Adventures of a Tribe

Cycling around

Posted on January 19, 2016 Updated on January 19, 2016

Yesterday morning Danny and I took the dinghy to shore, hopped on our bikes and went to see what we could see.

There is a store that most cruisers really love, called West Marine, and we cycled to one of them to look around. While walking the isles, all of a sudden the things we hadn’t even considered before made their way to the NEEDS list. Not just wants, but needs! The isles are overflowing with beautiful brightly colored lines, shiny buckles and shackles, navigation equipment and FISH FINDERS and fishing gear, galley stuff, gadgets for organizing, toys, sailing clothing,etc. I’m convinced that the guy that just won the $1.6 billion lottery still wouldn’t have enough money to buy all he wants in that store. I think it’s best to stay out of places like that, because we are doing quite well with the abundance of things we have.

We also passed a free diving store filled with gorgeous spear guns in every size and color, as well as wet suits in all shades of green and blue camouflage to keep you hidden while hunting. Danny and I were like kids in a candy store, but left everything on the shelves where they belonged.

All our cycling and exploring made us hungry, so we stopped by a little Mediterranean Cafe for gyros. Our amazing waitress was Carol, an older lady who was friendly, energetic and full of awesome stories. Her Dad has had many sailboats, including a 99ft schooner that they sailed all over the world. She spoke of him treasure hunting, which is one of my dreams, and her wonderful memories from her childhood on the seas. It made me wonder what stories our children would be telling their grandchildren one day.

The creatures have texted several times, and it sounds like Jude’s legs are so much better today. They are having an absolute blast and a half with Tonya. She is spoiling them and getting a kick out of them too. Jude is excited to fly tomorrow.

We returned to the dinghy parking lot after locking our bikes up, and returned to Tanda Malaika through the cold wind.

When we woke this morning it was 54 degrees and now, three hours later it has warmed up to a whopping 59. The cold wind still hasn’t stopped blowing, bringing that 59 down to ridiculously cold. Danny turned the heat on in the boat this morning to try it out for interest sake, and it works beautifully. Good to know for when we hit Antarctica (or Florida next time).

It’s interesting to see what grows under boats in the different places we travel. In Central America, it was a bright green mossy growth that we scrubbed off the hulls, and here in Florida we see vessels weighed down with mussels. So far I don’t see any on Tanda Malaika, but most dinghy bottoms and docks are covered in them.

As soon as we reach warmer waters we will scrub away once again.

Who knows what today will bring, but it’s guaranteed to be an adventure for Danny and I. We love being together and have been getting lots done.