Hopefully I will find some where to post a few choice pics. I will try to cover everything… don’t mind the grammar!
5/15: -Flew from PIT to STT (already I felt as time was passing too fast!) -landed hopped on very next ferry 2pm (only 10 people on so clearing was a 5 min breeze! Tried my best to avoid Brian (the Fast Ferry hustler that will lie to your face every time saying his is the next one out... he is a younger fellow heavy set and always there...) -hopped on "Relentless" (perfect boat name for me) and enjoyed the rain... our briefer was a young girl who didn't seem to know much about the boat Moorings365? 5/16 -pulled out at 08:00 to find the wind was blowing from the North East? Weird -hopped on the VHF to locate my Mom and Dad who were aboard EnReport a Jeanneau 37 from Sunsails... they spent the night at the Bight and were weighing anchor and we would meet at George Dog.... Beating windward the entire way... -after lunch we headed Saba Rock and BEYC... soon we rounded Mosquito the rain came or squall I should say as I knew my dad was 50 feet in front of me but could not see him... so I throttled down and watched the chart plotter... 10 mins later I could see 200-400 feet then had Saba in sight... grabbed a mooring and drink time began... I noticed with all the beating up wind I logged over 20kts... from Road Harbor.... - I threw some Mahi on the grill and had my parents aboard for dinner. - had a few bottles of wine and hit the BEYC with Colleen... Dad hit the Rum way two hard so it was bed time for him. 5/17 Weighed anchor at 8:15 (as we caught wind there would be a flotilla leaving and wanted to beat them to Aneganda). This was no problem and we made good time to Anegada motor sailing in just over 2 hours... went to the North shore for swim and snorkeling and came back for drinks at ARH then lobster at Neptune’s while Pam sang some Frank to us. 5/18 we weighed anchor and headed to the Baths for lunch and swimming... at 4:00 we sailed over to Marina Cay for the night had drinks at the bar on top for the Bean happy hour show. I nearly won the Conch shell blowing contest but finished 2nd to a lady??? What I thought playing the trombone in school didn't get me the gold??? Oh then as I was sitting next to the table of the winner and they little me in on a secret that the lady was a professional bassoonist and could have blown for another 3hrs straight! RINGER. - So I hopped on the VHF at Marina Cay for Donavan's Reef to send Stacy to pick Colleen and me up for dinner.... so far the best food yet! Then the owner (a fellow PennStater) took us back to the Marina Cay dock where our dinghy was there alone. We hopped in the dinghy and motored over to the last resort where we saw EnReport in the mooring field... Dad had a cold Carib waiting as he spotted us on the dock. 5/19 I think we put 10 N miles on the dinghy that night alone! So we filled it up and topped off our water tanks and headed for Deadman's Bay to grill my special chicken sandwiches with the hot sauce Pam gave us from Neptune’s... said it ruined food... she was semi right... more to do with the head than consuming the food... - we then headed down to the Bight for some lively entertainment at Willy T's where we met some great people; like the young couple from Holland have been sailing the world. Over to Pirates for the buffet and dancing (that band needs a drummer and loose the drum machine they could be great)... then back to Willy T's... WOW either we sobered up or everyone skipped dinner and never left because I was even blushing as two ladies were doing belly shoots 69 style on the bar to each other... I started to feel out of place as I couldn't drink fast enough to hang with this crowd so I went back to Relentless and crashed in the cockpit. 5/20 -To JVD today!!! We sailed right from the ball as the wind was perfect yanked out the jib close hauled and we hit 5.5 kts threw the mooring field as the rest of the anchorage were trading up dinghies and observing in amazement that there was 2 people sober enough to be sailing already!!! Flying Cloud dropped anchor that morning and I got some got shots of her as we sailed by. There were actually a few mega yachts there that morning. - we zipped into Sooper's Hole by now Colleen is getting worried as I stopped motoring to and off the mooring balls and I was getting to comfortable here... for some shopping and ice cream and as I was having my late morning pain killer I spotted EnReport coming in... Apparently they spent the night in Little Harbor Peter and my Mom talked my Dad into ice cream and shopping too! I guess we owe our women this... - Next stop White Bay JVD... I purposely let my Dad slip out first as I checked his trip speed and found that Jeanneau 37 was only hitting 6.5kts and I was beating my Dad everywhere (we are competitive men) and he is a very knowledgeable sailor... so he though since his boat was .5 bigger he had the advantage until I hit 8.12kts on a beam reach to white bay and blew his mind ... I have great pictures of this as I passed him windward about 10 feet away... the women were pissed! it was great fun although I didn't have a bow man aboard so I pinched a little to give some room and keep the race closer as he claimed his hull speed to be shy of 7kts. - when we came into White Bay... it was rough and as Colleen was working the windless it kept jamming so I had to switch with her and take some tools up to unjam the chain... after a few choice words were exchanged we were set... and I mean SET... that anchor grabbed and I nearly went down... the best hold I ever got and wasn't even using the throttle. - my Dad came in and set then swung over in the dinghy and picked the 2 of us up... we then stormed the beach and surfed the dingy ashore! We hit Ivan’s then motored around to Soggy Dollar for a burger and drink... good thing we took there dinghy as it had a foot of water in it... - Around 4:30 we sailed around to Diamond Cay to find Foxy's Taboo closed??? What... no matter my parents were cooking and between the two of us we had 5 bottles of wine left... 3 were spent that night and my parents seared some tuna steaks pasta and the works... - As the wind was blowing Colleen and I were going to hit the bubbling pool as I never saw it before... she wasn't keen on the night trip but I was set on it so we went... it was semi surging and was pretty cool... 5/21 the winds were blowing so we weighed anchor and swung into Great harbor as my mother-in-law and a friend were coming in on the 09:00 ferry... we picked them up at Foxy's and my parents met us there for lunch... Foxy was there joking with us and then KI took the stage... he was very good and it seemed as Foxy went missing... hum... as I check out the upstairs I found him passed out in his hammock... oh the hard life the... all the money in the world couldn't change that soul... - I then took the ladies over to Sandy Cay for some snorkeling (saw an octopus) and then sailed over to CGB... the wind was blowing from the West today??? - I took my crew now 3 over to Myett's for dinner and music... or lack there of... last year the music was the best, this year it was a first time gig and they were awful ... is the drum machine taking over?... Quito spelling? Is remodeled and would be the hot spot tonight. I ran into Carolyn and Paul and they seemed to be preoccupied with guests/customers so they said they would be at Quito’s later for a drink... after dinner we went back to the boat and my crew bummed out for the night... no problem I can hang I thought... I nestled up in the cockpit with a Corona (the ilon was dry of Carib!!!) and listened to the sound check... then the reggae filled the bay; the next thing I knew I awoke at 2:30 on the deck with my Corona in my hand and I missed the entire show! Oh well. 5/22 -After Colleen made breakfast we went ashore to check out the distillery and then we sailed west and popped into Soppers hole for a break as we were beating windward again at speeds over 7kts with a novice that quickly learned about getting to the "high rail" and staying out of my way as I trimmed and hopped around the cockpit. After all, I don't want me swabies thinking sailing is peaceful and boring... -As I sailed to the ball I noticed my crew was more concerned about gathering their cash and credit cards... I explained that we had a full agenda and no one was to go ashore with more than $10.00! This almost caused a mutany aboard Relentless! While ashore I phoned Davide @ Brandywine Bay to make a reservation to find that he has never been open on Sunday... I said what... it is Friday right.... my bad... I totally lost track and was bummed as I truly enjoy being blown away by great chefs and it sounded great from all I read... my parents went there first night down there and loved it... so I decided to hang loose at Pussers and drink while the steel band played... finally a full band ready to go when I was. Lunch was surprisingly good (or I was). We headed back to the boat around 3:30 and what is this coming threw the Narrows a 62' crewed moorings cat... nice... time to race... I had the motor turning 3krpm and hoist the sails... and started to close on her at 8kts... as I passed the cat I saw the moorings captain smile wave and fire the engines up and throttle pass me like I was a chump... he slowed up as I passed he throttled again... and waved as he went to the Bight and I fell off toward Cooper. - Cooper came quick and I found that 14 50' Moorings boats loaded with this years MIT grads were there ... I tried to impress the crowd by sailing to the ball but I miss calculated and a wind change pushed me a few feet off course so I decided drop the main and grab a closer ball anyway... after we were secure to the ball I see a 45'er headed right for us at ramming speed....they then swoop around us and head for a ball at mach 1 miss it totally and circle again... this time the son does grab the hook but the sheer speed and force Dad came in on and with the wind to his beam separated the boat hook and dropped it into the water... oops... oh no... no... the other son runs down the boat and jumps off the back to retrieve the pool as dad is reversing hard... I swore the kid was going to lose his life over a $10 boat hook and Dad wasn't even holding the wheel. The kid finally climbs into the dinghy and jumps onto the stern. I sighed and grabbed a beer and quickly went over a few safety pointers with my crew. I fired up the grill and went for the left over chicken for a pasta medley dish... after dinner I noticed our water was low so I took the pot and pan to the transom platform and began to rinse the pan a piece of chicken went in the water and I see a shark pass 10" from my hand... my heart raced as I noticed I was unentionally chumming... I had 6 or 7 nurse sharks ranging from 3' to 4.5' long swarming the water behind me we were amused for 2hours with this and against my better judgment unloaded the rest of our provisioning into the water. 5/23 -though the boat wasn't due back till 12:00, we had to make the 10:00 ferry and didn't want to deal with 140MIT grads at checkout so we untied from the ball at 8ish and headed for Road Harbor... half way across the drake channel we were hit by another squall and lost visibility until we hit the entrance and saw Flying Cloud there to see us off... -despite my 2 calls to the moorings, no one came to the pier to help us or check us out... (Mooring people seemed less professional this time around than last) I guess the made there cash from the MIT folks and said screw it... it is raining and didn't come out. So we left the boat in good order and grabbed the taxi to the dock... avoided Brian the hustler as I saw the Smith direct ferry already there... (He said it was his) and then I bought tickets while he tried to hustle my wife for money for as he grabbed at her bag... they need to can the guy! We went to STT and flew out after some drinks lunch and bought more Rum than I need....
The End PS: if any of you (Walker) are building a time machine, I will be your guinea pig!!! SEND ME BACK 10 days!!!!!
