P installed a WiFi extender the other day. It took a bit of listening to his grumbling through poor instructions and trying things, but he finally got it working. This means we now have access to the free WiFi on shore, while moored. So I’ve been trying to catch up on emails, etc. from the comforts of home. Bad news is, Charlie isn’t getting ashore as often.
I haven’t yet shared with you about the benefits and bonuses we’ve experienced as being a part of the Salty Dawg Rally. We have free mooring at the Bitter End Yacht Club on Virgin Gorda from our arrival through December 20th. They also gave us a free night on the dock, which we took advantage of the other night. We did have to pay for power and water, but it was worth it to get everything fully charged, do laundry, and fill up the water tanks. We try to give back to the BEYC by filling our fuel tanks and enjoying happy hours at their restaurants. Oh, we also have free access to their pool, which I used once so far. I have yet to attend the free yoga classes on dock at 7:45am, 3 times per week, and we have yet to use our free 2 hour watersport rental. Not too shabby for a free rally. This is making it hard for us to leave this lovely little location, but we do need to leave one of these fine days as we have run out of fresh greens. I’m down to 1 potato, 4 onions, and a bulb of garlic, plus a few apples and grapefruits. In the freezer there are peas, mango chunks and a bit of ginger.
Another bonus of the rally, was an event night last Thursday. It did cost a nominal amount, but it included a meal and a cash bar. We got to share our tales of the trip with fellow cruisers, meeting those we’d heard on the radio along the way. The Bamboushay Pottery store provided each boat with a souvenir hand made coffee mug. We also received a discount card from the Rite Way grocery store, plus other discounts from various other retailers/providers on the islands. I can tell you this has certainly made us happy that we joined this rally. We do know that the rally has grown so much in the past few years that they will be requiring memberships to join in the future just to offset some of the overhead costs. Given the bonuses, we’ll be joining.
Tomorrow is US thanksgiving. Some of the boats are planning a potluck at the beach in the afternoon. We are undecided if we’ll go. At this point I believe we’ll be heading over to Road Town, Tortola to get some groceries. That said, we were planning to leave yesterday to do that and we’re still here. We said we’d plan very little, and that’s why we will go when we go. Life is treating us well so why stress about what’s next.