bvi captains log blog

It was a busy fun filled day, with not a drop of rain anywhere! We spent most of the morning at the Baths, a shopping trip to Spanish Town and the boys went off on a bonding trip to go onto the wreck of the vagabond on Fallen Jerusaleum, I wish it would sink so we would get a new dive site! Then it was off to dive the Visibles on Cockroach Island. Apparently the viz was the worse that some have ever seen in the BVI, an entire 6 feet!!! They also had some current so had a big of a swim back, although they still had tons of gorgonians and soft corals

Mid afternoon we took sailing and trolling to see if we could catch some fish, but alas, even trolling over all the good underwater mounts all we came up with was another Barracuda!



The guys bonded over fish on the back decks and the women watched from afar from the front. They were curious enough to look up when the barracuda was on the line, but not move too much!

They quickly went back to their enjoyable spot for the afternoon!

The sunset over Jost is always spectacular up here, and tonight was no exception. This was during the sail...

Coming around the point into Muskmelon

And of course, a ton of birds everywhere!

We went stern too with all the noisy birds on the shore tonight...

And we still had sunset once we were all anchored and settled in!

We had a birthday girl tonight and she had requested our famous shot game for her birthday (you think they would have learnt in years gone by don't you?)

You can see our game winner here, ones stuffed in everywhere...

And this is the birthday girl giving thanks to her friends who took a shot for her once she had had way too many!

The table set for dinner tonight...

and birthday dinner dish was shrimp, scallops and lobster scampi which there was not a drop left of!

Two birthdays this week, so tonights birthday cake was Key Lime Pie!

And this is the entire group..They are all out on the trampolines watching the stars and I am about to head to bed to watch the election!

So, I am going to backtrack just a bit here. We have seen a lot of dolphins lately, and pick up day was no exception. Of course the guys called me up just when it decided to go away, so all I got was a real crappy shot of the tail!

This is what we look like when we are just waiting for the guests to arrive!

The construction is coming along at Moorings Base...

Although my husband laughed as apparently part of the deal for them to expand and move the breakwater etc was that they put in a means to flush the harbor. This shed houses the pump that goes to an 8 inch pipe, which he says it not going to flush too much! Maybe if it was 8 feet instead of 8 inches...

This is our first group of guests arriving...

and they promptly found a place to nap. I am serious, this is an hour after getting on board!

Our friend Jennifer looked so cute, although I really think she looked like she belonged in the cornfields, not on a yacht!

By the time we finally left Roadtown it was dark, I was trying to get a mood shot of our nice new flag with the lights of Roadtown in the background, but I did not have much success!

We made it over to Salt Island, and proceeded to have a late dinner...

Some had had a long day travelling, so it was early to bed (very quiet, but 24 hours later they are all upstairs singing at the top of their lungs to American Pie and Paradise By the Dashboard Light! I even think I am humming along under my breath while doing the blog tonight!) By the time I was up this morning, some were already in the water and of course, we had a wonderful wonderful snorkel at our favorite place. They saw everything they were supposed to see, and then quickly found the trampoline for some relaxation.

We had some fishing while sailing up to the Baths today, we were all excited but it was a barracuda. They had it on dock and the hook came out and I really thought one or two of the guys was going to lose a toe, the fish was moving around so much. I was very helpful, I just stood there and screamed!

We did our first dive at Salt this morning, great first dive to get everyone used to their gear and used to the water again (some had not dove since the last time they were here two years ago!) I could tell I had not had my camera in the water for awhile, as my pictures in a word, sucked!! We saw tons of stuff that we were supposed to see, including this humongous lobster out wandering around...

Lots of big rays, and octopus, anemones, eels and on and on. I took a lot of lousy pictures so I will just stop now. Better luck maybe next time!

We stop at the wreck of the vagabond on Fallen Jerusaleum to see what it was doing, and yep, it is still there!

By the time we hit the Baths there was a halyard problem so we had to send someone up the mast to fix it...We gave Simeon a camera as well to take pictures for my blog.

The Baths...

Honeymoon Beach

The main Baths

and a nice little picture of a sailboat in the dying light...

We had 20 minutes of heavy rain since we picked up this group. Exactly when I had to barbecue the ribs! As Simeon said he had never done it before and Bazza had an important air conditioner to fix! Typical!! Then while dinner was on the table, of course, we caught something on the line so everyone disappeared.

I thought it was very funny as the two on the ends decided that eating was way more important then fishing!!! We had only caught the bottom though, so nada, nada!

..and we have not gone very far, from Harbourview down to Road Harbour and we are just waiting for the rest of our guests to get in so we can do a sunset sail to...somewhere...tonight. The usual story of lost bags, rerouted and delayed planes.
Took a pic of the boat last night on our way out to dinner at the Sugar Mill. Funny we had to debate the best way to get there as we are not used to being at this end of the island!

Decided to go through town as I had to get a couple items off my provisioning list and put a deposit in my favorite bank! Stopped at Bobby's and i needed baby carrots and the ones on the shelves expired October 23rd. I passed on those and then they had nothing else I needed, so off we went to the bank.
Now, I figured I was being very clever, as the last time I tried to deposit a business check in the machine, there was no envelopes, so I was foiled. This time, I was prepared and had an envelope with all the instructions on the outside.
You may think that i could not have many problems with the bank on the weekend, but apparently the customer service people left notes with the teller machine this weekend that I was not of "good character"
I jauntily put in my card, press deposit, and it asks me if I want a receipt for the transaction. Well of course I do with my luck lately! So I said Yes. It then said " this machine cannot give you a transaction record" I pressed ok, and another sign came up saying "do you want to proceed without a transaction record? I was feeling so confident I said yes, at which time nothing opened up to take my envelope and the machine promptly ate my card and went back to the sign that says "insert card"
I was not sure whether to laugh or cry, so I settled for laughing. My trip to town even on the weekend, sucked, in one word!
Off we continue on to meet our friends and guests at the Sugar Mill for dinner. Usually one of my favorite restaurants. I was fairly dissapointed last night. For the prices charged the service was very sloppy, I won't even go into the details. The food was ok. The setting however is lovely still.

Unfortunately, I had something in the food I was very allergic too and it was a long night...Lets just leave it at that! Today though was pick up day! The galley actually looks like I sometimes do cooking in it! I had to get out my recipe books though as I never would have remembered what went into my dishes.

615, no guests yet, looks like tonights anchorage is going to be our mooring at Baughers Bay, oh well the fishing is good there!

No entry tonight! Just off to the Sugar Mill for dinner. Been a couple years since I have been there but it was usually my favorite place so I am looking forward to it! 4 of our guests for tomorrow are staying there tonight and invited us out for dinner, so I am sure I will have pictures tomorrow.
I got this a few days ago from the BVICCHA meeting with the Electricity Corporation along with a break down for those people who could not be there, and i thought some people would be interested in the Power Point Presentation the BVIEC had. The link is here
As well as the notes that came around with it.
Rate Structure
There are two types of electricity rates: (a) the fixed consumption rate, which has remained constant over the past 28 years; and (b) the variable consumption rate, which is the fuel variation surcharge (FVS). The FVS never exceeds the fixed rate. When the cost of fuel was at its peak, the surcharge was about 40% of one's bill; it is now at about 30% with the decrease in fuel costs.

Increased Demand
The demand for electricity has increased exponentially over the past 20 years, due in large measure to the proliferation of ACs and instant water heaters. Even when the cost of fuel was at its peak in July, the demand remained unchanged. When the demand exceeds the reserve margin of the eight generating units, power outages occur. Members were concerned that these power outages are causing irreparable harm to their equipment. BVIEC explained that, following an assessment of reported damages, if BVIEC is deemed responsible, it will repair or replace the damaged equipment. It was also noted that since some of the problems are attributable to shoddy electrical jobs, members should have their electric circuits checked.

Market Prices
It was determined that any attempt to hedge against future increases in fuel costs would be too risky for BVIEC, and a difficult "sell" to consumers.

Renewable Sources of Energy
Permission to use renewable sources of energy -- solar, wind, wave, etc., must be obtained from the Government, and cannot be fed back into BVIEC. The process of obtaining Government approvals, however, needs to happen with greater expediency.

Electric Poles and Lines
BVIEC promised to remove branches, vegetation and other obstructions from the electric poles and lines.

Personal Responsibility
It was recognized that greater vigilance about our consumption of electricity is a win-win situation for everyone and our environment.

New Initiatives
1) An advanced metering infrastructure will soon be implemented that would, among other things, allow for the remote reading of meters.
2) A new bill format will be implemented that will show customers their rates for the current billing period, as well as their electric consumption history for the past 12 months. In preparation for the launching of this new bill, BVIEC will conduct a public education campaign.

This is not confirmed, but I got some information tonight that said this
"Just hear some good news today from a realiable source who was attending the court hearings in St. Kitts a few days ago. He said the judges ruled in VIEC's favour and awarded costs to VIEC. I checked the Registrar's office, but they did not get a reply as yet. I guess the St. Lucia registry will soon send the ruling to Pump Court. Until then cheers and God's blessings on us all."

This was the case that the Virgin Islands Environmental Council brought against the developer and the BVI government about the development of a fisheries protected area called Hans Creek.

The developers had filed in court that the VIEC did not bring the case in time, so it was "time barred" In the spring it was ruled in favor of the VIEC and they were awarded costs from the developer. They appealed that decision, and it went to the appeals court in St Kitts this fall. The judge took awhile to hand down the decision, but if true it is very good news.
BEAR IN MIND that this does NOT mean that the VIEC has won the entire case, now it will go to trial, but all the money that had been raised so far to pay lawyers and costs, dollar by dollar, painstakingly in some cases, will now be able to put toward the trial and not all the roadblocks leading up to it. I understand that fund raising is still a crucial step. For those who don't know about this court case, you can read a lot more on the British Virgin Islands Heritage Conservation Group and Virgin Islands Environmental Council

There is no other updates on it as of yet. I will post if and when I know more.

One of my blog readers wrote me this today...
"I occasionally joke about not knowing what I want to do when I grow up (I'm in my mid-forties and have spent my entire career in retail -- first in store management, then buying, and now in planning and supply chain), but I think I've narrowed it down.
My first thought was it's time to open a store in the BVIs. But I'm thinking perhaps a job in government or banking, as it appears they do have to do anything but say "Come back later".
Decisions... decisions..."

So who is ready to hear todays reason why it has now taken 46 days (and counting) to get a twelve thousand CD released that was held against a $229.00 Visa bill?? I think I have decided that what is happening now is that i am shooting myself in the foot and they are actually reading my blog going "we will get you!" I think the anonymous charter captains blog went out the window a couple years ago.
We were supposed to get a phone call today when the fax/signature came through right? Well, by after 1 no phone call, so I took the bull by the horns and decided I would phone as opposed to spending another two hours sitting in the bank. I was pleased when the woman I was dealing with two days ago answered the phone. That quickly dissipated though when I realized I had made the mistake of sending Bazza in yesterday and now this lady who I have dealt with (and sits right next to the OTHER lady, and was the one QUESTIONING whether Bazza could close it) has washed her hands of the matter and said, "I don't know, it was done yesterday with your husband and faxes went back and forth" I corrected that no, apparently we now needed a magic fax signature, but wait for this, cuz you know what is coming don't you???? Or do you???

The other girl is OUT TO LUNCH and she will get her to call me when she comes back. (which she never did...call that is, I have no idea if she came back from lunch, there seems to be a tendency on island for people not to come back from lunch, so who knows!) At this point the week seemed long, and we bowed our head and have given up until later on next week. Perhaps the bank does not have enough money on hand to give me my measly twelve thousand dollars? Is that possible?? No, I don't think so, I think they read my blog and are fooling with me now.
Probably next week if it is still not happening i will have to throw all caution to the wind and make an appointment with the manager. Maybe he can also find my business checks that I have not been able to find out about for a couple weeks either.

Just to cap off the fun filled banking day, my clearinghouse went to put a deposit check in the Scotia Bank for me in St Thomas. Yep, the same bank that "lost" a large deposit sometime between St Thomas and Tortola this summer. They have my preprinted deposit slips, and I guess the teller did not want to accept the deposit. Not knowing what to do with it! I believe my clearinghouse had to finally go see a customer service rep and tell them to train their tellers, that the check had to go over to Tortola (don't we have computers in the banking industry here yet? It would appear from my latest experiences that perhaps we do not yet, and they are sitting in a back office with pencil and paper and an abacus maybe!) They cautioned me that I would want to stay on top of it and check and make sure the check actually gets here next week. Great. You can probably imagine how that made my day!

Did I mention that I was actually very excited about going back on charter? Wouldn't you be?? I know I have talked about the saga of the fairy lights for the cockpit and their costs this week. Well three days later I believe, the job is finally done! I think they have been up and down about 4 times. Every time I went upstairs one of the guys was clipping up new fairy lights (you really did not expect them all to work right out of the box did you???)
They are up now, I don't care if they give off purple, pink, green or no light! They are staying!!

Imagine my surprise when I went down to the office in the ama and saw a picture that looked very much like a lot of pictures that I have taken in the Lion! Apparently the office is a bazza electronic shop now! (He will show me for not letting him put the ROV on the boat now!)

But on the up side, we also have satellite radio "sort of" when the satellites pass over for the right time periods and the boat is at anchor and not moving anyways...at least it had the right channel on! The new country station...(Probably all our guests will soon find the "all Jimmy Buffett station, all Margaritaville all the time channel though!"

As I told you this week I made the rounds of all the grocery stores, trying to figure out my best bet for provisioning. The one I chose, I went into yesterday afternoon, looked over all their shelves and coolers to see exactly what was there and then sat down with them and gave them a list. I was sure that I had won one of the games this week and i would get everything on my order, as after all, I sat and looked at it all just before they closed yesterday...No such luck!
Did I mention that I was looking forward to going on charter this weekend? This group is practically celebrities now they have been on the boat so many times. Always right over the election period and the numbers were always 8 Republicans to 2 Democrats, with the 2 democrats grumbling about years of hell every time, so I was actually looking forward to the fireworks this Tuesday only to have them tell me on the phone that SOME OF THE DIE HEART Republicans switched their vote in the advance polling this year. They just could not bring themselves to go Republican. I am not sure about what that says about the election over all, but I am looking forward to Tuesday anyways. Although I wonder what we will be able to replace it with as a soap opera for the next couple years....
Anyways, this almost celebrity group of mine now, had their picture from last time in Lats and Atts Magazine this winter when we had Michael Bean play on the boat (sorry, don't expect him next week!)

And they also had this picture in the BVI Yacht Guide this past August. I expect no less from them then Caribbean Travel and Life or Newsweek this year!


OK, I feel better I ranted enough here (I can't believe anyone reads this drivel besides my mother, but apparently, people do!) Time to go put a show on TV..and I downloaded Survivor last night, so tonights feature is Prison Break and Survivor! Big night for pathetic Bazza and I!