Breeze On

We had a wonderful time this week with our daughter and son-in-law. As often happens, we had the worst weather of the winter so far, but they were great sports about it. Granted, even though it seems cold to us it is much warmer here than their home in Massachusetts. We spent a few nights near Chat ‘n Chill where we went for a hike around the southern end of Stocking Island then lunch at Snappy Turtle. Next we moved over to Red Shanks for better protection from the W and NW winds. From there George took Pam and Brad over to the Man ‘O War Cay sandbar at low tide. Then, before returning to Breeze On, they did a reconnaissance run over to Brown’s Marine where their taxi was to pick them up this morning. We enjoyed games of Mexican Train and spent time planning our upcoming trip to England and Scotland to celebrate our 50th anniversary this year.  This morning Pam and Brad donned our foul weather jackets and pants and secured their luggage in garbage bags. They and George took a very ...

Since arriving in George Town we spent one night at anchor in Masters Harbour, then moved yesterday morning to “Da Middle,” an area roughly in the middle of the harbor but relatively close to town. We dinghied into town to get fuel, beer, and a few groceries. The harbor outside of George Town, known as Elizabeth Harbour, is huge and can hold hundreds of boats. When we were here in early December with my brother, Dave, there were only about 40 boats here. Now there are over 200. Everywhere we went while running our errands yesterday was crowded but we managed to get everything done. After returning to Breeze On we cleaned the cabin and I baked some chocolate chip cookies in the GoSun oven.  In the afternoon we raised the anchor and moved across the harbor to a mooring ball in the Gaviota Bay East mooring field, near the Chat ‘n Chill Beach Bar and Grill. It is close to shore and should allow us to get to shore for hikes and to eat out on occasion while our daughter and son-in-law ar...

Yesterday morning we left the boat bright and early so that I could go to the Farmers Market.  George stayed with the dinghy in order to avoid having to tie up to the iron shore. I had much better luck at the market this week, buying a large bunch of collard greens along with arugula, eggs, chives, a coconut tart, and two sapodilla fruits. I was disappointed that all of the delicious tiny tomatoes had already been snapped up by other vendors at the market. After I finished at the market I walked up to Hillside Food Supply to buy lettuce and a few other items.  Once we returned to Breeze On we raised the anchor and headed north to Hog Cay near the northern tip of Long Island. Hog Cay is a small private island with an unusual large octagonal house and a long, pretty beach. There is an osprey nest on the cupola of the house. The calls of the resident osprey pair remind us of the Chesapeake   The island also has a large habitat for West Indian Whistling Ducks. These are noctu...

Good news. The flex feeder is securely attached to the mast. The replacement leaf springs are on order (one to spare) and should arrive at our daughter’s house in time for her and her husband to bring them to us when they visit next week. Fingers crossed the shipment will arrive before the major storm hits their area this weekend.  The windy weather here continued through much of the day yesterday. George and I ventured off the boat briefly to cut each others’ hair on the beach. Today has been a lovely, calm, sunny day. We joined Dee & Ron and Jean & Michael at Dapple Cafe for lunch. George has been thinking of Dapple Cafe’s mocha smoothie ever since we arrived a week ago. We have so enjoyed hanging out with our friends but are all going our separate ways tomorrow.                                                         George’s mo...

Our time here at Thompson Bay has flown by. Yesterday we ate lunch at Sou’ Side with Dee & Ron and Jean & Michael. On our way back Dee and Ron stopped at Breeze On so that Ron could take a look at the stubborn screw that didn’t want to come out. He and George worked on it a while until the head came off the screw. In the meantime a front—which we had hoped would not come this far south—arrived and the wind picked up. George and Ron continued to work on removing what was left of the screw and tapping a new hole. At some point they noticed that the leaf spring—a part that goes under the flex feeder—had broken off. George suspects it had been cracked by whatever stresses ruined the old flex feeder. A new leaf spring was not included with our replacement flex feeder so George has ordered two new ones (one to spare.)  George and Ron have a bit of fine tuning to do on the flex feeder then we will wait for the new leaf spring.  The front brought quite a bit of rain last night...

George has been working on removing the old mainsail feeder track but is not done yet. He has been applying penetrating oil to the screws and tapping them with a hammer. In addition, he has been using his oscillating multitool and hot knife to cut away the plastic feeder track to allow better access to the screws. Then he heated the screws with the hot knife. The first screw came right out, but the second screw is proving to be more stubborn. He is applying more penetrating oil to that one and will allow the oil to do its work overnight before trying again tomorrow.  When we arrived in Thompson Bay, I was very much looking forward to going to the farmers market on Saturday morning.  Just as we were about to leave the boat for the market a heavy squall arrived. We waited for it to pass then went to shore.  I didn’t find nearly as much to buy there as I did two weeks ago, but did come back with some arugula, sapodillas (a very sweet, soft fruit that tastes like brown sugar)...