Four Memories

 (from the last week of March, 2017)

WEATHER.  The weather of late has been hot, sticky, windy, rainy and several combinations thereof. You watch the weather reports and predictions, and it’s been a challenge to find good calm anchorages – especially when the winds and waves are “clocking”, meaning that one day the winds may be coming from the east, the next day from the south, a third day from the north…and the waves may or may not be coming from those same directions!  Winds coming from the south?  Go to the north side of the island…  Winds from the south and waves coming from the northwest?  Gulp.

The worst of it happened in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas.   We had been hosting good friends and were undecided about where to pick up our son, Matt and grandson Dylan.  The day we were to meet up, we had been intending to go to the east end of St. Thomas (Red Hook Bay), but the weather and some cruising friends encouraged us to re-think the plan.  The waves would be coming from the north and the anchorage at Red Hook is unprotected; the winds would be coming from the east, another reason to change plans.  We decided to head into the middle of the island and dropped the anchor…only to rock and roll during a night of heavy rain showers.  And, I spent a two-hour watch from 1-3am concerned about the nearest boat and the differences in our swings – we on our anchor chain and they on a mooring line.   We survived, damp, tired, and weary from three nights of the rolling motion.

Enough was enough.  We decided to spend more than we should have for one good night’s rest at the Yacht Haven Grande Marina. 

MEGAYACHTS

The Yacht Haven Grande Marina is the 2016 Megayacht Marina of the year.  This is a place for the largest of private motor and sailing yachts.  The marina can accommodate boats up to 650 feet long (that’s two football fields!), 18 feet deep, and as wide as needed.  And, they have a little section where our 40 foot boat could tie off for a calm overnight.   We partly spent the money thinking it would be an easy way for our son and grandson to climb aboard – stepping off a dock rather than climbing up from a bumpy dinghy ride.   And the boys certainly would be impressed by all those large boats.  Unfortunately, they were delayed a day and missed the “megas” (airline mechanical issues in Denver).

I experienced mixed emotions sitting among these huge boats.  The size of them does stir curiosity.  Enough that while taking a stroll on the dock that evening, we spoke to the crew awaiting the arrival of that boat’s owner.   The owners’ names are kept secret, as is the home country of the owner which may not be the country of the boat’s registration.   In one conversation, I learned that this boat was 200 feet long, had a full-time crew of sixteen (mostly young) persons, and could hold 30,000 (thirty thousand!!) gallons of diesel fuel.  With that much, this “little” yacht could travel from Ft. Lauderdale to Gibraltar before refueling (glad to know that because the Canary Islands house the only fuel plaza on this route across the Atlantic).  Balancing the curiosity was the sick feeling in my stomach, staring at the glittery perfection of that large a boat all polished and waxed with hundreds of brilliant lights.  This kind of wealth represents the 1% of the 1% in the world.  One night with the megayachts is probably enough to last a lifetime, especially since I’ve not read of an “open house” event that might satisfy my curiosity anyway.

The one interesting crew we met on the docks were the national sailors from Denmark.  The core crews had arrived for the spring regattas currently underway.

REGATTAS

Spring is regatta season around here.  Boats of various sizes compete in a series of daily races – some around St. Thomas and others around St. John.  This year happens to be the 100th anniversary of the United States’ purchase of the three Virgin Islands that used to be owned by Denmark (St. Croix, St. Thomas, St. John).  To celebrate the occasion, the Danes sent two 60 foot yawls to participate in this year’s regattas.  They are traditional wooden boats, very heavy and very slow, and were not about to win any speed contests.  Some of the crew had been on the water since last October, sailing from Denmark to the Canaries, and then from the Canaries to Barbados in eighteen days.  The rest of the crew had flown over for the week’s events. 

Sailors come from all over the Atlantic and Caribbean to participate.   And as the rains subsided, we headed eastward where we had several good opportunities to watch the races.  Such fun to see so many boats out on the open seas, different sizes/classes, some with those colorful spinnakers, others with those high tech racing sails.  We moved as close as we thought would be safe and not interfere with the fun of this season. 

And as our company leaves, the regattas will move with us to the British Virgins for another week of competitive fun.  As that happens we will say goodbye to son Matt and grandson Dylan.

DYLAN & MATT

Dylan is seven years old, in the second grade in Denver and is a wonderful young boy.  He spent these vacation days exploring life on a boat and in the anchorages.  He loved going fast in the dinghy with his Dad, liked to steer the big wheel, practiced his swimming, loved picking up shells on the beach, delighted in his snorkeling experiences, and learned to paddleboard with his grandma Tildie (Marney).  By the end of his visit, he was just about ready to take the board out on his own, though still a bit hesitant. 

Meanwhile, his Dad had an unfortunate encounter with a sea urchin (two needles in the heal of one foot) sending us scrambling for remedies.  After four visits to kindly sailing neighbors, we determined that the basic way to remove the needles is with vinegar, which dissolves them – you can’t cut them out.  And hot – very hot – fresh water is the best way to ease the pain.  We’ll be leaving the islands soon and returning to New Mexico, thankful that we won’t have to worry about sea urchins at 8,600 feet

and…

grateful for a few final memories from this season!

Fair Winds and Calm Seas

Dave

That's Wilson Gunn on the left!