Monday, January 26. 2009
Over to Jost Van Dyke
Today we managed to have a great day! No lines in the prop, no lost crew members or guests, I did think it was funny that one of my former crew members Scott said it reminded him of the old days on Promenade! I giggled as that is very true. We used to have more days like yesterday! We played at the Caves, Sailed to Sopers Hole, shopped at all the store, sailed to White Bay on Jost, played on the beach and finally made our way to Great Harbour for the night. Joel was fishing, and he was having a tough time getting in the massive fish that he was catching tonight!
I don't believe he caught anything over a 6 inch squirrel fish! We probably had our one big shot at large fish last night and that will be all!
Our women were into the fishing as much as the guys were tonight...
We co opted the guests who kept on wanting to help with dinner tonight to cook the steaks.
They were great, everyone was stuffed full...
And I am sorry to say now, but not at the time, that this is how heaping my plate was tonight! It was good too!!
I even managed to have a nap curled up on the couch this afternoon when the guests were at White Bay! THAT was unexpected and wonderful! No humidity here at the moment.
Here is a link to a second draft of the NPT Moorings and pick up brochure.
This is the second time around for this draft, so it should be proofed and about ready to go to print, but maybe someone else will catch something.
I don't believe he caught anything over a 6 inch squirrel fish! We probably had our one big shot at large fish last night and that will be all!
Our women were into the fishing as much as the guys were tonight...
We co opted the guests who kept on wanting to help with dinner tonight to cook the steaks.
They were great, everyone was stuffed full...
And I am sorry to say now, but not at the time, that this is how heaping my plate was tonight! It was good too!!
I even managed to have a nap curled up on the couch this afternoon when the guests were at White Bay! THAT was unexpected and wonderful! No humidity here at the moment.
Here is a link to a second draft of the NPT Moorings and pick up brochure.
This is the second time around for this draft, so it should be proofed and about ready to go to print, but maybe someone else will catch something.
Sunday, January 25. 2009
An unusual start of charter...
Taking firmly off the Promenade Tourism hat here, but how can I poke fun at other people if I don't poke fun at us! It can't all be sunshine and roses on charter! Even after over a decade of doing charters, we STILL mess up at time, looking like rank amateurs!
I had been in touch with guests and agent not more then two days ago, and the agent had had on their itienary to take the 1115 ferry over to Tortola and then take a cab to Village Cay where we would pick them up.
I said, "don't get them to do that...Have them take the noon Fast Ferry into Roadtown, by the time they get out of customs it will be 115 and we will pick them up straight on the dock"
They asked how they would know us, and i said we were pretty good at picking out our large groups, and gave them Simeons name and description. These people had not been to the BVI before.
We seem to spend a lot of time at the Roadtown Ferry Dock picking and dropping off, and USUALLY, I tell the guests to call on their cel phone when they are on the ferry or coming into Tortola just to make sure we have the right ferry. I did not this time, thinking, "it is so close and it is the only feasible option to take the Fast Ferry, what could possibly go wrong?" They were thrilled not to have to take a cab.
Newbie mistake # 1. Assuming! Not having a back up plan!!
Remember, as Rick from Sophisticated Lady could tell you from going to and fro to Haiti before Xmas, (as I told you the story on in the last couple weeks, and they are finally back safe and sound) it is all the little things that add up into big things, and it is a chain reaction. We all know that.
We pull up into Roadtown, and anchor somewhere about 1230, and right about the same time the Bomba Charger pulled up. We ignored it, as our guests never come in on that ferry, besides, we were waiting for the Fast Ferry (remember though that all these ferry companies seem to be changing their schedules left and right, mainly to screw up the next companies departure times)
Newbie Mistake # 2 Assuming that what happened with the ferries last week, would be the same today. I should know better.
We were ready, sat in the cockpit, and about 20 minutes later, (Fast ferry not there yet, but not unusual) I told Simeon that he should just cruise by the ferry dock "just in case" they had come in on that ferry, as I did see a few white people on dock. I also said, "I would not even bother getting off the dinghy, just drive by and see if there are any likely candidates" He asks me if there was a grocery store by the Ferry Dock, I say, "no you have to go over to Bobbys" He did not tell me he was going to the grocery store, nor did I specifically ask, expecting him to make contact with us at the dock and give us a status update.
Newbie Mistake #3 Not spelling out every little thing with crew/ and or with employer...
Away he goes, and 5 minutes later the phone rings... It is a cab driver, who says he has our guests at the PUB! Now Bazza went back and forth for a minute, not quite understanding how our guests could be at the PUB, since that did not enter into the conversation anywhere, and we have never picked up there, and could not figure out how they got from St Thomas to there. About that time the Fast Ferry pulls in, and since I did not see 10 guests hanging off of it waving, I knew however it happened, our guests were at the PUB.
I rush to the VHF to call the dinghy. No answer. I call again, and again. No answer. Yes, we have a rule on the boat that crew ALWAYS have a radio with them. It does not matter if it is only for ten minutes, invariably, that is when we need them. In fact we tell them that if they are waiting at the dock for guests, to keep the key on so the radio on the dinghy works.
Newbie mistake #4. Crew has no radio, is not at the dinghy and we can only assume he is either looking for the guests (without a radio) or walking to Bobbys (without a radio)
Guests call, and say they waited at the ferry dock for half an hour, no one picked them up, and a cab driver came by and asked them where they were going and they said "Promenade" at which point the cabbie said, he knew where our business office was and would take them there. In they get.
Mistake #5. Listening to the Cab Drive who then charged them $45.00 for transporting them and their luggage three blocks to somewhere that we do not and have never had a business office at.
Guests ask this time if I want them to take a cab back, What for another hundred dollars? No stay put!
We radio Ports Authority to get permission to come on the ferry dock so Bazza could let me off and I could take the spare set of keys, get the dinghy and get the guests. They agree, and off we go. I nimbly jump off like a baby Gazelle, jump in the dinghy and pull out my keys. The Dock guy says "keys are in the dinghy", yep, they are. Are they supposed to be? No, never when it is left.
Mistake #6
You are probably thinking this is a long winded story for something that does not sound that bad, but wait it gets better! I start up the dinghy and off I head to the pub at full speed, thinking nothing but getting to my guests as soon as possible...Wait for it. I will put REALLY newbie Mistake # 7 in front of this part!
I am inattentive to the line on the front of the dinghy, and yep, you got it, about the time I get over there I wrap the line around the prop. Good. I don't even realize it is wrapped, I think it is out of gas, then think it is the battery. Bazza is just re anchoring the boat at this time. I am trying to call him on the radio, but he can't hear me as he is up front anchoring the boat!
Yep, you read this right. I am drifting at the docks of the PUB with a wrapped line on the prop, Simeon is walking back from wherever with no radio, and Bazza is out of radio contact anchoring the boat. 3 crew members in three different spots and 10 (9 actually, but that is another story!) guests waiting to get on Promenade.
I finally get Bazza and tell him that he is going to have to pull up on the T head there, which he does not really want to do (can't blame him, never been on there, but when we had sounded it out with the dinghy we knew it silts in so bad that we would have a hard time) I was trying to be discrete on the radio (right Kerry, now you have just blogged about it on the World Wide Web! Not totally bright am I !) and he eventually understood that he was going to have to up anchor and come dock in a very shallow spot now.
I attempted to untie the line off the prop, but did not see how fat white girl could do it without going in the water. Bazza tells me afterwards that he saw 4 feet on the depth finder, and we draw 5 and a half...(must be low on diesel!) and that he is thinking in his head "great, now I am going to get stuck in the mud and drift onto the rocks just to complete this comedy show here".... But, being the skilled professional he is, he does not get stuck, and we managed to get on dock and get the guests on. These guys are from Alabama, and some are very big boys, with one needing a hip replacement, so it was probably easier for them to get on the boat from the dock instead of the dinghy anyways!!!
At this time, I am smart enough to quickly serve drinks, while Bazza goes to rescue Simeon at the ferry dock who had been having heart attacks that someone had stolen the dinghy and was approaching the ports authority...We decided to leave the port of Roadtown really quickly and just skip the whole "lets re anchor the boat, serve lunch, give head tours" and just go straight to the drinks and lunch under sail on our way over to Little Harbour! Of course thin husband managed to get the line off the prop without getting in the water!
Which brings us to our very first picture today, tying ourselves in beside the large sailing yacht there. No template guest arrival pictures today, no sirree!!
The guests were fine, and said on their end, they had been told by their agent to take the 1115 ferry, and in Charlotte Amalie, at the ferry dock, they saw the ferry company was wrong, but it was the right time, so they thought they better take it. I know there is a logical reason for these ferries departing so close to one another, other then to just screw each other up, but I don't know what it is!!
Thank god it was not raining, that would have capped this off...Instead we had lunch and champagne..
The ladies went up to the old house to walk around while the guys had beers thrown to them in the water on noodles. Triple noodles!! It was about this time that I finally realized that I only had 9 guests and was looking for the 10th when they told me in the middle of last night, because of family health problems one could not make it... WHICH leads me to the last newbie mistake..
Not knowing how many guests you were supposed to have boarded for hours!!! Believe me, we are trained professionals, and it goes to show that we can have a bad day too, and little things just kind of snowball...(we won't even talk about the boat cleaners not showing up for turnaround and the laundry lady going to church and forgetting to drop off our clean laundry this morning shall we??) Putting back on my tourism hat now...
Close to nightfall we pulled out of Little Harbour and made our way down to Norman Island to anchor off the caves...
We had cocktails and nibblies...
And then it was time to fish!
Frank had a large fish on, he worked on this baby for over an hour. Had to be a large shark.
I eventually turned off dinner, as I have been here before.... He was back and forth across the dinghy on the back, working up a sweat...
We were so dedicated to getting this in that Simeon even went in the water to get the line out from under the rudder when the fish thought that would be an escape route... Then the Fishing Pole broke in half! (and it was heavy duty!). Still had the fish on though, so we kept on reeling...
But this is not a picture of a happy fisherman, but instead it is a dejected one, as just as were getting it close enough to see it at the back of the boat, the line snapped, where it had been rubbed a bit when he went under the boat!!!
Dinner was finally had about 830 or so tonight, we had Mackerel in the freezer from last weeks catch, which Bazza blackened and cooked on the barbecue. It was delicious and the only thing I have ever managed to get him to cook! Everyone loved dinner and now it is midnight and bed time.
I had been in touch with guests and agent not more then two days ago, and the agent had had on their itienary to take the 1115 ferry over to Tortola and then take a cab to Village Cay where we would pick them up.
I said, "don't get them to do that...Have them take the noon Fast Ferry into Roadtown, by the time they get out of customs it will be 115 and we will pick them up straight on the dock"
They asked how they would know us, and i said we were pretty good at picking out our large groups, and gave them Simeons name and description. These people had not been to the BVI before.
We seem to spend a lot of time at the Roadtown Ferry Dock picking and dropping off, and USUALLY, I tell the guests to call on their cel phone when they are on the ferry or coming into Tortola just to make sure we have the right ferry. I did not this time, thinking, "it is so close and it is the only feasible option to take the Fast Ferry, what could possibly go wrong?" They were thrilled not to have to take a cab.
Newbie mistake # 1. Assuming! Not having a back up plan!!
Remember, as Rick from Sophisticated Lady could tell you from going to and fro to Haiti before Xmas, (as I told you the story on in the last couple weeks, and they are finally back safe and sound) it is all the little things that add up into big things, and it is a chain reaction. We all know that.
We pull up into Roadtown, and anchor somewhere about 1230, and right about the same time the Bomba Charger pulled up. We ignored it, as our guests never come in on that ferry, besides, we were waiting for the Fast Ferry (remember though that all these ferry companies seem to be changing their schedules left and right, mainly to screw up the next companies departure times)
Newbie Mistake # 2 Assuming that what happened with the ferries last week, would be the same today. I should know better.
We were ready, sat in the cockpit, and about 20 minutes later, (Fast ferry not there yet, but not unusual) I told Simeon that he should just cruise by the ferry dock "just in case" they had come in on that ferry, as I did see a few white people on dock. I also said, "I would not even bother getting off the dinghy, just drive by and see if there are any likely candidates" He asks me if there was a grocery store by the Ferry Dock, I say, "no you have to go over to Bobbys" He did not tell me he was going to the grocery store, nor did I specifically ask, expecting him to make contact with us at the dock and give us a status update.
Newbie Mistake #3 Not spelling out every little thing with crew/ and or with employer...
Away he goes, and 5 minutes later the phone rings... It is a cab driver, who says he has our guests at the PUB! Now Bazza went back and forth for a minute, not quite understanding how our guests could be at the PUB, since that did not enter into the conversation anywhere, and we have never picked up there, and could not figure out how they got from St Thomas to there. About that time the Fast Ferry pulls in, and since I did not see 10 guests hanging off of it waving, I knew however it happened, our guests were at the PUB.
I rush to the VHF to call the dinghy. No answer. I call again, and again. No answer. Yes, we have a rule on the boat that crew ALWAYS have a radio with them. It does not matter if it is only for ten minutes, invariably, that is when we need them. In fact we tell them that if they are waiting at the dock for guests, to keep the key on so the radio on the dinghy works.
Newbie mistake #4. Crew has no radio, is not at the dinghy and we can only assume he is either looking for the guests (without a radio) or walking to Bobbys (without a radio)
Guests call, and say they waited at the ferry dock for half an hour, no one picked them up, and a cab driver came by and asked them where they were going and they said "Promenade" at which point the cabbie said, he knew where our business office was and would take them there. In they get.
Mistake #5. Listening to the Cab Drive who then charged them $45.00 for transporting them and their luggage three blocks to somewhere that we do not and have never had a business office at.
Guests ask this time if I want them to take a cab back, What for another hundred dollars? No stay put!
We radio Ports Authority to get permission to come on the ferry dock so Bazza could let me off and I could take the spare set of keys, get the dinghy and get the guests. They agree, and off we go. I nimbly jump off like a baby Gazelle, jump in the dinghy and pull out my keys. The Dock guy says "keys are in the dinghy", yep, they are. Are they supposed to be? No, never when it is left.
Mistake #6
You are probably thinking this is a long winded story for something that does not sound that bad, but wait it gets better! I start up the dinghy and off I head to the pub at full speed, thinking nothing but getting to my guests as soon as possible...Wait for it. I will put REALLY newbie Mistake # 7 in front of this part!
I am inattentive to the line on the front of the dinghy, and yep, you got it, about the time I get over there I wrap the line around the prop. Good. I don't even realize it is wrapped, I think it is out of gas, then think it is the battery. Bazza is just re anchoring the boat at this time. I am trying to call him on the radio, but he can't hear me as he is up front anchoring the boat!
Yep, you read this right. I am drifting at the docks of the PUB with a wrapped line on the prop, Simeon is walking back from wherever with no radio, and Bazza is out of radio contact anchoring the boat. 3 crew members in three different spots and 10 (9 actually, but that is another story!) guests waiting to get on Promenade.
I finally get Bazza and tell him that he is going to have to pull up on the T head there, which he does not really want to do (can't blame him, never been on there, but when we had sounded it out with the dinghy we knew it silts in so bad that we would have a hard time) I was trying to be discrete on the radio (right Kerry, now you have just blogged about it on the World Wide Web! Not totally bright am I !) and he eventually understood that he was going to have to up anchor and come dock in a very shallow spot now.
I attempted to untie the line off the prop, but did not see how fat white girl could do it without going in the water. Bazza tells me afterwards that he saw 4 feet on the depth finder, and we draw 5 and a half...(must be low on diesel!) and that he is thinking in his head "great, now I am going to get stuck in the mud and drift onto the rocks just to complete this comedy show here".... But, being the skilled professional he is, he does not get stuck, and we managed to get on dock and get the guests on. These guys are from Alabama, and some are very big boys, with one needing a hip replacement, so it was probably easier for them to get on the boat from the dock instead of the dinghy anyways!!!
At this time, I am smart enough to quickly serve drinks, while Bazza goes to rescue Simeon at the ferry dock who had been having heart attacks that someone had stolen the dinghy and was approaching the ports authority...We decided to leave the port of Roadtown really quickly and just skip the whole "lets re anchor the boat, serve lunch, give head tours" and just go straight to the drinks and lunch under sail on our way over to Little Harbour! Of course thin husband managed to get the line off the prop without getting in the water!
Which brings us to our very first picture today, tying ourselves in beside the large sailing yacht there. No template guest arrival pictures today, no sirree!!
The guests were fine, and said on their end, they had been told by their agent to take the 1115 ferry, and in Charlotte Amalie, at the ferry dock, they saw the ferry company was wrong, but it was the right time, so they thought they better take it. I know there is a logical reason for these ferries departing so close to one another, other then to just screw each other up, but I don't know what it is!!
Thank god it was not raining, that would have capped this off...Instead we had lunch and champagne..
The ladies went up to the old house to walk around while the guys had beers thrown to them in the water on noodles. Triple noodles!! It was about this time that I finally realized that I only had 9 guests and was looking for the 10th when they told me in the middle of last night, because of family health problems one could not make it... WHICH leads me to the last newbie mistake..
Not knowing how many guests you were supposed to have boarded for hours!!! Believe me, we are trained professionals, and it goes to show that we can have a bad day too, and little things just kind of snowball...(we won't even talk about the boat cleaners not showing up for turnaround and the laundry lady going to church and forgetting to drop off our clean laundry this morning shall we??) Putting back on my tourism hat now...
Close to nightfall we pulled out of Little Harbour and made our way down to Norman Island to anchor off the caves...
We had cocktails and nibblies...
And then it was time to fish!
Frank had a large fish on, he worked on this baby for over an hour. Had to be a large shark.
I eventually turned off dinner, as I have been here before.... He was back and forth across the dinghy on the back, working up a sweat...
We were so dedicated to getting this in that Simeon even went in the water to get the line out from under the rudder when the fish thought that would be an escape route... Then the Fishing Pole broke in half! (and it was heavy duty!). Still had the fish on though, so we kept on reeling...
But this is not a picture of a happy fisherman, but instead it is a dejected one, as just as were getting it close enough to see it at the back of the boat, the line snapped, where it had been rubbed a bit when he went under the boat!!!
Dinner was finally had about 830 or so tonight, we had Mackerel in the freezer from last weeks catch, which Bazza blackened and cooked on the barbecue. It was delicious and the only thing I have ever managed to get him to cook! Everyone loved dinner and now it is midnight and bed time.
Saturday, January 24. 2009
Charter turnaround day.
We sadly waved good bye to the wenches this morning, with most promising to be back! They left us nice comments as usual..
Thank you so much for making my first (and not my last) visit to the BVI so special. I hoped for relaxation and found more then I could hope for. AMY JACKSONVILLE, FL
It has been a fantastic week- relaxing, fun, funny experiences, out of the world food and great company. Hopefully I'll still be physically able to do it again someday. Thanks for everything. MARGE, CINCINATTI, OH
What a wonderful week. Thanks very much for your hospitality. I enjoyed every minute of it. You truly are a great crew! LYNNE, ONTARIO, CANADA
Everything I expected and more! Thank you for your hospitality in YOUR home. I have enjoyed these days so much! LINDA, WOODBORO, MD
The Wenches sang us a song last night after dinner in 4 part harmony...
Sail, Sail, Sail our Boat
Round the BVI's...
Kerry, Baz and Simeon too, they're really some neat guys...
We came here to have some fun
But Kerrys rules must hold...
Even if you get real wet,
DEAL WITH IT we're told!
Kerry cooks and Bazza steers
While Simeon finds a bench...
To take his daily afternoon nap
and dream of Adenturous- Wenches!
Wine, Wine, bring more wine,
We've not had enough...
We don't care if it's red or white,
Boy, this trip is tough!
Tho this weeks been awfully fun
Now we have to go
Maybe we'll come back some day
So don't you dare say no!
OK, now that all the PR stuff is out of the way, I am not sure where these turnaround days go. 5 grocery stores today to get everything I wanted for charter tomorrow! If I had to go to any more, I was getting down to the small stores believe me!
I have come to really enjoy that ride into town to get groceries on turn around day. The car is cool, and I can just sit quietly and stare at the road. I went by Fish Bay and they are busy making land..
Then I did a double take at just off the shell station between Fish and Baughers Bay they seem to be reclaiming land at a SUPER fast rate!! I sweat this was not done a week ago... Something big going on in this area!
Thank you so much for making my first (and not my last) visit to the BVI so special. I hoped for relaxation and found more then I could hope for. AMY JACKSONVILLE, FL
It has been a fantastic week- relaxing, fun, funny experiences, out of the world food and great company. Hopefully I'll still be physically able to do it again someday. Thanks for everything. MARGE, CINCINATTI, OH
What a wonderful week. Thanks very much for your hospitality. I enjoyed every minute of it. You truly are a great crew! LYNNE, ONTARIO, CANADA
Everything I expected and more! Thank you for your hospitality in YOUR home. I have enjoyed these days so much! LINDA, WOODBORO, MD
The Wenches sang us a song last night after dinner in 4 part harmony...
Sail, Sail, Sail our Boat
Round the BVI's...
Kerry, Baz and Simeon too, they're really some neat guys...
We came here to have some fun
But Kerrys rules must hold...
Even if you get real wet,
DEAL WITH IT we're told!
Kerry cooks and Bazza steers
While Simeon finds a bench...
To take his daily afternoon nap
and dream of Adenturous- Wenches!
Wine, Wine, bring more wine,
We've not had enough...
We don't care if it's red or white,
Boy, this trip is tough!
Tho this weeks been awfully fun
Now we have to go
Maybe we'll come back some day
So don't you dare say no!
OK, now that all the PR stuff is out of the way, I am not sure where these turnaround days go. 5 grocery stores today to get everything I wanted for charter tomorrow! If I had to go to any more, I was getting down to the small stores believe me!
I have come to really enjoy that ride into town to get groceries on turn around day. The car is cool, and I can just sit quietly and stare at the road. I went by Fish Bay and they are busy making land..
Then I did a double take at just off the shell station between Fish and Baughers Bay they seem to be reclaiming land at a SUPER fast rate!! I sweat this was not done a week ago... Something big going on in this area!
SailDiveBVI- Kerry's personal blog
Calendar
Quicksearch
Syndicate This Blog
Powered by
