May - August 2021 – St Thomas USVI

 

Firstly, Maxscene is no longer the “boat with no name”, she is now called APOTA (All Part Of The Adventure) and we are cautiously optimistic that Tim her new owner will take her on a whole new set of adventures, we really hope they have fun.

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

USVI is made up of 3 main islands – St Thomas, St John and St Croix. The BVI is still closed to external chartering yachts and is issuing hefty fines to anyone transgressing their borders so chartering happens around these 3 islands currently. The airport is on St Thomas so most charters start there, either from the bay of Charlotte Amali or Red Hook. A 7 day charter would typically involve circumnavigating St Thomas and St John. The majority of St John is a nature reserve so no tender boats on beaches nor anchoring (mooring balls only) around most of the island. 

A yacht paying their dues

The mooring ball system here is on an honesty basis, in each bay there is a floating platform with a letter box on it and a smaller box containing envelopes and brochures. You are expected to collect an envelope, fill it in with your mooring ball # and yacht details and $26 cash per night of using said mooring ball, then deposit it in the slot of the letter box. Interesting system!

 

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 –

 On one charter we were sailing across the bay, pointing out the young sailors that were out in their optimists, obviously taking part in a club sailing event, to guests, in the middle of the bay was a stationary Dream Yacht charter boat that we assumed to be the bridge boat (the one from which races are orchestrated) for the race as the fleet full of kids is heading for it at full speed. We get closer to it and realise that it is simply a bare boat charter, in every sense of the term. A bare boat charter is a rental boat without crew, well this was that and all the people on board were bare too, guess they took the term literally. Seriously hope the race fleet tacked before getting that eye full.

 And the time when the plastic container in which a piece of fish which was marinading for a special diet lunch ended up in the sink at the bottom of a pile of dishes during a rough crossing. Kevin, whilst washing dishes, innocently turns to me and says “Donna, why is there fish in the dishes” and there he stands with a soap sud covered piece of salmon in his hands!!

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

It also has its challenges, weather – we had to spend 3 days in Maho bay as hurricane Elsa went past and whilst it certainly is a beautiful bay the guests eventually felt like they were in the movie Groundhog Day.

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

The swimming ladder parted ways with us during a rough passage on one charter, doesn’t sound like much but it is the only way to get back on board from the water and critical as Vivo is fairly high off the water. The chaos when Kevin jumped in the water to check the anchor, discovered the loss and was effectively marooned in the water off the back of the boat. We jury rigged a spare for the rest of the charter then spent a couple of days scouring boat yards for a suitable replacement, the fit is difficult. Eventually we found a rusty old ladder that would work and once we had cleaned it up and replaced the wooden steps it looked like a new one.

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

We stayed at Fort Burt Hotel, gorgeous views

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.

 

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

Cheers, we're off on holiday

Enjoy hanging around til we get back

April 2021 - St Thomas USVI

Mind blowing to see the last blog was dated July - September 2020 where we were dodging hurricanes in Grenada.

2020 departed without much fanfare, world wide it seems. In September/October we gave much deliberation to our situation and decided that we had no choice, our lives had to change. There were still no work prospects on any horizon, so we needed to sell MaxScene and take the next turn in the road.

Farewell and congrats with Paul & Tanya of Kiraku

Our buddy’s catamaran, Kiraku, had successfully and painlessly been sold in Grenada and we were hopeful we would be just as lucky, but the required quarantines and tests made it more and more difficult for prospective buyers to get to the Grenadines to view boats. We were put in contact with a broker operating out of the USVI who convinced us it would be easier to sell her there. Flying in and out for prospective buyers was easy and best of all, it’s a duty free Island, more incentive.

Rod and Kim paid us a final visit in Grenada, spending their first week in quarantine, watching us on the water from their beautiful hotel. Most helpful as they took some special things of ours back and into storage for us.

Back to pretty, who wouldn't 
want to buy that

Working in small
spaces....

Roux, Christine, Nelia & Johan
dragged us away from the boat yard
for a day of fun and sun

Life is easier with good friends

Back in the water and there is a
barracuda sticking it's tongue out
at us underneath our boat

In preparation for the sale, we hauled out one last time at Carriacou, replaced the geyser, repainted the anti-foul and spent quality time with really great friends.

Before leaving, whilst 
playing Mexican Train
Domino's one night, one
flew overboard....

Still my hero, he found it the 
next day

We bade farewell to Grenada, sailing straight to St Maarten as most islands in between remained closed or required lengthy quarantine periods. We arrived in time for Christmas lunch aboard the very beautiful catamaran Turquoise Turtle with Alison and Andre and a brief catch up with Nic and Uta, who informed us their intrepid son, Max, having just completed a mammoth and beautiful sailing trip to Greenland to find polar bears and puffins, was now managing a charter company in the USVI - we promised them we would look him up once there.

Christmas celebrations
at the Yacht Club

What a feast, lovely day

Interest was finally growing in MaXScene so it was time to get going. I bade Kevin farewell, as I flew overnight via Miami - on a British passport I had to enter on an ESTA visa and this may not be done by private vessel, he in the meantime sailed MaXScene, entering and clearing in at St John and picking up a mooring ball by himself, no mean feat when the mooring field is full of yachts, then on to Long Bay St Thomas where wonderful friends Bertie and Teresa were waiting to help him with the next ball. In the meantime Jenny met me in Miami, with Tyler a welcome surprise, both making the daunting experience of my first and solo visit to America much fun and they departed the next day with yet another suitcase of “things I want to keep” for me.

Cruz Bay, St John

Quiet Mon Irish
Pub, Cruz Bay

Irish Pub with local flair, Cruz Bay

Cruz Bay, St John

Charlotte Amali, St Thomas

Hotel still standing since 1829,
St Thomas

Many alleys hosting
little shops and pubs

French Town

We found the home

French Town, St Thomas

Watching the sea plane land
is a favourite past time

Water pumps being installed

In the land of Amazon/
USPS deliveries

Rising Sun @ Yacht Haven,
St Thomas

Yacht Haven Grande

One of our favorite vendors, 
adult alcoholic slushies, woo hoo
bonus - he likes and plays Johnny Clegg

We settled in to St Thomas, Bertie and Teresa made sure we knew where to go and who to ask for what within days. Finally we had a K-Mart (comparable to Game in RSA) and Home Depot (Builders Warehouse) and fresh vegetables of every shape, size and colour available everywhere. Safari buses run all over, at $1 or $2 per trip, depending on where you go and the friendliest people. Steve the broker was busy and we had 3 people view MaXScene, then finally along came Tim. Tim had seen the video online, spotted MaXScene in the bay and hunted us down to see if she was still on the market. After many viewings, organising of the survey, test sail, etc which she passed with more than flying colours (a fitting tribute to all our hard work), it was a done deal. He was uber impressed with MaXScene, rightfully so, the deal was concluded and he became the proud new owner as of end March.

Wandering around Water Island
St Thomas

Fort on Water Island

Honeymoon Beach Water Island

The road signs are hilarious

Peak hour traffic, Water Island

Sadly we have to report that she is no longer MaXScene, all decals have been removed and she is now a boat with no name, we wait to see what her new identity will be. It was a little sad to see her sailing without us and to see her identity removed but we hope and trust that she will continue to make great memories and experiences for Tim – the end of a huge chapter of our lives.

Maxscene whizzing past us on
one of our charters :-(

 And where does this leave us? Well, we did look up Max & Haily here in St Thomas, over beers we agreed to help them out with running a charter they were short on crew for. Then they had a special project that required “special people” and we agreed to be those people. So, now we crew Vivo, a 60ft Eluethera Fountaine Pajot Catamaran. She was on the hard in St Maarten having upgrades and repairs effected, so at the beginning of March we flew down to manage the end of the work, re-splashing and sailing back to USVI.

 This was no mean task and ended up taking a couple of weeks longer than planned. 

Everything piled on top of 
itself

Mess everywhere

Clutter

Is that a bed under there?

Into the crew cabin from above

Access to crew cabin, great
if you're a nimble circus dwarf

Starting to look regal

What we arrived to from the airport

Nearly ran away screaming

Great paint job

Manufacturing 2nd new
cockpit roof!

This support pole
fondly became
known as the dancing
pole

David & son Devan were 2 of the
real stars of this upgrade their
stainless work was par excellence

In the water, didn't sink

The genoa still 
usable, yay

Finding a dinghy that fitted was
a challenge, choices weren't huge

Sheer mess

Thank heavens for cruising friends Angela and Gary, who without hesitation, rolled up their collective sleeves and got stuck in to help. 

They both love 
the same stuff

A Sunday break to watch the planes @ Princess Julianna

Special friends, special times

We arrived back in USVI and have completed two charters on her, hard work as she is still a bit of a work in progress and charters by themselves are hard work, but we have never given up on a project yet (this one does try every ounce of patience and resolve that we have however).

Note, Springbokkies with
Appetizers :-)

Thanks to base and cleaning crew she scrubbed up pretty beautiful

So for now, we have a roof over our heads (Vivo is up for sale so this is fluid), employment that keeps us honest, paid and exhausted and we still get to enjoy the Caribbean beauty.

Is it permanent – probably not. We are seriously feeling waay too old to be doing charters for up to 8 guests at a time, week after week, so we keep all our options open. Our current status is 3 suitcases, willing and able to go anywhere, so lets see where and when anywhere takes us.

So, once again, our adventures change. The next blogs will be news of our journeys through the USVI, BVI, Grenada once more for hurricane season and probably the United States. If anyone no longer wishes to receive notifications of blog updates, please let me know, no offence taken.

 On a personal note :

What a great support system we have in family and friends near and far. In our hardest times many knew without having to be told, the mammoth support via messages, calls, caring, physical help and just check-ins have not gone unnoticed or un-appreciated. Know that we will always be there to reciprocate in any way possible. THE VERY BIGGEST HUGS AND THANK YOU TO YOU ALL xxx