This is part 2. Part 1 repeats some of the material in my photo email when I had a wonderful internet connection on board at the marina in Tortola. The little things we take for granted sure look good after my internet hell in Curacao.
Here are some photos so you can get an idea of what we’ve been up to. Click on a photo for a larger view.
While visiting Tortola, it’s always nice to take a cool green dip at the marina after a long day delivering soap.
We picked up this fishiker on the way to Curacao. He was nice and dry by the time we found him. We could have salted him as a snack but I had brought pretzels along.
Every night we were treated to a magnificent sunset. Unfortunately there is no way to photograph the star display from a moving boat and that’s the real celestial treat. Plenty of shooting stars too when the sky is so dark. I didn't see the moon for our entire trip and I was on watch from midnight to 4 am.
The view from our first anchorage on Curacao. A very nice, quiet place to spend the day. I’ve been reading “Over the Edge, Death in Grand Canyon.” With all the stories of people falling over the edge, dying of heat stroke on a hike or getting sucked into the Colorado river and drowning and the most dangerous airspace in the country being over Grand Canyon, I may just stay out of Arizona altogether. I feel lucky to have been to Grand Canyon and gotten out alive.
They are working on this oil rig near our new anchorage. It is so big we could practically sail under it. At night it is lit up like a giant Christmas tree so the star show is definitely over for us.
I'm not sure what is going on here but we passed a school of fish jumping out of the water. There were birds attracted to this action but the fish were way bigger than the birds so it must have been really frustrating for the poor birds.
Here are two views of Teamo’s house. Joel arranged for Teamo to watch Living The Dream at anchor by his houseboat during hurricane season. Teamo says there is no crime on the water here so he never closes his door. I suspect temperature is also a factor. He pumps his water into a tank on the roof so he has water pressure. He brings his water on board in 5 gallon jugs. Teamo has been living here since the ‘80’s and he is a former math professor. He says he built his boat and sailed it (the boat, not the house) here from Holland. I would take a pass on that trip.
Teamo took us around town with Rocker (cocker spaniel) in his pick-up truck before we had our rental car. When the clerk at the Chinese laundry was about to write up our slip, Teamo slammed his hand down on it and they had a little conversation in Dutch so I suspect we not only missed out on the local’s discount, but we paid for Teamo’s next load of laundry. When you’re hauling your water in by dinghy in 5 gallon jugs, your only electricity is solar only and you’re basically living in a floating box the last thing you need is a washer-dryer so Teamo is a regular customer at the laundry. I may not be a former math professor but I can add up 2 + 2. Update: Joel disagrees with this particular assessment and says Teamo was trying to get us a discount but he did decide to leave Living The Dream at the Marina instead of having Teamo watch it. During a storm, even if our three anchors held firm, another boat could blow into her.
Teamo and Rocker head home after dropping us off at Living The Dream. Rocker is very well behaved and likes to make nice with his tongue. Laurie says anything you put on your skin you may as well eat and Rocker proves my suntan lotion is healthy and tasty too. I’ll bet a little bit of sweat makes it even better.
Imca is delivering the Green Monster to us at the Marina. Joel has actually rented the Green Monster before but now reverse works and the air conditioning was great. However, it has a habit of staling when you accelerate from a stop. This was usually not a problem except for the time we were stopped in the median to make a left into a gas station. It got us as far as into the path of oncoming cars when it stalled. Joel was able to restart it and get us out of the way which was a good thing because the stream of cars barreling toward us (me first in the passenger seat. Should have gotten a picture of that although the scene is permanently etched in my brain cell) did not appear to be slowing down. After that, Joel decided to shut off the air when we accelerated from a stop. The Green Monster is like a Smart car without the smart part.
Our adventures with the Green Monster in Curacao will be continued in the next installment. Don't forget to subscribe to the series above (Follow) so you will be notified when I post another post(?).
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