There's No Such Thing As A Free Lunch
Amberisle2
Valt & Sandy
Sat 23 Mar 2013 15:18
|
23:63:622N 074:83:254W
March 22, 2013
We remember now why we seldom
stop at a marina. I know, you all think we don’t want to spend
money. But marinas offer more miseries than that. Vermin, no
breeze, hot air, noise ,pollution, poor water quality. the list goes
on.
We awoke at 3:00am.
Although we'd run the generator and air conditioning for two hours before
bedtime to cool the cabins, it was hot and muggy. But worse, the
no-see-ums had climbed through the screens and were biting. The nearly
invisible insects have an insatiable appetite for blood. We batted and
swatted, but to no avail. We turned on the fan. No help. The
air was totally still in the marina giving them free range.
In the morning we could find no
safe spot to even have coffee. Dressed in long pants, socks, and long
sleeve shirts we sat in the sun. It was 80 degrees. There was no
choice but to leave. Before we could untie our lines, Pirate arrived with
a big mutton snapper they'd caught. We agreed to filet the fish and
he gave us half the catch. At half tide, we tiptoed back through the
shallow, twisting channel out of the marina. Winding our way through the
coral head and reefs we found a beautiful anchorage and dropped anchor near the
tiny settlement. It was one of the hottest days we'd had here, 88 degrees,
and we jumped into the clear turquoise water to cool down. Then we
launched the dinghy and went to see if we could find some bug remedy in the
town. Mosquito coils were suggested, and we bought a box to try. We
visited Kate's Sand Bar. It has a sand floor! Back at the boat we
stripped the bedding, shook it and hung it in the sun to chase away any of the
vicious sand mites. Towels, too. We wiped the walls down with vinegar
water, taking many of them away on the sponge. After spraying insect spray
in the corners, we set the stinky coils on fire and closed the berth doors to
try and smoke them out. It seemed like an impossible task. I counted
some 150 that I'd smashed!
We enjoyed the quiet of the
anchorage. And when we went to bed, neither of us were bitten. But
the more things stay the same in the islands, the more they change. A new
weather report Saturday morning forecast 15-18k SE winds tomorrow. It was
already a bit surgy in the bay. It would worsen. We decided to
return to the marina and hope the winds would keep away the biters.
It looked like Monday might be the day to go back to Georgetown. If we
left early enough we could fish along the way and still cover the 60 miles
across the Atlantic if we planned
to be in port by 5:00pm
|
