Day 119 Happy 4th of July

Mooring the boats
The wind blows into the harbor at over 20 knots and the waves, although not large, cause the boat to rock continuously. I don't find this annoying but others on board do so we decided to try to back Southern Star into the only available space along the sea wall.
With two dinghies in the water to act as tugboats and ferries when needed, Mark got the anchor down securely on the second try and did a masterful job of getting Star close enough to the wall so that Andy could take several lines to shore with the dinghy. Jim from Liahona and Ken from Suzanne2 were waiting to take the lines and tie it off to two bollards that defined the boundaries of the mooring. After a line was secured to both sides of the stern and diagonal lines were affixed, the nest of lines astern looked like a game of cat's cradle. At least it was very secure. Finally we used to dinghy to put down a second anchor off the bow so Star would not break loose in these rather unstable waters.
Liahona was a bit different since she is a big catamaran. With an engine in each pontoon the boat is quite maneuverable under power but once the stern lines are secure, it is a bit harder to pull her into the dock. A little extra help showed up in the form of some bystanders who were observing the process and by noon, both boats were secure along the sea wall.
In the afternoon, the sun came out and made a perfect day for our planned 4th of July Bitter End beach party. Just past the airport there was a very nice public beach with picnic tables, a barbecue and a volleyball net. Jim had rented a car so he made several trips to take all of our gear and 4 boat loads of people (Liahona, Manatee, Suzanne2 and Southern Star) to the beach. We put our American flag on the volleyball pole and had a great afternoon and evening playing volleyball and barbecuing. The pictures tell the story better than I can.
We returned to the boats satisfied that we had properly celebrated independence day even if we did not have fireworks.