Wow! Lots of questions. We're on Abaco itself, south of Marsh Harbour. Easier to get to! (as you know) Been out to Hopetown a couple of times. Elbow Cay is very beautiful. Not sure what pool stuff is available at Abaco Hardware or Standard Hardware, though they have it for people who have hot tubs, etc. nor if Maxwell's supermarket has Borax. I'll need to look next time we're there in a couple of weeks.

You can easily upgrade your current test kit to the equivalent of the K-2006 by ordering the K-1515A or K-1515C from Taylor Technologies. It's the FAS-DPD chlorine test, rather than the DPD test, and it's the best test you can reasonably get for testing Free, Combined and Total chlorine.

SWCGs are notorious for raising pH. I'd suggest you leave your TA nice and low to counter the rising pH and NOT try to raise it. You should also cover the pool when not using it to prevent aeration and gassing off--which raises pH (and is part of our lowering-TA procedure).

Borax is for adjusting, not buffering pH. What it DOES do, is helps control algae when borates reach about 50ppm. Otherwise, it's what you add to raise pH.

You'll want to get your CYA up to 60 to 80 ppm, because that's what most SWCG manufacturers recommend, and, in the Abaco archipelago, chlorine demand will probably be high so the higher CYA will help control that.

For your last question, I'd leave TA where it is and control pH.

Enjoy it! It's like paradise!