Typical Day

Thursday February 16th, 2017

Yesterday we did some chores onboard FRACAS. I did a repair on the stern ladder. One of the stand off brackets had succumbed to old age, the ravages of time and salt water corrosion. I know I have mentioned before the unrelenting need of the sea to dissolve things, put Fracas in solution. Our job is to slow this process and to keep ourselves out of it as well, a whole other story. ML decided to get out the sewing machine and continue on with our new canvas project. There are several parts of the job to sew before it goes back on the frame for it’s next fitting.

ML has a love/hate relationship with the sewing machine. It is a simple heavy duty machine. When it works it works well and when it gets finicky it is, well it’s a bitch. We are sewing with Tenara thread. Tenara has a lifetime guarantee against the aforementioned ravages. The stitches will still be there when the Sunbrella is just flapping in the sea breeze. Tenara comes from Gore as in Goretex. This thread is tricky to get the tension just right to sew and continue to sew as you change from 2 to 4 or 5 thicknesses of canvas.

ML gets frustrated when the machine gets finicky and the bottom side of the material being sewed looks like a rabid rat’s nest. I had to get some soup for lunch. The soup lives in the drop down cupboard under the settee under the table where her feet and legs are, her kicking legs. I said “remove the sewing machine pedal and keep your feet flat on the floor”. She complied and I managed to get my soup out without catching the frustration.  After a while I convince her to let me try to adjust the machine to sew again all the while looking at me with that look that might lead to requiring the services of a proctologist. I don’t even know what day the proctologist might come to Green Turtle Cay.

By lunch time the projects are completed for the day. Lunch completed we decide to cool off at the pool. I can assure you that the pool is only heated by the sun, further that the sun does a piss poor job of that. I wanted to take a thermometer up and check to see if they were in fact cooling the pool but since the Mexican pool incident I am reluctant to test any pool in any way.

I managed to get into the pool to continue the testing of my new Head full face mask. Tuesday I had tested it for snorkeling along but had forgotten to actually dive down and test the little ball thing. It worked fine. The water seemed better when “I got used to it” notwithstanding that I had no idea where my testicles had gone. There was a discussion amongst those swimming and the consensus was the water was ‘refreshing’.  I simply blew on my thumb and was reassured with a gentle popping sound.

We decided to have a short Mexican train domino tournament. The tent structure was set up from the night before, the valentine dinner. Like most of us and things that need to be done, taking down the tent was left too long. The wind was building and getting gusty. (In honour of Stuart McLean) “Don’t get ahead of me”. They removed the screws connecting the structure to the deck and worked away at removing the fasteners that made the structure… well a structure. We all sat there and I think the only two people there who didn’t see it coming were Andrew (the dockmaster) and the maintenance guy.

The tent cloth would rise up and burp back down. The frame would raise its legs and stomp them back down, the anger within building. Then it happened. The gust of wind came from a little more west and the former structure became a very poor but temporarily a glider. Like poor gliders everywhere it flew and then it no longer flew. The law of gravity having not been repealed by Donald Trump kicked in and the tent/glider came back down to earth. It came back down not where it had previously been but 60% over the fence and into the ocean. Did I mention it took several of the cast aluminum chairs and the ornamental light post with it.

Sailors, power boaters and resort guests kicked in and operation ‘save the little palm trees’ kicked in. Under this tent, bent poles and collected furniture were three or four 6 foot potted palm trees. We tried to remove the sail tent cloth and then lift what was left of the frame back onto the deck. Management was happy that we all helped and that nobody was hurt. It did end our domino game as they would no longer stay in place.

It was time to go walk a bout. We did the road around White Sound over to Coco Bay and through Green Turtle Marina. Lots of hills, more hills than I prefer but we did our two miles. Today is our day with a rental of a golf cart so that we can shop, get hair done, groceries, booze, visit Grant and Cindy etc… I may consider getting a hair cut. I am not forgetting my hair cut of last season at George Town at Original Lines and Bozo the barber.

 

Here are a few pics of our day:

 

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