Day 249, Year 5 Provisioning, Provisioning . . . Again
Date: Friday, July 2, 2010
Weather: Same Same-Gorgeous; Air & Water Temp 80 degrees F
Location: Crater Bay, Nosy Be, NW Madagascar
It was off to Hell-ville again today after we got Constance situated on the wall. I’m not sure I have explained what happens when they go to the wall, but basically, they go in at high tide and tie to things on land that will hold them tight against the wall. As the tide goes down, they eventually sit on the bottom and there is no water under them. This is when the work gets done. Then they have to sit another five to six hours to wait for the tide to rise again so they can float off the bottom. Today it was after sundown before we could use our powerful Yamaha to pull them off the wall and help them get back out into the anchorage. The difference between high and low tide is getting less each day, so it is great that the work is completed. I know Ed and Lynne must be celebrating tonight. But I got a little ahead of myself. Let’s go back to this morning.
Mark, Lynne, and I walked into Dar es Salama, visited the super market and fresh market there, and even found a little chandlery. Mark was so excited that they had a snap shackle that we need as a replacement for one of our headsail sheet blocks that needs serious repair. Of course, it was VERY expensive, but I decided that it would make a great birthday present, so we spent the $110 US and I wished Mark a happy birthday five days early. Then we took a taxi into Hellville. We shopped at Shampion’s SuperMarche, the fresh market, and Akhem Oliver’s, the Chinese store. Since we haven’t been shopping since March 27, over three months ago, I shouldn’t complain about provisioning. And I wouldn’t if I only had to go buy the food. It is putting it away that is the killer. All tomatoes have to be individually wrapped in newspaper, limes must be individually wrapped in foil, many things have to be vacuumed-packed, and other things must be put into plastic containers. Each beer bottle must be wiped down and the plastic case has to be washed first in sea water and rinsed with fresh water. But we are now ready to go cruising for a few days, assess the whole food situation, and then come back to Nosy Be for a few days to buy what we have forgotten before heading south for about a month. There will be no stores where we are headed. And we do have to decide if we are going to do any inland traveling now or wait until later, and in order to make that decision, we need to go back to Sakatia Towers and talk with John Sheppard. We are hoping he can give us some guidance on this. But tomorrow, we will make a quick trip back to Hell-ville to the bank to get more money and then we will head off to Nosy Komba to see our first lemurs. We will have to wait until early Sunday morning to see them, but I just can’t wait.
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| 100702 Day 249a Nosy Be, Madagascar–Constance Repair in Crater Bay |
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| 100702 Day 249b Nosy Be, Madagascar–Fishing in Crater Bay |
