No, it was not the New Year's Eve celebration hangover ...... Nor the departure from Culebra on another yacht ....... Nor was it the fact that 'Google' cut us off for having uploaded too many photos ...... All of which, by the way, was true ..... It was that once we had left PUERTO RICO again, we got busy, so busy in fact that days of exhausting work just flowed into one another seamlessly .... And at the end of each day we would both say " We'll do it tomorrow" and, off course, tomorrow never comes ...... So here then is the catch-up story, some two months later and very much overdue ...... And thanks for staying with us .......
A wonderful cruising couple, Jim and Ellen on the yacht "BOLDLY GO" offered us a lift back to Spanish Town in the British Virgin Islands, to continue where we had left off on "SOUTHERN COMFORT" ...... A stop-over in St. Thomas allowed us to replenish our rum supply, as well as see the cruise ships in town and the wrecked yachts lining the shore from the hurricanes that passed though two years ago ............
There may be as many as five cruise ships in the harbour at any one time,putting as many as 12,000 extra people in town and needless to say, the waste produced is sizable...... Take a look at that mountain of buried trash we sailed past on our way to the BVIs .....
The New Year brings the Caribbean cruising and charter season into full swing ........Escape the cold and go sailing in the sun ..... Go 'bareboat' (meaning rent one even if you've never sailed before) ....... And scare the daylights out of everybody else ....... "No worries right, they've signed that insurance clause" .... While some damaged yacht sits in an anchorage for months waiting to get the repairs done ........ Crazy really, because you need a licence to rent a car, but absolutely nothing to rent a million dollar yacht except a credit card and a signature ....
Anchored in Pirate's Bay on Norman Island rather than pick up a mooring and then watched the antics of the charter yachts ....... Fabulous free entertainment ...... And here's a little tip on how to do that more successfully ........ Make a loop at the end of a line and hang it on the boat-hook as you approach the mooring ball .... Then just drop it over the ball, haul in the line, pick up the slimy bitter-end on the rope attached to the mooring ball with the boat-hook and 'Bob's your Uncle' ......
Magnificent Classic yachts are all around us, most of which are in the charter business ...... Our own classic yacht "ARITA" has been left on a mooring back in Culebra, P.R. .......
This 'ride' is turning out to be a lot of fun as we relax in style ....... Jim and Ellen do all the sailing and we get to be 'guests' ...... No trouble handling this at all ...... They really are a very entertaining couple ......
But, by the time we arrive at Spanish Town to go into the marina the wind is pumping and for the first time we see a surfer riding the waves near shore ..... The thing is ... The channel into the marina is between the breaking surf and the shore ...... Not only narrow but now very turbulent ...... This time Ellen is not smiling so much ..... More like relief, when we get past it all ......
That's the official crest of Spanish Town and no reflection on the way Jim prepares breakfast on board " BOLDLY GO" ...... They stay in the marina for another three nights and we stay on board with them, because "SOUTHERN COMFORT" is nowhere near ready for any type of 'comfort' ...... But we are fully into it ..... Jim takes on the repair of the dinghy ..... A huge dinghy, all of thirteen and a half feet long ..... A great workboat but not a keeper .....
Just look at that awesome breakfast Jim knocked up and served in style in the cockpit in 80 degrees Fahrenheit, and to think that somewhere 30 degrees further north they are in mid-winter snows and ice, something our refrigerators can't match .....
First off, we get rid of that blue stripe on the side of the hull and put scaffolding in place to do the toe rails ...... Laurie has become the 'Go-for' ...... The hardware store is on top of the hill that overlooks the marina and the blue water ..... Interestingly, someone is growing tomatoes with irrigation .... What a great idea ...... Tomatoes and most of the imported vegetables cost an arm and a leg ..... Nice leg on the 'Go-for' ........ Even if you can't see it ..... Oh, and those seeds are not tomatoes ....... Just thought you ought to know that ......
Awesome days with magnificent sunsets ........... Making progress and moving on board with P-bucket ........
We will long remember Jim and Ellen and be forever grateful for the fun and laughter we shared on board "BOLDLY GO"....... A 'survivor' couple, who were pirated the year before, off the coast of Venezuela, where Ellen was beaten and Jim was shot but despite all that they continue to cruise joyfully ....... After all "BOLDLY GO" means boldly go ......
The bottom of "SOUTHERN COMFORT" is next ..... Sanding and painting with black anti-fouling ......Stuff that requires a space-suit ..... The toxicity of the paint irritates the skin no end ..... Don't know why the fenders are hanging over the side .... It's not like we are going anywhere today .......
Things you never think about in 'Paradise' ..... Like how do they deliver the gas (petrol) and diesel to the island ...... Well, they anchor offshore and float the fuel line to the beach and then pump the stuff ashore to holding tanks .......
Flowers everywhere but don't get confused ..... These 'stalks' with orange heads are the jack stands to hold the yachts up ........... Most yachts are already gone and out there sailing ..... Us too, real soon ..........
There's a fisherman here who goes out each afternoon and comes back in the morning with a load of red snapper ...... His fishing spot is off the bank at Anguilla ....... However it is 1200 feet deep and he sets his lines and hooks with the electric motors mounted on the rods ...... Now that's what's called 'deep-sea' fishing ........
We were racing another couple Phil and Paula, who were also working to get their yacht in the water and they won...... Hands down ..... Rather surprising since the name of their yacht is "INFINITY" ...... Check out that handy little hydraulic lifter that makes the pick-up a piece of cake ..... Golden opportunity to celebrate their victory with 'bubbly' .....
We're not alone when it comes to working on yachts ...... This couple is doing their sewing in the shade of their hull, on a make-shift table ........
And somewhere out there, amongst those historic buildings in Charlotte Amalie on St Thomas in the USVIs, is a factory still to be discovered, that makes the most delightful "Virgin Island Mango Rum" ...... A very sweet replacement for the Bahamian variety, now in extremely short supply on board either of our two yachts ............
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