Everyone we talked to said the same thing, “Herbie is the guy,” as he has apparently been “the guy” for more than 20 years before taking over the co-op power plant. Well… on Monday, one of the local tugs had a problem, hence Herbie got to us on Tuesday. He immediately determined one problem and quickly bypassed the “run solenoid.” Man, it’s fun to learn. We, along with Herbie’s brother Gregg, spent a couple of hours trying this and that, to no avail. Susie was in the pilothouse repeatedly trying the gen while the guys were in the engine room. Stumped, the boys went off to research and later advised we need “a run solenoid and injectors.” Great, we have a direction! And of course, have to do the whole “ship to the freight company in Ft Lauderdale, they’ll fly it over hopefully on Saturday” thing. Different island, different freight company.

In the meantime, both Herbie and Justin at On-Site said, “you might do oil changes because sometimes that works unexplained wonders!” Hey, we just got extra supplies, and Todd can do that!

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There’s been a fair amount of rain and cloud cover, and this waterway is lined on one side with mangroves, so the sunsets have been a bit muted. Still pretty though.

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So, the next day or so was spent online finding the needed parts, getting them overnighted to “Lauderdale,” and arranging with Sheldon (Twinex Freight forwarders), the Eleuthera rep. Nerve racking process.
Other than that? And thumb twiddling? Well, basic housekeeping (always, it’s a tiny house!), Susie whooped Todd in games, we read a couple of books, and we watched a lot of boats come and go. All day, all sizes. They come. And they go. We finally started taking pictures. Hey, is that the tug that bumped us off Monday’s schedule? Good to see it working!

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An awful lot of them just flat out “went,” because the marina went from this…

to this!

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Hey, wait! We want to go toooooo!!

We are in a marina in Spanish Wells for one reason and one reason only (heck its been nearly 120 days since we docked), and that is to find a “diesel guy” to look at the generator. Unfortunately, the folks at On-Site Service Station are booked out for two weeks.

We were told we need to call Herbie, who now works at the electric company. Unfortunately, Herbie couldn’t get away Friday but might be able to make it Monday. Shucks. Well, since Susie, although on the mend, isn’t quite back up to snuff for the shoe leather express, we rented a golf cart for a couple of days to bring supplies back to the boat and explore. So, after dropping off the oil, we went back out for a bite.

When in Spanish Wells, you have to eat at Budda’s, which is something of a local institution.

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It had been such a push to get here that we decided Saturday would be a “play day” with the cart. We’d get back to oil changes, laundry catch-up, and general boat chores on Sunday.

The Sandbar was a “must do” once Justin said, “they have a good Philly”! Right up Susie’s current not-fish alley, and they didn’t disappoint. Nice place, variety on the menu, and the fastest moving waitstaff you’ve ever seen. Sitting there we looked out right at Meeks Patch! Heck, had we known when we were there two months ago, we would have dinghied over for a bite!

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After lunch, we decided to check out the rest of Russell Island. We saw all the way down to the cul-de-sac at the end of the road when the rental cart stalled.

Call to the marina – they send someone out – we pass him on the road because Todd (the in-house mechanic) got it started – stop to meet their guy – stalled again – he left for a battery – got started again! – he passed us on the way and followed us s-l-o-w-l-y all the way back – he installed the new battery, and Wow! This cart is downright zippy! Not really, it now goes about as fast as our boat! Ha!

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It may be a tropical day (sun then rain and repeat), but it’s springtime and there are pretty flowering shrubs everywhere.

The lavender and white home with the lovely yard includes an extra surprise – check out the stained glass windows.

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And the flowering plumeria beside “Hutch’s House” is taller than the house!

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As we cruised through the town, we thought it again – folks in Spanish Wells take pride in their homes, large and small!

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Of all the houses we saw, Todd definitely had a favorite. If the owner had been out and about, he might have stopped to make an offer. 😉

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Some fun shots from around town:

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This wonderful community is, after all, on an island, so there’s also the view:

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We can’t just cruise around town and not stop in for some shopping! We hit a fun shop where Susie picked up a summery dress (girlie retail therapy), and, as always, we have to get some grub. Fortunately, Spanish Wells has a really large grocery store.

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In a marina, with its close proximity, the whole experience is much less “expansive,” so between the neighbors, cloudy days, and muted sunsets, the conch horn is getting lonely.

Meanwhile, we are keeping our fingers crossed that Herbie can make it tomorrow. We are also listening to the crazy Laughing Gulls. I mean, it is springtime…. And love is in the air!