Ravine Trou Manuel

This morning we decided to invite Kevin and Cindy over (as she was sick the day before), and then invited Bill and Maureen and a few from La Marin (that we didn’t expect to make the journey out ~ Joe and Edwin).
Mid morning we headed back into La Marin but not without a hiccup. In the channel, we were going a little faster and the dinghy engine suddenly stopped again. We tried to restart without luck, but a sailboat was motoring past and flagged down another dinghy who offered to help. Turns out he was a Canadian from Quebec who towed us to the gas dock, where we refuelled, and gratefully the engine started again (perhaps water in the fuel tank from earlier rain).
On land we wanted a heat shield (so we could utilize power from the alternator while underway), teak and wood to fix up the aft cabin and load up on groceries. We wanted to go to a bigger store, so we walked and walked to find it. Then we walked more to try and find the teak place that was closed (as most shops are for 2-3 hours in the afternoon). We walked back to get the dingy and brought it to the back of Price Leader. We had stopped in there to get some snacks and walked behind the building, to the dock, earlier to have a picnic of cheese, dates, ham, and pear. Upon our return, we went to the teak place (Caribe Menuiserie) but they do not sell teak veneer and suggested further south.
We found Carrefore but food was more expensive and many shelves were still empty. There is nothing gluten free on the French islands… I am hoping to find some granola and hemp seeds in Saint Lucia as I’m nearly out. We went back to Price Leader to grab a few cheaper things (cheese) and filled the dinghy with 4 bags of groceries as well as a heat shield and large cable ties that we picked up earlier. The heat had gotten to me and I was simply exhausted (maybe heat stroke).
We took it slow as we returned to the boat. I wanted a nap but Brian suggested a swim, so we did so. Then we decided to swim to Kalunamoo (Bill and Maureen) to see if they were coming over tonight. Maureen wasn’t feeling well, but Bill was coming (Kevin declined as well since Cindy wasn’t feeling good, as did the others).
On the swim back I swallowed some water as I was so tired. We washed off and got ready for Bill.
He is an interesting man, Brian gave him a tour of the boat and then he talked about his work in NYC, his love for sailing and journey to living aboard. Brian, sensing I was fading fast as was he, wrapped up the conversation and went below to take an imaginary call as I said goodbye to Bill.
We grilled pork chops for supper, nice to have the grill working again, and then went to bed.Read more