And then there were Four

We sent Mark off for home yesterday morning and he hasn’t come back so we assume he made his flight and is on his way back to balmy Minnesota. We hope that the weather is not too much of a shock to his system.  It was a true pleasure to have him here on the boat and there were at least one set of tears shed when he left.  We have sent thank yous off to his family for loaning him to us for the month. The extra hand, dishwasher and reader of children’s stories was a true pleasure to have on the boat. We miss him, his cheery attitude and wry sense of humor.

With Marks departure, and no more bucking deck, my vacation from dishes and laundry is done.  I spent yesterday cooking, doing laundry, taking a long shower and trying to get access to my email. I will chase down a SIM card for our modem this morning but attempted to make do with two hours of paid internet from the marina yesterday.  I have blown through the two hours and am no closer to email access. I think the problem lies in my contact information which I have to confirm and of course I have had five zip codes in three states since I opened my Hotmail account 16 years ago. I can’t seem to get my ATM card to work either so if you meet some other Kim S. wandering around, please let me know.

We really like it here in Marin, Martinique. It is a small town geared to boaters so it has what we need and it is convenient.  The weather has been squally but the cool breeze keeps the high eighty degree temperatures bearable. Bob and Anna identified a boat from Harpswell yesterday morning (of course Bob recognized the boat) so they went over to say hello. Sid, the occupant, had come across from Europe a few weeks before us and joined us last evening for a dinner of chili, fresh bread and brownies for dessert. It was great to make a new Harpswell friend already.

Amongst the chores and shore excursions we are making quite a bit of progress towards getting our living space presentable again. Five people in a very small space for 24 days can really get messy.  We have also discovered that Finn outgrew his shoes while we were coming across so once we have internet again, and I verify we still have money in our bank account, I will be ordering a new pair of shoes to be delivered by ‘Yiayia and Papou’ delivery, an already maxed-out resource, that will be meeting us in St. Maarten in a few weeks.  We can’t wait!