Barbuda Day #19

Updates

It’s beginning to feel a bit like ground hog day around here every morning. Compare the primary post photo in the last several posts to see why I say that.

No new cases reported in Antigua/Barbuda.

No new regulations that we know of. Although there was a local update posted that clarified that swimming around your boat and paddle boarding are allowed. Or, rather seem to be allowed.

There are twenty boats in our anchorage and that number has not changed in a week. One of the boats is about 40’ long and seems to have six kids onboard. They are obviously friends with another boat with several kids onboard and these two boats seem to be spending most of the day on the beach. We are at the extreme end of the island where virtually no locals visit, but clearly a 24 hour stay at home lockdown does not include a “go play on the beach” clause.

Each day they seem to push things a bit farther and yesterday post sunset they had a bonfire on the beach!

We are trying to mind our own business, but ignoring the rules shows no respect for the locals and could put our ability to remain here in jeopardy. We will see what they do today. It may be time to have a chat soon.

Projects

Well, the Watermaker pump issue turned out to be a quick fix. For whatever reason the pumps are required to be mounted upside down, with the electrical components at the bottom. So any water or condensation runs down the pump body until it reaches the high pressure cutoff sensor at the bottom. These sensors got wet, corroded and failed long ago and I Mcguivered a workaround which basically hotwires the pumps and ignores the pressure switches. Yesterday’s problem was that one of my “Hotwire” connections had gotten wet and failed! No problem, fixed in only a couple minutes.

Next project was cleaning the decks. Long overdue by the way. Not much interesting here other than the fact that I initially forgot to close the hatch into Kim’s cabin and ended up pouring half a bucket of water into her cabin and all over her stuff. Not a very popular move!

Our final project was a Sunday evening sunset garbage run. I’d pay a bunch of money to have video of this one.

The swells are BIG right now with sets of huge waves breaking on the beach. With the dinghy loaded full of five bags of garbage, the three of us motored down to the local beach bar which has a garbage can that we may or may not have permission to use. At first the plan was to circle the dinghy outside the break and swim the garbage in. But, that seemed like a plan destined to fail. So, I cleverly had the ladies swim in with the idea that I would come in fast during a break between waves and they would be ready to grab the dinghy and quickly pull it up the beach to safety.

Well, I thought I’d timed my approach to perfection and was on my way in when I clearly heard Deb yell “not now”. Maybe it was all those years of watching friends surf in San diego? I don’t know, she was right, but it was too late to stop. I turned to look back and what seemed like a four foot wall of water was just behind me. Oh shit! Total disaster seemed certain.

But, I got lucky and not through any skill caught the wave perfectly. Try to visualize this. That wave lifted me high in the air and I rode that sucker straight on into the beach at warp speed. Perfect landing! All good other than the fact that the boat was half full of water…

Our departure from the beach is another story. Maybe tomorrow.

Entertainment

Dinner onboard Bounty. Kim cooked us all some pasta with local hot peppers and a papaya salad. I was a bit worried that she might poison my meal after my mistake that afternoon but she doesn’t seem to hold a grudge. Good stuff!