December 19, 2011

Monday December 19, 2011

After a long nearly sleepless night I was ready to get up and start the day.  Make the coffee, feed Stasia, who made it clear she should be at the top of the priority list and anxious to start the day.  We got some news about a fellow cruiser s/v “Sail Away” who grabbed a mooring ball at Frasier’s Hog and it broke loose late last night.  They went right into some rocks and they believe they may have lost their boat.  I am so glad every one is okay!

Time for Laundry!  I couldn’t believe myself to be so excited about that.  Fred went to shore to make sure they were open and radioed me to say lets do laundry.  Quickly sorting the clothes, we were off again and it wasn’t until we were walking to the laundry mat that it hit me.  I forgot the laundry soap, which I had made at home just for the trip.  So there I was, clothes in the machines and waiting for Fred to return with the most important ingredient “soap”.  I just left the laundry there and thought it would be a great opportunity to photograph Casa Mare’.  There he was, zooming back to Casa Mare’ in the dinghy.  We got the washers started and the lady from the laundry mat suggested we go explore and she would put them in the dryer for us.  The people from this little town are amazing.  They are so happy here.  They are barely making a living, children playing in the colorful narrow streets, each one making a point of greeting us as we approached them.  We found the cutest little restaurant called “Three Sisters” and stopped to have lunch. We were the only customers there.  Her son and daughter came in just as we were about to leave.  I pumped her for information like, what's the difference between a yellow coconut, a brown coconut and a green coconut.  She offered a name of someone to search out and promised me he would get us one.  Actually they were lying on the ground all over the place but who knew, would that mean a fine or grounds for jail if we picked one up?  I continued to pump and asked where the Plumeria came from.  She said if we came back tomorrow, she would bring us a start of her white one, but since we were on a sailboat, who knew where we would be.  She (Kim) asked her son something and minutes later, he returned with a 6” start from one down the street.  I was thrilled to receive it.  Lunch was good, I had chicken wings, and fries.  I asked her about plantains and she cooked my first plantain for me.  Kim said she likes them raw but most prefer fried.  I liked them both ways.  Another first for me in Bimini.  Fred had the fish sandwich and an order of fried conch.  He also had to help me finish mine as the servings were huge.  Continuing on, we went to a little hardware store and Fred purchased a machete  for $8.00!  What a bargain.  There were some coconut trees just up the narrow street.  A man was near the water doing something in a bucket.  There was an ice cream truck, which we often hear from the boat, complete with music to lure the children in so Fred came to the conclusion he was  a man of multiple jobs.   I asked him about coconuts.  He stopped cleaning the bucket of colorful lobster tails and offered to show us how to tackle a coconut.  He borrowed Fred’s brand new machete and just as he was ready to give it a whack, his cell phone rang.  There he was, cell phone in one hand and a machete in his other.  I wondered which was most dangerous while talking on a cell...driving or whacking a machete around.  He was pretty good at cracking it open though to reveal fresh coconut.  Yummie!  He not only gave us that one but climbed up to get us 3 green ones from the tree above.  He again showed us how to tackle a green one which, I learned, is an art.  The brown one was full of coconut meat and no milk.  The green one was full of milk but no meat yet.  So as I see it, you eat the brown ones and drink the green ones.  I didn’t know that.  He stuffed my backpack, handed Fred his new machete and we thanked him.  The coconut man was named Matt.  After we returned to retrieve our laundry we headed to the boat.  Fred said in a very low, calming voice …”our dinghy is gone”.  I stood there in disbelief, knowing there was no way I was going to keep those clean clothes dry if I had to walk or swim.  Looking far to the right, there it was, trapped in the corner of a bulkhead and a building.  Relief took over, nope...never get excited around Fred, he may have a heart attack or something.  I took a photo opportunity and watched him climb down into the dinghy but the motor would not start.  “Great” I thought.  I picked up all the laundry and came to his rescue.  I would have liked to think he couldn’t have done it without me but in fact, he could.  I held the dingy line while he cleaned the prop with some kind of seaweed tangled in there, jumped in and off we went.  Fred decided to raise it on the davits but he forgot to pull out the plug so he had to climb back in.  It was still unsecured and out of the water. The next thing I saw was one the bottom side of the dingy facing straight at me and 2 eyes, bigger than his mouth, hanging on for dear life.  I quickly gave him the shortest lecture I could muster up about not letting go and falling in the water.  He listened.  He got the dinghy straightened up and managed to get himself in an upright position and it was then I couldn’t compose myself. 

Yep, I laughed...hard!  He assured me he was fine the whole time but it sure didn’t look like he had it under control to me, till he got back on the  dinghy.   He proved himself that he was the master macho and even showed me his expertise with a machete and a coconut.  What a guy!  Nothing boring on Casa Mare’.

Not sure what tomorrow will bring but...today was full of excitement and firsts.  Life is fun with Fred!