Strong winds are blowing and the water in this protected
bay, just off Parham, is choppy; not ideal for traveling between boat and land
in the rib. However, we experienced much bigger swells last week, during our
escapade in the rib, around Great
Bird
Island.
We ate ashore Friday evening. Lincoln, the owner of King
Burger cooked chicken for us on the barbecue. Served with chips and coleslaw as
well as drinks, the bill was only £5 per head. Amazing!
On Saturday, our friend Caroline spent the morning
ashore; Dick was busy going through, with the would-be purchaser, every external
locker on the boat, including the workshop and dive locker, demonstrating the
contents and functionality of same. Sunday and Monday the exercise was repeated
inside the boat, taking the beds apart and lifting the floors and the floor
linings, after moving the storage boxes from beneath the floor, in addition to
explaining the navigation equipment.
At 7.30 on the morning of the 28th Dick again
collected the interested party; we then raised the anchor and made passage to
the Boat yard. It took almost 300litres of water to wash the blue mud from the
chain, the anchor and the deck, which had become spattered. Fortunately we can
afford this luxury as the water maker can produce 220litres of pure water per
hour; we make water each morning and evening, when we switch on the generator to
top up the batteries.
We tied up against the outside of the lifting out dock
and the surveyor came aboard. It took nearly five hours for him to check out the
boat before we commenced the test sail.
The wind continued to blow strongly; too strong to pull
out the full main sail but it was necessary for the surveyor to see the sail in
its entirety; likewise the genoa.
In total, there were three minor anomalies which need
attention at some juncture but all in all the boat is in very good condition.
The surveyor was impressed by how well equipped it is.
After lunch the following day, with just Dick, myself and
our friend Caroline on board, we left Parham and sailed, just using the
foresail, on a broad reach, to Deep
Bay where we dropped the anchor. As
we approached the sunken wreck, we could see a rib tied to it; a man was
standing on the wreck, water to his knees, resting briefly from snorkeling.
As the sun sank below the horizon I was rewarded with a
green flash. It looked as if the people on a nearby boat had also just seen it;
they were all cheering, shouting, jumping up and down and hugging each other,
still facing in the direction of where the sun appeared to have just slipped
below the edge of the sea.
The freezer is now quite depleted with sufficient produce
for only three more main meals. I could claim that it was all due to perfect
planning but that would not be the case. It will make defrosting the freezer a
lot easier though.
The wind on Thursday was still quite strong but the water
here, without the fetch is not choppy. However, that night the wind decreased
and we all slept better for it.
We spotted a turtle on the passage from
Deep
Bay to
Jolly
Harbour, where we spent the next two
nights. We watched the pelicans as they dove for fish; one of them sat on top of
a green marker buoy though it flew away at dusk when the light started flashing.
Despite the strong gusts of wind, Dick was hauled up the
mast twice, to enable him to replace the faulty Lopo light.
En-route to Freemans Bay, we spotted a Ray as it jumped
from the water, saw our boat ahead
and immediately returned to the rough sea through which were making slow
progress against head-on 29knot wind, with water over the fly-bridge. A fitting
last passage just in case we might be getting any doubts about missing a life on
the ocean wave.
The anchorage was quite full and to stop Tucanon
swinging, we put out a stern anchor. It had the desired effect in reducing the
movement of the boat but it didn’t make for a very comfortable night.
We went ashore for a farewell supper with our friend
Caroline, who was leaving on the morrow. As we climbed onto the dinghy dock we
could see a large plastic sheet in the water, between the dinghies and the
pontoon. I fished it out and wedged it underneath some heavy ropes to ensure it
was no longer a danger to the propellers on an unsuspecting boat. It had been
covering part of the wide red carpet which was adorning the pontoon, strictly
reserved for super yachts; the carpet was in place we were told, ready for the
arrival of Prince William and Kate
who were due to arrive here next morning.
Tuesday 6th, at 8am, the multi decked super yacht Leander was just beyond
the reef opposite Fort Berkley Point on its way to Nelson’s Dock yard. As the
boat motored into the channel, many of the yachts at anchor sounded their fog
horns to welcome the Royal couple.
