Day 192 Hobie Cat races

On the other side of the island bar is a shallow lagoon. At 0900 everyone assembled for a series of Hobie Cat races. Hobie Cats are a lightweight 14-foot catamaran with a mainsail and jib that are sailed by two people. We entered two teams of Andy & Kurt and Mark & I. Both of us lost in the first heat but were then entered in the “Plate” competition and were allowed to race again against the other first round losers.
In the second races, we both won so we were eligible to race in the semifinals of the plate races on Tuesday. Although it was nice to win, I was disappointed to lose my brimmed hat, which blew off in the race when we were ahead so there was no chance to go back and retrieve it. This was the hat I bought because it was designed by a sailor who claimed it would never be blown off in the wind while sailing. I would like to meet this supposed ocean man.
In the afternoon, there was a swap meet where yachties could sell things they no longer needed. I thought hard about buying the nice scuba outfit for sale but decided it would be hard to carry around with me when I was hiking in New Zealand in a few weeks. It did look appealing, though.
We spent the rest of the afternoon cooling off by the pool. We are not far from the equator and even though it is early Spring here, the sun can be very hot. Most of the time there is a pleasant sea breeze that moderates the temperature but when the wind stops, it is quite hot.