It’s safe to say that the island’s cisterns are overflowing this morning. We fell asleep to gentle ocean breezes, and woke to a persistent downpour, hammering on the hurricane shutters propped up over each window. Not much wind was involved, so instead of the need to bustle around to secure things near the open windows, we were able to relish in our dry comfort to fall asleep to the din. The incredible volume of the rainfall woke me about four times throughout the night, which led to the repeated glee of having my favorite soundtrack for falling asleep. Cheap thrills, I suppose. (And an even cleaner boat!)
Before it was a rainy kind of evening, it had been a sharky kind of day. I only worked on the boat for a couple of hours in the morning to allow for the girls to swim off of our beach, which they were very excited to do. They played on the skimboard, bodysurfed, and created a beach habitat for a very confused ghost crab for about an hour, while I dipped my toes and read my book. A sharp cry brought my attention to the shore, where a little (about 4 feet?) shark had made its way to the girls, who had very swiftly exited the water. It was a little unnerving to see it there, in a literal sea of nothing but blue, but once it realized that ‘child’ wasn’t on its menu du jour, it started trolling along the beach. We followed along for about a half mile, and in the crest of the waves saw that it was a small black tip (not exactly known for their loving demeanors). It was really eerie to see how shallow it was (it seemed as though each crest of the waves would threaten its beaching), and as it swam over coral it virtually disappeared in camouflage. Yeesh. Gives one a bit of pause about standing knee deep to cool off. It’s lucky that they’re so starkly contrasted against the white sand where we usually swim and play, and that you can see so far out, but it was also a good reminder that vigilance is key.
Our house came equipped with bikes, so we spent the afternoon tooling around the island, landing at the Green Turtle Club for a drink and a dip in their pool. Not that we’ve been exactly whizzing by in our golf cart on previous island outings, but it was nice to take an even slower route, checking things out in detail out while huffing and puffing on our one-speeds. (Having that drink as our carrot was helping for the huffing and puffing part, I’ll admit.)
On a beach walk before dinner the girls saw three more sharks trolling along the shore, and I’m wondering how quick they’ll be to get back in the water after their shark-filled day. It’s a good thing they’re still interested in making beach ‘houses’, beach-combing and sea-glassing. (While the shells are fading away with the health of our oceans, we can always seem to count on the boating drinkers of the world to cast their bottles overboard.) Plenty still to do on these beautiful beaches.
In Chickadee’s quiet realm, things are coming along quickly, and technically we could move aboard any time, if we weren’t so enjoying this house. We’re also really relishing the organized order of bringing things to the boat only when they’re needed, and not beforehand only to be tossed in a pile that eventually becomes a tangled mess of “Where did I put that, anyway?”. Bag by bag we’re adding parts and amenities, cleaning spaces ahead of their stowing and/or installs, and the lack of overwhelming piles only lends more to our general sense of ease this year. The new Chickadee world order!
Today looks to be a washout, so we’ll turn to our clerical ‘to dos’ and spend the rest of a lazy Sunday playing games and eating, two things we Allens really excel in. Especially the eating part. Happy Sunday, all!
