I am the first one up at about 7:30. After getting dressed I get my quarters a bit organized and then sit outside reading and enjoying the view 'till Rick gets up. Alassandra is is up about 20 minutes later and passes a peeled sweet grapefruit up for breakfast.
I am feeling a bit ill and put it down to seasickness. Alassandra makes me some scrambled eggs to try to settle my stomach but I can't eat them as I am just too nauseated.
Rick is on the computer for hours so we just sit around and wait. I relax in the cockpit, reading on my Kindle and admiring the view.
The view from the cockpit my first morning aboard - Prickly Bay Marina
We finally get going at about 1pm. Cat Eye meets us at the Marina but before he arrives, I run into the chandlery there and buy Rick a floating key chain. He had made a comment about hoping he didn't drop it in the water as it was the only key he had for the dinghy. I was shocked a seasoned sailor such as himself didn't have a floating key chain for it!
We climb into Cat Eye's van and set of to some shops for provisions for the next 10 days. Cat Eye reminds me of Ronald McDonald the way he is dressed, right down to striped socks and red shoes! I whisper this to Alessandra and she giggles and agrees.
Cat Eye drives us for provisions
I was told by Rick back when I won the trip that it would cost me about $100 US for my part of the provisions so when we get to the first store, I hand him the money. As we start to shop, I am a bit taken aback that Alessandra does not seem to have any sort of list, or any sort of meal plan she is shopping by. After observing this for a bit, I ask Rick if they meal plan on a normal charter and he says that they do, that the weeks meals are fully planned and shopped for. My heart sinks a little because I can see this isn't happening that way at all. One of the things I have been really looking forward to on the 'at sea' part of this trip is the meals as I have seen pictures and read reports of the amazing food that is usually part of a crewed charter. I am not a 'foodie' per se but eating all meals from a catering truck when working, and then cooking for just me when not working, I miss really good home cooked meals that aren't either mass produced or simple because who can be bothered going to the trouble of complicated recipes and fancy meals when it's for one? Not me. I'm not going to lie, the food aspect was a significant part of the anticipation of this trip for me.
We get back to the boat and load everything inside. It's a lot of stuff. Rick bought three flats of beer, a couple of flats of ginger ale and several bottles of rum. I added a flat of club soda to that and two bottles of cranberry juice as I am not much into alcohol. I do enjoy a glass of wine with dinner now and then, and certainly would have on this vacation, but no one thought to purchase any.
Food for the next 10 days
Once everything is put away, Alessandra gets busy making lunch - rice salad. She puts me to work chopping vegetables for it. It was pretty yummy.
At 4pm, Rick goes to pick up their laundry from a local place where you drop it off to be washed and folded. Once he is back and that is put away, we get into the dinghy and go for a ride.
Getting in and out of the dinghy is a bit of a challenge for me but nothing as bad as I thought it could be. The swim grid is perfect to step on and off of and I just need Rick's steadying hand to get me in without falling over.
The ride over to Hog Island is very bumpy and we get out at Rogers Bar where I order a Ting and the other two order beers. We sit there till the sun sets and then head back to the boat under a pretty pink sky.
I have some tea and gingersnaps and sit out in the cockpit to journal. The sky is dark now and the air is still warm against my skin.
I love this place already.
