New Friends from Newfoundland

Wednesday April 11 2012

It was a work day on Celebration.  Yes we have those.  George wanted to change the transmission oil, change motor oil, primary fuel filter, secondary fuel filter, and the engine oil filter.  Before we started on that we took the dingy over to the small wholesale grocery store.  Don’t get excited they sell a lot of things in bulk but the prices are not that great.  We did buy some more lobsters in order to have some when Scott and Courtney get here.  After we did that, well mostly after George did that, we took a shower.  We ate Mahi Mahi with mango salsa on Indulgence.  

changing oil

Thursday 12

Today was wash day.  George also finished changing he oil.  We expected it to rain all day but never did.  We cooked lobster on Celebration.

lobster ready for the pot

cooking Celebration Potatoes

We were a little worried about our buddy boat from last year, Martini.  They crossed over to West End on Monday morning.  We get their spot. A spot is a satellite communication signal that sends the longitude and latitude position of the boat, to your friends email account.  We had not gotten one from them since that morning.  It was dark and we were concerned.  We had received a call earlier that evening but the signal was too weak to connect the call.   We looked on the internet to see if they had sent another spot but they had not.  I could tell George was getting a bit nervous.  He had printed out the weather for them because they can not get weather from the anchorage where they were.  He carried it with him to read to them incase they called. At 8:30 PM Martini called and said they had just anchored at Allen Pensacola and had experienced 30 to 35 knot winds that day. The Whale Cay pass is going to be rough to cross for the next several days so it may be Monday or Tuesday before we see them.  When you sail you must have patience, never get in a hurry, and always enjoy where you are. 

Friday April 13, 2012 was, as Winnie the Pooh would say “a very blustery day”.  The winds blew and there was a 70 percent chance of rain.  It never rained.  We had met a really nice couple in Tiger Point Marina when we were having Celebration’s bottom painted.  They are from Newfoundland, Canada. His name is  also John  (we have way too many Johns) and her name is Joan.  Their last name is Lane, and their boat is named Changing Lanes.  We saw them again when we were in St. Augustine, and again after we crossed in West End. You often times run into people several times while cruising about. We talked to them on Thursday when they came in from the Berry’s Islands.  They had made their way from West End to the Berry’s then back around to the Abaco’s.   They invited us on their boat on Friday afternoon.  Joan had just taken out some Scones from the oven. We talked until about 3:00.  I have said this before but it is so true, I think the most interesting part of cruising is the people you meet and the sharing of experiences.  They later joined Carolyn, John and us for dinner at Curly Tails.  They shared some awesome stories about some of they experiences off Newfoundland shores.  One story was about ice bergs.  I did not realize how close the Titanic was to Newfoundland when is went down.  They talked about how beautiful icebergs were with water falls on them.  They also talked about how the icebergs would roll and they would break apart sending big waves for miles.  The other very interesting story was about the whales that circled their boat.  They explained they were so close they could smell the fishy breath of the whales.  They have lived there all their lives and these are rare occurrences.  

Saturday April the 14^th was another blustery day but beautiful.  The temperature was in the high 70’s with a cool breeze blowing.  The girls, Joan, Carolyn and I had gathered to take a walk to the town and the grocery store.  The guys did the same but they were headed in opposite direction to the fishing store. As the women were headed back to the boat we noticed the three guys coming down a side road.  We had stopped by Johnny Cash’s and his wife’s art stand on the way to the store. Yes, his name is Johnny Cash. There was a painting of the Hope Town light house that really caught my eye. We stopped again on the way back, I bought the painting.  After I bought the painting, he explained they were trying to make money to bring her children for Thailand.  They had to be small children for she looked be in her thirties.  We cooked a “combination” dinner.  Joan fixed dessert and bread, Carolyn fixed a cheese and tomato salad.  I fixed squash casserole, chicken, fried green tomatoes, and green beans.  Joan and John are really a fun and interesting couple.  We all decided to meet at 10:30 to go to Church.

Johnny Cash

  Jack had call to get the weather report from George. George looked on the internet and called him back.  I think they will travel to Green Turtle Cay tomorrow and if the seas are a little better they will make the Whale Cay passage on Monday. 

lunch on S V Changing Lanes

Sunday April the 15^th was a beautiful day.  We got up and got ready for church.  This time because Joan and John joined us, we were 6 in number so we took a taxi.  We were greeted again with smiling faces and warm hearts. The sweet little old English lady that told Don last week that he looked  ”smashing” remembered us as well as several other people. The lay minister, Ted came up to greet us. We introduced him to Joan and John.  We told them he was also the local pharmacist.  He said, “Yes, I am the lay minister on Sunday and the local drug dealer during the week”. I looked around as I was drinking my coffee and felt very comfortable.  The church is a mixture of all types of cultural and economic back grounds, as well as a few people from the States who winters in the Bahamas. The church is a diverse and close knit community.  When the music starts you can not help but get into the music.  It is very different from the church service I am used to, but George and I really love the music and the preaching.  Ted, the pharmacist delivered the message this week and did a great job.  We were really hungry after church so Carolyn and I got some cold cuts together and bought it to S.V. Changing Lanes where John and Joan had prepared some home made soup.  You know anyone from Newfoundland can make some soup!  It was great!  That night we went to pizza night at Mangoes and had seafood pizza!! 

In front of the Church

our view from the dinner table

Jack called and they are at Green Turtle.  Martini will be in Marsh Harbor tomorrow. 

We are excited about seeing them.