Crack of 6:15 am the VHF goes off with an “All ships all ships, we’ve run aground in Mt. Hartman Bay”. A few of us respond and head over to the lee shore where a yacht has run aground in sand after their mooring broke – she was a bit windy last night. Luckily it is sandy before the nasty looking rocks there. A guy with a mondo dinghy takes a halyard and pulls away from the shore, tilting the boat and helping to lift the keel while the rest of us push on the lee side with our dinghys. 5 minutes and she’s off. Good Deed of the Day #1.
This morning we’re walking to Grand Anse Beach where the ladies will do a yoga class and I will go for a swim. Always wanted to swim that beach.
When we pull up to the dock, a local has a broken dinghy and asks for a ride to his boat. I shuttle him out to his boat and back. Good Deed of the Day #2.
We start out as 5 people: Christy, Cathy, Amanda, Anna-Marie and me but when Cathy and Anna-Marie accept a lift from a passing yachtie we are down to 3 for the walk – about an hour from boat to beach.
The girls do their yoga (a relaxing version according to Christy) while I swim to one end and back again. Judging by the time I took I’d say I swam a mile and a quarter or so. Had to stop twice – once to get out and go around a dive boat in the surf and once to figure out where I was.
Afterwards I wait for Christy. And wait, and wait. They’re finally done about 11:15 after starting at 10:00 am. I feel a bit exposed in just my tri shorts.
Christy then goes for a swim as the others disperse, then we walk to the end of the beach and then up to the IGA. And Digicell. And the bank. And a couple dress shops. We stop at the roti shop for some great mini-rotis and a thing called “doubles”. Very messy but very good.
We’re a bit overloaded in the backpack for my liking but we carry on up to Buy for Less (the local Dollar Store) to try and find some plastic storage bins. They don’t have anything good but Christy buys some replacement drinking glasses. I help an ailing old woman with a cane get a seat to rest – Good Deed of the Day #3, then give her $5 cuz she’s short on cash – Good and Last Deed of the Day #4.
On our way home … oops, no we gotta stop at Ram to check out their produce.
I’m getting a bit testy with all the shopping and Christy can tell as she jokes on the way home about stopping at every store we pass.
Biiiiigggg walk over the hill and down to Secret Harbour where we’re both glad to get back to Milu for a swim.
Later we go to Hog Island for a beer with the usual suspects.