Wait! You’re Going the Wrong Way!

Oh yippee, we are almost there.

Wait, nope, need to tack (change direction) to actually sail to that opening almost right in front of us.

Let’s just head away from our destination for 30 minutes, then turn around and go back toward it.

Yep, we want to go west – so we are just going to head east for a bit, then go west.

Sailing seems to be two steps forward and one step back or is it one step forward and two steps back?

In any case, sailing to a destination is nothing like driving to one!

Frank and I had this discussion where he says humans have made life so comfortable that we no longer have any clue or concern about the weather. We just hop in our car and go to our destination.

In his estimation, that is so easy it is boring.

In my estimation, it is so easy it is reliable and efficient and I know what to expect!

Hmmm, I might have to make some adjustments to my attitude if I’m going to succeed as a sailor!

One thing I have learned about myself is that I tend to estimate the amount of time something will involve and I expect to pretty much meet that timeframe.

Well, my estimates are totally OFF when it comes to sailing.   E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G takes longer than it should, uh, I mean than on land!

Yesterday we had a reasonably good sail from Barbuda. During the sail, the wind became more southernly which meant we had to adjust our heading (direction) and thus we were too far off of our intended destination to simply sail to it. 

Instead we had to turn the boat and sail almost directly away from where we were going so we could change our wind angle and sail in to our destination.

This is SO frustrating to me. Some days I just want to say, “Turn on the engines and let’s just get there already!”

I think if I felt 100 percent well when we are sailing, I could handle these delays. Instead, I am usually very anxious to get out of the waves and to our destination a.k.a. calm water!

In addition to not being able to simply aim directly where I want to go, there are so many things I took for granted while living in The States.

Let’s talk internet…. we were delighted when we bought a sim card with data and were told all we had to do was top it off on line. Great! Easy and reasonably priced!

Except after we went through the initial data, we couldn’t top off on line…. So I have spent a lot of time on the phone and via slow websites trying to get to the bottom of this issue. 

But customer service here isn’t like in The States; as in half the time the phone call is disconnected or there is no actual person to speak with.  I did finally reach an employee on the phone, but I’m pretty positive she knew less about her own product than I do.  The employee told me the sim card I used for 5 GB of data wouldn’t work unless I had a blackberry…..

Um, I just went through 5 gigs on my Ipad using this sim card?!?

Nope, I have to terminate that sim card, add cash to my account, call back and reactivate my card.

Ok. Makes no sense, but I want the data.  I’ll call you back.

Well, I have tried calling several times (19) without reaching an available person! So I left a few messages and finally got a call back . This employee tells me the data plan I was told about is only for LTE and I don’t have an LTE card.

Really, my first 5G was LTE…..Ok, can I just reactivate this sim and have 4G?

Um, sure, but I have to check. I will call you back. That was yesterday. 

Do you think I’ll hear back?

Bailey’s Grocery – after a two mile walk.

Don’t even get me started on the grocery store. Trust me, I was seriously missing Tom Thumb as I walked 2 miles (literally) to the grocery last week. Not only was Tom Thumb a quick, direct drive from my garage to the parking lot (regardless of wind direction) but they had whatever ingredient I was hoping to buy!

But at least the nice lady at this market called a taxi for me so I didn’t have to walk home with the groceries!

So all this grousing is just to let you know that paradise is beautiful, but it is better if you leave your former life without trying to recreate it in paradise. 

And you best take off your running shoes and embrace the sandals because a casual pace is all we achieve out here!

(Lack of internet delayed this post and doesn’t allow for many pictures…. can you tell I gave up on topping up the sim card? Maybe on the next island.)