Day 175, Year 6 Not a Day of Rest
Date: Sunday, April 17, 2011
Weather: Another Gorgeous Day
Location: Marigot Bay, St. Martin
Today was not a day of rest, but we accomplished so much. Mark changed the oil, changed the oil and fuel filters, checked on all the fluid levels, and tightened up the alternator belts. While he did that, I continued working on the mammoth laundry that is now all washed, dried, and folded. I’ve wrung out so many sheets and towels in the past two days that I have a blister on the inside of my right-hand thumb, but it is a good feeling to have all of it done. After completing the engine work, Mark and I worked together to get the refrigerator and freezer defrosted and cleaned. Then Mark went into the marina to do some business on the computer while I continued to do laundry. Mark filed for a tax extension a week or so ago, but there was a problem and he had to re-file today. Mid-afternoon, he came back to the boat and we both went in to take the garbage and to try and upload the photos from the days Jeanie was with us. Mark could not get the marina internet connection to work as he had earlier, so we took the dinghy around to the city waterfront and went ashore from there to find a place with internet. On our third try, we found a café that was open AND had wi-fi, so we had a couple of beers and ended up ordering a seafood pizza for dinner. We did get the photos uploaded, so now Jeanie can get online and see the pics from her visit. Steve, I’ll work on the photos from Tobago Cays to Sint Maarten on the overnight to Puerto Rico and will hopefully have those posted by week’s end. We were so busy having fun that I just didn’t have time to get the pics edited and labeled.
We made the decision to stay here tomorrow to do grocery shopping, take the dinghy into Simpson Bay to Budget Marine to buy some charts, and maybe do a little cleaning on the bottom and waterline of the boat. We will leave early on Tuesday morning and head straight for a bay on the south side of Vieques. We will arrive there on Wednesday afternoon (~135 miles) and start getting acquainted. We cannot check-in on Vieques, so we will have to take a ferry to Culebra (another island near-by) or to the main island to Fajarto on Thursday. Late on Saturday afternoon, Heather, Jed, Sam, Jonah, Justin, Jo, and Ziggy arrive and we will all move into the beach cottage on the north shore of Vieques for a week of fun in the sun. Sunday is Easter and I think everyone is looking forward to a beach Easter egg hunt. We’re just looking forward to hugging those little ones and getting reacquainted with them. We are also looking forward to spending time with Heather and Jed and Justin and Jo. If they arrive on Vieques at 5 pm on Saturday, we have 140 hours to go. That’s 8,400 minutes until we are together again for the first time since late August 2009. Can you tell I’m just a little anxious?
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| 110417 Day 175 St. Martin–Marigot Bay Anchorage |
