Sunday, February 19, 1012 Berry Islands Club

Berry Island Club Mooring field, The Berry Islands– Frazer’s Hog Cay

We had high winds last night so our wind generator was spinning nicely all night long - generating lots of power for us. That means I can turn on my computer and write in my journal. Wayne was coughing all night again and feels poorly. We had a quiet morning in the boat and I was surprised to see Sunday’s Child come past us in the mooring field. I looked in the distance and could still see Daniel’s Orion at anchor in the distance. I wondered if they were parting ways or if Sunday’s Child was heading for a slip at Chub Cay… Chub Cay is a favorite power boat haven from what I’ve heard. People can check into customs there, fuel up, etc… We’ve never gone there because it seemed kind of pricy before and this place worked quite well at anchor or on the moorings.

Half an hour later we saw Arturus come past us. Azaya hailed them and they responded but Azaya never responded back. When Daniel was almost out of sight we could hear him talking on the radio to Sunday’s child. Sunday’s Child was telling him that a slip cost $4.25/foot. Wow! Unbelievable! They’re in bankruptcy and pricing themselves out of business! Both boats were heading back here to pick up moorings at $25/night or to anchor. At this point, I was wondering if we should call or go to shore to see what our options were with our cable when Harry hailed us on the radio. Good news! He knows another pilot that can pick up our part in Ft. Lauderdale and fly it over Tuesday morning! I’m not sure what this is costing us but I love how he’s being so helpful for us… I told him over the radio that he’d just made an old woman very happy and I blew him a big <<<>>> over the air waves! Wayne said I wish I’d have gotten that on tape (the old woman part)… I had to laugh! My age has never bothered me since I turned 18 and could take responsibility for myself. Well okay – there was once when I turned 34. But that was only because that was the age that I always associated with my mother… I had a problem rectifying that I could be the same age as she. But that problem passed as age 35 crept up on me.

We grabbed our shower stuff, catalog information on the cable and dinghied to shore. Harry was at the bar playing music and watching us come in while texting on his I-Phone. He told us that if we could get the part ordered his friend could bring it in Tuesday morning. The pilot would have to go out of his way to run over in a cab to pick it up from the airport but was willing to do it. We agreed that he should be compensated and then Harry told us that we might have to pay an 85% duty but was unsure at that point if they could bring it in or not duty-free since it was parts for our boat. Either way, unless I want to bounce up and down the stairs to take it out of forward and reverse while we’re anchoring all the time, I think we need it. I don’t know what kind of phone bill we’re racking up too from here to the states, but I sure am glad he has a phone that can call over there. They’ve still not got any internet capability on the island. According to Harry they were digging up some cables near Chub Cay and oops…destroyed some cables that still haven’t been repaired. BeTelCo had sold the phone rights here to another private company and things are at a standstill. Sigh… I’m so glad Harry has a phone we can use…

We sat and chatted with Harry for a while. He’s an interesting fellow. He started in law enforcement (his family have a tradition of being in law enforcement) and I believe Wayne had mentioned something about him being a US Marshall. From there he joined the military and was part of an elite group. Besides being SWAT, he worked for the military infiltrating people into other countries and getting them back out. After he’d broken 4 clavicle bones in his chest he was put into retirement and now periodically trains folks for the government as well as spending time here. The owners of the property hired him to help clean the place up. I guess there’d been an increase in drug trafficking here over the years. Looking at him, I’d say he’d be the guy to do it!

We called West Marine, got our part ordered and paid for and according to Harry his pilot friend will be coming in Tuesday morning around 8am. I think I can now relax a bit…

Next order of business – showers! Last time we were here the water for the showers didn’t work. This time they did. I was amazed at how soft the water was. It took half the shampoo I’ve had to use. Ahhhhhhh it was so very nice. The showers are out near the dock and the water runs through the floor boards and you can see the algae coated rocky bottom below. The two rooms are sparse but clean and I thoroughly enjoyed the shower. While I was standing on the dock combing out my hair and letting the wind blow through it, Harry came out of the Club building telling me that there were mirrors and electricity if I’d like to bring a small blower to dry my hair. It really made me smile. I hope that the Berry Island Club grows successful! This is a place cruisers could fall in love with and come back year after year…All he needs to do is get the wifi going again and fix the stove so he can properly open the restaurant and it’d be a place I could spend a winter!

After returning to the boat, Wayne rested and I read Bob Bitchin’s Emerald Bay. Axel & Mary were working on their SSB and radio all day. Once they thought they had it set up, they hailed me and I tuned in our small hand held SSB to see if I could hear them. I had Mary talking and singing Mary had a little lamb while I adjusted my frequency and was able to pull her in loud and clear on 4060. So they seem to be transmitting just fine. They came by around 4pm on their way to the shower and I asked them if they were up for some pulled pork sandwiches? Yep! I asked if they could see if Wind Quest would also like to join us on their way over to shore? Yep… so we had pulled pork sandwiches, pineapple, coleslaw (Wind Quest) and salad aboard Kolibrie. I had to grin when Carol talked about bringing her pineapple over. Laughing... Back at Lucaya, they had it in the hammock in their cockpit, and each time I passed by, I said I might do a midnight raid in their fruit hammock because that pineapple looked mighty fine! So she brought the remaining part over with her for dinner. It looks like from here they’ll be going to Nassau to provision before heading down to the Exumas. We’re hoping that we can bypass Nassau and anchor on the west end anchorage then head across the White Banks to Highborne Cay.

We’ll see what Tuesday brings…

Poor Wayne… He’s getting more and more congested… Instead of wine with dinner, he had orange juice. I’m just glad I had some to give him…