Thursday, January 2, 2020
Georgetown, Exuma, Bahamas
23.31.160N
75.45.475W



  Good day dear readers. I’m sure you will notice the difference in writing styles in today's blog post as I am giving Lorie’s damaged digit a respite from pounding the keys.  If you read yesterday’s blog you’ll recall that Lorie tried unsuccessfully to remove the last ½ inch of her left index finger utilizing the freezer door as a meat cleaver.  Fortunately for her, I am a doctor and arguably the best one on the Palace.

  After last night's repair, she has been doing very well today but is being very careful and I am the only one allowed to open and close the freezer.  She has a fairly conspicuous bandage and splint which has been a definite conversation starter.  Fortunately, Aleve has been controlling her discomfort.

   Today being the first working day of 2020, we were working the phones as soon as the “cruiser’s net” was complete.  I was able to talk with the water maker distributor here in the Bahamas and he informed me that it was going to be quicker for me to order from the states and have sent directly to me as he does not stock any parts.  I appreciated the honesty and then called the dealer who originally sold us the unit and he is going to contact the manufacturer (in California, of course) and expedite getting me the unit.  Finally, some positive movement in getting that repaired.  

     Next was a call to Mack sails for the parts to repair the main sail.  After some back and forth and exchange of texted photos we seem to be making progress and the parts should (hopefully) be sent to us in tomorrows Fed Ex shipment (DHL here).  Now it’s a matter of twiddling our thumbs or should I say my thumbs because Lorie is not twiddling any digits.

  Once the business calls were made, we climbed into the dink and roared over to George Town to go to the Exuma Market.  I don’t recall if Lorie mentioned how disappointed we were when we first got here and went to the market as the shelves were quite bare and the available vegetables looked so bad, I doubt if anyone would have used them.  In the markets defense, everything on this island has to come in by barge and the weather has been so bad that they had not seen one in a couple of weeks.  Well, on New Years Eve, not one but four barges came in and today is the first day the market has been open.  Everyone in the anchorage was making a beeline to stock up and it looked like a wagon train of dinghy’s crossing the harbor.  The shelves looked like a small market in the US with prices 2 -3 times what we see in the states.  However, they had stuff and the rule in the islands is, if you see something you even think you might need, you pick it up.  So, we filled our grocery bags and escaped before the mobs hit.  We took our own bags because they are now charging 25 cents per plastic bag to limit the plastic going into the landfill and in the harbor.

  Once we got back to the boat and things were put away, we decided to reward ourselves for a job well done or maybe we were just hungry, but we leapt (well I leapt and Lorie gingerly crawled) back into the dink and went to a different “restaurant”/bar known as the Peace and Plenty.  It is part of a local resort but they allow us mangy cruisers to eat, drink and pay there.  We had great cheeseburgers and fashionable adult beverages and enjoyed the somewhat less hectic pace from the Chat and Chill.  Then it was back to the boat for Snore o’clock.

  After a short siesta I was sitting in the cockpit reading when this huge yacht (mini cruise ship) came in and anchored outside of us.  I think their tender is bigger than we are.  Anyway, once they were anchored an army of ants started running around and the boat started vomiting toys out the stern of the boat.  I could have described it as a different bodily function but we do have a mixed readership.  They even deployed a 3-story inflatable slide from the top deck but we have not seen anyone use that yet.  To make things more outrageous, they extended a floating dock from the stern, complete with lounge chairs and I’m sure, cabana boys.  They have so much money, they can’t be happy.  The name of the boat is Loon.

  The rest of the evening was spent watching another glorious sunset, complete with red sky, (For the non-sailors out there, the saying is; “red sky at night-sailors delight, red sky in the morning-sailor take warning.) reading and playing cards.  Lorie clearly beat me at Gin.  More to follow tomorrow.