Still Lovin' It!!

Well, it has been a couple of days of variety since we last blogged so another update is due. We didn't get back to Nanny Cay until about 8:30 on Friday night. It was actually pretty hairy because we hadn't been able to contact the Marina prior to arrival. They had been expecting us back but when we weren't there by closing, they gave our spot to someone else so we took a chance and picked an available slip. Well, approaching Nanny Cay the wind was blowing and it was dark and raining and the waves were about 4-5 feet. Cheryl was at the helm and she did an absolutely super job of getting us into the marina. We ran into some problems, however, when we were parking and it was again pretty a pulse raiser but again, Cheryl did a great job.

Saturday we cleaned up after the trip and I took out some of the gear we had jury-rigged to get us home. We also had to move the boat to a different spot, away from the centre of the marina, which we thought was a good thing because sometimes the noise from all the commerce was a bit distracting. Of course now we are down by the open-air bar so - you win some, you lose some!! We are only about 20 yards from the beach and pool now though!!

The Sunny Caribbean ?

Sunday we worked around the boat and took some beach time. Went for a walk although once you leave Nanny Cay, there is only sidewalk on one side of the road going one way but it was nice to just walk.


Monday (looks like I have fallen into the "we did this, we did that" but I will add different stuff later) the riggers came and took down the forestay. We were hoping to salvage the stay itself and just re-rig the trappings but it wasn't to be so we got new wire. They didn't finish the job because of some unexpected findings once it was down but there is only the tuning of the entire rigging system to do so it won't take too much longer. As soon as that is all done we will put on the sail and Mystic Journey will once again become a bona fide sailing vessel.


Tuesday we worked on the autopilot, the solar panels, the "bright work" and I talked to the electrician who will be doing some work for us. We realize only too well that we have to be self-sufficient as far as keeping the boat in sailing/motoring shape but we decided that we would use experts where available and necessary to get the boat to a place where we are starting from a level playing field. With luck and God willing we will get there this week and be gone by the weekend. We are going to work tonight on a loose itineraryfor the first week of being gone from here. We want to see the sights of BVI and USVI that are worth visiting as once we head for St Martin, we will likely not be back

Speaking of which, the trip to St Martin will be our first overnight sail. It is actually only about 80 nautical miles, which would ordinarily take approx 15 hours but since it is due East and the wind has been fairly strong and coming straight from the East, will be much more likely to take twice the time. Exciting!!

Finally, Cheryl talked about some of the other sailing people we have met so I thought I would talk a little about some of the BVIers. I mentioned the guy who was on the boat last week - Wilson - a "stereotypical" islander, he kind of ambles when he walks, talks really slow and looks like he should have a corncob pipe. He is friendly and agreeable (but I wouldn't hire him to work for me!)

Teresa is the lady who runs the Chandlery. She has an great smile and we have gotten into the habit of a bit of back and forth when we go into the store.

El Richardson is the owner of the company that is doing the rigging. He is also a minister and his business card has a bible quotation on it. He constantly talks as he works - if there is a problem he kind of jokingly asks the Lord to just help him on this one and when the problem is solved it is "Praise the Lord, He did it" At the same time, we were listening to a radio station that was playing Ray Charles, Al Green etc etc and he knew all the words and talked about the girls he knew when the songs were popular.

I have found that in the beginning I had some problems with understanding the dialects and accents but lately it has been getting better and even using it a bit myself- just when I am talking to someone with the accent.

So, since we are in somewhere you have seen pictures of before, the pictures Cheryl is putting in are not really related to anything but our being in the Caribbean.



More next blog

Places We've Been and People We've Met

Since our last entry we have finally been out of the marina. We spent 3 days travelling to and from St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands. I can't say we spent it sailing because we were only able to use the stay sail and motored most of the time, but we did get there.

We anchored in the harbour at Charlotte Amelie, the capital, and used the dinghy to get back and forth to town. We were able to get alot of the tools and household items we still needed - less expensive than in BVI because of the lack of duty. We met the most delightful lady there as we were finishing our shopping at K-Mart. She asked us if we needed a taxi. I had the impression that she was using her own car and wasn't really a full time taxi driver. As she drove us to the Ace Hardware for tools she gave a running commentary of the buildings we were passing and some of the history of the island.

We made the trip with Bryan Ruegg, the instructor from the school we had hired. He had an interesting history of getting his Captain's papers at the age of 23 and a degree in biology. He has captained gambling boats, worked on tall ships, works around the Cape Horn part of the year with other biologists, and teaches sailing. He was patient and helped Griff work through the problems we had with the engine on the trip. He met up with some of his friends from a tall ship and was going to set up a visit to the ship for us, but unfortunately we ran out of time because we needed to get back to Nanny Cay by Friday.

On the trip we stopped at Cruz Bay, USVI and Soper's Hole, BVI. These stops were just long enough to clear customs.

We thought we would share a little bit about the people we have met here in Nanny Cay. When we first were here we were in a slip next to the Tropic Star who is owned by Dave from New York. He was a wealth of information about which workmen were best for what jobs. He has been sailing for a while and stays in this area priimarily.

Then there were Burn and his wife Pat from Chicago on the Lucky Break. They too stay in the BVI area. Burn said they have been sailing for 10 years and didn't know a thing about sailing when they first bought the boat, but the boat taught them alot. They are selling their boat now because he has been diagnosed with cancer and does not have the strength to sail any more.

While Mystic Journey was still up on the hard we met Tom from Alaska. His boat, the Turning Point, was on the hard next to ours. He had been here for two months waiting for them to finish a job that should have taken 2 weeks. He decided to head out and come back next year to sail "down island".

As you can tell from what I said about problems with the boat that Bryan and Griff had to work on, the trip was not what we had hoped it would be but the reality is that the worst day down here on a boat we own sailing the Caribbean could not be a bad day.