A Tale of Two Chemists: The Herd Mentality

The Herd Mentality

Thursday 2nd - Friday 3rd Jan 2025

Today is my Dad’s birthday … hard to imagine, but he would have been 95 years old. He’s been gone more than 20 years and I still miss him … and my mum.

… and on that topic I just finished reading a book called “Grave Talk” by Nick Spalding. Not an inspiring title, but Gloria and I both really enjoyed it and recommend reading it.

We are enjoying our ‘down time’ in Jolly Harbor. Yesterday we dropped off two 10 pound propane tanks for refilling and 3 large bags of dirty washing at the service laundry. The propane tanks were ready for pick up today and the laundry will be done tomorrow. I think they are a little overwhelmed by the post New Year rush. At some point we need to take Cotinga into the dock to fill up on diesel, water and gasoline, but we have such a great anchor spot we are reluctant to leave. Maybe tomorrow … or the day after ... or Monday ...

Gloria spent most of today working on her quilt project. We have a sewing machine on board, suitable for quilt-piecing but not mending sails! I think her project is going well, but it is a long process. Thankfully, she does seem to enjoy the work and not just the finished results (which are always stunning). She is incredibly talented. I myself spent the day varnishing the teak cap rail. It’s been a couple of years since it was last done, and it was in dire need of attention. There were a few places that got dinged (e.g. by the dinghy whilst hauling it on / off the deck) and some other small areas where water has got underneath the varnish. I tried to sand these back as best I could, without getting too hung up on perfection. Mostly it is just the sun that has caused it all to be rough and slightly crazed (a bit like myself). I gave it a quick sanding all over and then two coats of varnish, and I have to say it’s looking much better. Not bad for a half-assed job! If I feel motivated I may try for at least one or perhaps two more coats. With varnish, more is definitely better.

Yesterday afternoon we took some time off from our on-board relaxation and walked over to Church Valley Beach, about a mile away. This is a really stunning sandy beach with beautiful turquoise water and views across to the island of Nevis in the background. When we arrived we found a couple of empty sun loungers in the shade of a sea-grape tree on an almost empty section of beach. It was lovely! About 200 yards away there were dozens of umbrellas and scores of people. I wandered along to take a few photos and was amazed at how packed this area was. There were taxis galore and people frantically trying to catch a ride. It suddenly occurred to me that there must be a cruise liner at dock in St John and all these people had been bused out to experience the beach. I couldn’t quite figure out why they all remained in the same area, 3 feet away from the next person, when they could just have walked a hundred yards down the beach to a quiet spot. In any event, it left us in peace and solitude!

You may be wondering what happened to Tasha and Mac’s blog … me too!

(How’s that for parental passive aggressive?!)

Mike

Church Valley beach as seen from our sun loungers. Note: You can just make out some boats anchored in front of the hills - this is the outer part of the Jolly Harbor anchorage

Church Valley Beach - 200 yards from where we were seated in splendid isolation

Ahh the joy of the 'Selfie'. I don't take many people pictures and you may be wondering if I was stalking this couple, but in reality they stopped right in front of where we were lounging ... I barely had to sit up to take this shot!