Drinking in the Shed and Infections of the Ear

December 8, 2005

Friday, December 02, 2005 - Normans Key, , Exumas
By Amy

We headed out of Allen's just after the weather expecting good winds for sailing. No such luck. They were dead behind and light. We fought the head/main combination for a while before giving up and going under head sail alone. We averaged a whopping 3.6 knots, but hey, we were sailing.

At Norman's, we landed in the middle of the French-Canadian Convention. Of the dozen boats anchored with us, we were the only Americans. Oddly, we were also the only Canadian-built vessel.

Since our last visit, MacDuff's, the lone bar/restaurant on the island, has new owners. We walked over to see if there were any changes. There were--it's now closed. No signs about whether it will ever reopen. There were also no airplanes at the airport. I wonder what this means for Norman's?

To wile away the afternoon, we played a 5-game Kuub shootout, which I lost 3 games to 2. I blame sheer boredom at the end for my diminishing capabilities. Against Thomas's wishes, we also made friends with a French-Canadian single-hander who was also at the beach painting numbers on his dinghy.

More seafood for dinner. Yum

Saturday, December 03, 2005 - Staniel Cay Harbour, Staniel Key, Exumas
By Amy

Last night, my ear began to bother me, and I woke up this morning with what feels like an ear infection. Bad news for the Amies, as I stopped carrying the ear drops after not having any ear problems for several years.

There was enough wind to try to make a run for Staniel and we figured that was the prudent option. With winds on the beam, we made good time for several hours before they lightened up and we turned on the engines. I get most of this second-hand, as I drugged myself and slept most of the day.

To my surprise, the medical clinic did have weekend hours...but they ended at noon. After inquiring at the yacht club (and having a few drinks at their bar to dull the pain), I found out that I will have to suffer through until Monday. Ugh.

Sunday, December 04, 2005 - Staniel Cay Harbour, Staniel Key, Exumas
By Tom

Amy was feeling really bad today. Her ear infection is getting her down. I used mass quantities of drugs to keep her borderline unconscious for most of the day.

In between playing doctor I spent most of the day reading and computing. In the evening we went into the Yacht Club for drinks and company. We watched our first NFL game of the year, but I could not even tell you who was playing.

Tomorrow we will be waiting at the clinic when they open.

Monday, December 05, 2005 - Black Point Harbour, Great Guana Cay, Exumas
By Amy

Oh sweet relief! After a sleepless night, Team Dream Catcher was camped in front of St. Luke's Medical Clinic as they were opening. The volunteer nurse there was an older lady who really knew her stuff. I've never been so glad as I was when she said "sure, we have ear drops."

The coolest thing...they work on donations. Why can't we get this kind of thing in the U.S.? We gave a hefty sum, but it was well worth it to support such a place.

Once I was patched up, we departed for Black Point Settlement to take on water and visit Lorraine's Cafe. Being as public-minded as the Staniel Cay nurse, Thomas has taken on the role of volunteer computer guy for Lorraine, and we stop by whenever we're in the area. While Thomas removed viruses and spy ware from two machines and enjoyed a couple of beers, I perused her book swap.

We returned to the boat by way of the little grocery store. Although we needed several items, none were in stock today. We tried our best to come up with something we could buy from the man. All we could come up with was distilled water for our batteries. Considering I also wanted to buy a straw mat from the straw lady, who wasn't open today. Black Point missed out on some money. Probably a good thing for us, though.

The rest of the day was spent lazing about and catching up on missed sleep. Even the ferrets are exhausted from my ordeal.

Pork chops and rice for dinner while we watched movies until we slept some more.

Tuesday, December 06, 2005 - Staniel Cay Harbour, Staniel Key, Exumas
By Tom

Today was spent in the burgeoning metropolis of Staniel Cay doing errands. We started off with some internet browsing from our anchorage in the harbour. This was followed by a trip Isles General Grocery store.

Unfortunately, there we no people at Isles General even thought the sign said OPEN. Hmm. We waited for about 10 minutes, but to no avail. We returned to the boat grocery less.

In lieu of a better plan we dinghied over to the yacht club for a beer and a game of pool, which Amy won. After hanging out for a little while we tried Isles General again. This time we went to the house of the lady who is supposed to be the clerk. She reluctantly came with us to open up the store. Amy and I each had to carry one of her babies.

We made a quick trip through the veggie selections and picked out a few winners. We also got flour and a soda.

Back at the boat we put away our supplies, watched the sun go down and had dinner. Another day in paradise.

Wednesday, December 07, 2005 - Big Harbour, Little Farmers Cay, Exumas
By Tom

Today we sailed out from Staniel Cay bound for points south. The wind was blowing 15 knots and it was pretty far up on the nose making for a lot of tacking.

Right out of Staniel, we ran into Rick and Connie on Calaloo. We met them last year in St. Augustine and have run into them several times over the last two years.

We sailed in company down to Little Farmers. We were here last year with Amy's friend Chris for the First Friday at Farmers Festival. The only really decent anchorage here is Big Harbour, which in spite of the name is not big. The harbour only carries 3 feet of water at low tide, so we are just able to squeeze across the bar.

After anchoring, we had the Calaloo's over for happy hour. It was fun catching up with them on where they have been since we last saw each other. Happy hour ran long, so we dispensed with dinner in favor of random snacks

Thursday, December 08, 2005 - Big Harbour, Little Farmers Cay, Exumas
By Tom

The wind was blowing 20 knots today, so we decided to take the day off. In the morning I did miscellaneous boat chores and Amy worked on her computer.

The island seems pretty deserted. Its hard to imagine how people make a living here. There are no tourists, no farming, and no near by fishing of any quality. I'm not sure how they survive, but they do.

In the afternoon, Rick off Calaloo invited us to the town with them to this little bar that is actually a shed. I forget the name of the place, but it was pretty cool. They sell rum by the fifth for $3 and then sell you soda to mix it with as you need it.

The party started out with just the four of us and the bartender, but after an hour or so more and more locals showed up and before long we had 15 or 20 people crammed in and around the little shed. The rum was definitely flowing freely and a good time was had by all.

Tomorrow we plan on heading down to Children's Bay and preparing for the jump offshore to Georgetown