A Musical Encounter

 Well, here's a story for you. We were anchored in Red Shanks right next to a lovely cruiser named Dale, who was my original ukulele teacher down here.

He recently made himself a cigar-box guitar, and offered to give Jeff a lesson on it. But then he moved his boat down the harbour a ways, so we thought we'd missed that.

Well today, we were toodling in our dinghy down the harbour, and I said, "let's see if we can find Dale". We arrived at his boat, and he asked us aboard, where he introduced us to Alison, from a neighboring boat. Then he pulled out his uke, his cigar box guitar, and another new one that he handed to Jeff. My captain got excited about learning to play it, and Dale offered to sell it to him for $100.00.

Alison immediately pulled the money out of her wallet and paid it to Dale - she said she was "paying it foward" for all the help he'd given her! We were shocked and grateful 🙏. 

So now we have a new instrument aboard, with a promise for a lesson from Dale. We'll make both of them a special dinner in a day or two - and Jeff and I will start playing duets before you know it - amazing!!

A Planned Adventure

 We're habouring from a big wind in a favorite place called Red Shanks this weekend. It's totally isolated with a gorgeous small beach nearby, but nothing else. It would be perfect, except that we ran out of water last night, with no gauge on our water tank to let us  know when that's happening. 

So today we braved the rough seas in our little dinghy, to motor the 15 minutes to a resort called February point. They have a great restaurant,  the Rusty Anchor, where we had lunch, after filling up our large water jugs on their dock. The return trip was a soaker - directly into the wind, on huge waves. But our trusty dink and new 15 hp motor powered through it!

Now we're back on Sea Change, preparing for a "sundowner" visit from a friend who is anchored not far from us. Tough life ...

Just Whiling The Time Away

 We're still in the harbour - now the batteries are misbehaving 😞.

But it's a beautiful place to be, with all kinds of activities initiated by the  boaters - like Summer camp for adults. I've added two new pastimes to my repertoire - rock painting and water aerobics! I'm doing the latter 3 times a week. 

The rock painting started when I found a beautifully painted little rock on a hike. Turns out one of the cruisers is making and leaving them on trails for people to find and take, if they like them. I decided I would contribute some, too. So I've collected almost everything I need to begin - now I just need to find the rocks!

My captain is still busy with repairs, so when I'm not provisioning, cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, marking student papers, writing letters of reference, etc. I'll try my hand at painting rocks for the community. Better than bingo, I guess 😀.

I expect we'll be sailing soon🤞.

Relaxed at Last

 Ah - finally... we're at anchor at Monument Beach, with the boat sorted out, no immediate demands, a well-stocked larder, full water tanks, and reasonably healthy bodies (knocking on wood). Though Jeff suffered a wasp sting yesterday, but it didn't amount to much.

Today we're headed to the  nearby dock to talk to other cruisers about rebuilding it. This community is always taking on improvement projects like that. We may hike to the monument and then to the beach after that. One of the cruisers has been leaving beautifully painted rocks on the paths, and inviting people to take them. 

So I'm off to clean the cockpit on this lovely January 3rd - 80 degrees and clear skies - you gotta love it!

Happy New Year, 2022

What a beautiful way to ring in the New Year! At my instigation, about 50 cruisers gathered on Sand Dollar Beach for a huge bonfire  celebration. We had pot-luck snacks, drinks  and music provided by several folks with guitar, ukulele, harmonica and tambourine. We blew our conch horns at sunset to welcome in the new year, and then lit the fire 🔥. 

The scene was beautiful- the weather perfect, with a little breeze, so no bugs, and all in all, it was a party to remember. It was still going strong when I left, exhausted, at 10 pm, and at midnight, the harbor sky was filled with fireworks  from various resorts onshore. A great way to begin a year that I hope will be kinder to all of us and the planet. Happy New Year 2022!

This is More Like it!

 I'm afraid I'll jinx it if I say anything - but all systems on the boat seem to be running now!

We're anchored off Sand Dollar Beach, where Jeff and I are hosting a New Year bonfire tomorrow evening - pot-luck snacks, drinks and conch-blowing to bring in 2022.  

We're wishing all of you a much better year than 2021 - and hopefully the beginning of some real healing for all of us and the planet. Enjoy ringing in the New Year in ways that are healthy,  safe, and fun for you and your  loved ones. Happy 2022! 🍾🤩⛵

Tech nightmare

 I think I've now figured out how to add a new post to my old blog - so this is a test. 

If it works, I'll send instructions to my list. A 2-week nightmare!!