Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Highbourne Cay and Warderick Wells Cay

Sunday 1/17
It is 10.45 and the wine and dinner we had yesterday on the beach (organized by the marina, paid for by ourselves) clearly has done Jacques's back good, because we are now in an intense cleaning mode. The master (that is how he has called himself in the official paperwork) has taken the water hose in his hands and then you better hide inside. Even when captains never would clean anything, on board they get dangerous and they really like it!!!
We went for a walk on the island and had the neighbors over for some wine and crackers. Their son has a Swiss girlfriend, you would not believe it, but works for Swisscom in Bern, where Mark also works. We had a nice evening. It is now Tuesday 1/19 and we are on a mooring ball off Warderick Wells Cay, the headquarters of the Exumas Land and Sea park. Because there is a ranger station here, we could again buy some internet time, great!!
The trip to this very wonderful place was not without stops. We left the harbor around nine o’clock, had soon the sails up, motor off and enjoying a perhaps not so fast but very peaceful sail ride. Then came from the harbor a motorboat, going really fast, I was already complaining that that would be a big wave maker, but he came straight to us and started talking something in his big horn. He wanted us to put the motors in neutral, the only problem: the motors were not running. To show some cooperation we put down the foresail and tried to get the boat into the wind, to stop. Then we asked if they wanted us also to take down the main, but after some discussion, everything was fine. 
They came with three men on our just cleaned boat, (big black boots and several guns). They first wanted to see our paper work of course, filled out new papers and did a tour of the boat. I think they soon felt already a little stupid, it was very clear we were just two elderly people enjoying their life. They were very friendly, I must say, and in the end we had to sign a paper if they had done a good job and asked us if we had seen suspicious boats, I told them I have no clue how they would look like!!
Because we had the foresail down, we wanted to try the spinnaker again, after all the preparations, he went up and was at least till halfway completely twisted, down, a few twists back, up again, still twisted, down again, after more of this the captain shouted “motor on!” So the rest of the way we motored. And here we are, Jacques looks like he is into S&M, he cleaned the propellers today and the barnacles were razor sharp. Tonight we saw a shark next to the boat, about five feet, GREAT!!!!!!!!!!

Ria



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