Saturday, February 29, 2020

Turks & Caicos
21.45.631N
72.13.429W

I’m back!!!  And there’s nothing you can do about it.  

For the past 2 weeks we were in Texas again trying to help family.  Without going into details (because that would be airing my family’s dirty laundry and family dynamics are difficult enough as it is without doing something as public as that), I feel I’ve done what I could and can now return with less guilt and less divided attention to what can be a dangerous hobby if you’re not 100% focused.  So now I’m 89% focused and Dale feels he has a chance of survival with whatever might come our way.  

While in Texas, we had the opportunity to once again take on Social Security/Medicare/TriCare for Life and the attending Deers computer system for military benefits and learned some useful information.  As in--last year, we thought we had completed the entire process and could leave with benefits in place.  Not so fast, apparently.  Each year, for the next 2 years, we need to complete and file the same paperwork to keep said benefits.  In straightening Social Security out, Dale’s Medicare benefits were no longer being reported to the Deers system, so his TriCare benefits now had to be straightened out.  He’s still trying to get that back in place.  In other words, it’s a domino effect that we get to do all over again at the end of this year (and there are those who think we should all be on this system).  

Dale taking time off 

from his vacation!

One bright point was that we did go visit with our daughter’s family in Houston for a long weekend.  As soon as the decision was made to return to Texas, we had our mail forwarded to her and Dale took the opportunity to have the next component to the faulty water maker sent too.  We returned the favor by lending a hand for a couple of days in laying new flooring in their house.  I did demo, so I guess you could say, I had the most fun.  We had hoped to get 3 bedrooms and the hallway done but only completed 2 bedrooms and the hallway.  At least it’s a start and the knowledge is in place to finish the project.  Our daughter and granddaughter turned around and surprised us with a visit to Ft. Worth the day before we left, when Houston had a huge watermain break and the company she worked for closed for the day.  Although brief, and I did put her to work with me, it was good to see them before we had to return.  

Our flight back from Dallas into Ft. Lauderdale was a little interesting.  Years ago, I was on a fun flight that had to circle until a tornado passed by but neither Dale nor I, in our many trips have been on a commercial flight that was waved off.  Our 1^st attempt into Ft. Lauderdale was clearly being blown to the left as we landed and the decision was made to go around and land on a different runway without mishap.  In fact, if you weren’t paying attention, you wouldn’t have known it had even happened as the touch down and take off  was that smooth; as opposed to the tornado flight that came down so fast, steep and hard you had to hang on; however, it was the fire trucks with flashing lights years ago that left the lasting impression.  

Another observation over the past 2 weeks was with regard to the coronavirus.  Although I’ve read the articles associated with the computer headlines about it when I first boot up, I didn’t realize the global obsession this has become until I was inundated with information on it from every point of view possible.  TV’s, radios and monitors surround you everywhere you go back home and this was the topic of conversation everywhere.  We were asked health questions in regard to the virus as we entered the US 2 weeks ago but when we returned to the Turks & Caicos, we were just given an additional health form to fill out about the virus.  With Dale being well versed in the medical field, we simply smiled at the fact that the forms were handed out, dutifully completed and turned back in, but no one was reading them in real time.  If someone had been exposed and dutifully acknowledged that they may have been exposed (like the lady in the next lane), they wouldn’t be stopped at the entry point but instead had to be contacted at whatever destination they put on their forms.  By that time, who knows how many people would have been exposed.  As I always come down with a cold 10 days after I fly, I tried not to cough in their faces as we passed through but it does make you think. 

We're the catamaran 

on the right side of the dock.

Within a couple of hours after landing, we had emptied our bags, squirreled away our Bucky nuggets, and resumed our life on the boat.   Our spur of the moment trip home now seemed almost surreal.  Dale dug out his weather software and returned to the routine of weather watching.  It appears that there may be a 2-3 day window coming up at the end of this week in which to move farther south and east.  We sent an e-mail to our Aussie friends warning them that we may be on our way for real.  We know that they have company at the moment, so they won’t be able to escape quite so quick as they might have hoped. 

Finally, as I know you are all wondering just what happened, the splint has been taken off my finger and replaced with a bandaid.  Nothing ever turned black.  It appears I have good circulation in the tip as it is pinker than the rest of the finger, particularly when I try to exercise it but I most likely will lose the nail.  Right now, it looks very well attached and even growing but the nail bed itself is white and there is an eighth of an inch gap to where it needs to be; thus the bandaid to keep from accidently snagging it on anything.  Obviously, that is where the freezer hit and cut through the finger.  The tip does move ever so slightly, so I think the tendon is still attached but there is a sensitive knot to the side of the tip that I think may be part of the bone that isn’t healing straight.  Nothing to do about it now and considering my age, probably not worth doing anything about in the future.  So there you have it.  I have survived yet another attempt by fate to ruin my day. 

We hope you all have a good day as well and can sidestep any misfortune fate may throw in your direction. 

Saturday, February 15, 2020

Turks & Caicos
21.45.631N
72.13.429W

I guess today was the day to get underway if we were going anywhere.  Stargazer actually moved last evening to the opposite side of the marina for a “quick getaway” at dawn this morning.  Unfortunately, in the process, they wrapped the “lazy line” around their prop stalling the engine midway out of the slip and every hand on the dock and neighboring boats scrambled to help try pulling them back in before any damage was done.  Poor Dave was cursing boats in general as he jumped in to clear the line. 

In an effort to help, Rum Truffle (the Brits), started their engine and tried to move a little out of the way so that Stargazer could clear their bow but ended up running over their own “lazy line.”  They had line cutters on their prop and sliced right through it.  So, we divided our efforts to help keep them off the dock as they retied their boat to keep from bumping into their French Canadian neighbors. 

Everything was in good nature and we all joined together later for our Valentine’s dinner up at the marina restaurant in the evening. 

Today, Stargazer was first and made their dawn getaway.  Then, Texas Crewed left mid-morning after repeatedly losing their GPS position on their chart plotter. Rum Truffle draws 6.5-7’ and waited for high tide at about 2pm but still had the most problems maneuvering through the shallows getting out of the channel leading to the marina when they left.  We counted at least 3 times of touching the earth.  Then after a change of guests, La Perle Blue, left this afternoon for a week but will return on Friday.  So, after a couple of days of playing bumper boats, the marina is considerably less crowded and much quieter. 
We on Gypsy Palace contented ourselves, washing the boat, getting the laundry done and in general getting ready for our departure tomorrow.   As it will be a day or two before we are able to connect to the internet again, please be patient.  I haven’t abandoned you yet.

Thursday, February 13, 2020

Turks & Caicos
21.45.631N
72.13.429W

I guess the most important thing to tell you about is we finally got the rigging survey and forwarded it to the insurance agent.  Bless her heart, she contacted the surveyor and worked with him to get a more polished report to submit to the underwriters.  So now we will have 2 insurance carriers to choose from.  Nothing like waiting until the last minute. 

Other than that, we had 2 new boats come in.  It took almost everyone on the dock to get one boat into the slot Bob, the owner, wanted to put it.  It fit but the two side boats had to be pulled apart to put the new one between.  No small feat but accomplished without any damage.  The Brits aboard were good natured about it.  They tried to drop their dinghy hanging over the walkway put forgot to put the plug in so it started filling with water as soon as it hit the surface.  A quick retrieval saved the day. 

The weather window seems to be shifting more.  We were hoping for a Friday departure but obviously we’re sliding it a day.  Right now, we’ve lost a part of a day as it extended to Monday before closing again, that’s barely enough time to get to Puerto Rico.  We’ll check again tomorrow.  Where we’re sitting, the wind has not died down in the least.  Not a good sign. 

We changed things up a bit and concluded our day by playing dominos on Texas Crewed this evening.  I made a new recipe called chocolate chip cheesecake bars that went over well.  Gotta keep those recipes that are easy to make on the boat. 

Guess that’s it for today.   

Tuesday, February 11, 2020

Turks & Caicos
21.45.631N
72.13.429W

Unfortunately, today’s blog is going to be rather boring.  I didn’t even get off the boat today.  Instead I spent my morning filling out yet another insurance application and praying that our rigging surveyor sent the report to our insurance agent as promised.  I had asked for a copy to be sent to us but so far, nothing. 

Dale studied weather and waves from 4 different sites comparing data in determining a go/no go decision on Friday.  Gene dropped by and looked over the information as well.  I think Gene is leaning towards a northern route whereas we’re leaning towards a southern route in case we need to tuck in somewhere if things don’t go as planned. 

Then I added to my collection of recipes.  Renee lent me a book on making bread, so I copied a few to my compilation.  I may not be a great cook but I have a great selection to choose from. 

After that I tried to catch up on my on line computer game before making a casserole that not only served as dinner but will be put into the refrigerator for meals during the transit. 

This evening, I think I surprised Dale when I asked to see “Heaven knows Mr. Allison” an old movie I hadn’t seen in years and probably came out before either of us was born. 

Other than that, we’re just sitting here listening to the wind howl (when doesn’t it howl) and reading yet another book. 

Monday, February 10, 2020

Turks & Caicos
21.45.631N
72.13.429W

Happy 16^th Birthday Kyndall!

Happy 60 something Birthday Geri!!

Although this morning Chris Parker (the weather guru) didn’t fill us with a lot of confidence, he did offer a glimmer of hope in that there may be a weather window for the southern route (along the coast of the Dominican Republic) to Puerto Rico later this week.  Dale hopped on his computer to check another source and we watched the progression of wind and waves that looks promising.  So now, we just have to get the rigger to hurry up on the report we’ve been waiting for, so that we have insurance to leave. 

Then he went up and down the dock talking with the others who have been waiting for the same window, so we may have a small caravan heading out on Thursday or Friday.  He wants to make sure that it firms up a bit more before we commit to it. 

Also today, we had signed up for a tour of the beer facility here in Turks & Caicos called Turk’s Head Brewery.   We were told that the tour started promptly at 1pm, with or without you, so we made sure we were on time by arriving about 20 minutes early and were forced to drink a beer (or in the ladies’ case, a rum and coke or vodka and cranberry) to kill the time.   Believe it or not these last drinks were also made on the premises and sold in cans already premade.  They were great!

The tour was informative and although it didn’t show the packaging portion, it did end with a flight of 4 different beers or in Dale’s case 8 different beers.  I had noticed that they also had a flight of the rums that they make, so I chose that one, naturally, as it was a beer tour and not a rum tour, this was extra.  The coconut rum was excellent but the other 3, I just had to knock back as they were pretty strong and not conducive to sipping.  By the time we walked out, we were pretty happy.  Of course, we purchased a couple of cases of the rum and coke drinks.  You couldn’t beat the price of $1.50 per drink and since they are canned, it’s perfect for the boat. 

Of course, once we made it back to the boat, it was siesta time as I had thought ahead and made our contribution to the pot luck tonight before we left. 

Once again, we really enjoyed getting together with everyone at the pot luck and compared notes on sailing, where we had been, where we’re going, and in my case, the young lady I was sitting next to had cut her finger severely, so we were comparing injuries. 

Tonight the wind is howling again but we’re tucked in tightly (Bob put another boat between Le Perle Blue and us), so no one is going anywhere without half the marina going along too.  So, I bid you all good night. 

Crews of Gypsy Palace and Texas Crewed

Dale & Lorie and Gene & Renee

Sunday, February 9, 2020

Turks & Caicos

21.45.631N
72.13.429W

Abandoned House

Happy Birthday Nicky!!  Hope to see you soon.

Entry stair case

Today was a fun day.  The Texas Crewed folks and we decided to keep the rental car for another day and go exploring in the opposite direction than we had traveled yesterday.  The idea was to find a restaurant named Da Conch Shack for the 5pm dinner special, a sea food “pot” which sounded like a low country boil-island style-with lobster, conch, fish, etc.  We started out finding an ice cream shop along the way and stopped to sample their wares.  Then on to find Da Conch Shack.  The problem was, we arrived at 2pm and started with a pitcher of rum punch and conch fritters and fries as poo poos.  We graduated to various sandwiches and then strolled along the beach looking at the local ladies’ conch shells and home made souvenirs. They would have made the “boat boys” down island proud. 

Kitchen

Once we decided that we weren’t going to make it to 5pm, we decided to go exploring some more.  We’d travel down various roads until they turned to dirt roads and down them until we couldn’t go any further.  Then on to the next road.  Obviously, the place I got the biggest kick out of was a house that Dale had explored on one of his walks.  We piled out of the rental and explored the house.   A double door entry, with circular staircase.  Marble floors, crystal chandeliers, pool, statuary, servants' quarters; you name it! It was great!  I’m sure any self respecting interior decorator would have had a heart attack at the various styles combined in the house but it made for great exploring.  At the end of the day, we kicked around the idea of keeping the car one more day to go grocery shopping again and possibly a tour of a beer garden of some sort that Renee had heard of.  We’ll see what happens tomorrow. 

Fountain off Dining Room                Staircase Finial                  

Saturday, February 8, 2020

Turks & Caicos
21.45.631N
72.13.429W

Well today was a bit more interesting.  It started the same way; the weather gurus said in no uncertain terms that no one should be heading east for the next couple of days.  Dale ran the bilge pumps on our neighbor’s boat.  Two of the three Canadian boats (the two that are French speaking) have visitors for a few days; and Texas Crewed and we split a rental car to check out another marina on the north side. 

Gene had already rented a car a week ago, so we nominated him as driver for the right hand drive car (left hand road) and off we took.  Bob, the marina owner where we’re at, had explained to us that the Turks and Caicos don’t use traffic lights as it requires money for upkeep and replacement after storms, so they use round abouts exclusively.  The rule is, if you’re in the round about, you have right of way.  Talk about Mr. Toad’s wild ride.  Dale and Renee acted as navigators and I was look out for the names. 

As luck would have it, we found it, although we did pass by and had to come back.  At first blush, it appeared to be out of our price range from the gates and condos leading up to it.  Sure enough, the boats that had slips were high end but we got out and went to the office for more information as we had heard it cost $1/foot. 

Local Fish Eaters

Apparently, there is only one operating dock of the original 4 but Hurricane Irma knocked out 2 with all of the accompanying finger piers.  There is only 1 dock that has finger piers with water and electricity and another that is just the dock, no finger piers, although you’re allowed to dinghy in for water if you want.  If you do decide to use that one dock, you need a dinghy to get back and forth to anywhere else, as there is no connecting pier to it.  It looks to have been a very nice marina at one point but now there are no plans to reconstruct it.  

We took a stroll out to the end to get a good look.  Beautiful boats were at the end and one of the charter fishing boats was cleaning its catch and collecting some local underwater attention.  Yes, I know that they are “only” nurse sharks but if they are darting about expecting food to fall in the water, I wanted to keep sure footing while in their area. 

More Rum!

We headed back to the car and then went in search of a liquor store as Dale and I are getting low on our rum supply and Gene and Renee are wine drinkers.  We each found what we were looking for and then went in search of lunch.  We had been in search of Big Al’s but ended up finding a place called Danny Bouy’s for humongous sandwiches for lunch.  Dale, Gene and Renee had beers but since I’m not a beer drinker, I had the specialty of the day called Liquid Marijuana that was made up of Captain Morgan Rum, Coconut Rum, Melon liqueur, and a couple of other liquors I can’t remember.  Trust me, you only drink one.  With a huge sandwich and watering the drink down every 5 minutes, I considered myself lucky to be still walking without a sway as we left. 

We made one more stop at the grocery store for milk and fresh fruit before making it back to the marina and a much needed nap (at least on my part).  We were sill full from lunch come dinner time so Dale had a snack and I had another bottle of water. 

Guess that its for today.  At least you didn’t have to hear that we were sitting on the boat, reading books and waiting for weather again. 

Friday, February 7, 2020

Turks & Caicos
21.45.631N
72.13.429W

Today was another of those killing time days.  We repaired a couple of snaps on our shade covers.  Dale did his good deed of running the bilge pumps for our neighbor and took a walk to stretch his legs a bit.  I prepared some poo-poos for our sundowners on Texas Crewed tonight.  We helped one boat get underway and another come in across the dock from us. 

During our reading, playing computer games, catching up on e-mails section of the day, Dale found a couple of e-mails from our insurance company that showed up in his technical information folder for the boat.  When I went back to check my e-mails, I couldn’t find them anywhere, so we’re going to have to double check on both computers from now on. 

We heard from Goin’ Sum Ware today.  They called their transit “marginal at best” with a wave across the bow that “caused some damage and a minor injury” but didn’t go into detail.  They did say that they pulled into the Dominican Republic after 27 hours to get some rest. 

This evening, we did the show and tell on Texas Crewed.  They are an Antaries 44 that is about 9” wider and 2’ longer than us.  Those 2’, a different layout and not as much clutter as we have, made their boat seem so much larger than ours.  We played a bit of dominos for a couple of hours and made plans to rent a car tomorrow to check out another marina on the north side of the island to get a pre-stage idea for the next leg to Puerto Rico. 

Other than that, not much is happening.  Sorry to be so boring. 

Thursday, February 6, 2020

Turks & Caicos
21.45.631N
72.13.429W

Today was another sort of lazy day waiting for news from the insurance companies and pretty much killing time.  We started off with a new neighbor.  A monohull named La Perle Blue, a French Canadian, single handleing.  Apparently, he knows the boat that came in yesterday.  There was a lot of yelling back and forth but he was pulled into place with lines stretched across the slips and was tied up without much drama.  Then we returned to our own lives for the remainder of the day.

To keep busy, Dale hung our security light in the cockpit.  It’s a solar powered motion sensor light that activates if anyone comes near the cockpit.  We have another for the foredeck but so far, its still in its box.  Then he went to the boat next to us to run its bilge pumps while the delivery captain’s away. 

Then this evening, we joined the crew of Texas Crewed for the Thursday evening Fish Fry in Turks.  Apparently, every Thursday, craft people and local restaurants get together in one location and then all the tourists show up to eat and buy locally crafted souvenirs.  We arrived early and were able to purchase the much sought after lobster dinners for everyone but me; I had the jerked chicken.  It was mighty spicy.  Good thing I had the mac and cheese to tame the flames.  We walked around all of the booths but then decided that just because I like something doesn’t mean that any of the kids or grandkids would like it, so I left without purchasing anything. 

When we returned, we invited them aboard our boat for show and tell; tomorrow, they’ll return the favor.  So that’s about it for today. 

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Turks & Caicos
21.45.631N
72.13.429W

I know its been a couple of days but to be quite honest, there hasn’t been anything worth writing about.  Today at least, we stood by to fend off as Goin’ Sum Ware, the big motor yacht that had been next to us, pulled out and headed to Puerto Rico.  They have the power and freeboard to get through the 5-6’ waves between here and there.  We and Texas Crewed, another catamaran, opted to wait for smaller waves to make our transit. 

Later in the morning, a monohull came in and was directed to the opposite side of the finger pier to med-moor.   Gene and Renee from Texas Crewed were on our boat with us chit chatting as they approached and of course we became the new boat’s spectators.  They apparently have either been here before or at least had an idea of how to catch the “lazy lines.”  However, when the wind started blowing them about quite a bit, we all crawled off and lent a hand to keep them from blowing down on another boat.  No disaster but it wasn’t pretty either.  It was kind of humorous in that although they are French Canadians, and clearly their 1^st language is French, we could tell when the wife was swearing in frustration. 

The Band at Bob's Bar

I guess the only other thing of interest to write about was that tonight, Bob had live music at his marina restaurant.  All seven of the band were, shall we say, rather long in the tooth but they were good; particularly the lead guitarist and the bass guitarist.  Of course, Dale and I immediately thought of his childhood friend, Sam, who would have fit right in.  Except that Sam is still rather baby faced compared to these guys.  Anyway, we had arrived about 6pm and by the time the band started playing at 7, the place was packed.  There were more people there tonight than we’ve seen since we arrived.  I told Dale that if you looked close you could see past time as there were the “girls” that might have been groupies and were flirting with the band members, the “guys” that were trying to pick up some of the “girls,” and all the other personalities who attended concerts back 40-50 years ago.  The only thing different, was that the whole thing was over by 10pm.  There was one younger woman there who was disappointed that it was ending just when it should have been starting.  I agreed with her saying that I remembered those days, yawned and then made my way back to our boat as I was exhausted.

In case you’re wondering, still no news on the insurance front, although Gene and Renee gave us the name of the insurance carrier that they finally went with as they were working with the same one we’ve been dealing with, getting the same results or lack of result.  So, I’ve sent an e-mail to them asking for information as we intend to go farther than Texas Crewed plans on, so there may be a difference.   

Earlier, we noticed that the winds were picking up and now that we’re sitting here, they are really starting to howl.  We hope Goin’ Sum Ware has a safe journey.  

Monday, February 3, 2020

Turks & Caicos

We're the boat in the middle 

with the arch and American flag!

21.45.631N
72.13.429W

Well, today was rather interesting.  We started our day standing by to fend off while the big motor yacht was moved into a spot right next to us.  Andy and Denise own the yacht, Goin' Sum Where.  He is ex-Marine and she is an ex-Air Force nurse.  We’ve been teasing them that they’re so big, they block out the sun for us. Anyway, there was no mishap and everyone is nice and cozy. 

Then we learned that we had left watching the Super Bowl too early last evening and the Chiefs came back to win.  When we left, they were trailing 20-10 but somehow, they managed to pull it off.  No matter, we had a good time and met new people, most who are hoping to make it as far south as Grenada or Trinidad by hurricane season. 

Then Dale cleaned the salt water rust stains off the boat, checked the oil, fluids and belts on the engines, tried a suggested fix for the water maker (no joy) and then cleared the vacuum break and manipulated the control valve on the toilet to keep it from over filling.  We started to notice that it was getting fuller than normal after its use.  Don’t need a problem like that underway. 

Then while Dale stayed back to run David, a rigger we met, up the mast to complete the insurance required inspection (which was--as expected--in great condition), I caught a ride, a service provided each day by the marina owner himself, into town to the local IGA supermarket.  You never appreciate what you have as an American until you visit other countries.  Today, after spending a couple of months in the Bahamas, I truly appreciated a well-stocked supermarket.  It was as if I had walked into a market back home.  Great looking produce, a good selection of meats, lots of names I recognized and bright, clean facilities.  Granted, it didn’t have everything I wanted but just about.  I had to keep telling myself that it wasn’t necessary to pick up everything now, as I really didn’t have the refrigerator or freezer space to store it.  I was a happy camper.  I didn’t think I’d find a supermarket like this until we were in Puerto Rico again.  What a pleasant surprise. 

Each Monday, Bob, the marina owner schedules an evening barbeque for the cruisers to bring something to grill and something to share.  Tonight, we had a nice turn out and Bob was constantly going back and forth bringing out more and more chairs as people arrived.  He provides the picnic supplies, condiments and ice cream at the end.  Of course, we ate too much but had a great time. 

Would you believe it?  Dale just told me he needs a blanket on the bed.  It’s in the low 70’s this evening.  I think we’ve become acclimated to the tropics already! 

Well, I guess it’s time to bundle up. 

Sunday, February 2, 2020

Turks & Caicos
21.45.631N
72.13.429W

Today was a lazy day.  As there was no weather on the radio this morning, we slept in.  I used the marina facilities for my shower and Dale took his on board.  Dale’s was hot; mine was in a garden/grotto type shower carved out of coral rock and not hot but picturesque.  I hate to wax on about bathrooms but I have been totally impressed with how clean all of the facilities are here.    

Gypsy Palace med-moored

 with Motor yacht at fuel pier

About midmorning, a huge motor yacht came in to clear Customs, fuel and take a slip—right next to us.  Remember we’re in here like sardines.  From our angle, its going to be tight but as it turned out, not today, as the wind changed direction, piped up to the point where I had to take our awnings down and the owner wasn’t going to move in tight quarters during the high winds.  We had no problems with his decision.

I hadn’t intended to do laundry today but Dale thought that with a front forecasted to move through tomorrow, it might be prudent to get it done today using the marina facilities in case it rains tomorrow and the laundry wouldn’t have a chance to dry hanging out.  Apparently, someone else had the same idea because every time I went to check the washer, it was being used.  As there is only one washer, this necessitated running up every 30-40 minutes to check on the status.  Finally, one time when I went up to check it, the wash had been completed but it was just sitting there.  I took a seat near the entrance and waited for the owner to retrieve it.  After about 20 minutes, I checked at the office to see if they knew who it belonged to or would it be alright for me to put it into the basket left there.  She instructed me to put it in the drier and start mine in the washer, as the person would be doing laundry all day; I had a funny feeling that it was her wash.  When it came time to rotate the laundry, I put the dry clothes in the basket sitting there and put mine in the drier but now there was a second basket full of clothes.  I elected to not continue doing laundry for someone else as I figured they might already be upset with me moving things around.  Again, the washer and drier were immaculate and worked perfectly.  Its amazing what makes me happy.

In the meantime, today is Superbowl Sunday, so Dale turned on the TV and started looking for stations in hopes of finding one that would carry the game.  No dice!  We couldn’t access a single channel.  Dale figures its because we’re sort of in a hole, surrounded, for the most part, by hillsides.  So, he went up to the marina restaurant to see if they could get something.  They have satellite TV and said that they would look for it when it was game time.  So, guess where we’re having dinner tonight and being former Kansas City residents, you can imagine who we’ll be rooting for? 

Saturday, February 1, 2020

Turks & Caicos
21.45.631N
72.134.429W

Well, we made it to Turks & Caicos.  At 2am!  I really do need to speak to Dale about his calculations in the future.  As I said, we arrived at the Sandbore Channel entrance at 2am.  Just as we arrived, we were hailed on the radio by the Harbor Patrol questioning us as to who we were, where we were going and if we had ever been here before.  They then asked us to relay our coordinates to them.  I now think that was to determine just how exact our GPS coordinates correlated to theirs.  Neither one of us remembered any Patrol the last time we were here.  Once we entered the channel, we learned how important our GPS coordinates were. 

Thank heavens we had read the latest cruising guide and I remembered something about following a heading of 100* and then turning to something else when utilizing this approach.  Ideally, we would have arrived about noon or a little after to enter into an unfamiliar harbor but . . .  Couldn’t do anything about it now, so we slowed to a crawl (about 3 knots) and entered into a mine field of coral heads.  We inched our way across the harbor and finally made our approach to Provo, the main town. 

About 2 hours later we turned to where we thought we had anchored the last time we were here, when a light appeared in front of us that didn’t seem to be coming from shore.  I freely admit, I have a problem with lights at night; no depth perception!  I thought it was getting closer, Dale thought it was too far away to be worried about.  As I was on the helm at the time, I told him he was in charge of keeping the light under surveillance because I was dodging coral heads on the chart and keeping an eye on the depth.  With my face on fire and my heart pounding in my ears, I finally asked him to please shine a light out to see if it was a boat.  Nothing could be seen.  Then another light appeared that we had to keep an eye on.   Again, we had to dodge coral heads depicted on the chart plotter but finally, Dale could see that yes, it was a boat, so he directed me deeper into the coral to go around them.  Finally, we found a place identified as sand and anchored in 10 feet of water.  Dale took the first watch once we were set about 5am and as the sun rose could see that we had dodged a black hulled barge and its tug anchored on the “magenta line” or the guideline into the anchorage. 

As the morning progressed, Dale listened to the weather guru to determine whether we would be able to continue on to Puerto Rico during the coming week.  Unless we were prepared to leave today, the prospect of leaving in the next month looked slim.  A day here.  A day there but not the 3-4 day window we needed.  Dale is not for moving on without insurance, which means we have to stay at least through the weekend.  We decided that we might as well stay in a protected marina for the coming front and we began to hail the one he selected from the cruising guide.  Back comes the Harbor Patrol on the radio who wants all of our boat information now.  Although we told them that we had used the “Sail Clear” internet site, they told us that they didn’t get that information until after Customs and Immigration was through with it.  So, we gave all our particulars over open airwaves.  Then they told us that the marina was having problems with their radio and that we had to be within line of sight for them to hear.  They also volunteered to call them on the phone to ascertain slip space and to let them know we were on our way.  We thanked them for their assistance and began our preps to move. 

We hoisted anchor and started moving in that direction.  Once we were in line of sight, we tried again.  Again, and again.  Nothing.  Nada, Zilch!  Once again there was a “magenta line” leading to the marina location but, of course, it was peppered with coral heads.  After becoming thoroughly frustrated with the lack of communication, Dale tried calling the Harbor Patrol again to see if they could assist.  Once again, they called, got some information about hugging the red buoy on our approach but then hugging the green buoy once we made our turn.  The problem was, we couldn’t see any buoys! 

Again, we slowed to a crawl, dodged the dark areas and crept in until we could see the buoys.  I am not kidding you when I tell you there were places where there were only inches—inches—under our keel!  But, we made it in.  Once we made it to their entrance, the water deepened and I could breath again. 

As the marina was a clearing point, the dock master directed us to a fuel pier and told us that he had to call Customs and Immigration before we could fill up.  So, we cooled our jets on the boat until the agents arrived filling out the necessary paperwork.  The “Sail Clear” site is supposed to negate the constant filling out of paper forms but apparently, that only tells them that you are on your way; you still have to fill out the forms.  In other words (from the agents’ mouths) it’s a waste of time.  Then came another straw that I wasn’t prepared to deal with (particularly on little sleep and after a nerve wracking ordeal), as they’re two separate agencies, they can’t share money i.e., the final total ended in an even number but each agency’s ended in a 5, they couldn’t make change and they couldn’t share.  Here I am searching for single dollars.  They won’t take Bahamian dollars so, I’m emptying out my change purse, going through jars of change from Dale’s pockets, looking to coming up with $10 in change so that each of them has the exact amount.  I was flipping out.  Dale was frustrated too.  With me.  He told me to go to bed.  Somehow, somewhere, one of them found $5 in his pocket and made change for the other. 

Then came more excitement.  We did our first med-moor on this boat.  Not the drop your anchor and back into the dock, instead, they threw lines to us to secure to our stern and pivoted us across the slip and then raised muddy, soaked lines from the bottom of the marina that held your bow from blowing side to side.  We’re in here like sardines.  Muddy sardines.  We have just enough space to put a fender between us and our neighbor.  As we were adjusting the fenders, I told him we’d try not to disturb him with our snoring tonight.  As it turns out, he’s a very experienced delivery captain who is going to help us secure a rigging survey for our insurance and possibly find local repair for the collision damage from when we dragged in George Town.  You just never know who you’re going to be cozied up to and if we’re stuck here for a month, lets put it to use and try to make up some time somewhere else. 

Through all of the excitement today, neither one of us realized that we hadn’t eaten all day.  So we decided to splurge and go out to dinner at the marina restaurant.  Dale had lobster and I had ribs.  We met our neighbor and asked him to join us and then met another couple from Texas who are heading down to Grenada.  We made promises to catch up tomorrow and compare notes as we don’t think we’ll be going anywhere soon. 

So, with all of that, I’m off to bed.  Who knows, maybe my blood pressure is down enough for me to fall asleep now.