Tortuga Tour Day 5: The backside of town

I decided to share today with you even though I said I might not.  It was a very different day from the last four.  Remember I stated earlier that flexibility is necessary when you are on a boat. Today was one of those days!  In a perfect world, you make plans and get to implement them. When we went to bed last night, we had decided to give ourselves an extra day in St. Augustine.  This would allow us to get groceries, do laundry, clean the boat inside and out, fill the water tank, relax some and tour the city.  When we arrived yesterday, we had asked about staying an extra night, got the okay, but we would have to move to a different boat slip this morning early.  Do you remember when you could sleep in on a Saturday morning?

Early came and we awoke.  The Admiral must have coffee before anything else happens.  Before it was even ready, the Captain was preparing for the move.  The wind was blowing pretty hard and the slip we were moving to was tight, so we had to have fenders and lines placed to minimize potential mishaps.  He was giving me several instructions and my inexperienced boater fears kicked into high gear!  The one good thing about all this was we were going to have marina help.  The time came and we waited.  The time passed and we still waited.  Fred probably walked up to the marina office three times between 8:00 and 9:00, but no Paul who was to assist with the move.  Of course, the time spent waiting just added to my anxiety level.  Finally, around 9:30 Fred connected with Paul who had decided to keep us where we were for today because of the wind, but we would have to move tomorrow.  RELIEF!!!

Saturday morning ritual for us is pancakes and now I could go ahead and start on making pancakes.  Even this process, which I do every Saturday morning and have for years had some hiccups.  The top came off the flour cannister as I started to get it out.  Now I had to get the handheld vacuum to clean that up.  I get everything else out with no issues and begin putting ingredients together.  The eggs are frozen.  I did get pancakes made.  They were delicious and now we could get on with the rest of the day. 

The plan changed more.  We decided to leave Sunday as originally planned because moving the boat just didn’t seem worth it.  This however, meant a lot needed to be accomplished before morning.  After being on the boat for four days we also needed exercise.  We managed with a round trip four mile plus walk to the grocery store wearing day packs for the groceries.  Our tour of St. Augustine was not that of the historic district and tourist area, but the working sector.  It’s always good to have more than one perspective.  Oh well, next time.  Sorry no pictures.  The boat though is now clean and restocked.  We are showered and fed (aah!), some laundry done – clean undergarments and life is good.

I have included sunset and some of the boats in the marina.  We chose a marina off the main water highway which was smaller and cozier.