Week 3 The Dinghy Poker Run and Anegada Lobsta Regatta

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010. Breakfast is at 8:30am. It is part of the day’s activities and it is a deal. $50 per person for breakfast, the poker hand and dinner that night with entertainment. Breakfast is a buffet with eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuits, and croissants. It is very good. We then head back to Cattitude to start filling water balloons for the race. This poker run is more than a dinghy race and card game. It is a HUGE water fight. Everyone has water guns, water cannons, water balloons, buckets, bailers, etc. It is also in pirate attire. Cindy, Gene, Ginny, and Bruce walk back up for the starting picture (we missed it) while we bring the dinghy up. Everyone gets in their dinghy and the gun goes off. We are supposed to head to the “Sand Box” on Prickly Pear Island for our first card, but the water fight has begun. Tons and tons of water flying. Dirk from Catatonic is running around in his center console 40hp dinghy and almost swamps us with his wake. We stop to bail, and bail, and bail. We start filling the water guns and cannons from all the water in the boat. It is hysterical. We are laughing and have a blast. We finally arrive at the Sand Box, buy beers and get our first cards. I get a 9 of clubs. Paul gets 6 of spades. We empty the dinghy of the rest of the water and head to Saba Rock for the next card and most of the group order lunch. We are soaked again and Dirk is now shooting ice water from a cooler filled with ice. Oh SH%T that IS COLD! AT Saba Rock I pick a 10 of Diamonds. OK and 9 and a 10…not bad. Gene has 2 Queens. The rest of the group has pretty crummy cards. We have a beer on the upper deck while everyone is eating. We decided that we are still full from breakfast and will opt to get the “supposedly best French fries in the Islands” later at Virgin Queen. Next is off to the Bitter End for our next cards. I get another 10. Cool. No one else gets much in the way of good cards. We see Dirk buy another bag of ice and put it in his cooler. Son of a gun! I then distract Dirk while Paul goes over to his boat and dumps the ice out of the cooler into his boat. Paul does not get seen and we head out to Fat Virgin for French Fries and Mudslides. Still the water fights continue. We are permanently WET! We are the first to arrive and immediately put in our order for 4 baskets of FF. We watch the antics of the arriving boats who are still water fighting. It does not end. The fries are good and we have mudslides and beers to wash them down. I pick another 9. WOW. 2 9’s and 2 10’s. A really good hand! 2 pair! After picking our cards we have the long haul back to Leverick Bay. Of course, there is still more water flying. A boat with a Heineken flag is moving quickly to our starboard rear. Everyone LOAD! We are just ready to shoot and they hold up beers and yell “FREE BEERS”. Hold your fire. They really are giving out free Heinekens. Cold beers to drink on our way back. Nice! We get back to Cattitude and clean up all the stuff and head up to the pool to jump in. LuSea is glad to see us as we left her with Dirks’ mother as babysitter. We get our last cards. I go to pick my card from Monica’s hand and there are two cards together. I try to take the bottom one and Monica thinks that I saw the card. She pulls the hand back and reshuffles. I take my last card and it is another 10. Yippers! A full house: three 10’s and two 9’s. They have a large board that they are stapling the cards on and it looks like I may be the winner. Later another winning hand comes in with two Queens and three 5’s. Nick thinks that that is the winning hand because of the Queens, but everyone is telling me that my 3 10’s take the 3 5’s of that hand. Nick is still not sure and says he will "Google it" before announcing the winner. I am pretty sure it is me, and we go back to the boat to get cleaned up for the awards and dinner. Awards announced…. I AM THE WINNER! I win a magnificent “Atocha” replica coin made from pure silver from the sunken vessel the “Atocha” that sunk in the 1600’s. The coin is surrounded by a pure gold bezel with skull and cross bones at the top. It has a fine silver chain and is just gorgeous. I also receive 2 bottles of Laurent-Perrier Champagne. NICE! Everyone is in awe of the necklace. Dinner is great and afterwards they have Fire Dancers as the entertainment. Fun night. We say goodbye to our dinghy crew as they are not going to Anegada but off on their own. We head back to the boat and when I get back, I check out the price of the necklace and champagne. About $550 US for the necklace and about 75 pounds for each bottle of champagne. Nice prize! Do NOT ask me how I drew that hand, but thank you Monica for pulling those cards back and making me take a different card. Tomorrow is another day…off to bed.
See this link for more pictures of the Dinghy Poker Run.....see how many times you can find us.  http://www.digiproofs.com/ecom/g.pl

Wednesday, June 30th 2010 Off to the Anegada Lobsta Regatta. We are the committee boat along with another powercat. The plan in made as to the starting order and we head out first to become the starting point. We record each boat as they cross the start line. After the last boat has crossed, we head out to beat them to the finish area so that we become the Finish Line. 1.5 hrs. Though it is really really windy, the seas are not bad and it is a very nice trip. We arrive at the designated area and radio our GPS location to the race boats. The finish line will be the bow of our boat. The other power cat which was to be taking pictures has engine issues, so they arrived after the race had been won. As each boat came in we recorded their time and I took their picture. All arrived with the exception of the monohull named appropriately “Long OverDo”.

We put into the bay and anchor with the rest of the group. We finally get to use our kayak. Putting it in was not really hard. We kayak around to each boat to find out what the plan is and to find out how we decide who the winner was. We are not sure if the handicaps change things, but we are told it is the shortest times from start to finish.

We are told that the plan is for dinner at Potter’s with the menu of buffet or lobster dinner. The lobster is priced about right, but $35 for a buffet is ridiculous. We kayak into shore and go the Potters to order 1 full lobster (for me) and a buffet dinner for Paul. We then just hang out on the boat until dinnertime. Ashore for dinner we announce the winners and have a really nice meal. (though definitely expensive) Most people are annoyed with the prices and one group was not aware that you had to preorder the lobsters and were told that they could not get them. They were PISSED. They should have known better, it is not their first time to the islands and all boaters know that you have to order your dinners by 4pm to actually get what you want. They left and went back to their boat.

Thursday, July 1st, 2010 Today is an organized trip to Potters new place on the ‘”beach” side of the island near Flash of Beauty. At 11am we all head to the island buses. LuSea comes with us this time and we are brought to the beach. They have extended the road somewhat, but we still have a very bumpy ride for a distance. The new place is nice, but not completed and nothing special. We came out under a palatal and head into the water. We are supposed to have lunch here, but after the cost of last night’s dinner we decide to bring PB&J and some cold beers. A good decision as it was the same food as last night only for $20 a plate this time. We walk the beach, chat with friends, take pictures and by 4pm the bus comes back for us. We go for a swim when we get back and LuSea rides in her Little Mermaid float. We shower off and have late cocktails on the aft deck and watch the sunset. Dinner and bed.

Friday, July 2nd, 2010 we are the last to leave Anegada. We head to White Bay, Jost at around 10am. It is a rolly ride with the waves on our port aft quarter. We hope when we get in deeper water it will smooth out some. By the time we are finally passing Tortola is does smooth out. We see Blue Moon on our starboard and pass them to arrive in White Bay before them. All the other boats have already arrived. We spend our day between Seddy’s "One Love" (having Raquel’s perfect Bushwhacker’s) and the Soggy Dollar having their painkillers. We put 6 painkillers on their prepaid board for Glenn Ashmore a fellow TTOLer who made our wifi set up. It works great and for the cost of 6 painkillers plus parts it was a deal. We are picking up about 10 to 20 wifi stations with this system. We always seem to find one that is not encrypted and are able to log on. This will allow us to get rid of our AT & T wifi aircard.

Saturday – July 3rd, 2010 – Today is install the new inverter. So all power has been turned off and Paul is working hard. He starts around 9am and is done by 2 but the battery charger won’t work. Seddy snorkels out to us around 12noon, to see how Paul is making out, but then gets roped into helping him check as to why the battery charger won’t work and to finally pull the new one out and put back our old inverter/charger. And, I was so excited to have an inverter that had a pure size wave so that I didn’t need to start the battery charger each and every time I needed to use the Micro or Toaster Oven. Oh well, now to do battle with Xantrex to get it replaced. We won’t do that until after our charter next week. So, as there is nothing more we can do with the inverter, we do as any good boaters in White Bay would do and go back to One Love for more Bushwackers. I am also on to give Raquel’s doggie “Teddy” a haircut. A good trade…..haircut for Bushwackers. Paul helps me clip Teddy (who is not really happy about the “day at the spa”. But together we get the dirty deed done. Teddy looks much cooler with his new “do”. We swim and laze around for the rest of the afternoon.

Sunday – July 4th, 2010 – Today is back to Compass Point so that we can get the boat cleaned up and get some provisions for the charter start on Tuesday. We call Kenny and he says that we can dock at the end of the T-dock instead of going into our slip. It is cooler there and easier for the charterers to board. We pull in stern to the mangroves and after getting the lines set discover that our power cord will not reach. Start over, turn around, bow to the mangroves and reset the lines, fenders, and power cord. We are not there very long and the sky opens up. Yuck. It is hot and wet…like living in a rainforest. During the storm, Kenny calls to tell us that the boat that is permanently docked where we are would like to come in. Crap…we have to move again, but after the storm. Around 5pm we pull out and into our actual dock space. We spend the rest of the day cleaning and after dinner, Paul calls to see how his father is as Ashley got a facebook message from her cousin saying that he was in the hospital. He calls his mom as we don’t know what hospital he is in and finally gets the number. His mother is having memory issues. Paul speaks with his dad and he really doesn’t sound well. After getting off the phone we decide that Paul will fly to Florida after the charter finishes and I buy him a plane ticket on Spirit Air to Ft. Lauderdale where he will rent a car and drive to Cape Coral.

Monday – July 5th, 2010 – Today is clean the boat and get groceries. Paul washed the outside as I clean all the cabins and put away the stuff we will not need and make the beds. By 4pm we decide to take the dinghy to Independent Boat yard and walk to Food Center. There we buy fresh fruits, vegetables, and a few additional stapes. We fill two coolers and have one other bag. Paul puts the larger one on his shoulder and we carry the smaller one between us and I carry the lone bag. We get back to the dock and dink back over to Cattitude, but on the way we see Capt. Jim and his wife Joyce from the charter boat “Blue Moon” on their dock and stop to say hi and bye as they are leaving for the summer and going back to NC until hurricane season is over. We then head back to Cattitude and I make the last of the salads that I will need for the charter tomorrow.

Don't ask as to why I can't get this picture to turn, but no matter what I do it flips on it's side.  Go figure

Week 2

Tuesday June 22

Resorted grocery cabinets

Paul installed windlass and we put markers in the new anchor chain

Kiwi came to measure for bookshelf in our stateroom

Kenny came to inquire about me fixing the marina’s QkBks

VERYVERY HOT & MUGGY -almost unbearable

Wednesday June 23, 2010

We continue to unpack and I have a meeting with the marina General Manager and the Owner. It is agreed that I will do some more QkBks work for them when we are back in the marina on July 15th. Hey, it pays the dockage bills. As the owner is driving me back to our boat, he asks what Paul did for a living and when I say Union Electrician his eyes light up. Ooops, Paul may have work also. (Hey what is good for the gander, is good for the goose). When I come back to the boat Paul is ready to install the new anchor chain. We move it by hand from the dock to the compartment. It is sooo nice and clean. What a pleasure after the old rusty chain. I doubt that we will ever get all the rust marks off the deck from the old chain. The windlass works great!

Thursday June 24th, 2010 Today I re-sort all the food cabinets and put away the last of the provisions. We are finally unpacked! Yippee!. It takes a good part of the day and Paul installs our hurricane lines at the dock. We must have them installed, even though we are going out cruising. They want us to be prepared if something starts brewing. We get a call on Paul’s cell phone and someone is interested in buying our old 2500 watt inverter. He comes to see it and writes me a check. We still have to uninstall it and install the new one, so it is decided that when we get it out, we will deliver it to him in Tortola and he will trade his check for “cold hard cash”. This works out great for us as we really don’t want to be carrying the second inverter around until we got a buyer. Now we just have to unload the cooler and charcoal grille that we have and we will be very happy. This is our last night at the dock. We can’t wait to get out of here. Unfortunately for me, it is the last night of A/C until we are at Leverick Bay and on their docks. We also install the radome cable, the wifi cables and antenna and the wires for the spreader lights. The radar works! The wifi works, but I can’t seem to get onto a free wifi signal. Well, maybe in the BVI.

Friday June 25th, 2010 We are officially cruising. We leave the dock early morning and head straight to Christmas Cove at St. James Island. It is one of the nicest anchorages and very close to our marina. We still have to scrub the bottom, polish the bimini frame, put up the life jacket bag and wash the boat. The weather has started to turn crummy again. This rain just doesn’t stop. It doesn’t bother Paul who is under the boat using our “Hooka” diving system. It is an air compressor with a very fine filter hooked up to one or two 100’ air hoses with dive regulators attached. It is like diving with tanks, but you don’t have to refill tanks and it runs off our A/C power. Paul is under the boat for about 3 hours cleaning and when he comes up he looks like crap. It is very hard work and cleaning the props is the worst part. He takes a rest in the salon while I make lunch. We finish cleaning the bimini and I polish the stainless frame where the lifejackets will hang. There is too much rust to do the whole thing at one shot. Paul finishes under the boat. Takes about another hour and a half, but hopefully he won’t have to do it again for a couple of months. Cocktails, dinner and bed. Our usual routine.

Sat. June 26th, 2010. Up early again and today is boat washing day. Luckily it is still cloudy with intermittent rain. The rain actually helps by keeping the softscrub wet. It takes all day, but we have it done by about 6pm. The sun finally comes out and there is a really nice dry north wind. It is so pleasant out after an entire week of rain. We have cocktails and watch the sunset. Dinner and bed. Tomorrow we head over to the BVI for the start of the TTOL Regatta.

Sun. June 27th, 2010. At 11am we head for Soper’s Hole, West End, Tortola. It is a nice cruise and we pick up a mooring ball at about 12:30pm. I try to call the BVI Vet to meet us to clear in LuSea, but I just get the recording. We head in to Customs & Immigration to “clear in”. We tell them that we have LuSea (they actually remember us from the last time). We clear no problem other than it is Sunday so all the fees are tripled for Overtime. $31. to get into the silly country. Now LuSea on the other hand, is a problem. They can’t get a hold of the BVI Vet either. We tell them that the last time we came, the Vet said to just leave the papers and the money in an envelope and that that would be fine. They say”NO”, we can only do that if the Vet tells them that that is OK. Grrrrrrrr. We wait and wait, finally they get someone on the phone who says that someone else will come down to clear her in. We ask “how long” and no one has any idea. So we decide to go to the Market to get a few items and take our handheld VHF radio along so that they can call us when the VET arrives. We get back from the Market and put everything away. Still no call. I tell Paul to get the dog, her travel bag, and that we are going to C&I with her. We get to the office and I plop her in her bag on the counter and say that we have been waiting for 1.5 hours now and really need to clear her in so that we can get to our next stop yet today. After another couple of phone calls, they tell us to leave the paperwork and the money in an envelope and to have a nice day.l (WAIT, didn’t I say that 2 hours ago?) Off we head with LuSea “legal”.

We head over to the Bight at Norman Island. There we meet up with the other TTOL regatta boats. Blue Moon, Catatonic, Utopia, Long Over Do, Galeaux, & Southern Composure. We hop into our dinghy with LuSea and start making the round to say high to all our friends. While we are visiting boats the most incredible thing happens. A dolphin appears in the Bight and is swimming around the kids in the water. He is having as much fun as the people in the water and those watching. He does a couple of jumps, swims on his back and is just swimming in and under all the kids. WOW! It is so cool He stays and plays for almost 30 minutes. Nothing on this trip will top that. We head in for dinner (in pirate garb) at 7pm. It is a very nice buffet and we stay until about 10:30 talking and just relaxing.

Monday June 28th We cruise to Virgin Gorda and Leverick Bay. On the way it pours and then clears. Even LuSea had her rain gear on.  We go through the “cut” and get a slip at Leverick Bay Marina for the next 2 nights. A/C again, YES! After everyone arrives we all head up to the pool to cool off and have a few drinks. LuSea joins us and we just wet her down. But, we enjoy the freshwater pool. Cindy and Gene with their guests Ginny and Bruce come to the dock to see us. They are in our dinghy tomorrow for the poker run.

We later have dinner aboard and Jeff from Blue Moon comes over to bring me his dolphin pics. 10pm off to bed. Tomorrow is the Leverick Bay Dinghy Poker Run.

New Beginnings - Heading out.....

June 15th DAY 1 – So, I guess this is the first day of the rest of our lives.

We are up at 4:45am to get the 9am flight from JFK. Everything is packed and it is an easy ride to JFK. There is very little traffic, but then again how many people are actually up and driving at that hour.

Arrival at the airport goes really smoothly. We are quick through security and off to the Admirals Club to wait for the plane. We head down to the gate at 8:20 as boarding is supposed to start at 8:30. When we get to the gate, the plane has already started boarding and it appears that all the luggage bins near our seats are full. People seem to just leave their luggage in the first available bin and then head to their seats in the back of the plane. Now this will make for an interesting departure from the plane since our carry-on luggage is way behind us. So people in the front have their luggage in the back, and people in the back have their luggage in the front. The plane is totally full. Not one empty seat. Poor LuSea is crammed between Paul’s feet. Luckily, the lady next to us is friendly. The flight is smooth and we arrive 15 min. early. Cool.

At the airport Paul goes to pick up our luggage and I call the car company. This is the first time we are using this company. When they answer I explain that we have arrived and will be waiting outside. They will recognize us by the small black dog with us. “DOG” they say, “we don’t rent cars to people with dogs”. You ARE kidding, I reply. No one told us that there was a restriction and they reply with that we didn’t tell them that we had a dog. It is a total standoff. No matter how I try to convince then that the dog doesn’t shed, is in a travel bag, etc. the answer is “NO”. They attempt to find us another car company that will accept dogs and they send us to Hertz. Now I know Hertz will not take us back to the marina at the end of the rental but we talk to them anyway. “No way” is their response when I request a return to the marina after the rental. This is not going well. I do, however, have a reservation that I had made with Budget a couple of months ago. We had decided to try to find another company that would rent us a car because of their really high prices. I go to Budget and they have our car. Twice the price, but we have no choice. The rest goes smoothly. We are quickly processed and Paul brings the car to LuSea and I who are standing guard over our luggage.

There is not much traffic, so we arrive at the marina in short order (after a quick stop at McDonalds---we are starving).

Now starts the unpacking process. It is not that bad as most of the stuff has been shipped via Carib Trans. We take out all the things that have been put away. I find a couple of Carib’s that were left from our last trip and immediately put them in the freezer. By 5pm we call it a day. We have been up since 4am. I pull those Carib’s from the freezer and we stroll the docks.



Wed. June 16th – day 2

Today is shopping day. We have to do the “Great Circle”….. Price Smart (like Costco), CostULess (like BJ’s), Kmart, Home Depot, Budget Marine, etc. We do Budget Marine and while there, we see a kayak in the middle of the store. For sh&ts and giggles I ask the price. It turns out that someone had won it months ago and never picked it up. Roger, the store manager, tells us that the guy would probably sell it and he offers to call him for us to see. Well, long story short…… we are now proud owners of a 2 seat kayak with backrests, paddles, and a fishing drogue. We leave the money with the store manager and put the kayak and assorted peripherals in the back of the mini van. Luckily, we are not far from the marina and only a short distance in the main road with few hills. The kayak sticks out the back of the van by about 3 feet, so I hold on to it while Paul drives. We take it to Cattitude and put it up on our dinghy davits and begin our trek again. Now to Kmart for liquor, Home Depot for more storage containers and finally to CostULess . After CostULess we return to the boat to put the cold items away and have lunch. (You just can’t keep anything in the car as the heat it pretty bad right now. After lunch, we head out a second time, this trip is Price Smart and Plaza Extra (the grocery store) and much to Paul’s dismay a quick stop to the nursery to get a small amount of potting soil. I WILL have fresh parsley and basil. We head back to the boat and put away the second batch. By 6pm it is time for “sundowners”. We have a dinner of a Rotissere Chicken from CostULess. Early to bed, tomorrow is pickup of the 22 boxes from Carib Trans.

Thursday June 17th - day 3. We are having coffee before we leave and Kiwi (the carpenter) shows up. He is looking to get the final payment for the door that he installed between our cabin and the “basement”. He does magnificent work, but is on island time and island price. We end up sitting and chatting for over an hour. He is telling us about all the places he has been while cruising. We now have a small solar powered “turning” globe on our salon table (thank you Ted) and he takes it and point out his stops and adventures along the way. By 10:30 I say that we have to get going. He leaves, with money in hand (he is happy) and Paul and I head out to pick up our shipment and do a quick batch of laundry. Our travel clothes are quite yucky (did I say it is really hot and muggy) and I want to put them away until we are ready to travel back home. We stop at the Laundromat and I start the load. While the load it running we head to St. Thomas Shipping where our stuff is. We pay for the shipment and Paul will take the paperwork to Customs to clear in the shipment and I will go back to the Laundromat with LuSea (undercover) to finish up the laundry. Paul picks me up and we head back to St. Thomas shipping to load up the boxes. They all FIT!

Now comes the real job. Getting them to the boat and unpacking. The marina has dock carts, thankfully, for transporting them from the parking lot to the boat. We pull out our large tarp and set it up in the cockpit. We stack the 22 boxes and call it a day. Cocktails, dinner, and early to bed.

Friday June 18th - day 4. We only have the car until 1:30 so we head out once more to CostULess to buy some more storage containers. Paul found some more storage areas in the aft cabins under the floor. It is perfect for storing all the juices and mixers for drinks and for storing the extras of personal toiletries. We drop off the storage boxes at the boat and head out to Red Hook to find West Indies Wind Surfing. We have been told that the owner of WIWSurfing also sells and installs Solar Panels. The road to the beach is horrible, but we manage to get the minivan down to the beach. No one is there. . I tell Paul that we should just call the guy and ask him to come out to the boat to look and talk. We now have an hour before the car is due back and I suggest that we stop for a drink at Lattitude 18 which is right on the same horrible road. Paul immediately responds “but, we have SO much work to do”. I keep my mouth shut, but think to myself, this is not the way I saw this “relaxation” going. A moment later, he says, “well, we aren’t really on any schedule so let’s go”. (Thank you, Jesus!) We decide to not only have a drink, but lunch too. It is right on the water and the wind is blowing strong so it is nice and cool. We have GREAT cheeseburgers (in Paradise) and probably one of the best we have ever had. LuSea sits under the table and watches the iguanas strolling past. Of course, she would really like to “play” with one of them, but luckily for her she is leashed short enough so as not to get to them. They could do a number on her with their tails. We see several iguanas on the lawn as I guess they are the “natural lawnmowers”. 1:30 comes and we return the car. Back at the boat, now comes the real hard work. Putting away 22 boxes of stuff. While cleaning to put stuff away, our vacuum dies. Just great, we have just returned the car and now we have no vacuum. I email Pamela from Catatonic to see if should would mind taking us to get a new one. No prob, is the answer. Saved again! Tonite the rains from Invest-92L are supposed to start. Just what we needed (at least it is not supposed to be a tropical cyclone). We talk to Ashley using Skype for the first time…it is really cool. Even LuSea is using Skype to see her buddies in NY!!!

Sat. June 18th – day 5. I have been asked by the marina manager to look at their QuickBooks, so I have an appointment to go to the office around 9am. It is pouring as the storm has arrived in the VI. It started last night and the rain has been pretty heavy. When there is finally a break around 10:30 I go to meet the bookkeeper. I spend an hour with her and am asked to train their data entry person on Monday. (so much for not working, but it will help to pay the really expensive dockage.) When I get back at the boat, I spend the day emptying boxes and putting stuff away with Paul. We get about 50% of the boxes emptied. Just not put away.

The salon is now stacked with “stuff”. LuSea unpacked her most important item from the pile of rubble.   Tomorrow, is another day, we will finish then.

Sun. June 19th – day 6. Today is Father’s Day. It is still pouring. Were we to meet Pamela of Catatonic for breakfast today but due to the storm she couldn’t get out of her driveway. (when they have one of these storms down here, they can get 10 to 18 inches of rain in just a couple of hours). It makes for a real mess of the roads with mudslides and rocks & trees falling. Ashley and Tom both call to wish Paul a “happy F-day”. Paul calls his Dad to wish him a great day, only to find that his Dad is in the hospital. He fell, but seems to be ok. Either way, it is not a good situation. We can only hope for the best on that one. Today is a continuation of emptying boxes. Paul is amazed at how I am able to find a place for everything. It takes some work, but I now have a pretty good handle on it. Anything put in a storage container is marked with its contents. I find the Father’s Day present that I brought for Paul and give it to him at cocktail hour. Another new pair of board shorts. We’ll bring him to the 21st century one way or another.



Monday June 20th – day 7. Still raining but with breaks of sun. Off to see the data entry girl at the office. 9:30am to 11:45am. About an hour after I am there, we hear crying at the office door. LUSEA is outside. I have no idea how she found me from the boat. I call Paul and ask him if he is missing anything. He said that she was there just a few minutes before. She had to walk down the long dock, thru the parking lot, across the small road and into the building that houses the office. Everyone thinks it was by smell. (I must really stink). Back to the job at hand, mission accomplished, though they tell me that there is a bigger need. A new data file. Stay tuned on that one. Maybe I can pay for the entire summer at the marina. Now that would be cool, even though I really am not looking forward to working on QkBks. I am having enough trouble getting myself to enter my data (credit card receipts) in my QkBks on a regular basis. Today we are to have lunch with Pamela (the manager of the charter boat “Catatonic”). When I get out of the office, I find she is waiting for us. I go to get Paul and he has stuff all over the bow as he has started changing out the anchor windlass. We pack it up in the cabin, put LuSea in her crate in the A/C’d bedroom and head out with Pam for lunch and to Kmart for the vacuum. We have lunch at Independent Boat Yard at an outdoor café “Carrigas”. We no sooner sit down at a table and in walks Kiwi. He joins us. (everyone on this island knows everyone….it is a VERY small island) It seems that whatever we order, it not available today. We finally all choose available meals and the food is really good. When it is time to leave Pamela gets a call from her husband (his is terminally ill) and she has to go home. We are left to deal with the “dollar” bus to get to and from Kmart. It actually turns out not to be bad. We only wait a few minutes and the bus comes rolling down the road. Hand out…and it stops. You ring the doorbell that is mounted on the inside roof to tell the driver to stop so you can get off. Hand the driver a dollar and you are done. These busses run very often as they are actually privately owned. So, the more stops they can do, the more they make. It is the main transportation for the locals. It is a great system. In Kmart we find the vacuums but they are much larger than what we had. We finally decide on a 2 gal. wet/dry shop vac, but I am disappointed that it does not have the long extension handles, only a hose and some attachments. (but, I remember, the day before when we threw out the old vac, I threw out the extension tubes. To me they looked that they might actually fit). Guess Paul is going “dumpster diving” when we get back. We head out and find the place to pick up the dollar bus and it arrives shortly. It takes the longer way around, through Red Hook, but it is still a quick ride. We do, however, have to walk the mile road from the main road to the marina. Luckily, it is cloudy and there are some breezes, and they sky doesn’t open up. It was not as bad as I expected, but it is pretty much a downhill walk. Not sure about going the other way, as it is uphill most of the walk. Back at the boat, LuSea is quietly sleeping in her crate. The mechanic is doing a service on our generator, and our anchor chain has been delivered. Since it is now around 4pm we decide to lay out the anchor chain and put the markers on as there is not much more that can be done. Paul does actually install the windlass motor, but it is now 6:30 and we call it quits. It is really hot, and very, very muggy. I have absolutely NO ambition and at 8:30 Paul makes himself a sandwich and I make myself grilled cheese. I am dead. I shower and head to bead. Tomorrow is another day.

7 days to go

Today is June 8th. We leave in exactly 7 days. Now everything is getting funky.

Paul's back went out, Ashley is coming down with a cold, I am overwhelmed with computer stuff and it is 9pm and been working at my computer since 8 this morning.

Trying to get all the info we need onto our 2 laptops so that we can function on our own down there.

Ash & Kev planning a party for us on Sat. nite. Looking forward to seeing everyone before we leave.

Down to the Islands - Come Soon!

Today is June 2nd. It is the first day since I merged my company with another Intuit Solution Provider company. This will allow me to be away more and for longer periods. Paul has been out of work since December 24th so we are finally heading down to the Islands with one way tickets.
Ashley has planned a going away party on June 12th. I guess it is also a "going away" party of sorts. Works for us!
We have packed up all the boxes for the boat and delivered them to the trucking who will take them to the freighter in Miami. They will arrive in the Islands 2 days after we arrive.
Ashley & Kevin have moved into our house and will live there while we travel. Hopefully, it will be for a full 3 years before we make longer range plans. We have consolidated our two homes. We had "stuff" and they had "stuff", which makes for a whole lot of "STUFF". Everything is finally put away and the duplicates stored in the attic.
Paul and I have a few more items to wrap up, including more Dr's. With leaving for such a long time, we have both been inspected, injected and finally given pretty clean bills of health.
LuSea is the last to deal with the Vet, then haircuts for all and off we go on June 15th.

Thursday 2-25 Day 7

We wake up at 5:45am and attempt to get done in the galley before the guys arrive to finish the shaft install. Paul attempts to make a bowl of oatmeal in the microwave and discovers that it no longer works. Well that is just greatL. Now what do we do? We have no car, our boat is in a drydock, and the kids are coming next week. The microwave had overheated a number of times and stopped working, but it always came back to life. This time the keypad will not do anything. It is dead. I make the oatmeal on the stove (the old fashion way).

By 6:15 "Shock Wave" as he is known, shows up to finish the shaft install. While he continues working, Paul works on polishing the hull and I try to figure out how to get a microwave. The microwave that we have is a special size and it took going to quite a number of stores before I found one the right dimension. The microwave fits into what was a cabinet over the sink. What are the chances that we will actually find the right size on St. Thomas, and how are we going to get to the stores?

A little while later, I see Brian (the engine mechanic) and he offers me the use of his jeep, but I turn him down not wanting to take the responsibility of using his car on this island of crazy drivers. I do remember that Pamela Wilson (the mgr. of the charter boat Catatonic) had offered to go pick up the kids next week if I needed her help. I figure that the least she can tell me is no, but I call her to see if she knows where I can get a new microwave. She offers to pick us up at Compass Point later in the afternoon and take us to the circle of stores in the Tutu Mall area. Perfect, but I am still concerned that we will not find the right size.

At 8:30am Gene tells us that they are going to start putting us back in the water (even tho the last of the connections of the shaft are not done). It is determined that "ShockWave" will continue working while they lower the dry dock and float us. We will only have the use of one engine so Gene has a guy ready in a dinghy to act as tug boat for us. He will help push the boat next to the old dry dock so that the work can be finished.

It takes about an hour and a half to get the dry dock down, boats floated and us pushed to our dock space. It goes surprising smoothly. Once we are docked, Paul checks out our gas grill that he had trouble with last night when cooking dinner. He puts the hose & regulator on, turns it on, and it appears to be working fine. Not sure what the problem was last night, but it gets hot quickly this morning.

By 11:30am the boat is ready to go out for a test ride. We want them to check the temperature of the bearings and Brian wants to check the engine work that he did. With Brian from Offshore Marine, and Bob from the dry dock we get ready to leave. We look for our thermal gun to check the temp. and cannot find it anywhere. No that is really NOT cool. We know that we had it when we arrived at the drydock, so where is it now? Bob goes and gets his and we leave the dock. Once out in the channel, Paul heads downstairs to work with the guys while steer out to sea. We get the engines up to 3000rpm and I am running at 16kts. according to the GPS "speed over ground". The new bearing appears to be behaving by it still reading 20 degrees hotter than the port side. We all wonder if there is still a problem, but there is absolutely no vibration of the shaft and everything looks great. Time will tell.

With everything working, we drop the guys off at Sub Base and head a quickly as possible to Compass Pt. Marina where Pamela is meeting us to microwave shop. We arrive at exactly 1pm (as scheduled) and Pamela meets us. We decide to start at Kmart. Paul and I go in and Pamela keeps LuSea in the car with her. Kmart has a number of microwaves that are small enough to fit into the cabinet, but they are so much smaller than what we had. We go back to the car and tell her that we would like to try another store before buying the smaller one in Kmart. She takes us to Price Smart. Amazingly, Price Smart has a Samsung (same brand as we had) that is the perfect dimension. Only two issues……. First, the microwave keypad is completely in Spanish. Not even Spanish & English. OK I guess we can live with that. There is no book with the unit. Also unfortunately, we can't find any units in boxes. It seems that have just the floor model. We find an employee who helps us to look and when he can't find them either, he makes arrangements for us to buy the floor model. Score! Guess we will have to learn more Spanish. With microwave under arm and a bottle of Baileys for Pamela, we head out to the car and back to the marina. None of us believe that we did it in only two stores.

We thank Pamela profusely and take our new prize to Cattitude. It fits perfectly! Guess our Spanish microwave will serve rice and beans with all meals cooked in it. J

Paul takes the old micro to the dumpster and we are off to Whistling Cay for the night! Actually, feels like vacation for a few hours. When we get to Whistling Cay it is pretty wind so we decide to take a mooring ball at the far north/west end of Maho Bay. It is one single ball all by itself. However, it is close to the channel between Whistling Cay and St. John. It is now 5ish so we decide to call it a day and have cocktail hour while watching the sunset. We set up our beach chairs on the aft deck and have a cold one (or two). While sitting there, a ferry comes barreling thru the cut and we rock and roll. Paul & I go sliding across the aft deck in our chairs. Luckily, we didn't slide right off the deck. It was actually pretty funny, and probably funnier to anyone who might have been watching us. While relaxing, the local "Volunteer Boat Rangers" pulls up. (To be a volunteer, you check on what boats come into the mooring field and write down the names. You also tell them of the park rules. Performing this service gets you a free mooring for the length of your stint. I hear it is a month minimum. Mr. & Mrs. Volunteer take their job very seriously with matching hats and their clipboard. They remind us that we need to put our $15 mooring fee into the "Iron Ranger". (An anchored boat with a metal drop box attached). We will do that tomorrow when we are leaving. Lucky, I have an envelope from the Park Service that I can prefill and then just get a new blank envelope for our next visit. Go away, we just want to relax. We should have stayed at the end of Whistling Cay. It appears that that is too far for our Ranger Volunteers to travel.

I put a call in to the BVI Vet but there is no answer. I also email him. I want to be sure that he can meet us tomorrow at Soper's Hole to clear in LuSea.

We have dinner and I shower & head to bed while Paul reads for awhile. Tomorrow we go back to the BVI for some fun. (now there is a novel word in our Cattitude Adventures).

Wednesday 2-24 Day 6

We get up early and by 8am they are back working on the boat. Paul starts working on the hull to try to bring back the color.
I pull out my sewing machine and make more screens for all the heads and replacement screens for the port companionway and above the stove.

Brian from Offshore Marine shows up to replace the engine harnesses on both sides to see if we can get the start and stop buttons and the gauges to work again. It is quoted to us that it should take about 2 hrs. per engine. By 1:30pm Brian is almost finished with the stbd engine. He heads out to lunch and upon return finishes that engine and begins the port engine. The stbd engine had a number of issues with the wiring. TMM when something wouldn't work would just cut the wires and add new wires. It was a mess. By 4:30 Brian is done.

At this point we still have not seen our new shaft and assorted components. Paul goes to check as to what it happening and finds that they have started working on something else instead of finishing our shaft and a new shaft nut that was determined to be needed. Gene the owner, is ticked off because they need to put us back in the water first thing Thursday along with Lisa & Andy's boat because of the 145ft. boat that needs a prop put on. Gene tells the guys to work late and they say that they will be back at 6am to finish up.

At 5pm Andy from the sailboat Zingaro proceeds to ask me a business question. He has a QuickBooks problem and can't back-up his file because it is corrupt. I tell him "no problem" I can fix it easily. Well, 2 hrs later and an hour on the phone with Intuit tech support I finally repair his file. It is now 7pm and we have dinner and head to bed with the knowledge of an early start.