M/V MAERIN

We arrived at South Palmetto Point at about 5:30 PM, got our anchor to set on the first try, and launched the dink. We wanted to get ashore to walk off the days’ frustrations, and get the dogs ashore before dark. The dilapidated pier was not suitable for use at low tide, way too high, so we made a beach landing. The wind had abated to some extent, and we were thrilled to have a breezy evening walk. Not much there, a library where I ducked in to get a quick update on the weather for the evening and following day, and met some local teens who were minding the library, and was able to check out the weather. We walked up a hill past some more homes, it’s a rural setting, with unpaved roads.

Dog Social
During our walk, a young boy of about 9 passed us on his bike, turned around and passed us twice more, the second time asking about Molly. It seems our brown dog is a rare sight here, mamy of the children are taken with her because of her color and size. Most of the “potcake” mongrels here are smaller and usually are black or brown mixed colors. Not too many of the children are too anxious to get too close, but are enthralled with her nonetheless! The boy on the bike wanted to pet both the dogs, and finally did get next to Sammy, but Molly’s exuberance was a bit too much for him, and he didn’t get too close for too long! We finally got him to engage in a bit of conversation, and ended up stopping by his home on our way, where he produced 4 siblings who were excited to see the brown dog, and then brought out his potcake puppy of about 6 weeks! I’m not sure if Molly was more excited about the kids or the puppy, but she was about beside herself! She simply LOVES little kids, and as we discovered yesterday, puppies! It was remarkable that with 5 kids in the home, no adults. The oldest, a girl of about 14 or 15 seemed to be riding herd, and she also had a bit of conversation with us.
Shop Talk
They do have municipal water, the same stuff in our tanks! Blecch! The distribution system is unique; the mains are not much more than a foot deep, some places less, and the service for the house simply comes up out of the sand in blue poly pipe. If it’s a deluxe installation, there is a meter box flush with the surface, with the valve and a small meter in the box. Otherwise, the meter simply threads onto the service line, and the house connection threads onto the other end. In most cases, the house service line is PVC, and typically runs on the surface of the ground to the house. Much of the piping is run on exterior walls, and from all appearances, plumbing code is minimal if it exists at all! I was surprised to see a fire plug along the roadside. Still, many homes are still plumbed with rainwater cisterns, and the upscale homes have buried poly tanks for either rainwater collection or RO treated water reservoirs.
Public Beach

The dinghy landing here is at a public beach, where the road ends at a public park. Adjacent to the park, there is a plywood shack, with a piece of romex wire going into the inside and a pair of 100 lb propane tanks along the back wall. No windows, and a pair of strap hinges on a sheet of plywood to fashion a door, and two more plywood cutouts that could be windows, but closed. It must be home to someone; during Sammy’s final shore run after dark, although there were no lights, I heard voices inside, Like something out of the movies. Very third-world-esque. The following morning (Thu) we ran the dink to shore, and spent some time walking the beach, just enjoying the water and watching the dogs play. Some nice homes occupy the beachfront, alternating with some pretty rough ones!  Back to Maerin, and on to the next port – Rock Sound!