May 23
The distances between islands here in the BVI is so short that today we are going to take in two destinations. We left The Bight at Norman's Island about 10:30 and headed northeast with a planned stop for lunch at Cooper Island. The wind was actually blowing from the southeast enough that we were able to sail. We put the main up as we were leaving The Bight, and then when we turned more northeast, we unfurled the jib. As soon as we did that, we noticed a dinghy coming our way. It turned out to be a photographer from Yacht Shots coming to take pictures of us. Somebody had told us they hung out here but that they only bother taking your picture if you are under full sail. Well, for the first time in a long time, we were. The way it works is you go out to their website the next day and you can look at the pictures. If you like them you can buy prints or the digital files. I bought several of the digital ones and they are all in the picture section. I also changed the picture on the homepage to one of these. There was a service similar to this that took pictures from a helicopter during the Harvest Moon Regatta back in Texas, but they refused to sell the digital files, so I never got those.
We spent a nice hour and a half or so sailing up to Cooper Island where we picked up a mooring. Sol Y Mar came in a little after us, as they tacked out a little further into the Sir Francis Drake Channel to enjoy a little more sailing. We all went in to the Cooper Island Beach Club for lunch. We have stopped here on each of our charters, and always enjoyed the atmosphere. One of our memories from our first charter was that you couldn't get frozen drinks before 18:00. That was because they didn't run their generator until 18:00 so they couldn't use the blender.
After lunch, we headed north around Beef Island to Trellis Bay. Trellis Bay is right off the end of the Tortola Airport's runway, but they only fly medium sized twin-prop planes here, and not many at that, so noise isn't really a problem. We dinghied to shore and took a stroll. There are a couple of galleries, a small grocery, an internet cafe, and Da Loose Mongoose restaurant and bar. We stopped at Da Loose Mongoose for a beer, and considered having dinner here, but it was hot and buggy, so we decided to check out the Last Resort to see if it had any more breeze.
The Last Resort sits on a tiny island in the middle of Trellis Bay, so we hoped for a breeze and fewer bugs. We dinghied over and were the only people there as it was too early for dinner people. It was happy hour though, and the Painkillers were two-for-one, so we plopped our butts down at the bar. There was just a hint of a breeze since the way the building is situated, the open side is away from the prevailing winds. The Last Resort used to be famous for it's beer drinking donkey. When we were here three years ago, we were told the beer drinking donkey had fallen in the water and drowned. She had been replaced by another one, but they no longer let you give her beer, just carrots. Well, that donkey fell ill and died a year ago, and they are taking a donkey break. But, the manager told us they had recently learned that the donkey that drowned had not drowned accidentally after all. A customer came in recently and told of hearing some college kids bragging that they had tied to kidnap the donkey by making her swim across the channel to the shore, but that she drowned halfway across. So now if you ask what became of the beer drinking donkey, they will tell you matter of factly that she was murdered. While there is no donkey, there are at least three cats, four dogs, and a bird who make there home here. They wander around the place along with a couple of small kids who belong to the manager. We decided to have dinner since we were already here, and were seated at 18:30. There were still only a couple other people here for dinner at this hour, but by the time we left the place was busy. They have a band starting at 21:00, but we explained to the staff that we were real cruisers, not charters on vacation for a week, and that we would be in bed by then. Which we were.
GPS N 18-26.832 W 064-31.931 Nautical miles traveled today 15. Total miles 9018.
May 24
Today may be the longest passage of our journey. We are going less than a mile over to Marina Cay. Marina Cay is a small island that has a large reef extending from it's southern end, making a large calm mooring field. We have stopped here on both our charters, because they have a fuel dock and water. But on the charters we never stayed overnight here, and I never even got off the boat. There is a Pusser's restaurant, bar and company store here, as well as a few guest bungalows scattered over the island. If you have a fast connection and a few minutes, click here to view a six minute video about Marina Cay and Pusser's Rum. Barb & I had lunch at the restaurant, and I had my first Pusser's Painkiller. All the others we have sampled in the last couple of weeks were good, but there is something about the flavor of Pusser's rum that makes the drink for me.
After lunch, we went back to the boat and relaxed for the afternoon. We took a dip in the water off the back of the boat to cool off as it is pretty warm and the breeze is again almost non-existent. Happy hour is at a bar on top of the hill reserved just for happy hour, and starts at 16:30. Then from 17:30 to 19:30 Michael Beans entertains. I say entertains, because this guy is more than just a singer. He plays guitar, has a harmonica on a neck holder, and stomps on a cardboard box with a microphone inside for percussion. He is heavily into pirate lore, and any word that he can stretch an "R" sound into an "aaarrrrr", he does. Before the show started, he poured a whole bottle of Pusser's rum into about sixty little plastic shot glasses in a rack by the stage. During the show, anybody who answered a pirate trivia question, or had a pirate toast, or caught his attention in just about any other way, got a free shot. The two hours went by very quickly and we had a lot of fun. After the show, we chatted with Michael for a few minutes and learned that he plans to sail away next year. He probably will come back to Marina Cay to play during high season, but then go back to his boat and continue his planned circumnavigation.
Sitting in front of us during Michael Beans show, was an old gentleman with several younger folks. The old guy said hi to us when they first sat down and said he was on a charter with his kids and grandkids. During the show, Michael introduced him as the former commodore of the St. Thomas Yacht Club. We learned later talking to him, that he moved to St. Thomas in 1947 and left for Washington State in the mid 80's. His children, and the two twenty-something grandchildren with him were all born in St. Thomas. He was eighty-six, and still seemed to be going strong. He made it up the hill to the bar, which left just about everybody huffing and puffing.
GPS N 18-27.668 W 064-31.705 Nautical miles traveled today 1. Total miles 9019.
May 25
We have a whopping five miles to go today to Virgin Gorda. We went into Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbor and got a slip for the night. We will enjoy air conditioning tonight as well as get a good charge on the batteries. Sol Y Mar took a mooring outside the marina basin. They dinghied in and tied up to our stern and we all went to lunch at The Bath & Turtle, one of several shops and restaurants right at the marina complex.
The Baths is an area where huge rounded boulders line the beach. Rocks like this are not found elsewhere in the BVI. There are day moorings available just off the beach here, but they are generally quite rolly, and they fill up with charter boats early in the morning. Thus we elected to go to the marina and take a taxi here. We visited here on our last charter, but since I was still recovering from my broken back, I couldn't make the trip from the main area to Devil's Beach. This "path" takes you around, under, and over rocks, through pools of cool water, up and down a couple of ladders, and rewards you at the end with a beautiful beach. I was very glad we made this stop as I had missed the fun of the trail to Devil's Beach and the beauty there. After enjoying the water for a couple of hours, we made our way back up the hill to the Top of The Baths, a bar and restaurant at the top. We had a couple of frozen island drinks while waiting for our taxi driver to pick us up at 16:30 as we had asked.
While in the water at the baths, we ran into the old guy from St. Thomas and his grandkids again. He had made it down the steep trail and was in the water with the rest of us, although the larger waves almost knocked him down a couple of times. I keep referring to him as "the old guy" not out of disrespect, but because I never did catch his name. I have the utmost respect for him to get out here and do this family charter at his age.
Back at the boat, we had dinner aboard. Barb picked up some fresh Italian bread at the bakery when we returned from The Baths, and made a jambalaya spaghetti dish and garlic bread.
GPS N 18-26.992 W 064-26.215 Nautical miles traveled today 6. Total miles 9025.
May 26
Our longest trip in several days comes today. We are going eight miles to North Sound, on the north end of Virgin Gorda. North Sound is the home of The Bitter End Yacht Club, Saba Rock, and Leverick Bay. There is almost no wind, so we motored all the way and picked up a mooring off of Saba Rock.
As we were rounding Mosquito Rock and entering North Sound, we could see Necker Island a coupe of miles away. Necker Island is Sir Richard Branson's private island. I have seen it profiled on the Today Show a couple years ago, when Matt Lauer visited. The island is rentable, usually exclusively for an individual and their guests. It can accommodate a maximum of twenty-eight guests at a mere $47,000 per night. But, that includes all your food and drink, as well as a plethora of toys. What a deal. We saw a helicopter land there just after we got our mooring, probably delivering guests. Maybe after we hit that lottery...
We stayed aboard and relaxed all afternoon, watching the mostly humorous and sometimes downright scary dance of the charter boats as they come in for the evening and pick up moorings. We saw two boats race for the same mooring in a dangerous game of chicken, with neither of them taking it in the end. We saw a boat with three women aboard make what had to be their very first mooring pick up. I say it had to be their first because nobody could possibly do it so wrong if they had ever tried it or even witnessed it before. The boat with "the old guy" showed up and we saw them at the restaurant later in the evening. We also enjoyed listening to the chatter on the VHF. We have gotten in the habit of always leaving the radio on, since it is our local telephone between those of us traveling together. Charterers for the most part have no idea of proper radio etiquette, and it can be quite amusing to hear some of the stuff they say. We learned from one radio conversation, that by paying for the mooring, we can come alongside their dock and fill our water tanks and get a bag of ice for free. Wish we had known that before we paid $.15/gal to fill the tanks in the marina yesterday. Oh well, we can be liberal in our use of ice today and get a new bag.
About 17:00, we headed into Saba Rock for happy hour and dinner. We met up with Gene & Cindy, the couple we met a few days ago in Cane Garden Bay who are also Texans. They introduced us to another couple, Carolyn and Paul who run a crewed charter boat, and their guests Ken & Barb who are from Phoenix. I enjoyed chatting with them about Phoenix, and they pick my brain about cruising, as they think it might be something they would enjoy someday. Saba Rock has a neat display pool which has an anchor and couple of canons from the wreck of The Rhone. The Rhone was a British mailboat that sank in a hurricane near Salt Island. It is a very popular BVI dive site, and I dove it the first time we chartered here. Once you get past the idea that these artifacts are hundreds of years old, you then notice all the other stuff in the pool. There were at least a half dozen of the biggest lobsters I have ever seen, a moray eel, and many other tropical fish. We went in the gift shop to pay for our moorings, and found a very interesting place. They had a display of a dozen or so restored antique outboard engines that looked brand new. They had a large inventory of Atocha coins as well as coins from several other shipwrecks. Pat found a pair of small Atocha coin earrings that caught his eye. He only has one ear pierced, and didn't want to spend $75 for two earrings when he only needs one. So, I offered to split the pair with him. No, I haven't gotten my ear pierced, but it has been a consideration. Now if I decided to do it, I'll have something to wear.
We moved to the restaurant area at 18:30 for the buffet diner. Part of why we came here today was because we heard they have a $30 diner buffet that includes roast beef, pork, lamb, mahi-mahi, a full salad bar, and the usual side dishes. All it was missing was a desert bar. We stuffed ourselves past capacity and were just sitting back chatting when we noticed several guys get up from tables and rush out. We wondered what was going on when we realized it was raining. Their boats must be open, as ours are. We have learned to not leave the boat open, even if there isn't a cloud in the sky, but we violated that rule tonight. Pat and I jumped up, but by the time we got to the dinghies, the rain had stopped. Since we were ready to go anyway, we went back to the table, paid our bills and left. We got back to the boat and found about a four inch diameter wet spot on the bed where the drip from the overhead hatch had concentrated. Elsewhere things in the v-berth were damp, but no real damage was done. There were a couple more showers and some distant thunder and lightening, so we kept things closed up and stayed up in the cockpit where it was a bit cooler until after midnight. When we did go below to bed, the rain seemed to be gone, and we opened back up. Of course that guaranteed another shower about 05:00.
GPS N 18-30.192 W 064-21.580 Nautical miles traveled today 8. Total miles 9033.
May 27
The big event in the area today is very foreign to us. It is a poker run for fast power boats, who seem to have mostly come here from Puerto Rico just for this weekend event. It is being hosted across North Sound at the Leverick Bay Marina. Fortunately for us, neither The Bitter End Yacht Club nor Saba Rock are participants in the event, so the boats are not coming across the sound to our end. We did see some evidence of the pending start about mid morning though. First, a helicopter started flying around the area. It landed down near our end of the sound and we could see that it was carrying three people with video equipment, apparently to cover the event. While the helicopter sat on the ground still running and ready to go, a seaplane circled above also. The seaplane made a very low pass the length of the sound as if it were going to land, but apparently was just also there to see the start. The helicopter took off again, and within a few minutes we saw the fast boats on the move. We learned later that there we seventy-two of them, and they slowly were coming our way. About half way across the sound they all turned north and took off out the channel for who knows where. The helicopter and plane followed. So all we got to see was the brief roar as they left. Later in the afternoon, they all came back, but not as one group, so we never noticed. We learned later that this was the sixth year for this event, it costs $250 to enter, and the money is split between the three best hands at the end.
In the early afternoon, we took a dinghy tour of the sound with Pat & Dori. We found Biras Creek in the southeast corner, where there is a small resort and marina. There were only a couple of boats in the marina and none on their eleven moorings. It is "off season" now, but I was surprised to see things so empty already. From Biras Creek, we went all the way across the sound to The Sandbox, which is on the north shore near the entrance channel. Here we found no customers, but there was a guy tending bar and a lady in the kitchen. We ordered drinks and sat at the bar enjoying what little breeze there was, but not enjoying the swarm of mosquitoes. There were three very friendly cats hanging around who initially wanted attention, but then went back to lounging or entertaining themselves. Shortly after serving us, the bartender and the kitchen lady came out of the kitchen and the bartender said he'd be back in a few minutes and if we needed refills to help ourselves. He had to take the kitchen lady across the sound in their boat. He was too quick on his return though, as we didn't have a chance to pour our own seconds. We had a second round, paid our tab and moved on.
Most people who have been here would say The Bitter End Yacht Club is the main attraction in North Sound. Even though we were in North Sound on our last charter, we spent the night on a mooring and never went ashore. So off to The Bitter End we went. We tied up to the long dinghy dock in front of the bar and restaurant and went in. We were first greeted by a grumpy waiter who told us that since it was mid-afternoon, we would either have to sit at the bar or get our own drinks from the bar if we wanted to sit at a waterside table. In other words, he wasn't going to wait on us. Pat & I went to the bar and asked if they had any special drinks. The grumpy bartender said rum punch, so we ordered four of them. The punch was ok, but since there was nothing here and they weren't making us feel very welcome, we decided to move on. Pat went to pay the bar tab, and it was $33. For four drinks. They weren't that special. So our impression of The Bitter End Yacht Club is that it is an overpriced crummy place to go. Saba Rock is much nicer, so to Saba Rock we went. The lady behind the bar remembered us from the previous evening, and greeted us warmly with a big smile and asked if we wanted the same as last time. That's how it's supposed to work. We enjoyed a couple of happy hour priced Painkillers and went back to the boat for dinner.
GPS N 18-30.192 W 064-21.580 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 9033.
May 28
Today we moved across the sound to Leverick Bay. The marina here was the host of the poker run yesterday, but those boats have all left this morning headed back to Puerto Rico. Puerto Rio seems so far away by our standards, but I overheard one of the few boat owners who hadn't left yet telling another person that it took him about forty minutes to get here. I wonder how much fuel that took? The marina also has about forty moorings here, so we picked up a mooring. Several things enticed us to come over here today. We heard on the radio that similar to Saba Rock, they are running a special that you can fill your water tanks and get a free bag of ice when you pay for a mooring. Also, the cruising guide says if you get at least twenty-five gallons of fuel, you get a free bottle of Pusser's rum. We dinghied ashore and went to the fuel dock office to pay for our moorings and inquire about the free rum deal. Well, the problem with a book like a cruising guide is that by the time it gets printed and distributed, it can be out of date. The marina and restaurant here used to be owned by Pusser's, and they had the deal on the fuel. While there still is a Pusser's store here, they sold the rest of the operation a couple of years ago, and the rum with fuel deal went out the window with the sale.
We went to the restaurant for lunch. While the service was ok, the food was mediocre and pricey. Oh well. You don't know until you try. While at lunch we noticed a table of eight or nine women who were obviously on vacation together. We later saw that they were on a large Mooring's charter boat. We paid some attention to them over the course of the afternoon and got the impression that maybe only one or two of them really had any idea what they were doing on a boat, and even that experience seemed to be minimal. They were having trouble with their dinghy motor not running, and had to be towed back to their boat by another boater at least twice. Later we heard them call the Mooring's maintenance guys at The Bitter End, and arrange to come over there to have them look at it. They dropped their mooring, but left a life jacket tied to it since they had apparently already paid for it. Later in the afternoon, we had returned to shore to visit the beach bar for happy hour. We read that they offered $.30 wings during happy hour, so we were looking forward to a cheap dinner. Out of date info again. But, their Painkiller's were good, and they were half price. While we watched, the Mooring's boat with the women came back. We're not exactly sure how they did it, but somehow they got the mooring pennant and/or their bridle line tangled around the keel and/or prop and/or rudder. The bottom line was they were not able to move the boat, it was obviously not properly secured because it was pointing the opposite way from everybody else, and their bridle line went back from the bow to amidships. We kept watching as they tried to power forward and the boat would abruptly come to a stop and bounce back. Finally one of them got in the dinghy to do something. We never were sure exactly what was tangled where, and it took them a good half hour to sort it out, during which time the dinghy died again. Pat & I considered going out to see if we could help, but our impression of these women from lunch was that help from a couple of guys was not what they would have wanted. When all was said an done, they seemed to be secure on the mooring, although the dinghy was dead again, and we weren't too sure the big boat might not be dead too with a line tangled on the prop. Oh well, that's why the Mooring's has chase boats to come rescue the less qualified charterers who seem to come up with an endless number of ways to get in trouble.
On that subject, it scares the hell out of me to look back and realize that just a few years ago I was one of these inexperienced charterers. The amount I've learned in two years of full time cruising is incredible compared to what I knew then. Chartering in the Virgin Islands is a good news bad news thing. The good news is that there are few ways to get in trouble. It's all deep water, you almost always use moorings at night so you don't have to know how to anchor or dock, you can see each island from the previous one, so you don't have to know anything about navigation, and nobody travels at night. The bad news is that means the average charterer here hasn't got a clue what they are doing. They don't know how to use the radio. They don't know the rules of the road. There are charter companies that actually make sure you have a good idea what you are doing before they give you a boat, but the major companies like The Mooring's and Sunsail (who really are the same company) just make sure you have a pulse and a credit card. Our whole time in the Virgins has been made more entertaining by watching and listening to the charterers. I also have gone out of my way to give them a wide berth and not assume they know what they are doing. All that said, I know a couple of my friends who read this, charter frequently and certainly do know what they are doing. They probably would agree with my assessment of the general situation though.
GPS N 18-29.944 W 064-23.272 Nautical miles traveled today 1. Total miles 9034.
May 29 & 30
Today will be our last in the BVI. We have to check out of the country with Customs & Immigration, and they are located on the west side of the island in Spanishtown, where we were a few days ago. So, we plan to move around there, check out and then depart for St. Maarten. Part of the deal with the mooring balls in Leverick Bay is free water and ice. About 10:00, we dropped out mooring and moved over to the fuel dock at the marina. We filled our one empty water tank and got our bag of ice, even though we don't really have room in the freezer for a full bag. Since ice is akin to gold on a boat, we put the new bag in the freezer and then transferred as much of the old bag as we could into smaller Ziplocs that could be wedged around the new bag. The rest was just put in a cooler and we will use it liberally all day.
We headed out of North Sound and down the western shore of Virgin Gorda to Spanishtown. Outside of the basin where the Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbor marina is, we picked up a mooring ball. It is quite rolly out here, but we will only be here a few hours, so no point in paying for a marina slip. Just after we got our mooring, we were hailed on the VHF by Seagulls. We last saw Seagulls when we left Luperon in the Dominican Republic two months ago. They heard us talk to Sol Y Mar on the radio and knew we were in the area. Turned out they we planning on going to St. Maarten today to, so we will have another buddy boat. We scanned the boats in the mooring field with our binoculars and saw Sea Eze anchored up ahead of us. We hadn't seen them in a couple months either, since Ponce, Puerto Rico. As we dinghied to shore to check out, we stopped and said hello to them. They are also crossing today, although they plan to go to Anguilla, which is just north of St. Maarten.
We dinghied into the marina and tied up to their dinghy dock. Before checking out, we went to The Bath & Turtle for lunch. The courtyard where the seating is for The Bath & Turtle was hot and still, even with the fans running. Unfortunately the period of light winds that will be allowing us to have an easy crossing east to St. Maarten, also means it's quite hot with not much breeze. After lunch, Pat & I walked a block to the Customs & Immigration office, while Barb & Dori went to the grocery store. The checkout procedure was simple, and we had accidentally guessed exactly the right day when we had checked in, so we were right on. I went to the Immigration officer first, and he slid the form back to me and told me to write in the departure date. I did that and slid it back to him. He asked where we were going next and I replied St. Maarten. With a straight face, he slid the form back to me and said to write his name on the crew list. It took me a second to get the joke that he wanted to go with us. He filled in our departure info, slid the form back to me and said to go to the next window. The Customs person asked all the same questions, stamped the form and asked for the fee. The fee was $.75. Gotta pay for those forms I guess.
We were back on the boat by 14:00. We had planned to leave about 15:00 so that we will arrive in St. Maarten a little after dawn. We just relaxed and made sure everything was ready to go during the hour we waited. We have been spoiled for the last couple of weeks with these little one or two hour island hops, so we have to get back into an overnight frame of mind, and be prepared for things that can happen offshore even though we expect a smooth ride. At 15:00, we dropped our mooring and headed past The Baths and around the southern tip of Virgin Gorda. Sol Y Mar, Seagulls, and Sea Eze were all together, and we were hearing at least two other boats who must have left from North Sound and were also headed our way. Just as we left, a small squall passed a little east of us and we had a brief period of fifteen knot winds, but once it was past, the wind died down to five knots or so, as expected. It was from far enough southeast though to let us have the main sail up and steady us in the rolly waves though, so that was good. The forecast for the seas had been for a five foot swell from the east. What we found though was more like a washing machine. The swell was coming from more or less east with the remains of a wind chop coming from more southeast. So while it wasn't real comfortable, it also was not splashing over the bow and we weren't slamming the troughs.
There had been a forecast of possible rain showers, but no strong squalls were expected. After dark we could see lightening in the distance ahead of us, but as expected, these storms formed and moved north before we got to them. So, we had a nice light show, but no rain, and we weren't close enough to get any enhanced wind either. Sometime during the night, we saw a cruise ship in the distance. Cruise ships are easy to identify because they are lit up like an amusement park. During the course of the night, we either saw three cruise ships, or we saw the same one drifting around out there. That is a possibility, because when a cruise ship leaves one island at dinner time, and only has to go forty miles to the next morning's destination, they have to go somewhere all night. Most of the passengers probably have no idea where they really are and they think they are "out to sea" all night. Other than the cruise ship(s), the only traffic we saw was two other sailboats going west.
We did our normal three hour shifts of watch keeping, and actually got a little sleep during our off-watch times since the conditions were not too bad. At dawn, we found ourselves a few miles west of Simpson Bay, St. Maarten. The main anchorage in St, Maarten is the Simpson Bay Lagoon, which is accessible by passing through a bridge either on the south end where we are, or a bridge from Marigot Bay to the north. There is also room to anchor outside the bridge, which we did since the bridge only opens three times a day. The anchorage was quite rolly, and I wouldn't want to stay here very long, but it will be ok for a few hours. The bridge opens at 09:30, so we just relaxed and dozed a bit waiting for the time to come. About 09:00, we got the anchor up and started drifting around with several other boats waiting for the bridge. A few minutes after 09:30, the bridge opened. The rule here is that outbound traffic goes first, so we had to wait while a large motor yacht and a few sailboats came out, then we went with the inbound parade. We had already been in radio contact with several other friends who have been here a week already, and they told us where they were in the anchorage so we could be close. We easily found Lone Star, Cheetah II, and Non-Linear in the middle of the lagoon, just off the end of the airport runway.
Once we were anchored, we launched the dinghy and headed in to check in with Customs & Immigration. St. Maarten is split into the Dutch side and the French side. Depending where you have chosen to anchor, you check in on the appropriate side. Marigot Bay to the north is French. Simpson Bay Lagoon is actually divided in half, the southern half where we are being Dutch. Once you have checked in on either side, you are free to go anywhere on the island by land or dinghy. Supposedly the big boat should be on the side you checked in with, but we have heard they don't really pay any attention to that either. The one difference is that the Dutch side charges a weekly fee for anchoring. We went to Immigration first, where we were given forms to fill out of course. I filled them out and went back to the window where the girl filed the form in her inbox without ever looking at it to see if what I wrote on it matched our passports or ships registration papers. She then sent me over to the next window where another girl stamped my copy of the form and collected $10.30. The check in itself is free, but the weekly fee for our sized boat is $10 plus tax. We returned to the boat, took down our Q flag and hoisted our St. Maarten courtesy flag and headed back to shore to eat.
We had been told that there was a dinghy dock at Portofino Marina, right by where we are anchored. Shrimpy's is the bar at Portofino Marina, and is one of the main cruiser hangouts because they allow liberal use of their dinghy dock, offer free wi-fi, have a cruisers laundromat, etc. We dinghied to Shrimpy's and tied up. We passed through the bar for now (can you believe that?) and went across the street to a French Bakery we had been told about for food. They serve omelet's, crepes, and sandwiches. The girls had crepes, I had a salmon sandwich, and Pat ordered two hot dogs. The food was good although there was confusion over the hot dogs. When Pat ordered, they didn't mention that the hot dog menu item for $3.50 was really two hot dogs. So they gave him two orders (4) hot dogs. Unfortunately, the hot dogs were mediocre, while the rest of the food was good. We probably won't have another meal here, but their breads and pastries looked real good and some of that may make it's way back to the boat later in the week.
After lunch, we went across the street to check out the gourmet market that we had also been told about. It was a very nice market with all kinds of stuff that is way to fancy for my tastes. We didn't buy anything, but it was fun looking. We headed back to Shrimpy's where this time we stopped for a couple of drinks. We found where the garbage goes, where the laundry is, and the deal on the internet. The wi-fi is free, but if you need to plug in your laptop to power, they charge $2. Since all the signals I can pickup out in the anchorage are $10/day, this is worth carrying the computer in for.
By 14:00, we were back at the boat with the plan of napping. While Barb did some, I barely closed my eyes for about ten minutes. I don't know why I have so much trouble napping in the afternoon, even after having made an overnight passage. There is a plan for us to meet the other friends who have been here a week already for happy hour at the Yacht Club, which is right by the bridge. The happy hour deal here is $1 bottles of beer from 17:00 until the bridge opens, which is supposed to be 17:30. The bridge is usually a few minutes late, so the exact ending time is variable and they ring a bell to signal it when the bridge starts to lift. I wondered what would happen if no boats needed the bridge opened. Would happy hour go all night? Well, I realized that there is a large day-charter catamaran that always comes back from it's trip at this time, so I guess chances are the bridge always opens.
Once we had watched the bridge traffic and happy hour was concluded, we walked next door to the Lady C. The Lady C is a large old wooden boat that is docked and used as a restaurant/bar. The kitchen is actually on land in a small building, and the bar and seating is on the boat. The food selection is basically appetizers, burgers, or ribs. There is also a separate business right there that serves pizza. The waitresses take orders for both, but if you have a pizza you pay for it separate from your bar tab or food from the other menu. Sounds confusing but it works quite well. We were here because they offer all-you-can-eat ribs for $11. There were ten of us, and eight had ribs while two had pizza. I'm not a big rib fan, because I don't like working too hard for my meal, but these were quite good and not a lot of work. We had several refill baskets of ribs brought to us after the initial rounds were gone.
We were done eating by 19:00, and headed back to the boat. Fatigue was catching up with us, especially now that we had full stomachs. We were asleep by 20:00 and had a good night's sleep.
GPS N 18-03.020 W 063-05.597 Nautical miles traveled today 91. Total miles 9125.
May 31
We are going to go to Phillipsburg today. Phillipsburg is on the southern side of the island and is the main commercial port. It is where the cruise ships come almost every day. To get around the island, they have a "bus" system that is similar to the shared taxi concept we have seen elsewhere, but more civilized. The buses are mini-vans designed to hold twelve people plus the driver and one more up front. They run around the island and will have a sign in their windshield that says where they are going. So from here, we just stand on the street and watch for one that say Phillipsburg. You flag him down to get on and whenever you want to get off, you just holler and he stops. The fare is $1whether you go two blocks or all the way to Phillipsburg.
We rode to the main drop off point in Phillipsburg, which is also where the open-air vendors who cater to cruise ship passengers start. We strolled through the stalls that primarily had cheap jewelry, t-shirts, colorful beach towels, dresses, and Hawaiian shirts, etc. Every lady would beg you to stop and look at her goods. Several tried to entice us with special deals because we were the first customers of the day. It was quickly apparent that bargaining was expected and that if you paid more than half of the original asking price, you paid too much. Most of the booths had t-shirts priced as low as five for $10, and the shirts actually looked to be pretty fair quality. Too bad the last thing I need is more t-shirts. We didn't make any purchases as we made our way through the market to the main street where all the real shops are.
Once on the main street, we had the usual collection of shops in a cruise ship port. There were the jewelry shops, liquor stores, perfume shops, and electronics stores. St. Maarten is a duty free country, so there are deals to be had here, if you needed any of the stuff. There is only one cruise ship in port today, so the crowds were not bad at all. We browsed some shops and then went one more block to the beach where there is a nice wide sidewalk lined with restaurants and bars. We strolled along looking at menus and settled on a place that had a three piece band setup in a tent right across the sidewalk. We ordered lunch and enjoyed watching the people go by. We especially liked picking out the painfully obvious cruise ship passengers with their pasty white skin, plaid shorts, black socks with sandals, and goofy hats. Everybody has probably seen a cartoon caricature of the typical vacationer in Paradise. It's funny how accurate the depiction is for some. While we ate, a teenage boy from a table down from us went out on the sidewalk and started putting on a dance performance for the crowd. This looked to be a typical, white, mid-west, middle income family, but the kid had moves and rhythm that white people don't usually have. The singer in the band was quite entertained by him and started doing a little rap to go along with the kids performance. Next thing you know, an older guy, who looked like he might be listed in some states sex offender registry started dancing off to the side. As he inched closer, it was obvious that at least in this setting, he was harmless and this was just a dance challenge. The singer got into the act and was rapping about a challenge and was also making sure that it all stayed friendly. The kid had a look on his face like he wasn't really sure what to expect, but he stayed right in there and definitely won the crowds approval.
After lunch we went back to the street on a mission. With all these jewelry stores around, somebody must do ear piercing, and I have my new Atocha earring after all, so I'm going to do it. We kept asking at the jewelry stores but kept getting negative responses. Finally one jewelry store lady directed us to a small business that literally has been built in an alley between two buildings, where they do jewelry repair. Turns out they do piercing too. These little shops are all over, and their main business is sizing or customizing jewelry on the spot for the larger stores who have a cruise ship passenger waiting for the jewelry. The guy who waited on us was very friendly and got a kick out of the old guy getting his ear pierced. The girls were making more of a deal of it than I was. Barb marked my ear and when we had the approval of all the onlookers of where the dot should be, the guy put the gun over my lobe and snap - it was done. It felt like somebody flicked my ear with their finger. The girls warned me that in a little while it might burn, but I pretty much forgot it was there. The cost? $5 including the training earring. Since it was so cheap, Pat decided to get his pierced again since he doesn't like the placement of his current one. Dori marked the new spot and the guy did his thing again. $5. Now Dori whipped out a broken necklace she had with her. It was a fine gold chain that the loop had broken off the end. The guy took it to his workstation, worked on it for at least five minutes and returned it to her repaired. $5.
We now had one more specific stop to make. The St. Maarten Guavaberry Rum store. We have seen these flavored rum liqueurs in several stores, and wanted to see if there was a tour or anything available. Turns out there is just the company store, but they let you taste all the flavors you want before you make your choice. We found them and stepped inside. After looking around at the goods for a few minutes, we stepped up to the counter and started sampling. We had tastes of the guavaberry liqueur, the guavaberry rum, the lime liqueur, and a frozen colada made with the guavaberry liqueur. I ended up purchasing three bottles, which unbeknownst to me entitled me to a free t-shirt and three more little airline bottle sized samplers. Looks like I won't leave town without a new t-shirt after all.
Across the street from the rum store was a store called Last Mango. It also had a sign above the door with Jimmy Buffett's signature. We went inside and looked at the goods. The shirts and other clothing was definitely Parrothead oriented, and if this place isn't somehow licensed by Buffett, it's the biggest trademark rip-off I've ever seen. I' did some research to see if this is related to Margaritaville or not, and found this quote: "Are you tired of seeing the same old T-shirt designs, year after year when you visit St. Maarten? Those same designs you can find in every mall in Florida? Well, if unique is what you want, then come visit Last Mango in Paradise in Philipsburg. The owners, Rodger and Bootsie, 30-year residents of St. Maarten and St. Barths, personally design their own custom Last Mango in Paradise apparel. They also create merchandise for demanding retailers like Le Select in St. Barths (the original "Cheeseburger in Paradise") and the "Margaritaville" stores." So, I guess there must be some "arrangement".
We caught a bus back to Simpson Bay while watching the skies. It looked like it was going to rain imminently, and maybe already had at Simpson Bay. We got off the bus at Shrimpy's and found no rain. It was still and hot, although with the overcast I guess it may have been a little cooler than it could have been. We decided to stop at Shrimpy's for a couple of drinks before going back to the boats, even though being an open-air place, it's probably hotter than out on the boats. After a couple drinks, we went and dropped our bags off on the boats and then went back over to Lady C for pizza. We enjoyed two good pizzas and then went back to the boats for the evening.
GPS N 18-03.020 W 063-05.597 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 9125.