It wasn’t long after we emerged from our mobile residence this morning that a car pulled up beside us telling us that they needed the spaces we were parked on. It’s a smooth flat surface that is obviously prone to flooding. They hold Kite surfing school that requires quite a lot of space.
After moving, not too far away, it was fun watching the learners struggling to make the transition from sitting on the bottom of the shallow waters to staying on the surf board, while managing a powerful wing above. It’s great to see those who have made the transition from learner, working on developing and showing their range of skills. The speeds across the water are impressive. Mmmm it looks like fun..:)
While the wind in the early part of the day is not considered strong enough, Sarah and Tim bide their time till the stronger winds forecast, emerge in the afternoon. Amazingly they have five “wings or foils” and the same number of boards, stored in their camper! It’s the smaller wings they are keen to get out after starting with a 12sq/m wing down to a 9 sq/m. It seems the smaller ones are more nimble and not quite as taxing to control, while giving the same or better performance to the larger ones. A bit like the difference between a McLaren and a …. Land Rover.?..:).
We counted 18 wind surfers out on the lagoon by 4pm and we played snakes & ladders with Jaxon & Charley while their parents enjoyed the conditions for kite boarding.
Oh! the promised email from the Engel fridge agents in Jupiter, Florida, confirming despatch of the compressor kit and Track & Trace number, never arrived. So I phoned them. Kevin, the second person we had been interacting with and who had taken over our case, “wasn’t in today”. I got to explain our situation with Angela who did an amazing job of tracking the parcel on its trip to Miami. She said that the Fedex depot would not accept the parcel and it was being returned to Jupiter!! Perhaps Kevin had not confirmed by phone that the Fedex site would accept the parcel? For some reason the Mexican phone company would not let us call the US 1800 Fedex number listed. What a nightmare.
It is now clear that we are going to have to hire a car and drive the nearly 100 miles to Jupiter to pick this part up. Adding more to the burgeoning cost of having the fridge fail in the first place.
Once everyone had gone from the kiting area and while we were cooking dinner I noticed that high tide and an onshore wind was starting to flood the hard packed sandy area we were camped on. it was getting dark but it was clear that with another 40 min before high tide, we had to move. A frantic scramble to wash dishes, pack up and remove the Caranex, followed. With the wind increasing in intensity it was going to be a challenging night ahead.
The move across to track to slightly higher ground resolved the flooding problem but the sand we were now camped on is soft and deep. Our tent pegs were not long enough to secure the Caranex, and so it proved. It must have been after midnight and several forays in the dark to keep the Caranex from self destructing, that we must have dropped off to sleep.
A sad footnote. One of my/our Wellington soccer and cricket playing buddies passed away last Friday. We were and still are, a tight community and it’s very sad to hear of Jeff’s passing. RIP “Patch”. Thanks Neal for the “heads-up”.
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