Hey it’s Friday the 13th and also my 67th birthday. Far from unlucky, this day will see providence smile on us again.

We make our way into the marina to greet our new dinghy which is supposed to be on the dock at 9 am. We’re a bit early and it’s not there so we go to a chandlery. When we return, there is a brand new dinghy on the dock and a tall, Nordic-looking couple looking at it. Since we met a French couple on the dock yesterday who also bought a dinghy, it is possible this is theirs, not ours, so we ask. “No, we were just admiring it”. Turns out it is ours. Their names are Ben and Astrid from the Netherlands and we strike up a conversation. They have dinghy problems. What a stroke of luck that would be if they bought our old one! We tell them about the sale going on and they go to investigate while we prepare ours for launch.

They return, Matthew comes out to help and between all of us we launch the dinghy and transfer the Yamaha 9.9 from old dinghy to new dinghy. They are rebuilding an abandoned cat they bought for EU$25,000 and have been renting a beat up dinghy or paying water taxi rates to go back and forth. Their cat is moored right behind us. They’re very interested in the new dinghys but not sure the 3.1 will fit between their cat davits. We offer them a ride out to their cat, and we will see how well our 2.9 fits – from that they can judge if the 3.1 will fit.

Out in the harbour we drop them off, tie off our old dinghy and drop off our purchases then return to see how well the 2.9 fits between their davits. It fits fine but no way the 3.1 will fit. So Ben offers to pay for the 3.1 and we will trade. I am ready to jump on this deal but Christy wants to think it over. No problem, we leave.

Back on Milu, I call US Spars and talk to David about shipping the replacement furling mechanism to Guadeloupe. “No problem” he says, “we ship all over the world”. I’m glad I called him because there were some details he needed to know to get the right part. I place the order online according to his and Melody’s instructions and within minutes I get two emails – one with the invoice which looks perfect and the other from UPS – shipment on route.

We accept the dinghy deal and tell Ben and Astrid about it via WhatsApp while we are having a birthday dinner and (non-alcoholic) drinks at the marina restaurants.

So this is providence shining on Christy and Perry again:

• dinghy breaks the day we arrive in Point-a-Pitre, a boating hot spot
• one of the chandleries is having a sale to clear all Highfield hypalon dinghys, including the exact model we want. This saves us C$700
• we meet a couple on the dock who upgrade our dinghy for us to the next model up which takes our total savings to about C$1425
• this almost pays for the C$2000 furling mechanism we are getting
• although a little unfortunate about the furling mechanism, the fact that it broke here is providence again
• also have become friends with Astrid and Ben, they are very knowledgeable and met Michel from Montreal who helped a lot

We go for dinner. It’s funny, we’re getting so old I guess. The restaurants don’t even OPEN until 7 pm but we’re ready to go at 5:30 pm. We do a little bar/restaurant hopping and have some appetizers and drinks before sharing a meal and finish at Quai Ouest.

No word from Digicel, I used my Bell hot spot today, will do it again tomorrow.