During the night the winds picked up and I had to go and move the dinghy from midship back to the transom because the waves were bouncing it all around. It was much cooler in the cockpit than in my cabin so I cooled off for a bit before returning below to sleep. I knew that I’d be mostly staying aboard today, the weather wasn’t up to typical Caribbean sunshine with trade winds.
Morning
I’ve run out of coffee beans to grind in the morning and have resorted to a bag of Martinique coffee that is pre-ground. The grind and roast are typically French and a bit too bitter for my taste, but it still produces a drinkable coffee.
I took some of my electronic equipment over to Sea Life to see if I could help Mark analyse his refrigerator’s problems. I returned for some alligator clips and my laboratory power supply, but after a couple of hours we found that the issue was most likely his power supply. That’s not great news, because the that isn’t a replaceable part. Getting a new one is almost the same price as getting a new unit.
Noon
I’m back aboard now, and have to put all the electronic stuff back where it came from. I managed to get about halfway finished stowing stuff. Then I got in contact with Mark again, and now there’s other stuff he needed to diagnose the fridge issues, so I ended up taking even more of the boat apart.
At least I did find the parts he needed, plus some water leakage that I’ll clean up and let air out. That is my excuse to not put everything back right now.
Afternoon
I’ve had enough time aboard the boat and wanted to go ashore. I saw the launch from the Paradise Beach Club head this way and quickly got presentable, then contacted Marjorie and Mark to ask if they wanted to join me.
The launch took us to the beach, where we talked while tasting the Hurricane Reef IPA beer they had. We shared a pizza as an appetizer and returned back to our boats for dinner after dark.
I had carefully placed some cash in my pocket to give as a tip. In the dark I’d slipped that to our tender driver upon return to Zanshin. When I changed out of my shore clothes I found the currency still in my pocket. I didn’t know what I’d given him, but it certainly wasn’t cash! Luckily, they were just departing the anchorage and I managed to whistle and wave them down. It turns out I’d given him the receipt for the bar tab rather than money. We rectified my error.