Royal Island, Spanish Wells Clinic and a small world

At home in Royal Island Anchorage

Royal Island Anchorage is a great place to be in a blow. The bottom is great holding, and the surrounding terrain keeps the bay pretty calm. It is still windy enough to not be too hot.

Monday we cleaned the inside of the boat a little, and played chess for several hours. We're listening to audiobooks, and well, it was sort of a "down" day. I've been fighting an ear infection for a few days, and in general, felt miserable.

Tuesday, I decided I'd better get some antibiotics. Allen and Mercy stayed with the MERCY while I took the Whaler to Spanish Wells. It was blowing about 25, and I was really surprised that I could make it to Spanish Wells dry! I will say, however, that every bounce was like someone hammering my head...

I went to Pinder's Grocery Store in Spanish Wells, and Gurney Pinder greeted me at the dock, and told me where the clinic was. I asked him if he knew the two men I'd gone to tankerman's school in Ft. Lauderdale with, and he told me that the one was his brother-in-law, and pointed to a woman driving off, and that was his wife, my sister! I decided to try to make contact with them before I left.

I went to Spanish Wells Yacht Haven Marina, and Treadwell greeted me, and let me tie the Whaler up to go to the clinic. He gave me great directions, and off I went.

The clinic was an interesting place. In the time that I was there, I saw one other patient, who was coming in as I was leaving. I walked in, told them about my problem, filled out a registration form, and was accompanied back to a room by the nurse. The nurse took my vitals, my medical history, and my blood sugar, looked into my ear, and exclaimed how inflamed my ear was. She called the pharmacist across the street to see if he had an otic antibiotic with a steroid for inflammation, and issued me some oral antibiotics as well. The clinic visit was $30, and the antibiotics were $8. She asked me if I needed any pain killers, and me, not big on pain meds, said no. She said she could give me something that evidently they don't have in the States, the name I can't recall, that was popular in the Caribbean. I declined, although I sort of regretted it later, as I was swallowing more Alleve. I walked across the street to Food Fair, and had my script for the ear drops filled. Fast, clean, efficient, thorough, competent... what a great clinic!

Before I left the clinic, I asked the lady at the desk if she knew my friends, and the next thing I knew, she'd picked up the phone, called them, and Donald came to the clinic, picked me up, took me to his house to meet his wife, and offered me a ride anywhere I needed to go. By that point, I just wanted to get my script filled, and go back to the boat!

I made it right before the rain hit. Allen changed to a swimsuit, and scrubbed the boat down, and then we caught enough water to top the water tank off and fill the sunshowers. Water at the marina is .20/gal for city water (that you would NOT put in your water tank) or $.50/gal for RO water, I was glad we topped everything off!

It rained and blew all night, while we slept in a great anchorage.