I have learned new skills, the rays were a big success |
Welcome platter & Captains famous rum punch |
Well chartering is quite a different kettle of fish.
Generally the people are super fun, easy and happy to tip, means we must be
doing a fair job too. Each charter however, is different, so there is no repeat
formula, keeps us on our toes.
View of St Thomas from the top of the Cableway |
St Croix is a bumpy full day sail away, each way, so reserved for longer charters and guests with strong stomachs. We made a brief trip to St Croix in May with Bertie and Teresa, down by ferry and back by sea plane, or so we thought. Turned out to be a comedy of errors weekend, the car rental company had an issue with everyone’s credit card and drivers license except mine – I haven’t driven a vehicle since leaving South Africa in 2018 and whilst they drive on the same side of the road here, the wheel is on the wrong side. It was mandatory for me to leave the company in the drivers seat – we all needed a drink after that. We were only there for 2 nights,
The St Croix ferry |
Interesting bar in Frederiksted |
Actual return trip |
Perceived return trip |
Johnny cakes for breakfast - closest thing to a Caribbean vetkoek |
The Promenade in Frederikstad |
Bertie & Kevin chilling while we shopped |
Craft vodka sampling at the brewery |
Not buying this one |
first night the waitress forgot half our dinner order, the second night, after drinking many happy hour cocktails whilst diligently waiting for the dinner service to commence, we were informed the gas in the kitchen had run out and there would be no food, all patrons were summarily booted and the restaurant closed until Wednesday when the next gas delivery happened. We managed to find steak and rolls for blotting paper. Next day great excitement as we were to fly back by sea plane, Kevin was like a kid in a toy shop, we arrive at the seaplane airport only to discover the booking was wrong and we were flying back by normal aircraft, mad dash across the island to get to the airport and sadly for Kevin an item that remains on the bucket list for now.
A fun weekend nonetheless |
Thankfully chartering has some funny sides –
Pizza Pi - a floating pizza parlour in Christmas Cove |
Making the pizza's inside the floating boat/oven such a novel idea - we order pizza for guests and they eat them on board |
Or when we are moving along to get to a bay to drop anchor
and serve lunch only to get sideswiped by a wave and the container of cooked
rice goes flying – rice all around the galley and saloon, looked like confetti
at a wedding
And the day the fresh sushi grade tuna was off, replaced with backup frozen crab cakes that ended up in a bowl of water whilst defrosting and became unsavable crab mush – eventually lunch become crispy fish fillet salad and the best lunch of the week – my nerves!!!
One charter of 2 guys finished this entire Tequila selection in 7 days The white bottlehand painted, sells for USD$150.oo per bottle and they got through 2 |
Mechanical – often after dropping anchor Kevin has to graciously
doff his captains hat and don his plumbing hat, fix a leaking pipe or blocked
toilet, then refit the life guard hat as he zooms off in the tender to make
sure no one is lost or injured whilst snorkelling.
One guest managed to lock his bathroom door on the inside
and close it, effectively locking himself out of the bathroom, right when he needed
to use it, in another incident the pin of the lock flew out of the bathroom door
and straight into the toilet bowl – we have systematically been removing
locking pins from the bathroom doors!
New wooden steps and it looked brand new |
New ladder looking rather dismal |
When one of the guests exclaimed “God Bless the inventor of air-conditioning”
upon opening the saloon doors we knew we had at least won that battle - the units need/needed replacing, they are old.
Human – it’s quite amazing how many minor medical issues can
occur on a charter, from stings and bites to sprains and infections (we found
out the hard way that finding professional medical help on a Sunday in the USVI
is a serious challenge). Also diets, allergies and eating habits certainly keep
us on our toes.This 5 boat tandem charter for 35 guests was a challenge
here Kevin was directing photography operations
But we can proudly say we’ve managed, quite successfully, to
hold it all together. We’ve mastered the online shopping app’s, the 24 hour
turnaround’s between charters, 3 in a row charters, a tandem charter involving
5 different yachts and 35 Vietnamese American guests, driving & rental
cars, marina’s and their regulations and we’re still smiling.
Feeling right at home in the Pussers Pub, Tortolla, BVI |
In between we had to do a visa run, I only get a 90 day visa
on arrival using the ESTA waiver. The BVI’s had opened to allow vaccinated
travellers access via the ferry so, after jumping through the many hoops still
in place, we were off to the BVI for 3 days, caught up with some chartering
friends and had some fun in Tortola. We stayed at Fort Burt Hotel, gorgeous views
The home of the original and best Pain Killer cocktail |
We had a quick visit from Rod and Claudia at the beginning
of August, was great to give them a taste of how we live, what we do and how
beautiful the USVI’s are. Now we are sailing to Carriacou where all the companies
boats will be put on the hard for hurricane season, we will fly to the States
and do some road tripping, visit family and generally have some fun before
heading back mid October when we will be crewing a smaller Elba 45 catamaran
called Champagne for the next charter season.
Gorgeous sunset over Cruz Bay |
Running from squalls on our trip to Grenada from USVI |
This one caused our roller furler drum to break, calling for some fancy maneuvering |
Kevin riding the bucking bronco waves trying to get the furler drum useable again |