Saturday, June 4, 2011

“Why you tink dat way?”


My dad and Sue had plans to fly into St. Thomas and make their way to Tortola on a late ferry. This was the question posed to my dad by the woman at the inter-island ferry when he expressed his concern about possibly missing the last ferry of the day if their flight was late. “Why you tink dat way?” Ever the well-organized planner, the question took him by surprise. Thankfully, she had a suggestion…. “Just tink positive and you be awright.” And they were. Flights and ferry were all on time and they arrived in the rain in the early evening.


They brought along a stack of mail that had been piling up for us as well as a new custom made fitted sheet 
for our V-berth (thanks Sue!) and an underwater camera. Being a photographer (shameless plug here: http://www.mpolssphoto.com) I don’t know why it didn't occur to me to get an underwater camera before 
we left, but we have it now and though we give it mixed reviews so far, we’re still playing with it and hopefully 
we'll get some better shots as we go along.


First time back on Saralane since Chesapeake City in the fall.
Sue guards the rum bottle
The rain was with us all week but we managed to dodge enough raindrops to do some snorkeling – a first for both my dad and Sue – and a source of amusement for Skip and me. They both loved it (OK… maybe ‘loved’ is too strong a word) and were good sports about just jumping right off the boat and swimming with the fishes, turtles and stingrays. 
The noodles add a certain 'something' to the snorkeling look
It ain't exactly water ballet....
Perry and Sue celebrate their first snorkel in Little Harbor on Peter Island
Happy snorkelers
This was good practice for later in the week when we jumped off the boat and swam into the Soggy Dollar Bar over on Jost van Dyke. Sue got right into the swing of things with her new favorite drink – painkillers. My dad picked up on the rum drinking too, and celebratory drinks were had after each successful snorkel…. and just about every other activity.

Sue - on island time (and Painkillers)
Not surprisingly Jost has been discovered and embraced by the masses and is no longer a quiet getaway. It's a weekend party spot for just about everyone with a ferry ticket or a boat. And apparently - the more engines on the boat, the better. Can't blame people for wanting to be here though... it's still a beautiful place and everyone's happy to be here.


We met some neighbors in the anchorage in Road Town… Paul and Mo on Ti Gitu. We chatted with them one afternoon then dinghied into town. When we returned a few hours later, Saralane wasn’t where we’d left her. Yikes. The wind kicked up for a short time while we were in town and Saralane dragged in the murky anchorage. Paul and Mo were kind enough to dinghy over to the drifting Saralane and set one of their anchors to hold her until we returned. They let us thank them with drinks later in the evening and asked only that we repay the favor down the road to someone else. Will do.


Paul, Mo and my dad
Paul built Ti Gitu himself and he and Mo have lived aboard her for about 10 years. Both have pretty impressive sailing histories…. including Mo sailing across the Atlantic once by herself, which just impresses the hell out of me. They were interesting, funny and easy to be with and we hope to see them again.

One especially rainy day we checked out Road Town. We visited the Government House and the botanical gardens went to the grandly named Roti Palace for lunch. 

Cool stamps in the collection at Government House
Perry with the Queen of the Roti Palace
FYI... that unlabeled bottle of sauce at the right? VERY HOT!

We took some time off from our busy snorkeling, swimming, sightseeing, eating and drinking schedule to hang around and relax by the pool at their hotel. (Bonus.... we got to take real showers at the hotel!)

Sue mails post cards... Skip mails Eliza's birthday card!
The rain stuck around all week.... and even made the news.

View from the balcony at Maria's by the Sea

The week went too fast, but the timing of the end of their trip was pretty good. We woke up to this big cruise ship in the harbor the morning after they left. To give a little sense of scale... their hotel is the pale yellow building all the way at the left side of the photo. Town got crowded in a hurry.

Workers keeping the Carnival Freedom ship shape
Taking the big stack of mail, the V-berth sheet and the camera out of their luggage left some room in their bags on the return trip so our winter coats hitched a ride back north to Delaware where we'll need them when we visit this fall.  Thanks Perry and Sue for coming to visit us! We'll see you back in the states in a few months....

4 comments:

Cindy Barnard said...

Looks like another VERY successful family visit.
Jealous!
It had to have been wonderful for Perry and Sue to see life aboard Saralane with their very own eyes.
Hope you will enjoy some good weather now. Things must be quieting down a bit as snowbirds drift north.
xoxo

Leslie said...

I love Sue's mermaid-like style in the water (not to mention in the hamock).

Looks like a good time was had by all. You and Skip got to take real showers, Daddy and Sue learned to snorkle, and everyone had plenty of rum.

yfs

rpmutschler said...

Boy, that gives a whole new meaning to 'forgetting where you parked' huh?!!? I've lost my car in the mall parking lot before but I've never come home to find my house down the street!

I have 2 questions after reading this post.....

1) Sue - where's our postcard?

2) Madeline - could you look any MORE like Daddy these days? OMG!

yfys and yfn

Kim said...

Maddie! So happy to see your dad and Sue there finally! Looks like a wonderful week! I had the BEST roti EVER in Roadtown and am guessing it's from that place! YUM! I am so envious my mouth is watering!! ha! Love you...have fun, girlfriend.