Winter sets in

We finally got La Gringa out of the house today, for more than a trip to the chiropractor. She tweaked her lower back on Christmas Eve ( great timing, huh?) and has basically spent the past week trying to recuperate. The weather has been pretty harsh, with winds over 30 mph today. We did take a brief trip down to the Leeward end of Grace Bay to check out the ocean right before sunset:



We get this weather from time to time here in the winter months of January and February. It turns cool (to us) and the temperature gets down into the 60's at night. The surface water temperature of the ocean is still up around 79 degrees, so of course swimming isn't too uncomfortable. Especially if done between 10:00 and 2:00 in the afternoon when the sun is high.

We made a trip to the marina to check on our boat in this wind. Everything looked fine. I tightened up a stern line on the boat next to us, and we took a trip down to the beach to run the dog and check the ocean. This is the first day La Gringa has felt good enough to actually get out and walk around in the fresh air since she hauled that anchor over a week ago.



We were hoping for one of those spectacular sunsets, but the clouds were not just right. So we drove around checking out several of the beach access roads. There are beach access roads just about anywhere you go on Provo. I was trying to get a good splashing wave photo, but didn't want La Gringa to overdo it, either. The light was fading fast, and we really didn't have much time to get many photos. Most of what we did get look like these:



The seas offshore are up to 12 feet this afternoon. The forecast is for them to be up to 14 feet by tomorrow morning. So its a pretty safe bet we won't be taking the boat out for at least the next couple of days.

I did brave the icy, cold, north Caribbean waters trying to get a more interesting angle on the beach shots...



Doesn't that look almost just like I am standing in snow? Oh well...I tried.

Getting down into the water basically just got me splashed, but in the interest of having something different to post on the blog, I persevered.

Then we looked down the beach and there about a hundred yards away we spotted two people walking...and we decided to leave. We don't hang around long when the beach gets this crowded...but thats life when we choose to live in the city:



We took a cruise down by Leeward-Going-Thru to see if we could find anything interesting. We noticed the new Marina/Resort/Condo complex that is replacing almost all the former businesses at Leeward has started installing floating docks in the marina part:



I think this is the section on the plans they originally published set aside for smaller boats, less than 25 feet. It's certainly protected, but I am pretty sure we are going to be staying loyal to the marina at Heaving Down Rock where most of our friends hang out. At least, until we figure out what's going on with the huge new marina ( huge, for here) Sherlock is putting in over past Bird Rock. It's better protected than the one we are at now, and not that much further away.

I also recall that the plans I saw included a "Gilley's Restaurant" on the point there to the right of that pile of sand in that photo. I haven't heard much about that lately. I do hope they rebuild somewhere around here. This area desperately needs a place to get some food, and of course a beer store.

The dog was overjoyed to be out and running around. He's not much into being a house dog. On one of the beach access roads, he found a gold mine of lizards hiding in the hedges. He was wagging his tail so hard I was afraid it might fly right off his butt...



I took a look, and the entire length of this road is lined on the NW side by a continuous wall of conch shells overgrown with bushes in most places:



A lizard's paradise. The conch shells give them shelter, trap fresh rainwater for them to drink, and give them a place to sun themselves when the coast is clear and the sun is out. And now it's a Jack Russell Terrier's idea of paradise as well. There's not much he would rather chase than lizards. Unless it's cats, of course. It took some doing to pry him away from all those wonderful lizards to annoy.

So, it was a quiet day. I spent several hours sawing away at the new fiddle La Gringa gave me for Christmas. I have always wanted to learn how to play one.
That, and our little trip to the beach to get her out of the house, was about it for today. We are still recovering from a week and a half with teenaged boy houseguests. Things are getting back to normal.

Here's a couple more photos, pretty much more of the same. But I suspect they are more interesting than looking at the glovebox of a Suzuki..

Hope you like them:



Maybe you can tell how lumpy the water is today from these.