JULY 18 2099

Nice and breezy here today with blue skies and breezy trade winds wafting by on the songs of the birds. The last few nights, the tree frogs have been rehearsing their chorus. It's summer here and all the creatures are happy. Surf's up!

Two tropical waves are east of us, promising to bring rains and thunderstorms to our future. But no storm formation YET and nothing to worry about. Just paradise as usual!

Sad News:
Windjammer Flying Cloud not to be sunk in the BVI bvi captains log ...I was blogging and doing quite a bit of work on theSink the Flying Cloud project in the BVI last summer which the BVI SCUBA Organization had taken on as a ...

I guess it just ain't gonna happen... So sad, to see this ship sit and rot. One of the pictures, show the aft entrance to a large cabin below where I slept 2 fun filled weeks while touring the BVI on my very first visit. Little did I know that I would later, end up living in the Caribbean for 22 years!

People often ask me if I went on vacation and just "stayed". No I didn't. I don't think many people at all can say they went on vacation somewhere and just stayed on for 22 years! It was on a previous trip to the islands, that I discovered that people got PAID to work as professional crew on yachts. I thought to myself "Hmmm... I sure don't remember THAT being presented as an option on career day at the school!"

I thought WOW, had I chosen a career, rather than fallen into one, I might have chosen a life at sea. A few years later, my happy career and goal oriented life was upside down. I had a stalker on my heels who just would not let up. Stalker laws were and still are, far and few between, and very little you can do until the stalker kills you or injures you seriously.

Not wanting to wait around through monumental harassment and be hunted down and killed, I began day dreaming about life at sea. One day I decided to make that a reality and gave myself ONE YEAR to make it happen. I didn't tell a soul, it was MY little secret, other than those I was corresponding with in far flung ports. I quietly sold off my businesses and belongings then about 10 days before my scheduled departure, I suddenly announced I was leaving for the wild blue yonder.

Family, friends, clients, and co workers were all shocked. I emptied out my home, sold or gave away everything and off to sea I went. I had a blast and don't regret my decision. Sure once in awhile I wonder what if, but then I think "Hell, yes, I did it while I could and I had a blast!"

I spent about 12 years working at sea and my body took a beating. Finally I called it quits, time to heal and moved ashore on Tortola. I continued to sail for fun for a few more years, but past injuries can turn into chronic pain. I still love sailing, but my body parts protest. It's a GOOD thing I went sailing when I did, as now I feel too "beat up" to go mess about in small boats. I've busted knees, legs, shoulder and head, it's a miracle I'm alive at all. But it was FUN FUN FUN and a ton of hard work. I loved the traveling, the sailing, the fabulous yachts I was able to work aboard.

In between working on the big boys, I had my own 30 foot boat, I rebuilt myself until she looked brand new again. I know every square inch of that boat, I no longer own, but if you put me aboard her blindfolded tomorrow, I could find my way around without the least bit of aid. Days like today, I would hoist the sail and leave harbor and you wouldn't see me back for days or weeks.

Ironically, the entire time I owned my boat, she never once made a successful round trip day sail. I tried several times and it just never worked out. The boat always wanted to go go go and not come back. Those were some of the days of my life!


Fun (Scary) Reading: (Thanks Frenchie!)

Hell & High Water, The Fastnet Race of 1979
Only 85 boats out of 303 managed to complete the race that year. By the time the 1979 Fastnet had officially finished, 15 people had died, five yachts had sunk, 24 crews had abandoned ship and 136 sailors had been rescued.

TODAY'S QUOTE
The sea showed that it can be a deadly enemy and that those who go to sea for pleasure must do so in full knowledge that they may encounter dangers of the highest order.~~Final paragraph of an inquiry report in to what went wrong in the 1979 Fastnet Race.

Read the Book about the race, Fastnet, Force 10: The Deadliest Storm in the History of Modern Sailing, New Edition

AND NOW A PAT ON THE BACK...
British Virgin Islands voted Best Caribbean Islands destinationTravel Daily News International - Athens,GreeceThe British Virgin Islands have been recognized as the “Best Caribbean Islands destination” in the prestigious Travel + Leisure Annual World's Best Awards ...
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