Turks and Caicos

     Well after a daunting 2 day and one rough night sail from Long Island Bahamas, we arrived in Turks and Caicos approximately 5:15 pm on Sat.  We found an anchorage in nice sand on the east of West Caicos island that is uninhabited island southwest of Providenciales.  More repairs to do after that sail, the wind and waves were up and it made for a rough night on the sea with no moon light. A part of the sheath on the main halyard came off exposing the core , the traveler sheet broke, and the port battery wasn't charging.  Greg promised we won't beat upwind at night again, too scary. We didn't sleep much and I was horribly nauseated. The next morning we headed to Long Bay and cleared customs at Caicos Marina and shipyard. The customs officers where nice, although it was overtime for them since it was a Saturday. $65 for our stay , and $15 for the customs office, and you have to clear to leave, that was another $50 today, ahh! But thats less than the cruising permit. One of the policeman really liked Greg , he made a connection with him since he was a Sargent. We decided to stay at the marina since it was only $1.05 a foot, best we have seen yet. We haven't stayed at a marina since Port Lucaya near Freeport Bahamas after we crossed the ocean.
     There is only one Marine Store on the Island, and they did not have any line for sailboats, so we have to make due. There is a little ship's store at the marina and have more than any other place we have found since we hit the Bahamas.  Greg was able to rig the traveler with some line and moved the main to the winch on the mast. But that means he has to go out there to raise and lower it. Not a great option in nasty weather. Greg was also able to charge the port battery with the house batteries. So he has saved us a lot of repair cost. We also found on docking that the starboard engine didn't want to respond in reverse, great, right. When we checked the gear oil, it had to be filled, not a good sign because we did regular maintenance and filled all fluids prior to leaving Hilton Head, S.C. So far no leaks, so we will see. The marina here has 3 dogs running around and one of the guys said they have been here since they were puppies, I petted  one briefly. Greg proceeded to tell me about someone in Afghanistan who petted a stray and later died from rabies. Oh my God, I pray to you I don't die from rabies. They have no rabies on the island, so hopefully I will be ok. :}
     The Island is much more built up and has more stores, a real grocery store, IGA, not a Wegmans though. They have a Do It Center, kinda like a Home Depot. The first night we rented a car and went to dinner at the Tiki Hut in Grace Bay, that was nice. It was the first time we have eaten out since we left S.C.
Yesterday we went scuba diving off shore. It was a shallow dive about 25 to 30 feet, but I needed the refresher. I saw 2 lobster, blue tang, rainbow fish, a little squid, eel and some others I don't know. We were the only 2 diving at that time. Curtis who was our guide is originally from Canada and had spent a year in Austraila on a work visa, young kid and very nice. Then we had dinner at the resort, a little restaurant on the beach with some Island music. One of the members of the band was playing a hand saw, yes a saw. Its popular here apparently and interesting.
    We are taking off to the Dominican Republic tomorrow.