11 January 1995 Falmouth Harbour
Ceris left in the morning – we nursed our hangovers in the afternoon and lounged about. Glenys took the boys to the beach in the afternoon.
12 January 1995 Falmouth Harbour
We all went into St Johns to visit the dentist. Brett and I had our teeth polished and the dentist decided that Glenys should have a small wisdom tooth removed. He promptly did it there and then.
The dentist looked at Craig’s teeth and told us that he would recommend that Craig have four teeth extracted – 3 molars and the front incisor which has been dead for 2 years. We expected to only have one of his molars extracted, so it was a bit of a shock. We made an appointment for the next day.
When we got back to Glencora, we had a another look at Craig’s teeth and thought that two of the molars could be filled. I walked to the telephone box, cancelled the appointment and made an appointment with another dentist. We all went to “Ocean Ridge” in the evening and had a drink with Sally, Nigel, Jessica (2) and Harriet (4).
13 January 1995 Falmouth Harbour
Friday the 13th. I didn’t sleep well at all last night because I was worrying about Craig’s teeth.
I took Craig into town to see the new dentist , Dr S.V. Raj. The bus ride into St Johns seemed endless with a growing feeling of doom - was my son going to be hurt?
The dentist suggested that he should put a temporary filling in the really bad molar to see if Craig has any discomfort over the next month. The other 2 molars needed fillings and he recommended small preventative fillings on 3 molars. The front tooth could be left. I could have kissed him!
Craig was on the chair for about an hour and the dentist was brilliant. He used white fillings and seemed to do a good job. I was so impressed (and relieved) that, when I got back, I wrote a “thank you” letter to him and pinned recommendation notes on the various notice boards in English Harbour.
14 January 1995 Falmouth Harbour
My mum and dad arrive tomorrow – we think! I’ve not actually managed to talk to them on the phone. I tried at seven o’clock this morning and got no answer. I tried again at ten o’clock without any joy, so I rang Eddie and Kath. Kath told me that Eddie was on his way to the airport with them and gave me their flight details. They arrive at half past three tomorrow afternoon, but they don’t know that we know, which will keep them guessing until we get to the airport!
I found out from Carol that our damn tenants are in arrears again so I’ve got that to sort out now. We spent the rest of the day on administration, school work and tidying up.
It’s Brett’s birthday today, but we’ve quietly postponed it until Grandma and Grandad arrive. Brett’s excited because he thinks that it’s his birthday in two sleeps time!
15 January 1995 Falmouth Harbour
School work in the morning. Craig, Brett and I went to the airport and met Grandma and Grandad. We went back to the boat, had a bottle of champagne, dinner and bed.
16 January 1995 Falmouth Harbour
Brett’s official birthday. We opened presents in the morning and went to the shops. At lunchtime we went to the beach for a party. The only other children were Harriett and Jessica from “Ocean Ridge”, but we all had a nice time. I took Dad snorkelling and he was suitably impressed even though it was a poor site.
17 January 1995 Falmouth Harbour
Mum, Dad and I went for a walk around Nelson’s Dockyard and out to the fort. We went back to the boat for lunch and then had an afternoon in - going up to Shirley Heights for dinner was declared to be too expensive (and too much trouble).
I started training Dad to dive and did Theory Sessions 1 and 2 with him.
18 January 1995 Falmouth Harbour to Five Island Bay
We went shopping first thing. My dad brought out a pilot book for Polynesia which I managed to swap for a pilot book for Cuba. I’m determined to go there!
We motored around to Cades Reef and anchored off the inner reef. Dad, Mum, Brett and I went snorkelling on the outer reef which was nice with lots of black Durgeon. We had lunch and went around to Five Island Bay and anchored in a nice bay off Stoney Horn.
The others went to the beach while Dad and I did his Confined Water 1 and 2 sessions. He did well but struggled with the steel tank I gave him. We moved over to Maiden Island in the evening.
19 January 1995 Five Island Bay
We spent the morning on schoolwork - Maths, English and Science for the boys and PADI Open Water Theory 3 for my dad.
After lunch, the others went for a walk and I filled 6 tanks. I think that I’ve found out the problem with the compressor engine. It was set up too lean and I think that exhaust fumes are being sucked into the air intake – I used a body board as a wind deflector and it ran for 1½ hours. I’ll fit the exhaust deflector back on.
20 January 1995 Five Island Bay to Deep Bay
We went around to Jolly Harbour, filled up with water, cleared out of Customs and went around to Deep Bay. I did a Confined Water 3 session with Dad while the others went for a walk. The visibility was very bad - only about 6 ft! After lunch, we went for a snorkel on the wreck – disappointingly poor visibility compared with last May.
Then Craig couldn’t find Pilot Bear - his favourite teddy. We searched the boat from top to bottom, but couldn’t find it. He was distraught and crying, while we all tried to find the errant cuddly toy. After much questioning, he finally revealed that the last time that he saw Pilot Bear was when he put him (and two other teddies) into Grandma and Grandad’s suitcase. This was an old suitcase, which had been used to bring books and spares out to us. My dad had told me that he no longer needed it, so I had taken it ashore in Falmouth Harbour to throw it in the skip and ended up giving it to a local guy who was hanging around on the quay-side.
Oh God! I confessed to Craig that I had given the suitcase away. Through tears and pouting lips, he shouted “It’s your fault, Dad!”
When he went to bed, he seemed to have adopted “Parsley” the lion.