Sailing with Joe & Julie

Jan. 22-29, 2011

Joe & Julie arrived on Saturday afternoon and were good sports about getting their feet wet to hop into the dinghy on the shore of Lindberg Bay, St Thomas which is about a block from the airport.

Sunday:  We sailed to Capella & Buck Islands to snorkel just in time to hover above a hawksbill turtle feeding on some algae.  We sailed on to Little Lameshur Bay, St. John and fished while underway. A BIG one took one of our brand new lures! Joe & Julie had time to explore Little Lameshur’s powdery beach before dinner.

Monday:  Capt. Dan motored to Reef Bay to hike the Petroglyph Trail, noticing that one carving bore an uncanny resemblance to Curious George… We motored on to Salt Pond Bay and snorkeled and still had time to sail to Coral Bay, St. John to anchor for the night.  We went ashore to peruse the shops and had dinner at Skinny Legs Grill.

Tuesday:  As we rounded the southeastern end of St. John the familiar islands of the BVI came into full view.  We stayed the course and headed to Leinster Bay, St. John, fishing along the way, with no luck. We walked the trail to Annaberg Sugar Mill Ruins and snorkeled Waterlemon Cay finding only one starfish. Rose saw a huge charcoal grey barracuda! Joe had a taste for a “Painkiller”, so I cracked & grated a coconut to round out the ingredients.  None of us felt any pain that evening.

Wednesday:  Trunk Bay, St John was a short distance and we intended to snorkel the underwater trail, but were stopped by a military-ish lifeguard who said the current was too strong. After walking the beach a bit, we motored on to Caneel Bay, St. John for the night.  There we snorkeled and harvested conch for cerviche.  We had our anniversary dinner ashore at Caneel Resort’s Equator Restaurant.

Thursday:  On the way to Megan’s Bay, St. Thomas, we anchored off of Coki Point to see what that highly recommended reef had to offer.  It was very touristy and the fish seemed used to being fed.  At Magen’s Bay we walked the mile long beach and shopped a bit.

Friday: The Captain set the sails southward and headed for Christmas Cove, St. James.  An overcast sky cleared conveniently so Joe & I could explore the rocky reef. From there we motor-sailed to Honeymoon Bay, Water Island and anchored for night.

Saturday:  We dinghied across passage to St. Thomas and took bus into Charlotte Amalie.  We walked the historic 99 (plus) steps to Blackbeard’s Castle only to find it closed because there were no cruise ships in the harbor.  We descended to the shopping district where a multitude of jewelers promised that we could get a bigger discount than the cruise ship crowd. (We didn’t buy or believe it.) We did enjoy a parade that kicked off the little league season on St. Thomas.  Back on board Exit Strategy, we sunned and swam a bit before motoring across to Lindberg Bay for Joe & Julie’s departure.

It was a WONDERFUL week!

Puerto Rico

1-15-11

Puerto Del Rey, PR

   This marina came highly recommended by everyone who heard we were heading to Puerto Rico.  So far, we have not been disappointed.  It can “house” a thousand vessels and is nicely equipped to do so with staff who seem to go the extra mile to make a scraggly pair of cruisers like us feel comfortable.

    I was in desperate need of a haircut, as the trim my onboard stylist gave me was looking pretty shaggy.  The marina’s office girls got me an appointment at an extremely busy nearby salon.  I took a cab there, but walked the mile or so back.  The girls clued me in on a great bakery near the salon, so I stopped there for pastries and warm bread.  Then I passed a guy selling fish & langostas (lobsters at $5/lb.) along the road and I “shopped” his coolers. Finally, a couple had a truck load of fresh produce, so I selected some nicely ripened fruit (most of which the captain could recognize).  My arms were loaded with bags as I returned to the vessel.

1-16-11

   We had a notable encounter with the Customs and Boarder Control today.  I called the PR office to see if they had a clearance number for us since my cell calls from Vieques were cut off.  The officer took all the pertinent data again and instructed us to stay right where we were because he was sending some customs agents to check our boat.  We’ve never been boarded before by anyone official and were a bit concerned.  The men came and were very polite, searched nothing, and finally gave us a clearance number.  So now we’re here legally.  (Whew!)

  

1-17-11

   We rented a car to shop in Fajardo at (where else, but) Wal-Mart & West Marine.  Both of those stores always have everything we need and so much more…  We went to the West Marine so often during this short stay that there was a new grove worn in the road where Dan kept making a U-turn AND the check out girl had our phone number memorized.  Really, she DID.

1-19-11

Happy 3rd Birthday Princess Lyla!

No Monkey Business

1-14-11
   Cayo Santiago is a small island just off the eastern coast of Puerto Rico due west of Vieques.  It is known as Monkey Island because the USA placedsome Rhesus monkeys there in 1939 for scientific study. I heard them screeching as we anchored.  We swam closer to shore and stood in chest deep water hoping to catch a glimpse because the public are not allowed on the island.  Nothing.  Dan did his best “Here monkey, monkey, monkey!” Nothing.  I attempted to psych them out by saying loudly, “Hey, look at this!”  Nothing.  I even tried to imitate the screech I’d heard.  Nothing.  Finally, we returned to the boat and I heard a really loud screech, but saw nothing.

    An hour later, a vessel flying a Swiss flag anchored near us.  Six men jumped off the boat, swam closer toward the same shore, stood in knee deep water, and created a royal ruckus by serenading the monkeys with, “EE-EE, OO-OO, AH-AH!”  Some of the men added dramatic monkey behaviors.  And darn, if that didn’t work!  In an instant, we heard a barrage of authentic monkey retorts and a lot of rustling in the trees. Before long, a host of monkeys came out of hiding to either defend their island or roll out a welcome mat.   We’re not exactly sure which, but I thought I saw one Rhesus draw a line in the sand and shortly afterward the Swiss troops retreated .



Rhesus Monkey on Cayo Santiago (Google image)



Our Encounter with a Spanish Virgin…

...called Vieques!

 1-12-11 (Happy 3^rd Birthday Princess Maya!)

     We could see her mounds of rolling terrain long before reaching her official territorial line. There she was, Vieques- the southern most of the outlying islands of Puerto Rico, an island group known as the Spanish Virgins.  Our first impression was that we were looking at the island with part of the Dominican Republic or Mona Island in the background.  We realized this was not so as we surfed along the waves nearing Vieques.  From our vantage point, her northern coast looked totally undeveloped and had a mix of rocky cliffs and expansive beaches. We rounded her eastern point and noticed the warning signs posted by the US Military all along the south eastern half of Vieques.  With GPS in hand, we maneuvered through the unfamiliar bay and nestled for the night in the shallows of Ensenada Honda.

1-13-11

    Just around the next point westward, we stopped to snorkel the reef on the lee shore of Isla de Chivas.  There was also a lovely beach along the bay with some sun shelters available for the few couples we saw.  Farther down the coast we passed Puerto Ferro and Puerto Mosquito.  Both of these inlets are narrow and shallow and the waves have carved out caves in their rocky entrances. Puerto Mosquito is known for its bioluminescence.  Esperanza, the sole settlement on the islands southern shore, was quaint with many choices of small restaurants and gift shops, but not much in cell or internet dependability.  For the record, I called Customs twice to clear in to Vieques and lost both connections.  So customs has all the information on Exit Strategy and Captain Dan, but nothing on me, so far.  (I’ll call if I need bail money and they let me use one of the police land lines.)

2...4...6...8-

 Who do we appreciate? HORIZON!

Captain Dan shopping for the party.

   A few weeks ago, we experienced a flurry of dock parties to celebrate the Christmas holiday here at Nanny Cay Marina for three nights in a row. They were pretty laid back affairs with coolers of beer and burgers or pizza and chips.  So we organized and hosted a dock party last night to show our appreciation for every little thing the Horizon Yacht Charter Crew has done for us & Exit Strategy.
   The party was leisurely and we enjoyed visiting with these hard working individuals who we have come to consider friends.  We learned that a number of them left their families (including wives and children) and came to the BVI to work because there were more opportunities for employment that would net them a much higher income than they could get in their homeland.  A few are from the USA and others are from Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Guyana, Canada.  A cab driver (from St. Vincent) explained, "People come here to do the jobs that the BVI belongers don't want to do.  The belongers only want to work in government or business offices."
      Sound familiar?

Would YOU eat this?




Dasheen, a root with aliases (eddoe, taro, cocoyam, kalo),
is prepared & eaten like potatoes.  We pay MORE for
 them in the USA and use as accent plants (Elephant Ears)
 in our landscaping.

       Call me adventurous.  When it comes to living down here in the Caribbean and shopping for groceries I like to try new things.  Every time I begin to prepare a meal and bring out something odd looking, Captain Dan suggests we go out to eat...  I prevail, of course, and we've tried plantains, seaweed salad, Caribbean yams, faux gravlox (seasoned raw tuna),  green papayas, coconuts off the beach and yes, dasheen.  I think Dan likes them, but he rarely asks for seconds.
    (Now if I could just convince Dan to catch one of those free range chickens we see everywhere we go it would really round out tonight's supper.)

Me Trus' You, Mon

     Coming from the states, we are routinely pleasantly surprised at the amount of trust extended to us as customers of businesses here in the BVI.  One night we sat down at a beach bar just in time for “last call.”  They not only served us, but gave us an extra drink gratis right before they left, telling us to turn off the lights when we were finished.  Another example of their extremely trustful nature happened recently when we walked into a graphics shop to ask about getting some new lettering for Exit Strategy. The designer was in the middle of a sizable project, yet he interrupted it to do our job.  Upon completion, we found out that he didn’t take credit cards and we didn’t have enough cash on us.  So he said, “That’s OK, just come in when you have it.” 

     Some of this laid back, trusting attitude is rubbing off on Captain Dan.  While having cocktails at Foxy’s Taboo, the young guy who collects mooring fees needed to borrow a dinghy to do his job.  Dan loaned our dinghy to him without hesitation, resulting in the bartender giving us free drinks.  The next afternoon, the sequence of events was repeated.  Subsequently, the Captain wants to stay here forever…

Happy New Year!



The bands appreciated the "incense" that drifted up on stage.

 Jan.1, 2011

   Hey!  We survived the “Old Year’s Party” at Foxy’s and can report that although it was an evening filled with lively fun, it was not as crazy as anticipated.   Great Harbor’s entire beachfront was lined with vendors of every sort with most selling food or drinks…  BBQ, rotis, jerk, beers, rum, rum, and more rum. Every other booth had its own boom box blasting tunes and patrons couldn’t help but gyrate to the beat.  The main entertainment was behind Foxy’s where we saw a few great bands perform a mix of reggae, rock, folk, socca, and hiphop. 

   The only weirdness we encountered was around 1:30 am while waiting to secure a cab to return to our boat in Diamond Cay.  A short man with a thick Italian accent came up to us and gave Dan and me each a big hug and kiss wishing us, “Happy New Year.”  I passed him off as just another happy drunk, but when the cab arrived I realized that he would be getting into the cab and sitting next to ME.  I scooted as close as I could to Dan, but the guy was Italian and you know how they talk with their hands… Alesandro was from Italy, but was now living on the island of Guadeloupe… worked as a chef on a megayacht based in St.Martin… his wife’s name was Rose and so was his dear mother’s name… he loves to make spaghetti olive olio  with fresh parsley…  The cab ride back was all downhill, so it was relatively short, but not short enough for me.