Countdown to Leaving Provo. . . .FINALLY!!

Tomorrow morning (Monday), we’ll pick up the outboard – ready or not – and take off from Provo for other Turks and Caicos cays and islands. Weather looks like it will be favorable. We’re in the South Side Marina (yet again) so we can get the outboard first thing in the morning and then a quick NAPA stop for more carburetors cleaner and fuel additive and then we’ll be off. We may have to wait a bit for the tide. The goal: French Cay – a short 15 mile trip.

On Friday night in Sapodilla we rolled a lot. One of our guests didn’t feel great – and it wasn’t great sleeping for anyone. So in the morning (Saturday) we left for what’s know as “The Annex.”
It’s a cut into the rocks that leads to a pond-type area – large enough for about four to seven boats. It’s surrounded by a completed sea wall.

Lots and lots of Seawall!

Fairly tight, but no roll!

This was to be a marina but went bankrupt before completion. Anyone interested, we hear it is available in unfinished state for a miserly $80 million. Now boats anchor there in fully protected, flat water. That’s the good part. The downside is that it’s pretty murky water (not getting cleaned out by tides very efficiently) and the landscape looks like something out of a bad Star Trek episode. Lots of dirt, dust and rock.

The entrance, looking in.

The entrance looking out.

A tight fit going in or out!

But it was a smooth night (other than the walls got a little closer when the wind changed and there was an odd banging on the boat that kept Michael awake much of the night. Perhaps it was the anchor chain dragging across a rock or something. But it wasn’t at all rocky- and enough of a breeze to keep the “moseys” (mosquitos) down.

We came into the marina today so we can get an early start to get the outboard – and not have to wait for tides to get in and then get the outboard. That would have cost us yet another day with this darn little engine. So we all got cleaned up with long shore showers and perhaps we’ll even splurge on a load of $10 laundry!

But starting tomorrow – hopefully you won’t hear another peep about a bad outboard – and we’ll say good-bye to Provo.