Day 87, Year 1: Change in Plans . . . Again
Date: Thursday, January 12, 2006
Weather: Squally Night, Heavy Cloud Cover Today
Location: Still Behind Newlands Reef, Union Island, The Grenadines

I know. I’m beginning to sound like a broken record. Yesterday’s log title was “Change in Plans” and today’s is the same. That’s because we’ve had another change in plans. Last night, squall after squall came through here and the morning was totally overcast with heavy clouds hanging over Carriacou, the next island in the chain. It did not look like the morning to leave on our passage to Bonaire. We listened to the morning weather and decided that we will sit tight until Saturday morning. It sounds like Saturday, Sunday, and Monday should all be good traveling days, and that should give us the time needed to get to Bonaire. When we checked in with Herb again this afternoon, it sounded like he agrees that we will be fine if we leave on Saturday morning, so that is what we will do unless the weather decides to change again. We’re starting to get a little stir crazy from sitting in the same place so long, but we should survive one more day. Our friends Gary and Barbara on Spectre were going to head to Bequia today, but they didn’t leave either. The harbor is filling up with boats trying to get out of the weather, but starting tomorrow people should be able to get on their way. I refuse to leave tomorrow as it is Friday the 13th AND a full moon. Mark thinks I’m way too superstitious, and that might be, but I’ll feel much better waiting until Saturday morning.

I did laundry today. I know that in Bonaire there is a facility where I can wash and dry clothes or have them do it for me, but I have gotten used to doing laundry a little bit at a time. I’ll do towels and sheets in Bonaire, but everything else is really easy to keep up with. In this weather, things dry quickly and I have a hand wringer that does a great job of getting most of the water out of the clothes. We went into town a couple of times today. The first time we went in to Fed Ex information to our agent in the Galapagos. His name is Johnny Romero with the Naugala Agency and he is acquiring a cruising permit for us that will allow us to anchor in the 4 inhabited ports in the Galapagos Islands for the 4-6 weeks that we are there. Without the permit, you can only come into one port and stay in that one place. The second time we went in to stock up on beverages. It is supposed to be cheaper here than in Bonaire. Tomorrow morning we will go in to Customs and Immigration to check out of the Grenadines and get any fresh veggies we can find. We will probably head out of this harbor mid-day and go around the corner to different anchorage for tomorrow night. At first light on Saturday morning, we hope to start our trek to Bonaire. Let’s hope tomorrow’s night log does not have the same title as today! It is time to move on.