REMEDY FOR CABIN FEVER

Now "CABIN FEVER" is a very serious dilemna, generally resulting from such things as "Having your dinghy stolen during the night", or " not seeing the sun for a month in -52 degrees", " Boat buried in the mangroves during a hurricane". Then again this also qualifies, sort of...... " Three or four days of strong winds". Yesterday gave us no choice, we needed to get somewhere NICE. On the chart shown below is a little sandy beach known as "TAHITI BEACH", at the lower end of ELBOW CAY, a perfect getaway. Two dinghies were loaded and we took off on a journey of discovery.



Of course there are other ways to get out of the cabin. This bunch of happy cruisers is celebrating "SVEA"s big sail in 20 knots, by downing a shot of nitroglycerine bottled as "FIRE-IN-THE-HOLE". Our motto, at least this far, has been " IN SEARCH OF PALMS", thus the excursion to TAHITI BEACH is morally correct.

It was a very wet ride, in very strong winds, but the sight of blue water and white sand was Paradise. Barely had we touched land, planted the flag, claimed it as our own, placed our soaking shirts on the bushes to dry, before young Glenn Miller is up a coconut tree to bring down the fruits of Heaven and the cool nectar of the Gods.



Four monster NUTS fall to the ground with that dull thud that only coconuts make. (remember Castaway). The dinghy anchor is improvised to husk them in quick order and one of the three "eyes" in each nut is opened with a knife, to release a syrup way better than anything imagineable. These are BIG GREEN NUTS, not dried-out shrivelled little excuses. These are so healthy and precious, that even the Queen, in a moment of serious meditation,(or whatever she was doing) does not let go of her stolen fruit. (Double-click on the photo and you will see she is serious about this stuff).



The "TREE-CLIMBER" from "TREEHOUSE" (and it is all beginning to make sense now) wants to come down, but the others are yelling "Look at the camera, don't look at the tree" Yeah....... right............ After the husking and the drinking there is still the job of opening the nut to get at the meat. Ever try to break a hard round ball with a round piece of lumber....... No better way to break 'Cabin Fever' than that. We are laughing at our own antics. No home-runners amongst our lot.



The chart on the right shows the depth in METRES, not to be confused with feet. The yachts have all been anchored now for four days to the South of that itzzy spit of land pointing to the west marked" TAVERN CAY".(right where the anchor is shown if you double-click). The wind has been barreling in from the east. Everywhere there are shallow places but easily distinguisable by the color of the water. During the night.... well.... different story. On the VHF radio you hear comments all the time like " Are you aground yet". " I think so, the scenery is not changing...."



We discover, as we step beyond the beach a beautful grove of palms. For the moment the search is over. Our quest has been fulfilled. Further on we are amazed to see plant life clinging to wave-washed bare rocks. "Clinging" is an understatement. "Embedded " would be more appropriate, yet they survive and proudly flash green foliage.....nothing short of amazing....................

And if you still think that we were kidding about how sharp the rocks are that line the ocean edges,..........Then just imagine drifting ashore and climbing over this little rock ledge in the photo to the left (double-click)......... You'll do more than shave your legs, ............................. and the stuff is hard too. Harder than chinese algebra.......................