Day 244, Friday, February 21st

Day 244, Friday, February 21^st

We have a sad start to the day to hear that Cassie has passed away.  Sad news makes it hard to be far away.  We did not realize our good-bye to her last August would be the last time we would get to give her a hug.  We are very fortunate that Alicia and Alex were able to welcome Cassie into their home for our year away and took such good care of her especially when she was sick.  We try to reach both boys on the satellite phone but no luck. 

We head to shore and Dawson goes for his run and Julie goes for a speed walk.  It is very hot out already so our speeds are low.  The resort here is beautiful, probably also a time share if anyone is interested.  Santa Maria Resort is the name of it.

It is 11:30 by the time we get back to the boat so we only have an hour until we have arranged to go snorkelling with the neighbours.  It is never a problem to fill the hour as getting everything together for expeditions and putting stuff away is an ongoing battle.

Dawson in Kevin's long sleeve wet suit to stay warmer

We head out in 2 dinghies as a safety measure as it is very windy and the reef has some waves on it.  It is about ½ a mile away and both dinghies get anchored okay in about 20 feet of water.  The reef is quite large and mainly about 10 feet deep with a shelf on its outer perimeter that is most likely housing some lobsters.  Dawson heads off with his spear and Rick goes in another direction, Nancy is staying with the boat and Julie just explores near the dinghy.  Julie only lasts about 10 minutes as she is nervous snorkelling by herself.  Dawson and Rick are in the water for about an hour getting exercise but not spearing much.  Rick does sight a slipper lobster which he says is large, but does not manage to spear.  This is a different breed of lobster than we have been seeing.  Normally it is spiny lobster we have been eating.  We are back on the boat by 3:30 and relax awaiting our guests for sundowners.

Nancy and Rick from Angel Eyes

The sunset is gorgeous tonight although no green flash.  We have been hoping to see the green flash here as there is no land on the horizon with the sunset in this bay, however there have been clouds adn we have been told the green flash does not happen if there are clouds.

Rick regales us with many stories.  Rick and Nancy from St. Catherines have built their Reliant 44 over 11 years and it is a beauty.

Dinner is cancelled due to too many snacks at sundowner time so the rest of the evening we blog, try to watch Ross’s provincial race which is livestreamed and read.  We do manage to watch the medal ceremony and glad to see Ross receive the gold in the 4X800 which is a different race for him than normal.  It would be a fun race.  Normally he runs the 1500 and 3000m indoor.  1500m is being run tomorrow but the 3000m he took a pass on as his team had sufficient runners in that event.  He will run it at the all Canadians we assume.

Overall it has been a wistful day as our memories of Cassie have been with us constantly.  Life is truly a gift.

Cheers

Julie and Dawson