It has been a week of Bill and I doing boat projects and waiting on island time workers to do begin their projects on Galt. Once we landed at the airport, we made our way over to our Airbnb which would be home until the boat projects were completed and Galt was dropped back into the water. Our Airbnb was located in the center of downtown Phillipsburg. Phillipsburg consists of three main streets so downtown might be a bit of a stretch. The location has been very convenient for boat work as we are only a 10 minute walk to the dockyard. To get to the boatyard, we walk down the main boardwalk where the cruise ship passengers spend their time. So, every day, we must run the gauntlet of shop owners, coconut vendors and caricature artists. Every day, the same vendors ask us the same questions…”Painting for you?” “Free gift from my shop?” “Taxi back to the ship?” and every day, we tell them we are not on the ship. It has now become a joke and as we approach, we see a glimmer of recognition in their eyes and we laugh and say, “Don’t say it!” which makes them laugh and shake their heads.
Once we arrive at the dockyard, we climb up an eight foot ladder to get onto Galt. Then, I shake my head at the sand and dust that has accumulated since the previous day and we begin to check items off our list. While we are working, we keep an ear out for the workers who are supposed to be painting Galt. Every once in a while we will see evidence of their existence such as a bucket or a sander sitting under the boat. Other than those items, the only way we know the workers are around is the daily lunch time waft of weed that makes it way throughout the dockyard. Surprisingly, they seem to get more work done after their noon smoke break than before so rock on ganja man! Due to the delays, our Airbnb situation became a little exciting. Early in the week, we had contacted the Airbnb manager and told him we might need a few more days on the rental. He said an extension would not be a problem. On Wednesday, Bill texted him for an extension. The manager responded that he had rented out the apartment so we would need to check out on Friday as planned. Bill then proceeded to send some guilt his way which resulted in us getting the owner’s suite on the next floor. We are not sure the owners actually know we are staying in their apartment but it works for us! Besides about a million ants that are staying with us, the apartment has worked out well. As the locals prepare for Christmas, we look forward to being back on the water by midweek. Due to all the marinas being booked or extremely overpriced this time of year, we are not quite sure where we will be anchoring. Our first major event is hoping that Galt’s new seacocks don’t leak and that the engine will start once we hit the water! If not, we’ll be spending Christmas squatting in our illegal Airbnb!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorSally Miller Archives
May 2024
|