A Mozzie Feast!

We had a ghastly night’s sleep. It was a very hot night with no air and as much as I had tried to make the boat mozzie (just realised it’s better spelling with a zz!) proof, they were like heat seeking missiles! It also rained on and off, it’s way too hot sleeping with the windows closed (a hatch over our bed), so every time the rain stopped we would open them and get drenched again in the next downpour. I think the added knowledge of Dengue Fever about did not help, and that we were in a particular hotspot. Of course this very protected bit of the bay is ideal for a boatyard as it is nice and calm for manoeuvring boats about, but even more ideal for mozzies!

Our steel structure makers were with us by 7am as promised. Very impressed to find it was a German guy, who had both the looks and old fashioned air of Kenneth Williams, with his little neckerchief and a workman’s belt that seemed to contain every single thing he needed. We later discovered he is a jewellery maker which rather explained his pedantic, artistic manner. His side kick was a very jolly local chap, it was comical watching them communicate in English, second languages for both of them! We are thrilled with the job and the design, some people were sceptic of its robustness, but I think it is genius, he has put in some curves, which I think gives it extra strength as well as interest. Then the electricians arrived who were in the cocky know it all league, and by the end of a long debate, Rowan decided against having the roof panels installed as they wanted to run the cables externally. The actual solar panel guys arrived and put them on in the afternoon, so all that is left is for the electricians to come back tomorrow and do the final connections.

Boats being lifted out next to us.

New structure going over old solar panels

Best shot of our Kenneth Williams look alike!

His jolly sidekick!

The new panels on.

Me moving Jeldi Jeldi to a safer spot.

I walked to the supermarket with my granny trolley which is an absolute life saviour when you are lugging bottles of gin, tonic water, beers and enough uht milk for 16 days!

We were so desperate to get off the boat that we were showered and ready to go out by 5pm. The restaurants and pubs opened today and we booked into a great restaurant called Zanzibar. We found a pub with chairs out on the beach and had sundowners there which was such a treat, to enjoy the buzz of people socialising again.

Lovely old church with graveyard in front.

The packed marina.

So happy to be at a pub again!

The restaurant converted the downstairs into a fresh fruit and veg market during lockdown which we have loved, as it has great guavas, avos and passion fruit. We also had a take away from there when we were staying in the marina which was delicious. Having read the reviews we knew we were in for a treat. Greg and Jan were back in town and so they joined us. It was a very jolly evening and although we were the first to arrive and we wondered how busy it would be, it was packed by the end. We had a delicious meal and a very jolly evening.

Luckily I have been prepping Jeldi Jeldi with our new seat cover and had bought a waterproof torch last week to live in the pocket. We were able to navigate our way home by more than an iPhone torch, thank goodness!