This morning the lady from the park ranger station sang to us about the park rules and payment procedures again. We were planning to move again and we spent a fair amount of time discussing route. The fastest way to get there would have been to go up on the east side of the islands, but it was likely going to be uncomfortable in the ocean. We opted to take the west side, where the water was protected. Just as we had to circle the island to get into the anchorage, we had to circle the island to get back out.
When we got up, we were surprised to see that that all the boats were facing different directions. It means the wind and current were going different directions, and some boats were more pushed by the wind and others were more pushed by the current.
This morning, Eric put away all the dive gear. We keep the dive compressor and dive gear off to the side in our lazarette. The last few days, he’s had to twist in weird boat-yoga angles in order to access the gear, fill tanks the tanks, and now stow the dive gear. Eric’s back wasn’t feeling good, and his jaw/gums were still a bit sore.
Once the dive gear was stowed, we got the dinghy up and got Kosmos ready for sea. We lifted anchor at 1100. Our next destination was called Little Bell Cay. As the crow flies, it was a fairly short ride. However, due to shallow water, we couldn’t simply pull into the anchorage via the shortest route. We had to follow a relatively narrow channel south of the island, take the east side up to the northern tip, and enter via another narrow challenge on the north.
In the am, Eric filled the tanks that were used yesterday. After he was done, Eric and Christi jumped in the water and finished cleaning the bottom. Eric saw a nurse shark while he was underwater. Between the two of them, they used one tank of air. They were both relieved to finally be done. They vowed to never let the bottom get so bad again.
We decided to get a late lunch/early dinner onshore. We landed the dinghy at the yacht club. We saw there was another shark feeding in process. Someone was filming the sharks with a Go-Pro. She dropped the camera in the water. The sharks attacked it, and one of the sharks ate it. The shark immediately spit it back out. A man went into the water with the sharks and retrieved the Go-Pro for her! She said it was on, so she probably has footage of it being eaten and spit back out.
We decided we wanted to try a new place, and walked over to The Ship Yard. We’d put in a photo of the Ship Yard’s property in another post, and here is a photo of the restaurant itself. They told us that their chef was on vacation this weekend, so only the bar was open.
Keith does not do well when his schedule is thrown off its normal routine. As a result of going to bed so late last night, he was a super grumpy pants all day today.
This morning, while the generator was running, Eric filled up the two air tanks he’d used yesterday. We were pleased to report that Eric did fix the dive compressor while we were in San Diego. It turned out to be an issue with the drive belt, but putting a new belt in was difficult because the frame had corroded. He also replaced a lot of other parts on it, and it seems to be working fine now. All the effort to fix it has finally paid off.
After we finished with morning chores and school, Eric and Christi both worked on cleaning the bottom and waterline. Christi agreed it was the worst that Kosmos’s bottom had ever been — and Eric had already cleaned a lot of it! Between the two of them, they went through two tanks of air. They managed to get the entire bottom and waterline mostly done, but they would need to go back in one last time to finish it completely.
After showering, we went over to the Cruisers Beach. Apparently, the cruisers regularly get together at this beach for social activities, but we haven’t seen anything happening there since we’ve arrived. The shoreline looking south.
