Week of Nov 17, 2024.

We returned our rental car this week. Yes, we know we will be here for a while longer but the cost really adds up! I think both of the adults had some anxiety about being car-less. (Well, this one did!) We did some provisioning before returning the car, took one more trip to visit the Burcher-O’Donnell family, and got to meet sweet baby Dean! What a cutie with so much hair! Now as far as transportation, we will either borrow a car or have to rent one again. Groceries we can get delivered. Because did I forget stuff? Yes. 🤣😭 I tried to get snacks and comfort-type food that we won’t be able to find or are cost-prohibitive on the Bahamas.

We had a big storm front come through this week. We knew there were going to be some big gusts (40 knot gusts was the prediction) and we debated taking our aft canvas down. Elected to leave it up. And I suffered the consequences 🤣 The sailrite is getting more use than I had anticipated! I sewed a new strap on the aft canvas instead of reusing the existing strap that failed (I had replaced it once already, but now suspect it’s just too degraded by the sun and needed actual replacement). Our clear surround also needed some TLC. The threads have just been beat down by the sun. So – I sewed the seams with new V-92 bonded polyester thread that I had on hand. Hopefully this will give us plenty more time with the surround! And as expected with a boat, there were snaps that needed to be replaced, too. Always something!

Also, can I mention the Dometic freezer you see in the photo above? Holy cow is it a work horse! It froze things so quickly! Thanks, Mom & Dad! We have it inside right now for electrical access but have discussed putting it outside which will require running electrical.

I also tried my hand at making a soft shackle with some guidance from Eileen on Sailing Blown Away https://www.youtube.com/c/sailingblownaway This is a small diameter dyneema, but makes a super-strong hold.

We WANT to believe we will be leaving here the first week of December, but have had our departure delayed so many times now that it feels wrong to have hope or get excited. Time will tell what we get to do.