*still not true.
As you’ve probably guessed at how quickly these first two posts have been published, I am writing these after the days have happened. In fact day 1 was on Friday the 23rd and it’s now Wednesday the 28th…I think. So please don’t call shenanigans, this is actually happening to me. Most of it.
Day 2
Or as I like to call it “The Provisioning”.
The provisioning went about as well as you’d expect a totally unplanned process to go. As smooth as chunky peanut butter. (An item that I found I be missing from our initial shopping list)
We woke up to the realization that our wee little car could barely fit four humans let lone four humans their bags, their dive equipment, and food & water. So a plan was quickly hatched. Over coffee, while watching the ocean and the boats and the islands in the distance and…sorry I may have just blacked out from relaxation. Which is what we did that morning,
Our plan to leave at seven quickly turned into a plan to leave by seven thirty which even more quickly turned into a plan to leave before nine.
“Groceries first then bags” was the outline of our morning. The boat briefing began at noon and the trip to Road town was about twenty minutes, the harbor with our boat and extra ten to fifteen. We had to shop, drop, and go back for bags in about three hours. Easy? With four people who have differing tastes and speeds at which to taste these things? It was a piece of cake.
Our first stop was to the local farmers market which we weren’t sure when it ended or if it was even real. Driving around road town we stumbled across a local meat market. It was here we found our prize. The local farmers market. Tucked between a small building that sold local meat and a band singing we found two vendors still pitching their wares. Well, they were just kinda sitting there because it was hot and, as we found out, the market had been running since four am. But we still purchased some local fruit and peppers.
Feeling confident about our provisioning skills we continued our adventure in the local meats. After some deliberation as to what the meat we were looking at was we bought some pork chops and pork ribs. The goat looked really good but cooking a good stew on the boat was a daunting task so we moved along. The pork ribs were a last minute grab at the push of a local who said they were good. Which is really all we needed to hear.
We, after much searching and oddly placed signage came across the supermarket. The next bit is still a blur to me but somehow we managed to fit a good amount of food and drinks into our little car and head off to the liquor store (the most important part) and buy some booze. For boozing.
We also stopped in a French grocery with awesome sandwiches and other French goodies. During this stop the only thing we picked up was a sense of confusion at the fake breasted woman in the triangle top (two sizes too small) who was shopping there with her “dad”. And a roast beef sandwich.
Stacey and I stopped at the boat and waited for her dad to get there a Stef and loc went back for the bags.
After a time the boat was ready and we were introduced to our accommodations for the week. To say this boat is awesome is an understatement. Four cabins and four bathrooms. A huge galley (of which I was promptly named galley boy) and plenty of outdoor space.
After a brief training session we were off. The brief training took a few hours so our first stop of Cooper island was changed to Peter. And we were off.
We moored in Great Bay quickly and easily and just as quickly were told that the mooring was private. Apparently MIT had reserved most (all) of the moorings for their graduation trip.
We released and skittered over to the bay just east of where we were and set up camp there. Several beers and five awesome steaks (grilled by me bought by loc) later and we were ready for bed.
Sleeping on a boat is hard. If you haven’t done it imagine sleeping I’m metal drum that someone pounds on every few minutes to see if you’re still awake. Everything, and I mean that quit literally, everything is amplified by the hull of the boat. It’s intense.
Eventually I was lulled to sleep by what sounded like a tortured sea monster and our second day came to a close.
It. Was. Amazing.
I'm not a Doctor... 