An hour and a half after that the cook did this…

An hour and a half after that we ate lobster rolls.

January came and went and now it’s the last week in February.  I have three more months here and I can’t believe it.  I still have so much to accomplish before I leave…. take more pictures, tour the rum distillary, get out to Buck Island, experience a sea plane ride to St. Thomas, snorkel, do more  small boat racing (that is a very relative statement – anything compared to my boat is a small boat), go turtle watching, and the list goes on.

Instead of telling you the things I want to do, maybe I should tell you what I have done.  January was a very busy month for me and Roseway.  We had our first tapas event aboard the boat, our annual fundraiser gala, my family came to visit, and I experienced my first sailboat race. 

The tapas event was perfect.  The weather and wind cooperated, the guests were in good spirits, and the food and wine selection were great – even though the dessert course was a puffed pastry and once we brought it out on deck, the wind blew off all the pastry tops.  The fundraiser went well, too.  My mother, Prissy, and cousin all came into town that week for a visit.  They bought tickets to the event which enabled me to attend as a guest and not as an employee.  I got to wear a party dress and high heels!

Because my family was in town, the captain gave me several days off to spend with my guests.  I crashed their hotel room, slept in a real bed, took long showers, and wandered the island as a resident and not a sailor.  It was a much needed, and very appreciated, mini vacation.

The beginning of February brought my first sailboat race experience – Race Around the Island.  I managed to find someone willing to take me and several other crew mates as passengers during the race.  We promised to sit on the rail and bring beer.

I loved every minute of it!  Captain Steve of Hotel California would talk us through every maneuver he was going to do.  For example, when he foresaw a tack coming, he would shout a warning, “tacking soon.”  My fellow rail meat (the term given to passengers whose specific job aboard is to add more weight so the boat doesn’t lean too far over) and I would prep ourselves by moving from a sitting position to a squatting position.  When the captain yelled “tacking,” we scrambled as fast as we could across the fore deck to the other side and grab onto the rail before the boat tilted so much you were left climbing across the boat vertically -  like climbing up a ladder – and risking the chance of falling in.  Did I mention to you how awesome that was?!

Last weekend was another sailboat race.  I got in touch with Steve of Hotel California and boarded his boat as working crew instead of just rail meat.  My job was to keep charge of the main preventer.  It wasn’t a very glamorous job but someone had to do it and I was more than happy to help.  The sailing was just OK; the race experience was great.   We didn’t officially place but the race committee awarded us a first place trophy for best alcoholic drink aboard, margaritas.   

February also brought my birthday.  I successfully turned 29 again.  My mother and Dennis happened to kind-of, sort-of be in the area and came by St. Croix to spend some birthday time with me before heading back to Virginia.  After I celebrated with family, I celebrated with the crew – which included a Roseway tradition of pushing me into the water.  I was fully clothed.  It was downtown Christiansted.  It was off the boardwalk.  It was in front of several bars and restaurants.  It was great.

We had a special guest aboard – ex president Jimmy Carter and his family!  Before he came, and unbeknowngst to us, each crew member had a background/security check run on them.  A few hours before the sail, two security agents came by to check out the boat.  And then two more came.  And then two police boats showed up.  And then the vans with tinted windows rolled in.  And then Jimmy-boy and his family got out and boarded Roseway.  He was nice and personable.  I got myself a hug and a peck on the cheek by evening’s end.  His family was nice, too.  They were just regular folks, could have been standing next to them in Walmart. 

That sail was pretty cool… schmoozing with JC and pouring wine and rum punches while guys with wire earpieces and sunglasses tried to find their sea legs and two police boats flanked either side of Roseway. 

I played wiffle ball for the first time.  I watched a boat parade from the bowsprit.  I learned two new knots, sheep shank and hand cuffs.  And I discovered a band I like.

New Year’s Eve started in town with a few drinks, then a drive to Rowdy Joe’s for the best fish tacos I’ve ever had, a trip through the rainforest, and then back into town for a night of drinking and laughing.  Believe it or not, nothing crazy happened. 

Islanders love their celebrations.  Right before Christmas there is Jump Up.  The streets of Christiansted are closed down and vendors set up tables, selling caribbean dishes like roti and pate, drinks, and small trinkets like bubble guns and stuffed animals.  There is music everywhere.  Near the end of the street party the Moko Jumbies come out.

Moko Jumbies date back to a culture wary of evil spirits who roam the streets and look for unsuspecting victims.  Moko Jumbies were created to confuse and ward off the evil spirits.  These stilt walkers roam the parades and festivals, dancing and weaving.

After the New Year, there is another celebration called Three Kings Day, St. Croix’s version of Carnival.  This time, the other island city, Fredriksted, is closed off and people decked out in brightly colored costumes parade down the street alongside floats loaded down with steel pan musicians and whistle blowers. 

And that brings us to today….

Once the cards and packages started to arrive, I was overwhelmed with joy (I know, sounds corny).  I got several Christmas cards and care packages.  I got books and gum and candy and a magazine and my niece even enclosed some pop tarts.  The items in the box were so trivial but meant so much.  I’ve never been witness to or experienced a more true meaning of “it’s the thought that counts.” 

Living on a boat, especially at a mooring, lends itself to creative ways to keep yourself entertained.  For Christmas Eve, the crew dressed up – in costume.  There was a baggywrinkle, a spider man snorkler, a ninja, two ice skaters, a captain, and I was a hippie/ghetto serving wench.  Our crazy gathering of misplaced comic book characters ate leftovers for Christmas Eve dinner.  We had a great time. 

The next morning we had a leisurly brunch and talked about our Christmas traditions, food we ate, and best presents received.  Brunch was followed by a sail aboard a catamaran, we were passengers and didn’t have to lift a finger to sail her!

After the sail, we gussied ourselves up and headed to the Zumwalt’s house atop a hill in Christiansted.  We spent several hours cooking dinner and drinking wine and coquito.  Coquito is a local drink.  It’s home made with rum, heavy cream, and spices and only makes an appearance at Christmas time.  None of us wanted the day to end.

We would totally win in a fight.  Their braided crowns of flowers and mud balls of earth and grass are no match for our line-cutting knives and vice grips for hands.

The sail was great.  The winds blew strong and we took water onto the deck.  It’s amazing to think of our boat, all 260 tons of her, being pushed and pulled through the water by the wind.  I would love to be on shore, or on the water, and watch her glide by one time.  The hippies had a good time, too.  We gave them beer for $2.50, let them sing some songs, and giggled at the land lubbers lack of sea legs.  Yes, it was a good sail.

To show their appreciation, the tree huggers invited the captain and crew to their farm for a Slow Down Dinner.  Slow Down Dinner is a concept developed several years ago in opposition to all the fast food and fast eating Americans do.  Slow Down Dinners aim to put relaxation and enjoyment back into eating.  We spent a few hours drinking wine, socializing, and eating 6 innovative courses made from ingredients grown on the farm.  I had a wonderful time, until I went to the bathroom…

It wasn’t that the bathroom was down a path and through the woods that made it unjoyable (that probably isn’t a real word, oh well).  It wasn’t the fact that you needed a flashlight to see how to get there that was a bit startling.  And it didn’t bother me that the stalls were designed without the concept of privacy.  I found the scurrying of cockroaches across the floor and up the walls while I was using the restroom a bit unsettling.  Oh, and the ants crawling up my feet and legs while doing my thing was kind of creepy.  On a more humorous note, when I was leaving the restroom there was a sign listing all the items that are not allowed on the farm… hairdryers, curling irons, irons, or other plug-in kind of devices.  It might as well have said, “Margo is prohibited.”

The sailing is getting better.  The Christmas winds have finally picked up and our sunset cruises usually involve pretty good speed and water splashing on the deck (and a sick passenger or two).  The school kids tend to have trouble keeping steady on their feet and not getting sick with the increased winds.  Typically, we take kids out in the morning, do maintenance in the afternoon, and then head out in the evening for a sunset sail.  However, last week and this past week we took out another school group in the afternoon instead of boat maintenance.  That’s 3 sails a day for two weeks!  We were all exhausted at the end of the week.  Actually, I’m still exhausted.  But, maybe part of that is from all the steam we blow off on the weekends.

The last two weekends some of the girls and I have found ourselves swimming in the ocean at midnight.  We start our day off early – we have to.  If we’re still on the boat around 8 or 9am, we run the risk of being put to work.  Who wants that on their day off?  First, we drop off laundry.  That’s mandatory.  We sweat so much I get embarrassed just thinking about the person washing our clothes.  I picture her opening our laundry bags, grimacing from the odor that rises out of the bag, and then turning to her coworker and gossiping about how much we must smell.

Next, breakfast.  While we eat eggs and sip bloody marys, we talk about what  we want to do for the day.  Usually we end up on a beach, sleeping and reading.  By the end of the day, we’re so relaxed it’s hard to get our legs moving again.  Night rolls around and sometimes we’ve managed a ride back to the boat for a quick shower and change before going out and sometimes we get stuck on land for the evening.  In the end clean hair and clothes don’t matter, we’re sailors.  (Oh Lawd, it still matters to me!  I got to fix my hair once since I’ve been here.  People I’ve met on land said, “You look good tonight.”  LOL).  And so the night begins… and ends with a midnight swim.

We work hard for that one day off.  Work hard.  Play hard.

Having Drinks at the White Horse in Bermuda

Just passed St. John and St. Thomas, heading to St. Croix

Me in the Rig

It doesn't get any fresher than this!

Safety First

Swimming in the Atlantic... 700 miles off shore, 15000 feet deep

Moonrise

Sunset on Transit... somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean

Point Udall, most eastern spot in the US

I would like to take a moment and let you know that directions in St. Croix are a bit vauge. So, when we asked for a map to lead us to the trail, it came as no surprise that the map used phrases like, “walk 15 seconds” and “go through tall grass.” It also came as no surprise that the map mentioned two white columns as the starting point of the trail yet, no white columns exist, or that the map forgot to tell us to take a right at the dirt road or head left to the tidepools once on the beach. It didn’t matter. The confusing map, the 12 pounds we sweated off, and the jagged rock wall we shimmied around were well worth it; we found the tidepools. Set off to one side of a deserted beach made of perfectly smoothed pebbles was a rock formation that ocean waves splashed against. If you hug the rocks and do a bit of side stepping and climbing you will eventually be let out into a secluded, open area carved into the side of the mountain and filled with water. This is the tidepool. It’s one of the island’s secrets.

After the tidepools we got a mango colada to go and headed into the rainforest to the Domino Club to see Norma and her beer drinking pig. We didn’t see the pig but we did see Norma. She made us some house specialty drink with honey and fed us biscuits. We continued through the rainforest, hit up another beach, and stopped at the Sunset Grill to have a late lunch. By that time the day was winding down and we thought it best to head back to Christiansted. Since it was our first real day away from the boat in a week, we weren’t quite ready to sucumb to the day’s end and give up the joyous freedom having a car brought us… we hit up two more bars before parking the car (we affectionately named The Green Machine) two blocks from our dinghy pick up.