After the Flyacide

Somewhere along the last few weeks Georgia picked up a cadre of flies. Not enough to draw me into action, but enough that I knew the boat would not be a happy home for both the flies and for Chris. In my busy schedule I had finished scanning a Schwab investor magazine. I folded this baby up into about a third length ways. After looking at the weapon, I decided it was definitely too small to take out Chris, so I went after the flies. First I closed off the companionway and slid over the hatch screens. This way they couldn’t get out or call for reinforcements. Over a two day battle, I got them all --- except one. This last one was really fast and tireless. I was starting to get afraid that it might breed and through some Darwinian nightmare I’d end up with a sub-breed of super flies that could easily outpace my attacks and hand-eye coordination. In the end we decided on a negotiated draw.
Then it was off to the airport on Staniel Cay to pickup Chris. I took the dinghy over to Isles General Store and tied it to their dock. It was 1:30 – the same time that the sign on the door says they are open. I asked a couple of German cruisers who were sitting near by when the store would be open. They were pretty sure at 1:30 – just nobody was sure what day. I wanted to look around and see if they had fresh vegies in stock or yogurt. At about 10 to 2 I decided to walk over to the air strip to start looking for Chris’ plane. The store could wait till latter. Her flight was due in at 2:30. Some days the Flamingo Air flight from Nassau leaves an hour early, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to show up early. There’s an open air ‘waiting room’ next to the airstrip that looks like a large school bus stop. At least it was cool with the shade and the sea breezes. At about 2:45 a small twin engine prop plane lands and taxis up to the tarmac in front of the waiting room. Out climb the passengers. None of which did I recognize. Their luggage was dropped onto the tarmac and quickly the waiting passengers loaded up for their flight to Nassau. The last one in line didn’t get on. I heard a bit of an excited voice conversation that ended with her being told that there was another Nassau plane on its way.  After the plane and the passengers left, there was still a small pile of luggage on the tarmac. About 25 minutes latter another twin engine prop landed. This time when the 6 passengers started climbing out I recognized a blonde onboard.
It was good see Chris after a 3 week break. She looked good except for the swollen and cracked lip. I first figured that it was another run-in with TSA. It turned out to be caused by another airline overhead bin vs. passenger incident. Flying can be tough these days. Chris’ bag didn’t come out of the small luggage compartment off this plane. Fortunately it was one of the ones in the pile left from the previous flight.
Back home on Georgia things have settled down and we are trying to work out a decent living arraignment with the last super fly. Derrek (son) and Mary (girlfriend) show up on Tuesday. The weather’s supposed to be decent for the week, so it should be a snorkeling extravaganza.
Paul