Trying to get ready to go home

We had a wonderful week with Karyn, Paul and the kids. It was fantastic, the weather, the swimming and all the animals we have seen. I will come back to their vacation when we are home and I can post all the pictures we have taken.
We are starting to get ready to go home and we have already made a list of things to do, that is of course not really island time behavior, but we slowly have to get back to reality. 

And everything is the first for us, so also the preparation of the boat for the summer season, we are making screens for some windows so that we can leave them a little bit open, are buying all kinds of anti mildew stuff and are making a list what to take home and what will stay on the boat. Today we went to shore to start the laundry (me!) and Jacques is going to bike around to do some shopping.

Ria

Paul and Karyn are on their way

Paul, Karyn and the kids are coming today, we called them at around 7 eastern time and they were about 100 miles from Florida, then it is still a long way to go, but until now everything is going okay. We went very early to the marina, because the laundry machines are always busy, I still was not the first one but only had to wait 15 min. I am writing this during the drying time and there are at least ten big bags of laundry waiting.

Jacques is doing some last minute shopping (Amaretto for Karyn) and a belt for himself, he really lost a lot of weight and all his pants don’t really fit anymore. It is not fair, because I do the same amount of walking and biking and my pants just fit fine!!! 

We will have a good time, the weather is great and we will do a lot a lot of swimming, talk to you all soon.

Ria

April 7

We are now for several days already on a mooring ball in the City Marina of Marathon. We have access to internet in the building and get pumped out every week, (that means we can flush the toilets with a lot of water, feels rich).
We also made some important purchases: a wind generator to get us some more power, it works good, makes a little bit of noise, and even I am constantly looking at the little meter that shows us how full the batteries are; and two folding bikes, because the stores are really too far to walk (the walking is not the problem but carrying everything home). We attached some plastic bins on the back and it is now very easy to go shopping. Those two things make life a lot easier.

We have been snorkeling one day at Sombrero Reef; it was great to have that experience again. It was rather wavy and I thought I would just go for a swim. Jacques suggested putting on our short wetsuits, it was a crime to get me into that thing, I was already wet and it took the two of us nearly ten minutes to hoist me in the suit. I looked like a wrong made sausage!! But it really is much nicer, the suit gives you some uplift in the water and with the snorkels and flippers I had a great time and did not want to come out of the water. We are of course spoiled by snorkeling in the BVI’s and Belize, but it still was very nice.

We also have made some arrangements for the end of our first year as snowbirds on the water, the storage in the boatyard here is arranged, the tickets for flying back are bought and we are thinking about what to leave here and what to take home. It would be nice if we could find somebody who could open the windows from time to time, but perhaps one of the girls working at the boatyard (and living on a boat there) is willing to do that, have to talk with them about it.

Today is a very windy day, so everybody stays on their boats or is probably on the internet in the harbor building, what we are also planning to do (will be a wet ride) and take a shower. The showers are not that great here, we are just a little bit too early, they have build a whole new building, but not all the connections are done, so we will at least look forward showering long everyday when we are home.

We keep ourselves busy with some improvements (we have a place to hang the motor of the dinghy, I am sewing my last curtain, because the fabric is all used up, bike for some shopping, read of course a book or two (there is a very large library in the harbor, you bring one and you take one), play my Nintendo or assist Jacques with his jobs. He ordered Amp meters (I think) to measure the output of the wind generator and need first to make a nice place where to put the things.

Ria