What kind of New Year’s resolution did you make for this year? Eat more healthy? Start using that gym membership more often?
How about turning all of those ‘some day’ thoughts into reality? We’ve chatted with a lot of people on this trip who said they hope to some day take a trip similar to ours. But there’s only Monday through Sunday — no some day — in the week. If you’ve thought about some day taking a break from work, while you are still healthy, perhaps before your kids grow up and grow out, perhaps to get to know your spouse and kids better, or just because you’ve worked all of your life and everyone needs a break once in a while, then get out there and do it now! It will be a tough decision to make when you are in the comfort and safety of your current lifestyle, but you won’t regret it!
The reality is that few extended cruisers that we run into have truly escaped work. Whether you are living on a boat full-time, an RV, or hiking the Appalachian trail, there’s work to be done. And, our jobs as teachers for our kids keep us busy every morning and often well into the afternoon. But, we try to connect their school assignments to the environment all around us, and in that why we all learn a little more.
Some people have asked us how we afford to take a year off. I’d prefer to look at it as how can we afford not to. The lessons we are learning about the world around us, the sea, the history of the land, the diversity of our peoples, the limits of ourselves and what we need from this world are priceless. I have had some of the most challenging times both physically and emotionally in my life on this trip, and I would venture to say that the rest of the crew have as well. But, we’ve also witnessed arresting beauty from our watery perch, we’ve been continually shocked by the kindness of strangers, and we’ve found new strength, boldness and resolve in ourselves.
So, turn off that TV, put away that adventure travel book, pack as small of a bag as possible and get out there TODAY and do it! Some day will never come! OK, now that I’ve gotten down from my soapbox, here’s the scoop on how we started off 2007. Earlier in the week, we left the USVI’s and cleared back into the BVI’s. Our objective for New Year’s Eve was a spot just north of the local airport, Marina Cay, but first we wanted to experience some new islands in the area. As you’ll see on the chart, there are so many islands scattered along the Sir Francis Drake channel that you can spend months down here exploring and discovering new harbors. We settled on Peter Island and had a vigorous upwind sail for about 4 hours to get there. You hear Peter Island, and it’s neighbor Cooper Island, being called all the time on the VHF radio as there are nice resorts on both islands. For the Peter Island Resort, though, nice might be an understatement. While ashore, Karen walked through the grounds and reviewed the brochure to find that people who come here must have some pretty deep pockets as the nightly room rates start at about $1000 and go up $12000 – you get three meals a day and free drinks starting in the afternoon though! We anchored in Deadman’s Bay, which, even though it was on the other side of a point of land from the wind and sea, become very blustery and rolly. Still, the snorkeling was refreshing and the boys had great fun just playing in the waves and digging in the sand. I can’t remember when I tired of digging in the sand at the beach, but these boys sure show no signs of letting up!
Now, you may wonder how the harbor got it’s name, Deadman’s Bay. Check out this island.
This island may look pretty insignificant, but once you learn that it is called Dead Chest Island you might think again. The famous pirate Blackbeard marooned a mutinous crew here, inspiring Robert Louis Stevenson in his book Treasure Island, to write the familiar chant:
“Fifteen men on a dead man’s chest–
Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!”
This Blackbeard fella made quite a name for himself. I heard from a friend that he was the most ‘successful’ of all of the pirates in this area, plundering some 400 ships. The following excerpt from the book Tales of the Caribbean, by Fritz Seyfarth, is an excellent introduction:
“… As early as 1765 Charlotte Amalie was declared a free port by the king of Denmark and soon became not only a center of legitimate trade for the West Indies but a rendezvous of soldiers-of-fortune and buccaneers, including that infamous and colorful rascal Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard. He was a massive man noted for his boldness, fiendish appearance, and roguish ways. Sporting a pair of cutlasses, three brace of pistols, and a musket, he was a walking arsenal with an appearance designed to make any adversary immediately beg for mercy. Thickly matted with blood and food, his long black beard was sometimes braided with brightly colored ribbons and turned about his ears. Slow burning cords tucked under his hat wreathed his head with demonic smoke. All this, together with his fierce and wild eyes, “made him such a figure that imagination cannot form an idea of a fury from hell to look more frightful.” Blackbeard’s favorite pastime was to create a version of hell by battening down the hatches of his vessel, igniting several pots filled with sulfur, and seeing who among his crew could take it the longest. Blackbeard always won and was quite pleased that he was better fitted than anyone else to live in hell. Teach was a cunning devil, and one of his filibustering tactics was to show false colors and move in on his prey in complete surprise. He usually went to great lengths to disguise the identity of his vessel, sometimes even to the point of having the crew wear women’s clothing and prance around deck with parasols. Then at the very moment of actual attack, this cutthroat would suddenly raise a large blood-red streamer pennant, his personal flag that signified courage, violence, and death. Leaping onto the deck of a doomed ship, he slashed wildly with a ten pound cutlass until the crew cried for mercy or lay dead. On several occasions, when no proper enemy ship had been encountered for several weeks, Teach attacked and plundered another pirate vessel just to stay in shape and make something of the voyage. Such an act was considered morally illegal in the buccaneer code of ethics; it was raw piracy at its worst. But for Blackbeard, it was just some more challenging fun and games. Ultimately, his head decorated the bowsprit of a Royal Navy frigate in Carolina waters.”
Nowadays, the pirates have moved on and are heading up companies like Enron, so we moved on as well, and sailed across the channel to Marina Cay for a planned New Years Eve celebration with Asseance and Arctic Tern, and a few hundred other boats there for the festivities. We shared a bottle of bubbly, caught up on our tales and exploits since we last saw them. I’m somewhat embarrassed to say that I did not make it to midnight, but neither did anyone else on the boat!
We spent three nights at the Marina Cay harbor, catching up on school work, doing maintenance to the diesel, and being thankful that we had a backup fresh water pump as the one installed slowly died. If you want a nice cottage to rent or a restaurant with a grand view of the waters, Marina Cay is the ticket. Their signature red roofs can be seen for miles and when you land at the dock, they were nice enough to put a Pusser’s rum gift shop just a few steps away!
We’ve found that the kids respond better to a little change of scenery to get through their school work, so for one day, we settled into a table at Marina Cay. The kids continued to grumble about having school work to do as other kids walked by to and from the beach. I think I need to tape record my response, though, as I give it every other day… “Yeah, but, they are on vacation for a week; you are traveling for a year!”, or “Yeah, so hurry up and finish your work so that we can get out and enjoy this place!” What kind of kid could turn down this as their classroom, really….!
During our stay at Marina Cay, our youngest ‘discovered’ our digital still camera and video camera, and took a new interest in ‘documenting’ our environment. Alasdair, part of the family over at Cinnamon Bay, was a huge photography buff, and I think this is where they got the sudden new interest in cameras! So, some of the pictures may start coming from them in the future. For now, they are filling up the memory card experimenting with all the stuff around the boat! Here’s a sampling. That’s a grilled ham and cheese sandwich, if you were wondering…
We were eager to see the famed island Jost Van Dyke island, so we left Marina Cay for a delightful downwind sail to a cluster of small islands on the eastern end. We were a little concerned at first that we had landed in the high-rent district, as this yacht — complete with helicopter — anchored nearby, but it ended up being one of the more picturesque anchorages we’ve been too.
We were eager to see the famed island Jost Van Dyke, so we left Marina Cay for a delightful downwind sail to a cluster of small islands on the eastern end. We were a little concerned at first that we had landed in the high-rent district, as this yacht — complete with helicopter — anchored nearby, but it ended up being one of the more picturesque spots we’ve been too. The highlight was a hike around the point to spot called the Bubbling Pond. We had read somewhere awhile ago about this spot, but you need to search around for its exact location as scant little information is written up about it. I think the locals want to keep it unspoiled! The pond is behind a narrow slot in the rocks where the surf comes booming through and bubbles up the pool water with white foam. It was a real treat to swim around in!
Today is Thursday, and we are off to Sopers Hole so that I can drop Karen and the boys off for a 4 night stay at a local resort. Tonight I will be picking up three of my guy friends from Bedford — Matt, Don, and Steve — for an extended weekend of fun in paradise. It should be a good time for everyone!