Hot and humid, but the rain generally holds off although looks ominous at times.

Big day today, as we get entry to Milu and see what’s what. Number one job is to get the dinghy into the water since we hope to check out of Izzy’s tomorrow and use the dinghy to go back and forth to Clarke’s from Bob’s place in Benji Bay. We walk to Clarke’s Court from Izzy’s, dragging another load of stuff for the boat.

We exchange greetings with James and gang at Horizon’s and reclaim our keys. I ask about some of the work to be done which is obviously not done, particularly the new solar. He says they are working on it.

Back on Milu, the place is probably in a state of more chaos than we expected, but not too bad. One concern is oil underneath the engine but that turns out to be mostly water and the aftermath of our boilover in April.

The dinghy is partially deflated (bad sign? definitely not a good sign) but it should make getting it down a bit easier. Once we remember how to turn the electric winch on, and hook up a spare halyard to the dinghy, it actually goes up and over the side without too much trouble, despite a pretty stiff breeze pushing it around. There’s a half-dozen supports holding up our boat and the nearby boats and as Christy and I are struggling to move the dinghy through them, a guy comes along and gives us a hand. Much appreciated.

Next is the motor. I am definitely not going to lift it by the lifting handle (I mean, why would you?) cuz that just makes it go horizontal and become impossible to maneuver. So I rig up a rope sling to hold it mostly vertical and move the topping lift on to the shackle on the end of the sling. Easy as cake, piece of pie it’s down. Hey look at us learning.

A SUPER BIG issue for us is the arrival of the barrel we shipped down here in September. We know the barrel is in Grenada but it has to get out of the container it’s in and through customs before we can get it and the valuable contents inside. Of particular import are the sanding and painting tools we need to refinish the boat bottom and apply anti-fouling paint. I am in daily contact with Ricky Telesford, our customs agent, who is quite helpful but unable to access the barrel yet.

While we’re getting set up, I notice the Clarke’s Court gang coming through our narrow road with a large boat. I think our dinghy may be in the way so I go over to pull it out of the way a bit. I guess I overestimated its weight cuz when I grab it by near the transom and pull towards me, it leaps backwards and nails my right big toe. I know instantly that it’s ripped the toenail almost off, partly because of the feeling, but mostly because of the pain.

You know that pain that courses and pulses through your body and the affected area? Yeah, that pain. Damn dinghy. I pull off my shoe and sock and sure enough there’s blood everywhere and the nail is lifted up. Well, hopefully this will help kill the nail fungus that’s been on that toe for years.

Hey, look on the bright side! Thank you Jesus for making this happen.

Christy finds the dinghy hand pump and while she goes to the chandlery to check on stuff, I start hand pumping the dinghy. While I am pumping, I meet Martin, a local contractor who is pitching to do the sanding for us. I tell him to come back when Christy gets here. By the time she returns I am nearly done but she hears hissing and sure enough there is a tear in the dinghy.

Great.

Neither the Horizon chandlery nor Sea Safety Service (the dinghy storage company) have repair kits. We set aside some boat bottom paint at the chandlery.

No barrel, no dinghy. We need a dinghy. So we taxi into Island Water World and explore new dinghys, get some stuff and find a repair kit. We take the #1 bus back to RAM, get some groceries and I get a burger and fries at a local street meat shop. It’s surprisingly good.

We walk the 25 minutes back to Izzy’s. Shower, clean clothes and a cold drink feel oh so good.

Looking at the repair kit, it needs 48 hours to dry. That means our dinghy won’t be ready Tuesday, not until Thursday morning. What to do now? I suggest extending our stay at Izzy’s so we can continue to walk to Clarke’s. I ask Izzy, she says no problem. Now gotta ask Bob, which means we are going to stiff him for US$85 for each day we stay here.

Bob says we can use his dinghy! Woohoo, another problem solved … for now.

Ooooh, ahhhh, what will happen next?