April 13, Saturday

April 13, Saturday

We took the dinghy out to Mermaid reef this morning.  After rounding the corner, we could see the mooring balls--we tied up to one of the balls with another boat.  Steve got on his gear and went over to check everything out.  I haven't snorkeled in years and I didn't really enjoy it then, but I am prepared to give it a good effort this time.  He gave me the thumbs up and swam back to the dinghy to help me get on fins, snorkel, and mask.  On the first try, I swallowed a mouth full of salt water.  We swam to shore where I could practice with my feet on the ground.  After picking it up, we swam around the reef. Hundreds of fish swam around us in electric colors of blue and yellow. 

After about 30 minutes, we headed back to the dinghy and to the marina where we enjoyed some time in the pool.  Later in the afternoon, two people on a boat near us brought us the largest crab claws I have ever seen. Steve used  a large pair of pliers to crack them open. I melted some butter with garlic .  We picked out the crab meat, dipped it into the butter mixture for the richest crab meat flavor.  Later, when we were thanking the guys for our afternoon appetizer, we found out they had purchased the crab (about 15 pounds) from Jason, our dock master, already cooked.  Jason knows where to get the local seafood.

The skies darkened and opened up with torrential rains about 6:30.  Rainy weather did not deter the steak cookout at the Jibroom (the restaurant at the marina).  Steve (the other dockmaster) told us they had reservations for 100.   About 7:00 we walked over with our raincoats for the steak dinner.  These plates are so large, that we share our dinner.  This event attracts the boaters at anchor, the boaters at other marinas, the locals, and other visitors to the area.  We ran into some of the one of fishermen we had met at Hope Town. 

We shared a table with John from Sojourn in the marina, Ginny & Ted  on Firecracker and ??? from California.  Both Ted and ??? have cats on board.  They entertained us with cat stories.  John came back to our boat after dinner to talk about LED lights with Steve.  John is interested in the new LED rope lighting Steve has recently installed. 

We were surprised to see that when John went back to Sojourn that is was 10:30--the latest we have been up in a long time.  They joke here that 9:00 pm is boaters' midnight.