Friday, January 03, 2003
Parked in the habour of Gustavia, surrounded by many boats of various descriptions: single and double-masted yachts, ranging from a little one-man craft situated alongside us that couldn't have been more than 10ft, to 50- and 60+ foot elegant-looking craft. Then there are all sorts of cruisers, ranging from the monster "condo" boats which don't seem to differ so much in length (at a distance they all pretty much look the same), their main difference being how many stories tall they are -- the largest I've seen is three levels high, with a "basement" level at the water-line.
More provisioning needed to be done, and there was a chance to check out one of the better beaches. This turned out to be the one where we had anchored off of and had been chased away by the local police for our mast was deemed a hazard to local aircraft. Ariane went with Marie-Sol to fetch provisions, with the intention of meeting us at the beach when they were done. So the rest of us piled into Eric's car and headed for the beach on the other side of the island.
It was by far the best beach of those we had yet visited. The sand was white and fine, the beachside regularly combed of debris and there was shade to be found under some small palm trees.
We arrived at around 11:30, placed our blankets in a strategic spot near some shade. Did I mention that this was a topless beach? ;-) Okay, this may sound great, and there were certainly a few young women worth more than a second glance, but they were *few*. It was also obvious that some of the girls were there to be seen -- in particular there was a stunning young woman wearing a bikini that looked great on her, but its material didn't seem suited to seawater. She walked back and forth gracefully, deliberately, artfully, just below waist level. She did this about three or four times, each time demurely glancing to the males peaking glances. At the end, to a supposed boyfriend she dipped into the water and acted like a model while he took pictures with his combo digital camera/phone. Oi. Sometimes this place is just too damn French. ;-)
We didn't know it at the time, but we were destined to be there for a while. While Erika and Eric swam out to where we anchored briefly yesterday trying to search for a missing connector for the anchor, I made sandcastles with Vanessa. Then I got in the water with her and we had some mock swimming lessons, which were easy enough to do in the shallow waters. At one point a young girl about her age seemed interested in our antics, and when I told Vanessa to go and say 'hi' to her, she did so -- and the little girl began edging nearer her mother. Unfortunately, this behavior seems pretty typical, and so Vanessa has relied upon the adults to play with her the whole time. Not that we minded. After Erika and Eric returned fruitless from their search -- the waves had stirred up the bottom sands making finding anything pretty much impossible -- Erika, and then Josef made additional sandcastles with her, each of us taking things in turn. Erika gave her some swim lessons, as did I, and Eric made a couple of sand race-cars in which they "raced". At mid-afternoon we grabbed some hot and cold sandwiches, beer, much french fries as well as some milk for Vanessa. Ariane arrived at around 4pm, and explained that she and Marie-Sol ended up making many trips to various stores, followed by an equal number of runs back to the boat -- hence the long amount of time.
It was in the middle of the afternoon that Eric got a voice mail saying simply that I should call home. Uh oh, that can't be good. While looking for a telephone we ran into Josef, and he offered me the use of his cell phone. I called Jean. Sure enough, it was about my Mother. Turns out she is back in hospital. Apparently Jean had been contacted by the nursing home and was told that my Mother was dying. She called the hospital, and found out from one of nursing staff that she was fine, was asking for some not too hot porridge, and in the nurse said she wasn't even sure why she was here. So, nothing to worry too much about it seems. Decided not to cut the trip short, and vowed to visit her in hospital (or hopefully, back at the nursing home) when we got back. Mom has been in and out of the hospital a lot over the past year.
There had been an argument between Ariane and Erika about dressing her up, and finally Erika caved when her Father offered to buy her an outfit. Vanessa too.
Vanessa was relatively easy -- there was a great little store we had scouted out earlier in the day and Vanessa had loved some of the dresses. She picked out for herself a decidedly elegant purple dress and a white hat. It wasn't what her Mother wanted her to get, which I suspect added to Vanessa's pleasure in getting it.
Erika was not so easy. It was still daylight when the quest started, and well into dinnertime by the time Erika and Ariane had visited at least a half-dozen shops in order to find something that Erika liked. And I have to admit, she did look snazzy in it -- a rainbow-hued top with pants to match, and an off-white linen jacket. Nice!
We finally got back to the boat, and none too soon as far as my right eye was concerned. I think a bit of sand crept in under the contact, for whatever it was that eye was all red, itchy and teary, and I was glad to get it out of my eye. Now I remember one of the reasons why I stopped wearing contacts regularly.
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