Black Point, Great Guana Cay Thursday, February 24, 2011

Had coffee in the cockpit and listened to the kids on shore collecting for school, and the workers on the government dock waiting for their boat rides to…where ever and chatting with the other men on the dock. Solitaire heard us on the radio and hailed us from the bay next to us. They’re coming to Black Point today. It’ll be nice to see them again. We thought we’d get to see them in Vero Beach this winter but never made it over there so it’ll be good to catch up.

I straightened up and then we showered. I made some chicken salad for Happy Hour and thought it’d be nice to have Solitaire and Azaya over this evening. I’m not sure if we’re going to Loraine’s for her barbeque/buffet or not. We’ll see.

Axel worked on the boat all day and Mary came by and visited a while during that time. I’m not sure if they’re going to try and go straight through to Florida or Spanish Wells or not. If they’re going straight through, there’s no way we can keep up with them. It sounds like they’ll break the trip into segments. Right now the winds are with them and they’d be able to sail the bulk of the way to Florida if the southeast winds continue. Mary is thinking to go to Warderick Wells tomorrow and then on to Eleuthera from there. We’ll see. I’ve always loved Warderick Wells…

We got an email from Harry and Marijka! It looks like the rates for boat storage in Puerto Rico are $13/foot for dry storage and they’re going to check the rates in Grenada too. It’d be nice to catch up with them again. Maybe the rates will be better in Grenada but I’m not holding my breath.

After showers we had tuna salad sandwiches for lunch. Wayne and I discussed our options. It seems like if there’s help to be had in the Bahamas, it will be found at Spanish Wells for diesel engines. There are so many fishing boats that with the fleets the size they have there it would be amazing if they didn’t have a decent mechanic!

Nancy (Solitaire) hailed us when they entered the harbor and got settled in. The Discovery Shuttle launch is set to depart Florida for the last time at 16:43 today so they invited us over for a launch happy hour. Azaya joined us and it was so great to see them again and catch up! It’s weird how it can seem like you haven’t seen someone in ages and yet at the same time it can feel like it was only yesterday! We caught them up on our fine legal system back in Jackson (I say that tongue in cheek of course) and it sounds like their new house in Florida is delightful. We talked about the anchorage at Musha and it sounded like the spot we were at was different from where they tried to anchor. They had a problem with depth where they were.

The shuttle launch was delayed for about 5 minutes but once it took off (there was a computer glitch) we all cheered and looked to the north east to see if we could see any contrails. No such luck but we tried. It was so nice to sit around chatting with Jim & Nancy and Axel & Mary Clare. I couldn’t believe it was after 8pm when we finally left Solitaire! Time flies when you’re having fun. I hope we’re able to catch up with them again in the Abacos.