While walking and biking around Spanish Wells we have often passed a sign on the street for “Papa Scoops” and the flavors of ice cream available that evening at 7 pm. It is a small stand outside a house and only open in the evenings. Yesterday, we checked out the sign on our way to the bank and saw they were offering strawberry and coconut ice cream tonight. We combined a visit to Papa Scoops with Daisy’s evening shore walk. Our cones were delicious, a sort of soft serve consistency but real ice cream taste. Daisy enjoyed the bottom of the cone.
We have received the estimate for painting the bottom of the boat with anti-fouling paint. This involves hauling the boat out of the water and they have the ability to fit us on their platform lift. Often it is a problem to find a boat yard that can haul out catamarans. We are almost 25 ft wide and will easily fit on this lift. We can also live aboard for the four days it will take to do the work. They will powerwash the bottom, scrape it, and apply several coats of paint including a primer. Labor here is much cheaper than in the States, so we think it will be about the same cost as getting us hauled out and doing it ourselves if we wait until we are back in the U.S. The problem is they can’t haul us out until Thursday or Friday of this week, which would make over two weeks that we will have been in Spanish Wells. That’s OK, as it’s a pleasant place to be, but it will probably mean that we will skip going to Abaco on this trip.
In the meantime, we’ll have time to get some chores done on the boat. Mark has been putting off going up to the top of the mast to replace the bulb for the anchor light. Being in this protected mooring field, he should be able to do it here. His list of repairs (small ones) is long. My list includes mostly cleaning and organizing chores. We have been busy on the computer as Mark did his taxes online here and we are also negotiating with several boat insurance companies to try to get a lower price than we are currently paying. Luckily we have the ability to do all of this on the Internet, as phone calls would be very expensive and we can scan and e-mail pdf attachments with any information the insurers need.
Of course we are also reading, relaxing, taking walks on the pink ocean beach and through the town and enjoying the sunsets. The one at the left is from our deck a few nights ago.