Well, folks, Bill and Charlene’s excellent adventure, the 2012 edition, has officially begun and as usual it’s with a kerfuffle.
I should have known it was going to be tough slugging when all went uneventfully – we landed in St. Thomas, Patrick met us and drove us to the hotel, had a wonderful dinner at Epernay and got on the ferry the next day to Virgin Gorda, all our bags intact. (4 duffel bags, one large suitcase, two camera cases, one heavy computer bag, two cardboard boxes and one handbag). We looked like the Beverly Hill Billies, again. Thank God Pat was there to do some (er, most) of the lifting – we would have arrived all tuckered out, and incapable of facing the next predicaments with any aplomb.
Our boat was gone! Turns out they just moved it – 3 or 4 times! (the damn thing got mileage on it!) – but when we located it down the lot, our dinghy and motor were missing! Yup, we lost another one! The yard manager appears to be taking the situation seriously and I am relatively confident that we’ll get a replacement, but the missing one was only 1 month old! It had 25 hours on the motor. The guy we hired to look after our boat, over and above what the yard would do, said he didn’t notice that the dinghy was gone! Glad we paid the extra for that service.
I needed an extension cord (to vacuum up the dead bug bodies – at least there were no live ones) so I sent Patrick. He was gone a long time – turns out he was directed to the hardware store up the road, and produced a beautiful extension cord - $81. Augh! Sign of things to come.
The next boondoggle occurred when we were hauled back into the water – our engines wouldn’t start, and there we were, plugging up the haul out slip. A rather clever young man arrived to suggest we extend our dock lines and walk the boat around to the gas dock, which got us out of the way for Toucan Dream, who was in the slings behind us. Then we were blocking boats coming in for fuel but it was the end of the day and we only inconvenienced one big power boater. The helpful fellow turned out to be a mechanic and I begged him to fix our engines – Matthew had to wait until after 5:00 because he wasn’t off work officially til then, and he came over and inspected our fuel filters and carburetors and pronounced them fooked. We paid him to repair the one engine and enjoyed his company while he worked. We were then able to drive the boat around to a slip instead of obstructing the fuel dock, which made us much less unpopular. I convinced him to come back the next day to do the other one, which he did, and those engines have never worked as well. Yeah!
We all went to the bar and got well lubricated, caught a glimpse of Morgan Freeman, a regular here and ate pizza at the pub. I swear I’m not making this up.
So here we will sit at the marina at Virgin Gorda, with the air conditioning running full blast and slapping the horrible sand flies, which are feasting royally on our legs and ankles until a new dinghy is made available. Tomorrow we tackle the generator, install the AIS, start up the water maker and so on. Actually, life is good.
C & B
p.s.
Our good friends Chris and Robin on Toucan Dream were there for us again when we had no dinghy and were more or less captive on board the RSVP. When it became apparent that the marina manager was going to drag his feet as long as possible in the hopes that we would just go away, Bill came up with a brilliant solution to the problem and suggested that the money we paid for storage and hauling out be refunded to our credit card. Because the amount was lower than the amount we paid for the stolen dinghy, some of the charges that Chris and Robin incurred for storing Toucan Dream got reimbursed to them, saving this hapless manager from having to report the loss to ‘his board’. We all thought he was worried about losing his job and this way he didn’t have to report the loss. Also, if we had gone through our insurance, they would have come after the marina, something else he didn’t want to happen. The Blairs gave us back the money promptly and shadowed us as we went to Nanny Cay to pick up the new dinghy engine. Long story short, we bought both the dinghy and the engine at Nanny Cay but had to settle for one that is smaller than the stolen one, but which suits us fine anyway. We are very lucky to have such accommodating friends, and say a big public thank you to Chris & Robin.
Laura and I relaxing as we head out for a brief weekend around St. Thomas. We enjoyed many good meals and some great snorkeling.
Green turtle at Turtle Cove. There were thousands of these nifty creatures in this bay as they are protected and grow to a size where they can survive in the open ocean. It is prohibited to catch them in the USVIs but not the BVIs. This bay fills quickly everyday with passengers on 'cattlemarans', rented big boats that excursion people from the many cruise boats that fill the Charlotte Amalie and Crown Bay every weekday. You have to pick a mooring ball on the outside as you can get penned in by the many, many snorkelers, some of whom shouldn't be there. We asked this one fellow who was clearly floundering if he needed help several times before he finally gave up and went back to his ride. He paid a lot of money to scare the pants off himself!
Laura was originally reluctant to be the first passenger on the tube, but quickly realized that the 15 hp engine on the dinghy was not going to pitch her out at high speed. We could hear her yelling at Pat, "Faster, faster!" He had the throttle full out but it was not going to be a thrill ride. 
Pat and Laura took turns jumping off the top of the bimini into the water. The only pictures we got of her was from the waist down as she entered the water. DELETE! For a guy who was never raised near the ocean, Pat has taken to the water like a fish, and certainly to sailing, which he can't seem to get enough of. 
