March 12, 2014

We were awake by 0730 listening to the local cruiser's network broadcast by our own marina owner, Bob. After breakfast, I started a good cleaning of the boat. We were expecting guests in the afternoon. Members from our yacht club, George and Gwen, have a daughter who was vacationing here in the Turks and Caicos with her family. We had called them a couple of days ago at their resort and arranged for an afternoon visit today. They arrived shortly after 1500 and we had a very enjoyable visit here at the marina.

L - R: Chris (Amanda's husband), Judy (Chris' mom), Amanda and me aboard CS'ta Time.

Outside the marina office.

Wednesday is potluck night here. There was a small number of cruisers and locals who attended (held at Bob's Bar). As it was his birthday yesterday, one of the regulars brought a birthday cake and as always, Bob supplied the ice cream. Great evening!

March 13, 2014

Jorge and I had arranged to rent a car for the day to tour the island. We got picked up at 0900, did the paperwork and then were on our way by 0930. Very interesting . . . driving on the left side of the road! Glad it was Jorge driving and not me. We toured the island of Providenciales (Provo). It is not a very large island and we had most of it done by early afternoon. There are no bridges connecting Provo to the other islands but there is a small ferry, taking people only, no cars.

We had lunch at a beachside resort, visited the Saltmills Shopping Plaza, Grace Bay, Blue Haven Marina and generally toured the countryside.

Our rental car, the white one (not sure why the picture is so big!).

Jorge outside Saltmills Plaza shopping centre.

Saltmills Plaza on both sides of the street.

 

The beachside resort we had lunch at.

 

The view outside from inside the restaurant.

The restaurant from the beach.

Grace Bay, part of the 12 miles of beaches.

Blue Haven Marina

 

A pelican catching his next meal.

 

We got back to the marina around 1600 and our V-drive parts had arrived. Hooray! Jorge inspected them and they seemed to be the correct ones. Hooray again!

We spent happy hour at the marina gazebo with two other cruising couples and whined (wined) away the evening discussing boat issues, island issues and cruising issues. Having complained for some five hours, we were all still in agreement that it was a good life. In general, it is what it is! Both couples are coming back from the south so we were able to pick up quite a few good points.

March 14, 2014

Jorge returned the car by 0900 this morning. The rest of the day was spent working on the V-drive. It was giving him a bit of grief but one of the other cruisers had the exact tool Jorge needed for part of the job and after that things went smoother. Half way done. Hopefully tomorrow he will complete the job and we can be on our merry way with the next weather window.

Jorge studying the problem.

Patio table under the gazebo converted to a workshop.