Possible Employment Opportunities or Designated Blender Operator

February 17, 2004

Friday, February 11, 2005 - Volley Ball Beach, George Town, Exumas
By Tom

The predicted cold front passed through around 1 am this morning. The boat was moving some, but it wasn't too bad. By noon, the wind had backed to the north by north west and the anchorage settled down some.

Today was more laid back than yesterday. I was pretty sore and tried not to do much of anything. Amy spent the morning playing with the ferret and reading, while I oppressed the peasants in my computer game. I am a cruel leader.

In the afternoon we ventured off the boat to play volleyball. It was pretty poor play on the expert court, but some of the better fun volleyballers started up regulation 6 on 6 and Amy had several good matches with them.

Back on the boat I used up the rest of our fresh poultry and made fried chicken. We are invited to a surprise birthday party tomorrow up on Honeymoon Beach for some friends of our off of Carriba, so we may take the day off from volleyball.

I think next week we may be leaving Georgetown for good, so I should have an update on our immediate cruising plans soon.

Saturday, February 12, 2005 - Volley Ball Beach, George Town, Exumas
By Tom

Today was another busy day. I played on the professional volley ball court this morning and then went spear fishing afterwards. I got a small Red Hind (a kind of grouper) and then packed it in. Visibility was pretty poor.

In the afternoon, we made pretzels and then headed over to Flip Flop Shop beach for a surprise birthday party for Donna off of Carriba. Her husband Toby put it together. It was a pretty high brow affair as far as cruiser functions go.

We actually had ice, a blender, and a generator. I was the designated mixologist for this event and I spent the entire time mixing frozen margaritas. Several people commented that I may have a future in the margarita mixing business.

For those that could remember, a good time was had by all.

Sunday, February 13, 2005 - Volley Ball Beach, George Town, Exumas
By Tom

Disaster struck in the night!

Someone who shall remain nameless (not me or the ferret) seems to have mis-tied our dinghy to the back of the mother ship last night. When we awoke it was no longer with us. Shitty death!

A search party was formed this morning and the dinghy was not found. Mega shitty death!

Our friends on Carriba, Toby and Donna, have lent us their dinghy for the interim, but this is at best a short term solution.

I fear I may have hurt my dinghy's feeling with all of my bitching about his lack of performance. I suspect that he has packed his bags and is on his way to visit Fidel down in Cuba.

It was a dark day in deed and we did very little except search for said dinghy. If your reading this dinghy, come home soon.

Monday, February 14, 2005 - Volley Ball Beach, George Town, Exumas
By Tom

I got on the cruisers net this morning and announced again about our dinghy loss, but no one has spotted it. I searched again some more this morning with no luck. Everyone has been really supportive with our dinghy disaster.

I started feeling people out about who might have a spare for sale and I was sneaking up on a suitable replacement when I got a call from Grahm on Luna Azul(Blue Moon). Turns out he and his wife found my dinghy! It apparently bobbed up and down on the town side of the harbour and someone tied it to a tree.

Most excellent! We are no longer a kayak only family. Out of gratitude, I bought Grahm and his wife a case of Heineken. We also took a case of Kalik over to Toby and Donna for the use of their spare dinghy.

This evening we went to the Chat and Chill for a 60's dance party. Amy danced and I drank a few beers and talked to the other husbands who were dance challenged as well. It was a lot of fun and we stayed out til almost 11 pm

Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - Volley Ball Beach, George Town, Exumas
By Tom

I went to softball practice this morning. The usual crowd showed up and we swatted softballs for a few hours. We did a post practice beer at the Silver Dollar and then I returned to the boat.

I drug Amy out of bed and made her go spear fishing with me. It was almost flat calm on the ocean and we found some nice coral formations. I managed to spear 4 different fish and caught none of them. Amy had the same problem with 2 others.

We returned to the boat empty handed. After our weekly showers we went into volley ball on the beach. I played a few games but stopped after I started having trouble with my quads.

Back on the mega yacht we snacked on leftovers and crackers for dinner. We had a sunset version of the running of the ferrets. The crew is growing restless and we are ready to move on

Wednesday, February 16, 2005 - Kids Cove, George Town, Exumas
By Tom

Boat chores deluxe today. The morning started with moving the boat over to Kidd Cove just off the town dock. Today is our turn to sell Regatta T shirts, so we had to be in and ready to go by 9 am.

We got the t shirts from their locked storage bin and had our stand set up by 8:30. Amy made an announcement on the VHF that the shop was open and the hordes descended upon us. She thinks we were busy because she is a good sales person, while I think it was because of the free shot of rum I was giving away with each purchase.

We sold 23 t shirts, 3 hats, and 2 little regatta pins for a grand total of $439. This was reported as one of the busiest sales days recorded. As a side note, I had 9 different people join me for a shot of rum prior to 12 pm. Way to go team. The ferret is proud of you.

During our 4 hour sales stint we also managed to do 4 loads of laundry and get to the book swap for a new selection of reading materials.

A word on laundry here. It sucks mega large. Apparently, the water pressure in Georgetown is so low that if more than one washer is running at the laundry mat, the time it takes to fill with water is measured in hours. We've learned that if you want to do you laundry in less than a day, get there early.

Our laundry only took 3 hours to do 4 loads. Pretty good time really.

After we were done selling our t-shirt and rum wares, we went down to Immigration to try and extend our visas. Of course they weren't there. Come back Friday, mon.

We had a post Immigration lunch at the Two Turtles Bar and Grill, and then we went to the grocery store for a mega provisioning. $135 dollars later, we were carting our supplies back to the mother ship.

Next up was the 30 minute break down, pre-recycle and stowage routine for all of the food stuffs. It amazes me that this process always takes more time than the actual purchasing did. I'm sure someone somewhere knows why this is.

Food stowed, I turned to water mule while Amy folded laundry. Three trips, 1.5 hours, and 90 gallons of water later we were full and the laundry was put away. In the process of filling the water tank I managed to fall off the back of the boat. No I was not drinking. On the positive side, I did manage to catch myself with my elbows on the last step of 4 on our transom (ass end of boat), so I only got wet from the belly button down. Of course I now have two large, stair shaped bruises on said elbows, but them are breaks (so to speak).

Once I dried off, we went back in to town to make phone calls, access the internet and get more fish whacking equipment.

We didn't finish up until 4 in the afternoon at which time we moved the mother ship back over to Volley Ball Beach just in time for sun down. I had a softball game at 7 pm, so we turned around and took the dinghy back to town. Are you confused yet?

The opposing team didn't show up so we cut out early after I pulled both quadriceps muscles in my legs. Amy helped me hobble home and were in bed by 9:30. This sucks.

Thursday, February 17, 2005 - Volley Ball Beach, George Town, Exumas
By Tom

I was too sore to do much of anything today. Both of my legs hurt badly and I layed around most of the day reading books.

In the afternoon, Amy went in and played volleyball. She reported as to having a good time and she says her play is improving. When she returned to the mother ship I made dinner and we had evening cocktails watching the sun go down.

Afterwards, Amy helped me into my wheel chair and we went in to the Chat and Chill to say bye to all of the friends we have made since we've been here. We are leaving George Town tomorrow and I do not think we will be back this year.

Lots of people came by and wished us well and it was nice to see we had so many friends. We toasted with lots of well wishers and we all promised to stay in touch via email. Bye guys!

Back on the boat I swallowed several pain killers and was to bed by 8:30. I am mega sore and Amy says I am not much fun to be with currently and I may be damaged people.

As the ferret and I do not speak french, we wonder how this can be?