What do we do all day?

Have you ever wondered what we do all day? I'm sure you think we sit around on the foredeck sunning ourselves with cocktails and beers. Well, it's not quite like that. In today's blog I will show you a few of the things that keep us busy.

First thing in the morning, we have a cup of tea, watch the sunrise and catch up on emails and whatsapps. I do my Wordle, Quordle, Squaredle, and my new favourite Globle, etc, while we listen to the cruiser's net, if there is one. The cruiser's net is a source of information where we hear the latest weather prediction, safety and security, new arrivals introduce themselves, things are advertised to buy or sell, and general information about things happening on the island. In St Martin, Mike from Shrimpy's Laundry, does the net at 7:30 on channel 10 every morning. He is a South African who has been here for many years.

Then it's boat jobs. Most of the time I do the washing off the back of the boat. It takes hours, uses quite a lot of water, and is back breaking work! When there is a lot of washing or when there is a reasonably priced laundromat not too far away, I get spoilt! This Laverie (laundromat) in St Martin is something you would never experience back home. There are coin operated washing machines and dryers. It is clean and tidy. The only thing tied down are the chairs and tables with cable ties. Some people put their washing in the machine and leave, returning to put their clothes in the dryer or take them home. No, I don't use Shrimpy's Laundry as he is quite pricey!!

Washing day

There is always something to fix on the boat. Sometimes it is a small job which is quick to fix and other times it takes longer. Our deck light stopped working, so Andrew had to go up the mast to replace it. Thank goodness it was only halfway up.

We need to do the woodwork on the boat. I started this project on the cup holders we have in the cockpit. It wasn't as easy as I expected as the varnish was so hard it took several layers of varnish remover to get it off.

We had another leak in our dinghy. Andrew managed to glue it back together and it seems to be holding for now. We were very tempted to buy a new dinghy at Island Water World. We haul the boat up on the side of the boat at night. This made it easier for Andrew to be able to fix the leak in the left hand side cone.

 

Island Water World, the local chandlery, gives talks every Saturday for cruisers on all sorts of topics. It is well supported, however, I do think the attraction is the free T-Shirt, free beer and slice of pizza! We went to two talks. The first talk was about going through the Panama Canal and crossing the Pacific Ocean, something we didn't really have on our radar. However, since that talk we have said that it is not totally off the table. It won't be in the next year or two, but maybe....

Pacific crossing talk

The second talk we went to was about fishing. It also was interesting and we learnt quite a lot. I didn't know that you could be going quite fast and still catch a fish. We also learnt about ciguatera fish poisoning, which Claire had warned us about. It is an illness caused by eating fish that contain toxins. It is usually the bigger fish who have been eating the smaller fish. After the fishing talk there was a life raft demonstration. I have seen a life raft deployed before but not in the water. 

Look at those gorgeous new dinghies!

Both life rafts deployed upside down

Second life raft

Dinghy dock parking for cruisers

Shopping is another thing that takes hours. We dinghy across to the dinghy dock and lock up. It is not always as calm as in the picture below. Sometimes it is very bouncy and we get wet. We don't mind getting wet on the trip home but hate getting wet on the trip to shore. 

Once we have secured the dinghy we walk to the shop. If we are going into the Dutch side we would catch a bus which is 2 Euro per person per trip.

Clothes market for the tourists

The most amazing thing is the pedestrian crossings! The cars practically rear end each other because they stop immediately at the crossing and let you walk across the road!

Plastic recycling machine. 

There are a few recycling bins on the island but this machine is brilliant. You put your empty bottles into the green hole and it cuts it up into little pieces. Then you get a credit to use in the Supa U - supermarket.

Andrew and I have become quite good at the shopping thing. Andrew usually goes off to look at beer, wine, cheese, and meat while I go and look for other essentials. Laura hunts down the sauces, eggs and guards the basket. We have to be careful about how much we buy as we carry all the shopping back to the boat. It is amazing how much you can fit into a hand basket!

Backpacks are essential to carry heavy shopping

Dinghy packed and ready to head back to the boat. It is a slow drive back with the shopping weighing us down.

Home

Cruise liners stop regularly in Simpson Bay, which is on the Dutch side, but the tourists are bussed over to the French side to go to the market and see the fort. We are often stopped and asked about our dinghy. One lady wanted to know if she could hire one - not sure what she was intending to do with it - and was quite surprised to hear that it was our mode of transport. I think we are in quite a few tourists photographs and videos as they pan across the bay, with us piling into the dinghy with our shopping. Tourists do rent wet bikes and dinghies and race across the bay all in a line. They are quite irritating when they come close to the boat and cause the boat to rock in their wake.

Laura is the breakfast queen. She makes the best omelettes and egg and bacon. 

We have been ashore to the local coffee shop twice for tea and pastries for breakfast. The excuse is we need to use the Wi-Fi and update devices.

Home baked bread is so much nicer than the expensive store bought bread. It is quite scary how long the store bought bread lasts before it goes stale and moldy. I bake every second or third day. Straight out the oven is the best and after that toasted cheese sarmies are on the menu.

Freshly baked bread ready for lunch

We end the day with sundowners and if the wind isn't howling we braai. Sometimes the kitchen elf will pass a drink through the port light.

We spent an evening listening to cruiser playing music at Dock 46 with beers and pizza.

Cruisers crooning

Supper is eaten either in the cockpit if the weather is good, or down below at our large table while watching something on TV.

The two most used items on the boat

Supper and series

We have missed many birthday celebrations, Christmas, Easter. But we always raise a glass to the birthday girl/boy on their special day. 

It would have been my Dad's 84th birthday on 10th March.

Cheers Dad

In the next installment, we head back to the BVI where we meet up with Anthony and Debbie who spend 2 weeks with us on our skinny boat, after a 2 week stay with Royden in luxury on his cat, Cleavage.