Checking things off the checklist this week! We have been pleasantly surprised that the people giving us estimates on boat jobs have actually shown up with only slight prodding. Usually in the islands, “a few hours” can mean anytime today or tomorrow, a specific day of the week such as “I’ll come by Thursday” must be followed up by the question “Which Thursday?” and “Tomorrow” means “You will never hear from me again.” The only major snag we ran into this week was getting a realtor to follow up on our housing request. In August, we will need an apartment while Galt is out of the water. Bill contacted two realtors for assistance. One of them responds every few days but never actually answers our questions so Bill restates the question and then we wait for the same scenario to repeat in a few days. The other realtor gives us the “tomorrow” treatment. This morning, Bill finally emailed the owner of the agency and simply asked, “Do you people work at all?” It took less than 10 minutes for Bill to get a response from the owner who said, “Someone will call in a few hours.” A glimmer of hope!
We had one big success this week! Harry Houdinghy has a new motor! New to us anyway but it cranks easily which is more than we could say about the previous motor. There is a place on the island called “Shrimpy’s.” Shrimpy’s is owned by a man who came to visit St. Maarten 18 years ago and never left. Prior to that vacation, he visited South Africa and stayed for 30 years. I would describe Shrimpy’s as the place old men go to gather. Nothing much ever seems to get done but there’s a lot of talk about getting stuff done. Shrimpy’s had several motors for sale and we were able to reach an agreement along with an “Awe, if you have any problems, just come by and we’ll fix it” warranty. We also found out that if we need laundry, free wifi access for a few hours, a storage unit, directions or anything else on the island, Shrimpy’s has the answer. We continue our search for a new refrigerator but at least the motor issue is off the list! Often when I have been to outdoor concerts, I have had the thought of “wouldn’t it be fun to live close to the amphitheater and you’d get to have free concerts?” Well, I am sure that thought was made when I was going see one of my favorite bands such as Styx or REO Speedwagon. I can guarantee you that Dexta Daps was not on the list. Throughout the week, there have been a horde of people setting up a stage in the marina’s front yard. We heard it was a concert that would take place on Saturday evening. Bill was told, “It’ll probably start around 7pm” so we were feeling pretty good that it would be over by 11pm. On Saturday afternoon, Bill ran into the security guard who laughed at him when he asked if the concert was starting at 7pm. The guard said the concert would start at 9pm at best and go until at least early AM hours. Sound check began around 4pm and we had a little Linda Ronstadt and some Billy Joel so maybe Dexta Daps wasn’t going to be that bad! Around 6pm, we decided to head off the boat and go on a date night to the casino at Maho Beach. Maho was a lively nightlife place (adjacent to the beach where the airplanes fly directly overhead to land) and the casino even had a craps table for Bill. After several hours of fun and only a few dollars poorer, we headed back to the boat. At 9:02pm, the opening act began. She was no Linda Ronstadt. At 11pm, Dexta hit the stage with enough bass to make Galt shake and shiver. Dexta was a combination of Reggae, Pop and Rap so no Billy Joel. It was around 2:00am that the concert ended and I was able to remove my ear plugs. Luckily, we live on a boat and never have any real schedule so we slept in a bit, however, the marina will be getting a Bill lecture on Monday about how to send out notifications of events and timing. It seems that warning us of upcoming torture was not on their radar at all. We closed out go on a date weekend with a super special treat for me! A movie! In an actual movie theater! In the States, I generally went to the movies at least once a week if not twice. I have not been to a theater since we left the States. My sister said Maverick had debuted this weekend so I teasingly said if there was a theater here, it probably was still showing the original Top Gun. Much to my surprise, Maverick was showing! So, we went to an actual movie and it was amazing to see the large screen again! All our movies on the boat are on an Ipad because our tv uses too much power (remember that fact for those “green” energy people out there!). Now, Bill has created a monster because Jurassic Park arrives at the theater in June! Making my list! So, if you want a good Memorial Day celebration with lots of heroics, go see Maverick! Tom Cruise is best on the big screen!
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AuthorSally Miller Archives
May 2024
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