Smuck, flutter and pitter patter

Leaving Roatan was hard. We had spent the last two seasons ‘playing’ with the cruisers and friends we had met on Roatan, some were heading north, some south and some back into the Rio. We don’t know who we will see again. But we say “until we meet again”, as we headed east and south. At last we had a last night in West End on At Last. A great send off!

Smuck, flutter and pitter patter. Karen we have stowaways! We made the turn around the corner at West End to head for Port Royal when Cheryl had to duck as she was smucked by two incoming squid! Leaving the appropriate ink spots, we rescued them so that they could smuck again tomorrow. We now have almost a full enclosure, which was only open on one side, but the squid managed to hit Cherylright in the face! There were no bodies on the deck, go figure. We arrived in Port Royal for the evening, where we had dinner with Terry and Patrice and their guests. With hugs and kisses we headed back to the boat to prepare for the passage to the Hobbies. We left at first light, when we could see the marks of the Lime Cay passage through the reef, when low and behold we had a stowaway! A little swallow decided to join us. We carefully ‘scoped him outside, but he persisted in flying below and resting. Cheryl decided he could stay so long as he didn’t leave any deposits, so he stayed for an hour or so. After he left we did find souvenirs, but he was already away! Dolphins joined us the next day along with the pitter patter of a booby trying to do a trapeze act on our life lines. Landing on his two yellow feet, he stayed with us for a short ride.

We arrived at the Hobbies with Pavo Real and parked beside Enchantment. We came bearing fresh fruit and veggies for Enchantment, much appreciated by them as they have already been there a week. Our new auto helm performed amazingly well! As the unit is under the aft beds, you can’t hear it make adjustments, although we can say that it moves the helm minimally. And as we motored sailed and then just motored, we don’t know how much power it draws. Pavo Real took advantage of the weather window to carry on the next day to Providencia, leaving Enchantment and Interlude to enjoy the quiet of the Hobbies. Our days at the Hobbies were spent mostly hunting for dinner, in the form of lobster, conch and hogfish. We were successful with the lobster and conch, but the hogfish live another day! We shared our bounty with Enchantment having many lovely dinners on both boats. We taught them Farkle (a dice game) and sequence, a card/board game. They taught us a new version of Mexican train dominos. We needed to burn garbage, so a small kite fest broke out! Enchantment has 3 kites, so more than enough flying for everyone!

We became acquainted with the fisherman who watch the fish traps stored on the island out of season.

They dropped by and gave us conch, lobster and the elusive hogfish. In turn we shared canned goods, beer and rum, items they were short on. We spent one morning searching for a spear gun one of the fisherman had lost, but no luck. We all had soup on Interlude to warm up after the search. A few days later Cheryl did find a spear, which she passed onto them. We had three boats come up from the south and overnight in the Hobbies. We had appetizers and drinks on the sand spit with them and the fisherman. They left the next morning, so the anchorage was our again.

After two weeks we got the next weather window and headed to Providencia, another 33 hour passage. Again we were visited by Dolphins. Again Auto did an amazing job. Tony on Pavo Real came up on the SSB several times to check on Enchantment and our progress, which is always comforting. We were entering the channel to come in when we received a call from Anne on Pavo Real welcoming us to Providencia and imparting local knowledge. Then Tony appeared in the dinghy to lead us in. We went into Bamboo (a local restaurant) for happy hour, then to bed for a good night’s sleep. Next day we got hold of Mr. Bush and checked into Columbia. We found an internet place so we could email friends and say we were safe. We scouted out the supermarkets, found out when fresh provisions could be had…. It looks like phone and Wi-Fi on the boat on not options, we have been so spoiled! We had an appetizer night on Interlude with Pavo Real and Enchantment. We (Interlude and Enchantment) made conch dishes as Tony loves conch and was not in the Hobbies long enough to get any. Conch fritters and conch ceviche were enjoyed by all. Next day we hiked to Morgan’s head, not truly a long hike, but a pretty one with a great view of the a anchorage.

We passed Morgan’s cave, Morgan’s well, Morgan’s ghost and Morgan’s treasure on the way to Morgan’s head.

They are very proud of the fact that Captain Morgan made his home here! Cheryl had here hair cut by George on Silver Seas. George uses a “Flowbee” on his wife’s hair and Cheryl wanted to try it. You could say the hair cut really sucks, you attach a vacuum to a cutter, the vacuum pulls up the hair and the cutter cuts it and with no mess!! George has a touch and the hair cut looks good.

We hopped on our hogs and mules and toured the island. OK, two scouters and a mules, which is a sopped up golf cart. Saturday Vern on Enchantment had arranged a Mule and two hogs and we toured the island (Enchantment, Pavo Real and us!). A mule is a golf cart type vehicle seating four and the hogs were really scouters we swapped our time on the scouters. We were planning on three circuits of the island, but seemed to get everything done in two and a half; yep it is a small island! The first lap was recognisance.

The next lap we stopped at bars and restaurants, plus an island style traffic jam

and of course lunch was on the water with an amazing seafood platter. The last lap was stopping at various local hot spots like Roland’s were we swang from palm trees and sampled the local beverages.

Our last stop of the day was at Almond Bay, a long walk down to the beach! Michelle and Karen had a take-out glass for their Pina Coladas, the coconut, it was awesome.

We have spent some time most days hunting lion fish, they are a real issue here and with little diving, few people are hunting them. Over two days Enchantment and we bagged 9 lion fish. Michelle cooked them up for a pot luck. We ran into Senta (Wilfred and Annette) a boat we had met in Jamaica and again in the Caymans. It was great to meet up with them, even for a short period of time. We had a lovely dinner on their boat and time to catch up before they sailed off for Cayman. Then we had a full day of boat work. Karen worked on the dinghy chaps and other bits of sewing. (To get to the chaps required about an hour of dismantling the dinghy.) While the dinghy engine was on Interlude Cheryl did oil change on the lower unit and a general service and put some patches on the dinghy. Then we had two days of squally weather, were we all felt better on our boats or near them. This was good as it allowed the dinghy patches to dry! Pavo Real and Enchantment braved the weather and came to Interlude were we had a pot luck Thai style, some great food made by all! We spent one afternoon watching Interlude ‘enjoy’ 30 knot gusts while we played Farkle on Enchantment! Now we are on a hunt for propane. Usually not an issue, but the propane comes from San Andreas and apparently they are out. So no propane yesterday, no propane today, we are hoping for Tuesday! Life can be so exciting!