Charlestown Harbour,
Nevis
17.08.998N
62.37.865W

At 3am this morning, we slipped our mooring and fell in behind Orpailleur leaving the anchorage in St. Barts. Our plan was to get out of the protected area and if the winds were as predicted, we would sail to Antigua. Our Plan B was to sail to St. Kitts or Nevis. Within the hour we opted for Plan B. The winds never did swing east and the 10-15 kts were actually more like 20-25. It was a boisterous ride no matter which way you looked at it. I had things falling that have never fallen, even in squalls.

Once we got in the lee of St. Kitts, we lost most of the winds and what was left was directly on the nose. So we motor sailed. When the waves started to beat us up and required tacking just to get a more comfortable ride, Dale and I opted to cut the engine again and sail. We were in luck, some of the winds whipping around the mountains we could actually use. Gerry & Nicky can pinch higher than we can, so while we let the sails spill air for a while, they caught up and left us in their wake.

By late morning, we were actually doing quite well and were enjoying the beautiful day. Early afternoon we found Orpailleur anchored in Charlestown, Nevis, so we angled to the side of them and dropped our hook. Gerry was already in the water and graciously swam over and checked to make sure that it was set properly. Once satisfied that we were going anywhere, we set about tidying up our mess.

As is our custom, we run the refrigerator 3 times a day, usually right after lunch so that I’m not going into it right after its been chilled. Only this time, instead of the plate cooling, it actually heated up. I called my handy, dandy repair man who took it in stride without too much of a retort. Of course that began to gradually change when it clearly wasn’t the water filter and started looking more like the cooling pump had died. Since the air conditioning pump is the same as the refrigerator pump, he disconnected both of them, swapped their attachment points and tried again. This time we had arcing in the compressor area. Not good! He checked his wiring, discovered that 2 were misconnected and tried again. Arcing big time! Really Not Good! He stared at the offending component and did the only thing left to do: called Gerry and told him that we were going to have to break off and head to Antigua regardless of which direction the wind was blowing. We needed our annual refrigerator repair.

Now could this have happened while we were cooling our jets in St. Martin where there are plenty of repair services? No. Could it have waited for another 2 weeks when we’re in Grenada where again there are plenty of repair services? Of course not. Could it have happened yesterday when Wayne on Take Time was in the anchorage and probably knows exactly how to fix the dang thing? Nope! Never in a million years! It has to happen when we’re on a tiny island off the beaten track.

It will take us all day to get to Antigua from here. Dale e-mailed the facility that did the repair last year and hopefully, they’ll be standing by to attack the demon the next day. Gerry & Nicky will continue on and hopefully we’ll be able to catch up with them before they have their boat hauled in Tyrell Bay. We promised them a place to sleep while they are on the hard.

In the meantime, Dale reconnected the original pump to the air conditioner and fired up the generator. Yep! It still worked. Must be the compressor or the control relay in the compressor. We started putting things back together and with all of the water hoses on and off, we now have an air bubble in our watermaker. Dale’s exhausted, we’ll worry about that little problem tomorrow.

Now you know this didn’t happen when the refrigerator was near empty. It’s stuffed to the gills. So I’ve emptied the ice maker’s supply of ice in a couple of zip locks and dropped one in each side of the refrigerator and freezer. I’m actually trying to make a piece of block ice while we’re at anchor, so that it won’t spill while we’re underway tomorrow. Wish me luck and say a prayer that Antigua will have the part on hand and I won’t need to have a barbeque and invite the whole anchorage.

Photo of Gypsy Palace taken by Orpailleur.

Colombier,
St. Barthelemy
17.55.351N
62.52.241W

As planned, we rose somewhat early and hoisted our anchor by 8 am so that we could meander through the anchorage to the channel leading to the bridge on the French side of the lagoon. It is a fairly long, narrow channel with one 30 degree turn and another 90 degree turn. Drifting to either side of the channel meant going aground. The only time things got a little interesting was when the boat behind me decided that I was going too slow and passed me in the channel. Dale, riding point, suggested we speed up a little but not too much. We were using the buoy markers, since our chart plotter wasn’t even close to being right. We stayed in the channel, avoided the shallow spots and made it to the bridge seconds before it was due to open. We were about the 8th boat in line. As Gerry & Nicky made their way through the bridge, Nicky crawled out of the cockpit, turned around and snapped a photo of us.

We exited the bridge channel, turned immediately right to avoid the sand bar directly in front of the channel (nothing is ever easy) and then made our way to Rainbow Rider. We had been trying to hail them on the radio with no luck. Ever since we had dinner together the other night, I’ve been trying to give Linda a book I have that she hadn’t read. So we did the next best thing; a fly by. We maneuvered upwind of them, turned to pass them port to port, got as close as we could, then tossed the book into their cockpit. Gary came out looking like he was going to rip us a new one. Then confused when he recognized who it was and saw us circle behind them. Dale yelled over that we had just completed an underway book replenishment exercise. Looking around they found the book. We waved our good bys, continued around the front of them, then caught up with Orpailleur who were just unfurling their jib.

We had made the conscious decision to go out the French side bridge and around the northern side of St. Martin instead of the Dutch side which was actually closer to our destination but would require pinching hard to get to our destination on St. Barts. The northern route was longer but had a better angle on the wind. Of course this was all calculated on the forecasted wind direction/speed and wave height/interval. We unfurled our jib and motor sailed with Orpailleur along the northern coast, turned along the eastern coast and right into a band of rain showers. In came the sails and we continued our motoring.

Once the rain showers passed, Dale asked me what I wanted to do since the winds were coming from much further south than we had expected and meant that we weren’t going to there from here. I prefer to sail, even if it means tacking a few times. Orpailleur continued motoring, we took off for Puerto Rico. Once we had passed the rocks we needed to dodge, we tacked back until we came close to the backside of same rocks we had dodged the first time. We tacked back out again and then back in.

Normally, I really enjoy sailing up wind. Today, it just seemed frustrating. Dale and I usually work pretty good together. Today when I was handling the lines, Dale said to ease the main; I eased the jib. When Dale was handling the sheets through a tack, twice they tangled on cleats; never have they tangled on cleats before. We got within a few miles, furled the sails and turned on the engine.

As we entered the anchorage on St. Barts, we didn’t see Orpailleur at first but did see Take Time. We haven’t seen Wayne and Carol since Trini. As soon as we had secured to a mooring, we gave them a hail and invited them over. What a wonderful afternoon. They even gave us some new places to see in Antigua.

Dale changed the zinks on the propeller shaft after they left and I paddled around the boat a few times to cool off and look at all of the star fish on the bottom. Gerry swam over to discuss options for tomorrow. Except for the wind speed/direction and wave height, the forecast was ‘spot on’ today. Maybe we should have a Plan B in case the same happens tomorrow when we leave at 3 am. We decided that St. Kitts was an easy alternative and possibly Nevis, since none of us have ever been there. Montserrat was discussed but I’m a little nervous about anchoring anywhere near an active volcano. So now I’m off to bed. Three am comes early these days.

Photo: Of us coming through French side bridge from the camera of Orpailleur.

Simpson Lagoon
Sint Maartin
18.02.721N
63.05.616W

We made an early trip into the French side this morning to check out of customs. That way, tomorrow morning when we leave, we’ll just pull chocks and go.

On our way back, we perused the straw market one more time. Nicky picked up lots of exotic spices that I’d never even heard of before. When I asked Nicky what she was going to use them for, she told me about a few recipes she has that called for them. I think the lady selling the spices was impressed with Nicky’s knowledge since she readily agreed and added a few other ideas. I bought a mixed blend that can be used on steaks. Guess I’m not so exotic.

We stopped by the bakery for a couple of croissants then returned to our respective boats until early afternoon, when we promised to meet again to go to the airport to visit with Lynn & Peter, our previous landlords and marina mates in Orange Park.

Gerry & Nicky rented a car for the afternoon. We got to the airport early and grabbed a couple of seats in the restaurant overlooking the arrival area. Dale & I have always enjoyed people watching and apparently, so do Gerry & Nicky. From our perch, we could see that once people cleared their baggage from customs, they were directed through a hallway created with glass panels. Depending upon which line they were in, they would walk down the hallway and turn left or down another hallway and turn right. Both lines met back at a central door that emptied into the arrival lobby where they could be greeted. By the time Lynn & Peter actually arrived, we had nick named a few groups of people we witnessed.

There were the turtles, the group of people that would make their way to the central door, then stop and peer around it. It was as if they were afraid of what lay around the next corner. Gerry made the observation that it wasn’t like they could actually turn around and go back the way they had come.

Then we had the sprinters. This was the group of people that once their baggage was cleared, they practically ran down the hallway, through the door, then hit their stride out the chute of welcoming arms. If someone were waiting for these people, they would have to tackle them to say hello.

Then there were the same ones you curse on the freeway. They enter the on-ramp, drive to the end and stop. Everyone behind them have to slam on the brakes to keep from hitting them. Well, apparently they travel and do the same thing. They’d enter the hallway, guide their rolling luggage or trolleys to the central door, turn and enter the chute of welcoming arms, get to the end and stop. Everyone behind them has to slam on the brakes and wait for these people to decide whether to defecate or abdicate.

We also had a couple of single entries that were humorus. One in which a young mother came out the central door and gave her infant baby to a couple of waiting grandmothers, then went back in. The grandmothers were so delighted, they hardly registered when the parents finally were able to make it through.

The best I think were the 4 ladies dressed in hot pink T-shirts that read: ‘My friend Michele is 50 today’. Michele came out wearing a hot pink T-shirt that read: ‘I’m Michele and I’m 50 today’ plus she was wearing a good sized tiara. The mere fact that she was doing all of this was great but the fact that she was doing it with flair was priceless.

By the time Lynn & Peter arrived, we only had 15 minutes to spend with them before they were whisked away for their cruise on a 3 masted sailing ship back to the BVI’s. We caught up as best we could then wished them well. Tomorrow we all sail. Lynn & Peter to the west. The rest of us to the east. Fair winds to all!!

Simpson Lagoon
Sint Maartin
18.02.721N
63.05.616W

About 5 am this morning, I woke up to hear the wind starting to pipe up. I got up and went topside to make sure the bay was staying in place and that no one had moved during the night. With the occasional gust really whipping, I turned on the instruments to get an idea of what was going on. I saw a range of between 6 - 33 kts and coming from a range of 45 degrees on the compass. I really feel sorry for the people racing. There are going to be more blown sails and broken masts in conditions like this.

We made a trip into town for some fresh fruit/veggie shopping then agreed to meet up with Gerry & Nicky at Shrimpy’s to make our internet connections. That’s when things really livened up. We had a fight at Shrimpy’s OK corral over dinghy parking.

As luck would have it, we had set up our computers looking out towards the dinghy dock. I glanced up and saw a man untie Gerry & Nicky’s dink and cast it adrift. Naturally, I told them and Gerry ran out a caught it before it drifted away. He came back in saying that the man was angry about dinghies tied too close to his fishing boat and smacking it with their engines. We continued to watch as the man went a got a pair of bolt cutters and cut the cables holding two other dinks. He then towed the two dinks out of the little marina, across the anchorage and out of sight. With the space now available, the next dink that came in tied up in the exact same place.

When the man came back, he went for his bolt cutters again and Dale went for the people who had left their dink and were at another table in Shrimpy’s. The dink owner, ran outside as the man untied the rope and threw the line in the dink. The dink owner started waving his arms and yelling that he was coming to move the dink but the man looked straight at him and then cut his cable with an unmistakable flair. That was it! A little shoving back and forth and a much heated discussion and the dink owner retrieved his dink and the man retreated into Shrimpy’s for another beer. Dale wandered down to the Harbor Patrol and suggested that they take a look into the situation.

Now, as the two men were in the same café, the heated exchange continued. About this time Don & Diane on Cloud Nine appeared with several people carrying suitcases. They walked out to the pier and looked around. Don bent down and picked up what remained of his cable, Diane assumed that universal “I’m not happy” hands on the hips stance and their guests looked dumbfounded. Another man who had watched the whole thing, turned and pointed towards Shrimpy’s so the whole circus started in our direction again.

Don confronted the man (cutter) and the original dink owner (cuttee) joined in the discussion. The cutter called the marina manager. Finally the cutter threw a punch at the cuttee and missed, then the cuttee threw a punch that connected and drew blood. Somebody called the police. A few minutes later, the police arrived and called the EMS technicians; there was blood after all (and I heard some missing teeth.) The Harbor Patrol Sheriff finally sauntered down.
I felt kind of sorry for the cops. They were trying to listen to everyone’s story and everyone is pointing and talking at the same time. Finally, as things started to quiet down. I saw them. Two more people looking dog tired, walked out to the end of the pier, looking first one way, then the other, then for some crazy reason they looked on the other side of the dock, like the dink sprouted wings or something (Cloud Nine had done the same thing) and the guy who had told Cloud Nine where they could find their dink approached the new people. Sure enough, he turned and pointed to the cops. It just got better and better.

In the end, the cops sorted the whole thing out and the dinks were returned to the rightful owners. No charges were filed against any of the thrown punches or stolen property and the marina agreed to pick up the medical bill for the missing teeth of the man to whom they had given permission to cut the cables.

If you really think about it, justice was served in the end.

Photo: A typical day at the dinghy dock in front of Shrimpy's. From the camera of Orpailleur.

Simpson Lagoon
Sint Maartin
18.02.721N
63.05.616W

Today was field day on the Palace. I’m one of those kind of people that likes to live comfortably. I keep my kitchen and bathrooms clean and chase after the dust bunnies when I see one but more often than not, the clutter starts to build. After being in St. Thomas and St. Martin, my souvenir shopping was just tucked into places where they wouldn’t fall if we listed; now they’ve been relegated to their assigned spots until the end of the cruise. Dale tidied up his area, I cleaned up the stateroom and we both attacked the salon.

The Palace was clean and dancing in winds that ranged from 5 to 25 inside of the lagoon today. We’d heard that one of the boats lost it’s mast yesterday in the Heineken Regatta and wondered how things were going today with such extreme changes in velocity and direction.

Our show and tell with Bob & Lorilei went well and we invited Gerry & Nicky to come over afterwards to join us for hors d’oeuvres. They were gracious enough to wait until after Bob & Lorilei left to ooh and aah and tease us about it being the 1st time in a month that we had made the bed (it’s best on a boat in this heat and humidity to leave the bed open and just fold the linens at the end of the bed).

As the sun sank beyond the horizon, we brought out the Mexican Dominos and started to teach Gerry & Nicky the game. We told them that it was part of being a cruiser. We were corrected and told that they are not cruisers, they are passage makers. OK then, they still needed to learn the game to take to all of the distant anchorages that they would be visiting. It’s just one of those things we all do when it’s raining, the boat’s already been scrubbed, and you can’t do anything else.

Simpson Lagoon
Sint Maartin
18.02.721N
63.05.616W

This morning bright and early, the guys decided to make a run to Budget Marine and then over to the French side to extend our papers. I was in the process of running the genset and catching up on my blog when I heard Nicky approach. She came aboard slightly exasperated.

Apparently, she made the classic mistake of disconnecting the dinghy from the big boat before she had started the engine. When it was clear that the engine wasn’t going to start right away, she was already too far from the big boat to grab a line. The bad part of the whole thing was that they had removed their remaining oar when they lost its partner. So poor Nicky was trying to start a sticky motor while drifting in the anchorage without any oars. She had visions of landing on a little peninsula called ‘Witches Tit’ and having to be rescued from there. I predicted the headlines would read: “English Woman Rescued from Wild Goats on Witches Tit,” she wasn’t impressed. Obviously, she was eventually able to start the engine and make her way over; embarrassed and probably a little unnerved.

The guys returned and told us how there was a long line at the customs office and that they were told that they didn’t have to extend. I hope the same guy is on duty when we do check out; I prefer having all of our paperwork in perfect order when we’re in foreign countries.

Gerry & Nicky left the Palace and made their way to Shrimpy’s to log onto the internet while Dale & I dropped by Westerleigh to see the Palace’s sistership. Bob & Lorilei have made many of the same modifications that we did, plus a few. I was particularly impressed with their use of black plexiglass to create cupboards in the galley where we had just added a fiddle to keep things in place. They appeared to be easy enough to do and certainly made the galley less cluttered looking. They also removed the settee in the forward stateroom and added another locker like the one already there, which doubled the storage space. She also took out the cabinet in the master head and replaced it with one that doesn’t protrude over the sink so much. All of them good ideas. A couple of which may be future projects on the Palace.

The really bad thing is that now we are doing the same nickel tour for them tomorrow and the Palace is a lot more cluttered than theirs. Dale and Nicky reminded me that we live on our boat, whereas they only spend a few months of the year on theirs. Still, these are very spacious boats when they aren’t stuffed to the gills and they had a naked boat compared to ours. Oh well, I love the Palace and as soon as we get home most everything will be taken off again anyway.

We finished the day with dinner at one of the French restaurants with Gerry & Nicky and Gary & Linda who thought that they were going to head back to California for hurricane season but have since decided that they would go to the ABC’s instead. Cruisers’ plans are always cast in Jello and warm Jello at that.

Simpson Lagoon
Sint Maartin
18.02.721N
63.05.616W

The extended crew of Orpailleur stopped by this morning at 7:00 to pick up the CD of photos I made for them before heading to the airport and the first leg of their trip back to England. We really enjoyed Mark & Sue’s visit with Gerry & Nicky and wish them well with the upcoming wedding of their eldest daughter.

At about 9 am, we lowered the dink and headed into the French side of the lagoon and met up with Gerry & Nicky for breakfast of croissants and pastries at an outside café. Our big discussion today was the change in the weather forecast. We had anticipated leaving first thing tomorrow morning for St. Barts, then on to Antigua, however, a new weather pattern is developing which would produce 20-25kts winds and 7-9’ seas. Not what we wanted to be in. That would leave us socked in at St. Barts where we really didn’t want to be for any long period of time. So . . . We decided to stay here until it passes. Race week in St. Martin, hummmm. That would be a first too.

With the decision made to linger longer in St. Martin, we strolled along the quayside occasionally perusing the straw market, then over to the little mall. Passing by the customs office, we realized that we needed to have our papers updated to extend our stay.

We returned to the boats where Dale and I both finished the books we had been reading and were in the process of laying down for a nap when Linda & Gary dropped by and invited us and Orpailleur to go with them to one of the race parties and then on to a piano bar later. Sounds like a plan!

At the appointed hour, we met with Gerry & Nicky as they exchanged charts of the Bahamas with some German sailors for charts of the southern Caribbean. Now that they had charts of where they were going and a little beer money, we stopped in a place called Shrimpy’s where we ate peri-peri. For those of you who have ever had New Orleans barbequed shrimp, peri-peri is very similar but originates from South Africa. Spicy shrimp, yum! Also, it appears that Shrimpy’s is an internet hotspot, so we’ll be heading back tomorrow to upload these posts.
When Gerry & Nicky headed back to their boat early, we continued on with the intention of meeting Gary & Linda at either the race party or the piano bar. We stopped by the race party which was packed with people. Not wanting to venture any further into the thick of it to find them, we continued on to the piano bar that they had told us about.

We arrived early and when the piano player and singer entered there were 3 bartenders and 4 patrons. Clearly they were unimpressed. Just as we were about to call it a night, people started arriving. The race parties must have been closing down. Linda, Gary and an entourage of 8 more entered and clearly they were the party people. The bar livened up and the dancing started in earnest. Dale and I joined in the fun and did our best to cut a rug. We got back to the boat about 11:30pm, the latest we’ve been out in a long time and we still had the genset to run. At midnight, we turned everything off and promised ourselves that we would run it extra long tomorrow.

Simpson Lagoon
Sint Maartin
18.02.721N
63.05.616W

Today was Orpailleur’s car trip around the island, so Dale and I made a quick trip to the pharmacy to stock up on our prescriptions, then returned to the boat and read the rest of the day.

At one point, we had spoken with Linda & Gary on RainbowRider and thought that we would get together with them for lunch but the quick repair on their dinghy ended up running much longer than they had originally planned so we scrubbed those plans with ones of getting together for dinner tomorrow night instead.

The husband and wife crew of another boat by the name of Westerleigh dropped by. They have 98’ Hunter Passage 450. We talked a bit about the boats and tentatively arranged to get together with them sometime tomorrow as well to show and tell the ‘upgrades’ we’ve made to our respective boats.

As planned, we met up with Gerry, Nicky, Mark & Rose on the French side of the lagoon for dinner this evening. The Tropicana served an excellent meal and even more excellent desserts. We enjoyed our last night together with Mark & Rose and wish them well on their trip back to England. They’ll fly from here to San Juan where they have a 7 hour layover before taking the next leg to Barbados. They’ll spend the night at a hotel on Barbados, then fly back to England on the 1st of March.

Tonight I made up a CD copy of all of the pictures I’ve been taking since they got here to take with them tomorrow morning. I’m sure they had a wonderful time with their long time friends, Gerry & Nicky, and will take home many more memories of their time in the islands than they will photos.

Simpson Lagoon
Sint Maartin
18.02.721N
63.05.616W

Well once again, Dale was right. After surviving a horrid night of swells, he got up early to query the cruisers’ net about customs and going through the bridge. Apparently, they’d had heard the question before. Yes, we could go through without the customs shuffle I was expecting. So, as 9:30 approached, we hoisted our anchor and joined the line to go through the bridge. So did just about every other boat in the anchorage, including some of the big boys in for the race. I tried to keep a margin of safety between us and the big guy in front but apparently a couple of other boats thought that they were already racing and tried to nose in; only one made it. The other guy had to circle around and try to cut someone else off. The sphincter factor was already up a notch entering a new place in 25 kts of wind but with boats powered with an overdose of competitiveness, pucker power was clearly going to rule the day.

As the bridge opened, we started through. Most turned right heading to one or another of the marinas that catered to the mega yachts. We turned left and headed to France; or at least the French side of the lagoon. I have never in my life seen so many boats anchored in one spot so haphazardly; Dutch or French. Dale was on the front with his head set on but with the wind blowing so strongly, I had a hard time hearing him. When I asked that he cup his hand around the mouthpiece to block the wind, I nearly blew an eardrum when he cupped his hand around the mouthpiece and shouted instructions.

We ended up anchoring pretty much on the imaginary Franco-Dutch border through the lagoon as we lined up on the flags I could see on the shore. Orpailleur anchored a bit behind us. Well, at least that’s where they started. Once the anchors were down. I went down for a nap as well. I had been up and down all night with the swells and other boats coming in from the French side to either motor by us or anchor near us.

I heard Gerry come by and speak with Dale at one point but didn’t hear the conversation. A couple of hours later, when we went topside, they were gone. Dale said that he figured that Gerry had moved the boat to be closer to the dinghy dock to keep from getting drenched. In the lagoon, we were out of the swell but the wind still caused enough waves inside to make any distance in a dinghy, a wet ride. As we made our way to the dinghy dock, Dale wondered aloud why Gerry had moved his boat to a spot that was surely more exposed to the fetch than where he had been. I reminded him, it was a shorter dinghy ride.

As luck would have it, we spotted them as we approached the docks and waved them over to say hi. You can imagine our surprise when Gerry said that he had not moved his boat and that it certainly couldn’t have drug anchor the way that it had been set. We believed him. He sets his anchor the same way we set ours; drop, back, set, power back and wait for the bow to dip and watch for the spring forward. It’s set. He was so convincing in his statement, perhaps being so tired when we anchored this morning, we had been mistaken in our judgment of distance. Nope! When we returned to our boat later, Orpailleur was gone again. We saw Gerry in his dink talking with a catamaran owner and pulled over to find out what happened. Sure enough it had dragged anchor.

As close as we can figure, shortly after they left, the anchor pulled up the huge hunk of grass, weeds and mud it had grabbed onto. On its journey across the harbor, it kissed at least one boat gently and continued to collect an assortment of grass, weeds, mud, sand and gunk. An announcement was broadcast on a channel we didn’t have scanned in and 3 other boaters chased it down and deployed the secondary anchor.

When Gerry pulled up his primary anchor, it looked like the creature from the black lagoon. They took a couple pics showing what looked like a 4-5 foot tangle of muck and mire where their anchor should have been. What a mess. But then again, how lucky that the cruising community looks out for one another.

We dinghied to the Dutch side for dinner this evening and slowly putt-putted by the mega yachts lined up in the marinas. Dale & Gerry barely contained their drool, each picking out various “dream” boats; winch envy I’d call it. The tenders on these mega yachts (their version of a dinghy) cost more than our ‘big’ boats. I could go on and on about the differences but you know what? I noticed that they were rocking in the swell last night, just like us.

Simpson Bay
Sint Maartin
18.02.084N
64.06.160W

We got a good night’s sleep last night and started the morning raring to go. Surprisingly, there were many, many more boats in the anchorage than we had first assumed. They hadn’t been showing their anchor lights, so it was a good thing that we had stayed on the outside and not gotten ourselves mixed up in the crowd.

The crew of Orpailleur was moving a little more slowly though so we took off ahead of them. When they arrived, Nicky took the opportunity to tease that I had already made my first purchase at the straw market.

We walked en masse to the customs and immigration office and filled out the necessary paperwork to be allowed access into the country. Being a Sunday morning, the shops were slowly opening and we walked through the town of Marigot pointing out the necessary banks, pharmacy, internet café’s and watering holes.

We took a break at one of the bayside restaurants for a snack and then walked to the bridge that opens into the lagoon. The ladies hit the supermarket just shy of the bridge and the guys went on to scope out the path we’d be taking when it opened at 5:30. With that done, we headed back to where we had left the dinghies. This, of course, was right beside the straw market, so the guys found a watering hole to sit a spell and allowed us to shop without the usual comments of “where are you going to put it” and the “why do need that.”

I think all of us made some type of purchase before we made it around to where the guys were sitting. When we joined them for lunch, we ended up pushing a gentlemen farther and farther toward the center. At one point, one of us commented that it would be easier for him to join us than for him to keep moving further away. Much to our surprise, he did! It ended up that he is a CPA/attorney and was in town for a week working up interest in a new fertilizer that he was taking public. He was very excited about his product and told us all about how it was made and what kinds of yields it was producing. If all that he told us is true, it should be a great boon to the agriculture community. I told him I could use a thimble full for my roses; he promised to send me just about that amount. However, I had to promise to grow one rose with the product and one rose without.

After lunch, we all made our way back to the boats and much to my surprise, Rainbow Rider was anchored right behind us. I jumped into the dinghy and took off to see Linda. She & Gary and their guests, Donna & Toby, had just gotten back from Orient Beach where they had been frolicking around naked. Unfortunately for Linda, she now has parts that are sunburned that should never be sunburned. I didn’t ask about everyone else, they all appeared to have had more than their share of the sun today. We caught up slightly before I left, promising them that Donna & Toby could come look at the Palace before they left, as they were looking to move to a larger boat and were thinking about a Hunter. (Note: the first time I’ve ever hugged an almost naked woman! There are still firsts in life, even at this age!)

I made my way back to the Palace and took a little nap before big rolls from the ocean starting rocking us violently. We knew that the Atlantic swell was supposed to pick up but I guess we figured that we’d go into the inner anchorage when it happened. However, as 5:00 approached and it was time to move in, the swell was making it more dangerous. Both we and Orpailleur draw 5.5 - 6 ft. The channel is 7 foot. With the swell, water was drawn out before racing back through. Gerry had been leery about the channel before but now he just said no and said he was heading for the other side.

Once the decision was made, I jumped back into the dinghy to go tell Linda & Gary our plans (since they weren’t answering the radio) but when I got there, only Donna & Toby were on board. I told them that we were heading to the other side and if they wanted to see the boat, they had to do it right then. They hopped into the dinghy and back to the Palace we went. Dale conducted the nickel tour, they hopped back into the dink, and then I took them back to Rainbow Rider. Once deposited, I headed back to the Palace, Dale & I raised the dink, and we were underway within minutes.

I couldn’t believe that at 5:00 in the afternoon, we decided to go around the island to an anchorage we’ve never been to before and try to get there before dark. We did it! We were doing 6.5 - 7kts all the way but we made it as the sun was setting.

On the way around, the swell was definitely hitting the 8’ mark. Pretty exciting. When we arrived, we found several mega yachts and several of the boats that will be participating the Heineken Regatta. We anchored right next to one named Creightons. I’m not sure if it was the bright yellow color or the way we were being blown more towards them than where I thought we should be tending, but the old saying reared its ugly head: If Mama’s not happy, no one’s happy. Just as dark was really descending, I told Dale that I wanted to move. I’m sure that he wasn’t pleased, but he did it anyway. When he asked me why, my only reason was liability. They were here first; if any damage occurred in the wee hours of the morning, we’d be responsible. We hoisted the anchor, circled around and dropped again where we had been resting, so that when the rode was deployed we dropped behind the racer. I’m sure that I was being overly cautious but now that the wind has piped up and we’re dancing all over the place, I don’t worry that we’ll accidentally bump into them. I wonder if all of the attorneys I’ve worked for realize that I’ve been ruined for life.

Now that we’re here and at least a little more comfortable from the nasty swells, I think we’ll have to either rent a car or dink through the inner harbor back to the French side to clear customs before they’ll let us through the Dutch side’s bridge. Dale says I’m over rationalizing things again. I say that until we’re administratively pure, they won’t let us through. Two of the three guide books aren’t real clear; the third (and oldest of the three) agrees with me. There’s a cruiser’s net in the morning, so he’ll ask there.

I think tomorrow I’ll make the suggestion that only one boat asks the question. That way if we get thrown in jail, Orpailleur can make a run for it and clear properly, then come back and bail us out.

Marigot Bay,
St. Martin
18.04.288N
63.05.753W

We were up by 4:30 am and the mooring lines were dropped by 5am. With Orpailleur right behind us, we cautiously made our way out of the mooring field, across the bay and through the channel. We turned right, added more throttle and maneuvered between Virgin Gorda and Necker Islands. Once clear of all reefs, we throttled up to 6 kts and programmed our autopilot to go to the waypoint previously set for Marigot Bay in St. Martin.

Just before sunrise, we noticed that the running light on our bow decided to be temperamental and quit working. We knew that it just needed to be taken apart and cleaned but as long as we made it to St. Martin before sunset, we figured that it wouldn’t be a problem.

We watched the sun rise as we passed the eastern most tip of Virgin Gorda and noticed that Orpailleur was falling behind, so we slowed our speed to keep pace with them. They point higher than we do when sailing but we motor faster than they do. At 10 am, I did a quick calculation and estimated that we wouldn’t be making landfall before nightfall.

At 1pm Dale called Land Ho. As luck would have it, St. Martin was just where the GPS said it would be but when I relayed the info to Orpailleur, Gerry said that he was wondering when we would notice the land on the horizon.

As we continued on our track, Dale and I kept watching a cloud with a flat bottom. There was something about it that kept drawing our attention. A few minutes later we saw several funnel clouds starting to form. Needless to say, we kept our eyes on that cloud for the rest of the day. Only 3 funnels ever made it to the water and none that we could tell became water spouts.

As the sun set at 6:30 we could see our destination but we still weren’t going to make it into the bay until 7:00pm and well after dark. It seems that my waypoint (taken from a guidebook on our first trip here) was way more conservative than it needed to be.

With Dale on the bow with a high powered flashlight and me steering according to the chart plotter, we made our way in and realized that we were way past where we had intended to enter and had to backtrack across the bay to where we wanted to anchor. Although we are in less than 20 feet of water, I have the feeling that when we see where we are in the morning, we’re probably going to be way farther out than where we want to be. The only boats out here are the big boys in for the Heineken Race starting the 1st of March and everyone else than entered after dark. I guess we all think the same thing: get to the nearest boat and anchor behind them in as shallow of water as you can and figure it all out in the morning light.

We had a quick dinner of grilled chicken alfredo and are making a few notes in our respective journals before hitting the hay. Gerry and Nicky are anchored slightly behind us and to our starboard quarter; its already quiet on their boat.

Leverick Bay,
Virgin Gorda
18.30.016N
64.23.179W

After a leisurely morning, we motor sailed to Spanish Town to clear out of customs. No dinghy dock this time; we had to beach our dinghies in the sandy cove near the ferry docks, then wait in a line for about half and hour before anyone showed up at the window. The French couple ahead of us said that they had been waiting for over an hour. They could hear the officials talking in another room but they never looked around the corner to where quite a crowd had gathered.

Once our paperwork was in order, we set off to motor sail to Leverick Bay. However, when we turned the northern corner, the wind was directly on our noses and we had to roll in the jib and power our way through to our destination.

We grabbed the outermost mooring, while Orpailleur pulled up to the fuel station at the marina. There was another boat on the dock with them. We couldn’t help but take a photo to show the differences in size. Keep in mind Orpailleur is a 43’+ sailboat. Nicky said that they were very gracious and even said hello to them.

Dale did his usual check of fluids, belts, and electrical components prior to undertaking a major transit, so I dinghied in to pay our mooring fees, then check out the local pantry and the Pussers right next door. I picked up a souvenir shirt and hat for him since the last Pussers’ shirt he has is several years old.

I came back and deposited what little groceries I could find, then headed over to Orpailleur with my laundry to pick up Nicky and hers before making the trek back in. Gerry had already taken Mark & Rose in to do a little sight seeing. While Nicky & I did laundry (with Rose’s assistance when they returned), Gerry & Mark checked out the local watering hole. When I figured Dale had probably finished all of his maintenance checks, I went back and picked him up to pay for the last round of drinks the guys had been kindly providing us while we folded clothes.

It’s going to be an early morning for us, so we returned to our respective boats for a quick dinner before bed. The mooring we chose is close to the internet hotspot, so when Dale hit the rack, I took the opportunity to sit in the cockpit and upload my posts with pictures for free!!! It makes it so much easier this way. Tomorrow, before the roosters’ crow, we’ll start our transit to St. Martin across the Anegada Passage.

Trellis Bay
Beef Island
18.26.857N
64.31.924W

We eased into this morning and really didn’t have any particular plans except to make our way to Trellis Bay. Last year when we were here, the moorings in Trellis were gone by afternoon if you didn’t get there early. So we disengaged our stern anchor via the dinghy (with no drama), while Gerry helped to hold the Palace in place. Then we pulled up on our primary anchor and slipped into the center of the harbor while Gerry let go his piling and did the same.

We unfurled our main and as soon as Orpailleur was clear, we made our way slowly out into Sir Francis Drake’s Passage. We had 14-18 kt winds slightly north of east which demanded that we claw our way to our destination. Of course, when two boats are going in the same direction, it’s a race; whether the other guy knows it or not. It was a great day of sailing in spite of the fact that Orpailleur beat us by a quarter mile or more. I couldn’t believe how well they could point. We thought we were good but they left us in their wake. I’m still not convinced that they weren’t motor sailing part of the way. We slipped into Trellis with our tail between our legs and made reservations at The Last Resort for dinner for all of us.

After getting ourselves together, we dinghied into the little shops here and had a look. The guys found a place to have a couple of beers and entertain themselves while Nicky, Rose and I perused the handicrafts. We found them later cutting a beer can in half. Gerry had told Dale that the Brits have invented a way of making sure that each can of draught beer pours with a head on it by placing a widget inside each can. Sure enough, there was a little bobber looking widget in the can that supposedly released an additional amount of gas as soon as the can was opened. Per Gerry, the guy who has the patent on the widget gets a penny per widget. Does anyone besides the wives of these men see the irony in an engineer, journalist and doctor cutting open a beer can to discuss the merits of another inventing a contraption to put extra gas in beer and how said inventor could have put his ingenuity to better use?

A few hours later, we ended our day with dinner and dancing at The Last Resort, a little restaurant on a piece of land hardly big enough to call an island at the end of a runway of the local airfield. The band played loud and a just a little too fast to dance to but we gave it our best shot. Although the crowd was quiet to begin with, we were all up and dancing by the end of the evening. A fun time had by all.

Photos: Stolen from Nicky's blogspot because she had better ones !

Little Harbor
Peter Island
18.21.296N
64.35.966W

High winds and rain punctuated the quiet night at Norman Island but all in all, we got a good night’s sleep and awoke to a beautiful day. Of course, there was still the lingering rain shower from time to time which was announced by a few gusts of high wind during the morning hours. We listened to “Chris” anticipating the forecast for a weather window this weekend in which to cross the Anagada before we dropped the mooring ball and made our way around the corner to Peter Island.

Arriving in Peter Island there were 6 boats med-moored along the perimeter so we dropped our anchor and prepared to do the same. For some reason Dale wanted to set the anchor in the opposite direction before we backed into place to drag another line to shore forcing the primary anchor to turn around and reset but it still worked and we were situated well away from other boats leaving enough room for Orpailleur to back into a spot where they could tie to the rock pier still standing from the 60’s.

As it was still well before lunchtime, we jumped in and snorkeled around the edges. Nicky spotted a ray loitering beneath our boat right away, so we all gathered around to point, take pictures and basically scare it off. A school of non-descript fish were gathered in the shadow of the Palace as well. I found a good sized conch shell but it was inhabited by one of the largest hermit crabs I’d ever seen. I did spot a fish that I don’t recall ever seeing before. It had a mouth like a moray but a body like a fish and stayed sitting on the bottom. According to my fish book, it could have been a Bluestriped Lizardfish. Also according to my book, they are rare in the Caribbean. In any event, I’ve got a picture of the thing. Maybe not the best picture but I’m still playing with the new camera.

We swam back to the boats for lunch and then Dale and I watched the incoming parade of boats doing to the anchor dance while Gerry took Mark and Rose to the old house on the hill to show them around.

We finished the day with a curried chicken dinner on board Orpailleur prepared by Mark and a banana crepe dessert prepared by Nicky. I brought a Cobb salad. No one was left hungry. In fact, we tossed a couple of bites of crepe into the water for the little fish gathered in the light and suddenly a huge fish zoomed in and downed it in a gulp. Dale figured it looked like a tarpon. My natural inclination was that it was a barracuda. What ever it was, I’m not doing moonlight swimming.

The Bight
Norman Island
18.18.971N
64.37.001W

The high winds that we were expecting yesterday afternoon and last night really didn’t hit until today. They were howling through the anchorage this morning so we took our time leaving. We had given some thought to hanging around for another day but listening to “Chris” on the SSB for weather, showed a developing window for crossing the Anagada Passage this weekend. We dinked over to Orpailleur, compared notes and decided to make our way over to Norman Island and “The Willy T” for today’s adventure which would start us making progress to Virgin Gorda to our jump off point.

We continued over to Exit Strategy and said our good-bys to Doris & Tom, who gave us a the name of a good wine store on the French side of St. Martin for Orpailleur to stock up. Then we headed back to the Palace and made preparations for a windy transit back the way we had come yesterday.

We dropped our mooring about 10am and motored around the rocky prominence that protected Lameshur Bay. With winds ranging from 10-20 kts, we unfurled the jib and sailed a respectable 4 and 5 kts until we tried to go around Ram’s Head on St. John and needed to pinch a bit higher. Although we had 20+ kts at times, we rarely got above 4 kts over ground and usually were doing about 2-3. You can’t get anywhere like that so we unfurled the main as well. This allowed us to point a little better but still we rarely got above 5 kts.

A dark cloud over Norman Island prompted us to furl in both sails and turn on the ‘iron genny,’ shortly after the really high gusts hit us. A few minutes after that a little squall hit just as we were passing between ‘The Indians’ and ‘The Caves’. We slowed to 1.5 kts and turned on the radar overlay on our chart plotter. It looked like a wall of water passing overhead but with the help of electronics we stayed squarely in the water between the hard spots and waited out the wind and rain which obscured all visibility. Surprisingly, once the rain passed a white fog was left for a short while but we were still able to see our way into the anchorage and grab a mooring.
It was only a short time before the sun came out and Gerry suggested lunch at Pirate’s Bight, a restaurant that we’ve never been to before. It had a great little dinghy dock and good food, though once again, a bit pricey. Even the mooring fees have gone up to $25/night. Being a popular place, I guess they can charge whatever they want.

We made reservations at the Willy T for dinner and headed back to the Palace just as the wind started picking up again. We watched the ‘mooring dance’ (very similar to the anchor dance) as committees formed on bows of boats ranging from 2-6 persons and each giving different hand signals to the helmsman as to which direction to steer to best capture the bobbing mooring ball. It was great entertainment for a rainy afternoon. Another squall passed through but this time we were safely inside the anchorage and needed only to close the hatches and go below for snore o’clock.

Lameshur Bay,
St. John
18.18.852N
64.43.315W

Bright and early this morning several of the Sunsail boats headed out. Probably due to the fact that during the night when the winds died down, all of the boats danced around their anchors and could have made for some interesting encounters. In fact, at one point I could hear water splashing on what sounded like a dinghy but since ours is hoisted each night, I looked out the port to see a catamaran passing closely behind us. I went top side and saw all of the boats circling around their anchors. A short time later, we passed behind the cat with barely enough room for its dinghy to clear. Still, as far as we were concerned, the night passed without incident.

This morning we hoisted anchor about 8:15 and headed for the Indians, a group of boulders in the channel between St. John and Norman Islands. We were lucky when we arrived and found a mooring within a few minutes but Orpailleur loitered for almost an hour waiting for a mooring to become available. All of a sudden there were about 3 that dropped their lines at the same time. Then it was like Christmas Eve in a WalMart parking lot. A free for all with swimmers in the water, the least of anyone’s concern. We saw boats charging across areas where snorkelers were and wondered how someone hadn’t been hurt.

We hopped in the water and expected Orpailleur’s crew to join us but they never did. Apparently the guys decided to wait this one out and the ladies went by themselves.
With my new toy (underwater camera), I found myself regretting not bringing our dive gear. I knew that if I could just blow out a little air and sink just a few feet, I’d have a better angle on the slippery little devils. I was still able to snap a few pictures.

After we were done at the Indians, we decided to skip the Caves (I think Gerry had had his fill of milling about smartly for awhile) and made our way towards Salt Pond. Buddy on Indigo Moon heard us talking on the radio and called to say hello. They were out towards St. Croix on a day sail entertaining some guests. As he and his wife, Melissa, are bay sitters on the other side, they thought we should just head on into Salt Pond as the last time they were there, it was completely empty. We took his advice and motored on around.

However, once we got to Salt Pond, it was filled with day boats and only a single mooring was available outside of the protected area. Gerry took it while we checked out the inside but when we found that nothing was available inside, we all headed over to Lameshur Bay, the next anchorage to the west on St. John. We’ve never been here before and after paying our fees at the National Park Service, we dinghied around the harbor and found that Tom & Doris on Exit Strategy were also here. They said that they wanted to kick around the BVI’s for a few days before heading over to Culebrita. Since they were in the neighborhood, we invited them over for hor d’ouvers later in the evening.

There was still time for one more swim, so we headed out towards the rocks at the entrance for some snorkeling. It wasn’t as good as we remembered Booby Rock to be (outside of Salt Pond) but it was close by, so we took what we could get. There were a couple of good sized colorful angel fish but they were very shy and darted away when I came within camera range.

As luck would have it, we climbed back into the dinghy and watched several day boats heading west; we guessed that they were the ones from Salt Pond. If we had waited for them to leave, we wouldn’t have had enough time to snorkel and certainly wouldn’t have found a free garbage drop off. You takes what you can get.

Great Harbor,
Jost Van Dyke
18.26.559N
64.45102W

Is it possible to suffer from sunburn eyes? Dale seems to think so. I’ve been having some problems lately and Dale suggested using my sunglasses more. We’ll see (no pun intended).

We went snorkeling again this morning; this time with the camera. Of course this time, I didn’t see the turtle or schools of fish. What I did see was a good sized barracuda. It was time to get out anyway.

We dropped our mooring ball after Orpailler and their guests returned from the hike to the sugar mill, then raised our sails and ghosted to Jost van Dyke. We weren’t in any hurry and enjoyed the morning sail.

We arrived in Jost shortly before noon but already the customs office was closed for lunch, so . . . we were forced to have lunch at Foxy’s. Dale saw Foxy approaching while we were waiting and we were able to get a few pictures with him. During lunch we teased Mark & Rose about the movie, “Captain Ron,” being a training film for sailing and that they would be quizzed on the particulars later. They were also introduced to Pain Killers. For some crazy reason, these gin drinkers adapted rather quickly to rum drinks.

Before the afternoon ended up in the bag, our captains took off again for the customs office and checked us into the country. The rest of the crews, remained at Foxy’s and had another round of Pain Killers. With our papers in order, we headed back to our respective boats, dropped the “Q” flag, raised the British flag and hung the hammocks for siesta before dinner.

About 5 o’clock, we were wakened from our naps with the sound of bagpipes playing Amazing Grace in the harbor. It was an incredible sound echoing off the mountains that surround the harbor. Everyone was standing and facing a large catamaran in the center, so we assume someone’s ashes were being cast into the wind.

It was also about this time that a flotilla of Sunsail charter boats entered the harbor and a man in dinghy acting as a guide. One by one he would direct them in, show them where they should drop their anchor, let out the amount of chain he told them to and then hand him their bridle so that he could attach it for them. A private sailboat decided that this was a good time to leave only he didn’t have an engine and was trying to sail out amongst all of the boats coming in. He almost ran into us 3 times trying to get out of the harbor before the guide took pity on him and used his dinghy to push him out to safer water.

By dark, Sunsail boats were packed in here like sardines. I have to admit though, there was just enough room between each, so I take my hat off to their guide. I just wish that he had allowed a tad bit more room between us the catamaran that we found next to us after dinner. Right now the spacing seems fine but as cats swing quicker than monohulls, it could make for up close and personal greetings in the wee hours of the morning in case of miscalculation.

Leinster Bay,
St. John
18.21.909N
64.43.429W

We made one more run into Charlotte Amalie this morning to post a letter. Gerry took the opportunity to finally buy Nicky a necklace. However, as we understand it, neither the one he wanted , nor the earrings he considered as a second choice were available. They both had been sold the day before.

We headed back to the boats, hoisted our anchors, raised our mainsails and motorsailed out of the harbor and into the bay. Once we made it out past the red buoy that marks Packet Rock, the mid-way point along the south side of St. Thomas, we were were able to bear off the wind and finally unfurl our jib. We sailed the rest of the way, including Current Cut, although we did turn on the engine, just in case. We continued across Pillsbury Sound and were doing quite well along the Windward Passage until we lost our wind near Johnson’s Reef. We figured we’d had our fun for the day, so we furled in our sails, turned on the iron genny and motored the rest of the way to Leinster Bay where we picked up the last mooring.

Orpailleur was having their fun further out in the sound and since we had taken the last mooring, they had to drop their anchor and wait their turn behind another boat for the moorings to become available when the day boats dropped them.

We dinghied around to pay our fees to the National Park system and then returned for a little snorkeling around the boat. Because it was supposed to be a quick dip, I didn’t take my camera. Of course we happened upon a hawksbill turtle munching away on some coral (I didn’t know they ate coral) and a school of blue tang, parrot fish and a couple of angel fish.

As I have relayed on many occasions, fresh air and sunshine will kill you , or at least make you tired, so we called it an early night after dinner.

Charlotte Amalie,
St. Thomas
18.20.270N
64.55.61W

Once again Gerry began his day determined to buy Nicky a birthday/Valentine’s Day bobble and dropped by this morning to commiserate with Dale for a few minutes. A short time later, Tom & Doris (Exit Strategy) dropped by for a visit, so our morning was filled with visits from friends.

I dug out my paperwork on the new camera and found that it is actually easier to download the pictures from it than it is from our regular camera for the blog posts. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any good underwater pictures and once I figured out the workings, it was relatively simple to complete my posts.

Early afternoon, we made our way back into town to kill time until Gerry & Nicky’s friends Mark & Rose arrived. Once they landed, they were quickly ushered back to Orpailleur to their V-berth before joining us in town for dinner at the Mercury Café. Although a bit pricey, the food was delicious and certainly not the typical American menu that the Green House is known for.

I found Mark & Rose very friendly. Mark was described as being quiet but at a table with 5 gregarious people, I thought he held his own fairly well. Rose was sandwiched between Nicky and I, so she had no choice in joining the conversation with both of us bombarding her with questions. Since they have no sailing experience at all, I’m certain they didn’t realize that we were all teasing them unmercifully. Although, if the weather gets rough . . . .

We called it an early evening since Mark & Rose traveled the better part of the last 24 hours. We plan on meeting up again in the morning and depending upon how they tolerate the night on the boat, will take off for the rest of the Virgin Islands mid-day tomorrow.

Charlotte Amalie,
St. Thomas
18.20.270N
64.55.61W

Why is it that we have the hardest time with internet connections? Yesterday we had purchased some internet time but last night when we tried to connect, the signal kept dropping. We added our external antenna to boost the power, then all of a sudden, we couldn’t make the connection at all. We found out today that the internet provider takes an initial signature of the computer when you sign on. Any changes to the computer after that, ie, adding the antenna, changes the signature and therefore the provider thinks that you’re a different computer trying to use the access code. So now I have to sit in the cockpit to access the internet and keep playing with dropped signals. At least I can down load our e-mails rather quickly.

The rest of the day, we showed Gerry & Nicky around the area as cruisers instead of the guests they had been when they were last here. We walked over to the new Harbortown Marina looking for some logo polo shirts and a jib halyard for Orpailleur but they still aren’t completely up and running yet, at least not for those items. We walked up to the K-Mart for some items needed for the incoming guests. We picked up some fresh tea at the grocery and pointed out where the laundry was located. Then we headed back to town into jewelry central and walked up and down all of the alleyways looking at everything. Nicky and I had a blast just window shopping. Dale and Gerry were being very indulgent. Occasionally we would see a beer in their hands or some other frosty drink but they just followed us around and didn’t complain at all.

At one point, Nicky and I were talking with a woman about conch pearls. She had two and brought them out to show them to us. She told us what to look for and that the Japanese had purchased most of the conch pearls in the Caribbean area which had forced the prices sky high. Then she also showed us the most beautiful 3 carat yellow diamond that I have ever seen. Gerry walked in about the time she said that it would sell for $20,000 a carat. Gerry simply shook his head and left. The woman folded the diamond back into the paper from which it had come, placed it back into a box, closed the box and turned away from us. Nicky and I got the distinct impression that we had been dismissed. Well! We’ll just take our money and go elsewhere! Which we did.

Nicky finally found a slide that she liked to go onto a necklace that she already has. The only question was, would it fit. We’ll head back tomorrow to find out. I know I’m being petty, but I’d love for Nicky to put that necklace on, walk by the woman who looked down her nose at us, just to see the expression on her face. Kind of like the scene in the movie Pretty Woman, when she walks into the store and says: “Remember me. . . . Big mistake, BIG mistake.”