Carribean Sailing diary

From that beach, Mike + I walked back on atrail through "Devil's Bay," under rocks that were sitting against each other over the water. There was a trail through.

Back at the first beach, we had lunch and laid under a Manquito tree awhile. Just before leaving we got into the water and even rubbed leftover ice over us.

We stopped at Buck's grocery (at the mall again) for steaks, etc.

3:00 Drive back to the house. 3:20 Quick dip in the chilly pool. It's unheated. Take a shower.

4pm Walk around house + neighborhood taking picutres of the typical palms + cactus + shrubs (Olenders) + Bouganvilla in various colors.

4:30 Commentary: I like the humidity and temp when I am out of the sun, as in the late afternoon, just now. The view of the water + islands in wonderful, and the house is airy. I especially liked the outdoor table under a roof for breakfast in the morning, as at Cop Ferrat. The flowering oleander + B'villa are great. However, though I like the image of the aqua sea + white beach, I don't really care for the anxiety of being far out in the water, the stickiness left by sea water, or the sand on my skin afterward. Of course, the direct sun is way too hot, and sunscreen is a necessary nuisance.

The sailboat was a perfect blend because you rarely got sandy and could immediately wash off the seawater with the hose right on the swim step, and for shade sit under the biminy.

Compared to Florida, the hills on the Caribbean Islands are more appealing, but there's not as much to do here.

Living in the desert would only give you warmth during the day, and not at night when the direct heat of the sun ceases to be a problem. So Palm Spring, Phoenix, and so on at night are not so great, but at least I don't lose too much not having an ocean nearby there.

There's listtle humidity along coastal California, and lots of fog + haze, so it's not at all tropical. California's desserts are too hot during the day, esp in summer, and too cold at night.

5:15 So where do I want to spend my time? A little bit of everywhere, I guess. Think.

5:45 Maybe Puerto Rico would be balmy and busy, or St. Thomas.

Read the copy of the "Cruising Guide to the Virgin Islands" that I bought today, in particular the instruction. Set talbe for steak dinner. Much windier here at night.

7pm Dinner at dining table. Help Mike with the dishes.

Play Wizard card game with Mike, Peter + Ron. I do well at first, but fall further + further behind, and in the last hand, I fall into fourth place.

10p Mike + I try the queen size bed in the downstairs bedroom but there's little wind and Mike says the fan is too noisy, so it's too hot for me. Combined with fourth place, this puts me in a testy mood, and I tell Mike I'm going back upstairs. He goes too.

Falling asleep back upstairs, I recognize my relative inability to think on my feet, or with much accuracy or incisiveness. I realize that I could be somewheat tighter with my resources, as Mike, Peter, + Ron are, but it really makes little difference overall. But that only goes for my financial resources. My time in constrained day to day, plus it is constrained by my lack of life expectancy. Hence, I recognize the possible benefits I should get from delegate more + more, though this will isolate my identiy even more, because I won't be doing my own grunt-work, as most people must. DISPARITY.

Again, throughout the night, the winds were much stronger than during the day.