Within a few minutes we were in the dinghy and headed to the beach on Stocking Island. It was a super high tide so we had to tie the dinghy to a mangrove tree, and clamber over the side to splash through water until we hit the beach trail. Up and over the trail and finally we were at the ocean side beach. Only tiniest of waves were splashing ashore, so light was the wind. Coleen wanted to stroll down the beach to our favorite tidal pool, so I slung the snorkel gear over my shoulder and off we trudged through the soft, high tide sand.
Our favorite little tidal pool is situated behind some huge rocks on a curve in the 3 ½ mile long white sand beach. It’s just deep enough so you can sit with the water reaching your neck. Tiny little baby fish, flitter here and there and are not afraid to reach out and touch our toes. The sand forms a bit of a back rest, so it’s like sitting in a reclining chair as we watch the little waves trickle in over the rocks forming a waterfall. Nice and cool.
Since I’d carried that snorkel gear, I was ready to use it and suggested we wander down the beach a little farther to a good swimming spot. The water was clear and only up to our knees as we sat down to put on our gear. We had great fun playing almost at the water’s edge. It was only a white sandy bottom, with nothing really to see, but fun nonetheless.
A couple of hours later I was exhausted and it was time to head home, have lunch and start our school day. I decided to make potato soup for lunch, as even though it was a bit hot for soup, it is Coleen’s favorite. I had onions, garlic, and bits of bacon sizzling in the saucepan as I went on what turned out to be a futile search for potatoes. I turned off the heat so I could give thought on how to salvage the meal. I threw in a little rice, some peas, fresh corn, carrots and end the end turned it all into quite good fried rice. Yeah, nothing wasted!
We had a great afternoon of school lessons and then I had a long nap. It was cold sandwiches and orange, banana, kiwi smoothies for dinner, then an early evening reading library books while we tried to beat the heat. It’s rarely hot on the boat as we almost always have a sea breeze. With all our opening ports (11) and hatches (3) we are generally quite comfortable. Not so during this windless, cloudless week. Even with all the fans blaring it’s been a bit miserable. Hopefully the wind fills in soon.