Something is gathering in the Atlantic. A weather system is trying to build itself up into either a tropical storm or a hurricane. Whichever one it turns out to be, she will be called Emily.
Mike gets on with jobs and Javid from Conch Charters gets going on his list. By the end of the day we have a working freezer once more (it turned out to be just a leak) and the doors out to the cockpit are sliding along just fine again (it’s amazing what a block of wood, a sturdy hammer and a bit of grease will do!).
The stern cabins get tipped upside down as the engines get oil changes and as usual I am trapped in my cabin for a while while all the bedding is strewn along the companionway.
While Mike is kept busy, I am not. I have nothing to do. Absolutely nothing. Conch is doing the turnaround so I have no cleaning (and to be honest I have kept up with it as I have gone along anyway). We have no car as yet so I can’t get out and do anything.
This is not good for me. Given too much time doing nothing makes me homesick and miserable. Mike knows this and is sympathetic but he has to get on. I lie in a grumpy strop while he gets on with trying to fit the new rev counter with the aid of the on-line installation drawings which of course don’t match up with the wiring on the boat!
Late in the day he delivers the news that due to the fact that next Monday to Wednesday is a public holiday and the cleaning staff won’t be in, we have to get off Jeannius on Sunday and move to another boat until we can move into Mandy and Kirstie’s house, a situation which I can understand but is guaranteed to put my bad mood into a filthy one! Talk about nomads!
The next day is more of the same. We keep a constant watch on what is now known as Invest 91L, the weather system that is rolling steadily and inexorably towards the Caribbean. It sounds really mean to wish that it would hit anywhere but here, but everyone thinks that way and it makes no difference to where it actually goes so what the hell! It’s too early to tell whether the system will develop and become ‘Emily’ of some description.
I look at our strange collection of dried and tinned foods and try to concoct something edible. Selecting three products – a pack of Jambalaya rice (BVIs), a tin of sardines (Panama) and a tin of peas (Reunion Island I think) – I put together a strangely tasteful meal, multi national definitely, but not something I would serve up to charterers! As usual there’s enough for another meal. Never mind, Mike!
By the weekend, it definitely looks like the weather is heading our way. The average of all the forecast models shows the system as going straight over Road Town. Mike spends ages trying to hire us a 4-wheel drive car for two weeks but most of them are apparently booked out for the three day holiday/festival. Why do so many people need these for festival? I have no idea.
Mike manages to source one eventually and comes back with the good news that we don’t have to switch boats as the cleaners are working on Tuesday so we can stay on Jeannius until then. In the event that the house isn’t empty by then, Malcolm has offered us the use of the apartment at CRC.
With a car comes freedom. Mike knows he has to get me off the boat and doing something, even if it’s just a trip to do some laundry and explore the new (to us anyway) huge Riteway supermarket in Road Town.
We have a great night out on Sunday at The Elm. Steve and George play along with two other now regular musicians, one on vocals and harmonica and another on the saxaphone.
Our table is for 20 people; we are there with Malcolm and Candace, Gary and Teri and their friends and Land Crab with family and friends. Land Crab (a white calypso contest winning teacher from the US) is persuaded to get up and sing about a donkey and there is much dancing and general hilarity.
I become firm friends with two 17-year old beauties who decide they want me to adopt them after I give them some dubious sexual advice.
Just as we are leaving, we spot Marta, the lovely young woman Matt and I met at Leverick Bay and we pose for a photo to send back to him.
Greetings from Manhattan Beach! Lovely to see your blog (and our photos within). I imagine all is quiet on Tortola now with Malcolm and Candace back to Sonoma. Now that I've found your blog, I'll watch frequently for updates. Hope the H season is kind to you. Cheers! Terry ...(of Terry and Gary fame)
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