While last week was a week of adventure, this week has been a lesson in patience. As we prepared to leave for Martinique, we had a very small weather window before the wind and waves increased to uncomfortable levels. We readied what we thought would be our final projects. Earlier in the week, Bill had been replacing a small part on the engine starter when several wires sparked and melted. He replaced the wires in what should have been a simple fix but on a boat, nothing is ever simple. The starter relay had evidently been damaged during the wire shorting event so we watched as our small weather window came and passed. We ordered a new starter relay and are expecting its’ arrival early this coming week. As we settled into an unexpected week in St. Lucia, we made a list of other boat projects that needed to be done. While Bill worked on bilges and sump pumps, I pulled out my acrylics and painted a picture of palm trees to pass the time….okay, not a necessary boat project but passed the time as we watched St. Lucia earn its’ “wet season” title with rain all week. We also voted to purchase a new Racor fuel filter. Our old Racor has been one of the issues (we are hoping the main issue) in our fuel saga. Bill had rebuilt the Racor three times in the past month and when it was still leaking after the third rebuild, he popped his head up from the engine room and calmly announced, through gritted teeth, that he was going to beat the Racor with a hammer and toss it into the ocean. It was at that time I knew we either needed to purchase a new fuel filter or new health insurance that would 100% cover Bill’s heart attack that was surely coming if he had to rebuild the old Racor for a fourth time. The new Racor is shiny and clean and does not leak so we have our fingers crossed that it will do the job!
On Friday evening, the clouds cleared and we decided to take a walk over to Gros Islet’s neighborhood. Bill read that Gros Islet had a Fish Fryday weekly so we thought that would be a good way to get some exercise with a reward at the end! Gros Islet consisted of several blocks of houses that had converted front porches to become small bars and restaurants. All along the way, grills full of fish, chicken and pork blazed as the locals enjoyed an end to their work week. As we rounded the corner at the beach, we spotted a line of people waiting for grilled fish so we figured that would be a good spot. While in line, we met a group from Charlotte who were on vacation so we enjoyed a dinner discussing travel and Charlotte traffic…which evidently has not improved in the last two years! Our fish selection for the evening was barracuda which we have avoided due to concerns with ciguatera which is a neurotoxin that large reef fish can carry that makes humans very ill. However, ciguatera is only present on certain reefs and is not a problem this far south on the Caribbean chain. So, we decided to give it a try since neither of us had eaten barracuda. It was delicious! We had a huge plate of barracuda, rice and a delicious relish sauce so our exercise reward was definitely worth the walk! Our funny for the week came from an incident that happened in town on shopping day. We had just finished eating lunch and were making our way over to the grocery store when we were approached by a man. In general, we are approached by a lot of men because we stand out as tourists without a doubt. They are usually selling tours, jewelry, fruits and vegetables or juice. However, on St. Lucia, they are most often selling pot. As we passed by this one gentleman, he leaned in and said, “Something nice for you today?” Since we did not see any tour brochures, jewelry, fruits, vegetables or bottles of juice, we figured out very quickly what “something nice” must have been. His wording humored us greatly and it has been our go to saying this week. So, as we wait for our part, aim for another very short weather window midweek and hope for an increase in sunshine, we hope that life brings “something nice for you” that won’t get you into any trouble!
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AuthorSally Miller Archives
May 2024
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