Cuba, the last bit

If Knot Y Knot
Patricia Day
Sat 2 Mar 2013 19:37

I did not run the watermaker yesterday because there was diesel in the water, probably mine, from filling the tank from the jerry can.  I ran it today for an hour because it was so windy the noise of the pump would not be noticed.  It is now down to 300ppm and I have just realized that if I used their 400ppm water as input it should make better quality water.  Not having a working wind generator I am relying on solar power, not that there is a lot of it, but the panel works well in just daylight.

There is a biplane, but I haven’t been in the right place with a camera so far to get a photo.  The plane does not land, it just drops the mail.

The weather is still ugly and I am seriously considering flying to Havanna and checking out from here.

 

Wednesday 20

I hosepiped the dock water into a bucket and ran the watermaker for an hour and sent it to the tank for the first time this year.  I did the same again lunchtime and I have a full tank.  The water at the end was coming out 69ppm which is brilliant.  Kodo are checking out today, so we went to look at the turtle rescue centre.  With such good looking and strong shells, and I am told the meat tastes good, it is hardly surprising that they are endangered.  I wanted to see the crocodiles, or alligators?  I could tell Stan was not convinced, but he and Lynn caught the bus with me.  We thought you climbed up a tower and could see them retained somehow.  We found that it was a water tower and a lady came out and walked us off the path into the scrub.  We got to some shallow brackish water and she called and threw stones into the water, but no croc appeared.  Then we went through more prickly scrub and there was a croc lying there with its’ mouth open.  This is mama, she has a baby hidden and papa had his fun and did a runner.  There is a lagoon on the other side of the road. The croc got up and walked away.  We went round and got in front for more photos, really close.  Crocs can move very fast when they want to and as far as health and safety goes, this would probably not be allowed in a lot of places.  Was it an approved tourist attraction even here? Then a 3’ iguana came down the path towards us and followed us.  The lady told it there was ‘no pan’.  The iguana looked incredulous, or was it disgusted with us; no food for it, what rubbish tourists we were.  Glad we went; and had to take a lot of prickles out of our shoes when we got back.

Peri , the marina manager, had arrived back from his week off and I told him that I wanted to leave in the morning.  Final supper with Stan and Lynn and I have a food parcel that will get me to Caymans, at least.



Pat