will tour that with our guide, George.  No motors allowed so George will row us around the lagoon.  Better George than me!

We will report from Barbuda.

Ciao.