Thursday, September 21, 1995 - Curaco

Since the propane stove is out of commission, and with part of the alternator missing we have to run the engine for two hours to use the microwave for 15 minutes, we decided to take the nine-o'clock bus downtown and eat breakfast at McDonald's. We needed to go downtown anyway, as I had letters to mail and copies to make, and we wanted to find the way to the Santa Rosa Machine Shop. Got to the bus stop in plenty of time. Mailed my letters and ate delicious scrambled eggs at McDonald's. This time, Roy listened to me, and we got on a minibus to Santa Rosa. Sure enough, there was the Santa Rosa Machine Shop, right on Santarosaweg as I figured it would be. It's very easy to get to; the bus stops right at the door. On the way back, I stopped at the copy center, and Roy continued on to Wimco to see if they might have the part for the propane stove. They didn't, so he crossed the street to Wellman to buy some more Chevron Delo 400 motor oil. Then he went to Burger King for a cup of coffee. In the meantime, I had gotten my copies made and returned to Punda on a minibus. Just as the minibus was approaching the bus terminal, I saw the Spanish Water trolley-bus pulling out, so I figured Roy was on it. Having nearly an hour to wait, I walked over to the Tourist Information Office to get a bunch of free newspapers. Then I took the 11:30 bus back to Spanish Water. To my astonishment, Roy's Royak was still on the beach! He hadn't been on the 10:30 bus after all. The two Royaks were chained to the fence, and Roy had the key. So there I was, with no way to get back to the boat until Roy arrived. I thought of swimming, but I didn't want to get my papers wet, so I wandered up the road as far as the gate to the petroleum tank farm. Then I walked back to the bus stop and sat on a bench, wondering what I should do if Roy weren't on the one-o'clock bus. There's no two-o'clock bus, so I'd have a two-hour wait if he weren't on that one. Fortunately, he was, so he unlocked the Royaks and we returned to the boat. After lunch, Roy caught the three-o'clock bus back downtown so he could go to the machine shop and get the part he had had made.