Providenciales (Provo)
Turks & Caicos
21.44.585N
72.17.411S

A great sail. We hoisted anchor about 12:30am and rounded the reef of Mayaguana towards Providenciales, Provo for short. Once past the tip of the island we turned off the engine and sailed the rest of the way to the Turks & Caicos (TCI) doing between 5 and 7 kts with 10-18 kts of wind off our port beam all of the way. What a savings in diesel. We've been very lucky when it comes to sailing; the general rule is that wherever you're headed, the wind is on your nose (which means that you're motoring.)

It took a little over an hour to enter onto the TCI banks and into Sapodilla Bay to anchor in 7-8' of water. Dale and Roger took the dink around to the freighter channel and checked us in to customs. The guidebooks indicated that only the captains of the boats should step foot on the island prior to the customs paperwork being completed, so Elaine and I waited back on the boats, dutifully (yea, right). Dale said that Elaine was doing the 'puppy dance' ('when can we go, when can we go') on her boat. At the other extreme, I took advantage of my time alone and had a nice, hot, leisurely, private bath and washed my hair. Maybe it's something about being female but for some reason, taking a bath or shower just makes you feel good. You have a tendency to step out and say "God, I feel human again." Particularly after a night sail where you're on 3 hour watches. Night and day and time seem to meld together. I'm never sure when to brush my teeth.

After lunch we took the dinghies and our bags of trash in with us as we set out to explore the island of Provo. We immediately found that the trash bin described as being at one end of the beach for cruisers, was no where to be found. Now what? Dale tucked ours back in the dink; Roger slung his over his should like Santa and we started off down the road towards town.

Before long, we knew that the 4 mile trip to town was not going to be as easy as we first thought. The cars drive on the left side (sort of); actually they're dodging pots holes, so they're all over the place. We just didn't want to get hit while they were dodging. The guidebooks said to hitchhike into town; that the people are friendly and would gladly pick you up. I have a problem with this. It's not that I have an aversion to sitting in the back of a pick up; heck, I lived on a farm, my father and mother threw the 5 of us kids in the back and off to town we'd go. It's just that I've taught my children not to hitchhike because you never know when the next Ted Bundy is around the corner. Roger & Elaine are more the world travelers and stuck out those thumbs as soon as they decided enough was enough! The first truck that stopped wasn't going all the way into town but when we asked about trash disposal, he said to just throw it in the back of his truck and he'd take it. Great! One hurtle crossed. Roger was happier now. The next truck that pulled over for us was going into town so we all piled into the back. It did remind me of when I was a kid. Dad & Mom weren't there, so I sat on the wheel well. I figured if I was going to start breaking the rules, I'd break that one too.

Provo is really spread out. Town is one long highway the length of the island. We were deposited in front of a bank, which again made Roger happy since he had to make an ATM withdrawal anyway and this time, it actually worked. We next headed for the airport on foot. We figured that we could rent a car to take us to all of the other places we needed to go without having to tote, our laundry, the computer, groceries and whatever else we might want to do back and forth the 4 miles into Town. We found a Budget Rental but unfortunately, it's still the holidays and every car on the island is rented out until Sunday. They were very friendly and let us take some island magazines which did list all of the establishments and where they were located. We sat down at a nearby restaurant and re-evaluated our needs. OK, I can do laundry by hand, Elaine could pick up a few items at the grocery store and carry them in her back pack but I had to have a WiFi connection! We were in luck, there were several internet companies and one that listed WiFi as being available.

In returning to the boat, we were lucky in finding a taxi driver on his way home who offered us a ride with the promise that we wouldn't tell anyone what we paid. We promised. Tomorrow, we'll call him again, because you all know I have to have a WiFi fix and Small's Taxi has guaranteed customers each time we have to go somewhere.