Saturday morning we gave the Glass Slipper a good cleaning before getting a dinghy ride to shore so we could explore the area. Coleen and I had a nice time looking in the little shops and we even found a place to get her much a needed hair cut. She was so excited about that -and it looks pretty cute. We found the local swimming pool and library too. We stopped at the grocery and stocked up a bit - it wasn't too over priced. The guidebook mentioned a place to tie up the dinghy behind the grocery so we called DJ to meet us there. This was not a place I would venture to on my own as it seemed to be place where odd characters were hanging out.
There is a place down at the end of the mooring field where several derelict boats are anchored with equally interesting inhabitants. These fellows hang out in their dinghies behind the grocery during the day. I guess it all looked worse than it was though, as one of the fellows (no shirt - lots of tattoos, and toes with blue nail polish!) offered to help carry our groceries to the dinghy. It was a terribly muddy, squishy bank too, but we managed to get in without becoming too much of a mess. The little bay was very choppy and windy. I covered our groceries with a rain poncho to try and protect them from the spray - which was a good idea as we did manage to get nice and wet on the way to the boat.
I had thought that sleeping on a mooring would be nice and peaceful - no worries. Did that ever turn out to be wrong! Some time in the night the wind picked up to 20+. We were swinging from side to side like crazy. It didn't seem too bad unless I looked out the window. I was worried though about how well we were secured to the mooring. If we broke free the wind would push us into the dock behind us in about 20 seconds - which made we wish I were somewhere with my two anchors out! So around 2 a.m. I got up and put a second line through the mooring pennant - as a little insurance policy.
Was it ever chilly in the morning. It was 58 degrees on-board and chillier outside in the wind. I made a decadent feast of bacon, fried potatoes, scrambled eggs and toast. Then Coleen and I headed to shore to take the TrolLee to the West Marine and K-Mart. The TrolLee service runs the full length of the island and also goes across the bridge and a couple of miles on the mainland for a 50 cent fare. First we rode to the West Marine where I got a navigation light for my dinghy, a new zinc and a few clothes I found on sale. We then rushed over and stocked up on a few things at the Dollar General before catching the TrolLee for the ride back. We decided to stay on and ride all the way to the end - so we could see everything on the island - and there was a K-Mart at the end of the line. We managed to get several things we needed - including a large 20 gallon plastic bin for our dinghy. It will fit in the bow area - and should be a nice dry place to stow groceries, laundry, etc while underway. Yes I'm sure I looked odd dragging the thing back on the TrolLee, but hey what can you do? I needed it :-)