26 - 29 April 2009

26 April 2009

Mark, Rachelle, and I hitchhiked 12 miles north to Stella Maris Resort to use their WiFi.  Five dollars for all day WiFi was a good deal.  A local lady and her daughter gave us a ride all the way to the resort.  She was testing the new engine in her old car.  The high import taxes make new cars expensive, so the locals just keep bandaging their old cars as long as they can.  Very few accessories work, such as speedometer, engine guages, or air conditioner, so the car is basically nothing but a motor and a body rattling down the road.  Later, we walked about a mile back before a local family in an old minivan gave us a ride home.  It was almost dark when we returned, but Rachelle made her delicious lobster pasta for supper.

27 April 2009

Walked over to the ocean side today for some exercise and to explore a new stretch of beach.  I keep hoping to find a stretch of beach with good surf to try out my surfboard, but most of the beaches are protected by off-lying coral reefs that break up the surf.  Then, bought some groceries on the way home.  Basically did very little today except hang out for one more day in a tropical paradise.

28 April 2009

Long Island Breeze Resort re-opened today.  Mike, one of the owners, had been sailing in the Family Island Regatta over in Georgetown, while his wife Jackie was shopping in Fort Lauderdale.  Their WiFi is excellent, even though their resort lacks a certain air of hospitality.  In the evening, Mark, Rachelle, and I joined Peter and Monica Holter on their boat Tava for Happy Hour.  Tava is a remarkable steel sailboat the the Holter family has sailed on for several years throughout the Caribbean.  We experimented with various mixtures of coconut milk, pineapple juice and rum.  Peter's mixture won the taste test.

29 April 2009

Mark and I explored a nearby cave.  It was quite large, with many branches and side chambers.  Then we spotted the supply boat coming into the harbor, so we walked into town to watch it.  In the afternoon we walked over to the ocean side to snorkel the reefs again.  Several large fish were hiding amongst the coaral heads and Mark spotted a lobster.  I slid over a coral head and discovered an 18-inch diameter sleeping sea turtle.  His sixth sense saved him from my grasping hands and he darted away.