And I rode a moped to get there...

Hey all, sorry for the short lame blogs lately. Haven't really had a chance to sit down and write about some of the funny things that have been happening. But I'm in the good old Offshore Bar, buy a beer get half an hour free internet so I should be good for a while. If my writing starts getting weird I guess you'll know when the beer starts hitting me, it is St. Patricks Day after all.

For the past week, Tish and Jo Ann, Brians' girlfriend and good friend have been cruising with us through the British Virgin Islands. We have been going at a pretty good pace, moving from island to island everyday. In this area it is only 5 to 10 miles to each neighboring island so it's an easy cruise to move around. Last week we pulled out of Charlotte Amalie on Thursday to head over to St. John. This island is about 5 miles east of St. Thomas. Now prior to our leaving I had gone out on Tuesday night with my buddy Roy (you might remember from the gargantuan stripper story). He picked me up at Offshore after I had written a blog and we did some bar hopping that night. That is of course after we swung by his cousins so he could buy a couple big fat joints to smoke that night. We ended up staying out until 6 AM at which point we scored a pizza from the Caribbean Saloon for winning a game of foosball. He was so high by this point that the drive home wa interesting to say the least. I really wasn't too worried about it. It seems to be the routine here. We drink all night. Roy and Eric smoke out, we hop in their cars and we absolutely haul ass around very steep hills and hairpin turns, usually while Roy is still puffing away at what is left of his roach. I crashed on Roy's couch at his apartment for a few hours before heading back to the marina. I needed to get over to the marina store on the east side of the island and get some parts for the boat. We don't have transportation and my buddies here were working so I ended up renting a scooter. Me. The dude who never gets on motorcycles rented a scooter to speed around an island full of hills and where you drive on the left side of the street. The chick rented me one and gave me the crash course and I was turned loose into traffic. Needless to say, keep left was a mantra I kept chanting to myself so I wouldn't forget and end up on the wrong side. I reached Red Hook and found the store. I collected some parts and dropped a piece from the dinghy outboard off to get repaired. I left there with the intention of going to get some food and I almost crashed the stupid moped when I came around a curve and a police car switched it's lights on from the opposite side of the street. I wasn't sure if he was stopping me and I just happened to apply the brake a little too hard. I managed to keep the bike from launching me off it but not before I skidded off the road into the deep irrigation gutters they have to prevent the roads from being washed out. On my way into the gutter I narrowly avoided running over a huge iguana (what is it with me and these freaking reptiles) before I finally stopped. These iguanas are everywhere and they have scared the shit out of me on more than one occasion when they come running out of random bushes at the worst times. Anyway, F iguanas. So I went and ate, picked up the part and cruised back towards the marina via the north side of the island. This is a very scenic drive and was capped off at Magan's Bay at sunset (see pics) which was all time. I got back and layed low that night, thank god Roy had to be at work so I was safe. The next day I scootered (is that a word?) over to the west side to find a few more parts because I was woken up by Brian at 7:30 that morning asking me if I could dive down and find a part he dropped in the water. A part slighty larger than a quarter, in 35 feet of water, with a strong current, in a commercial port, with less than two foot visibiliity. Yeah, right. The depth is no problem. The rest, problem. I'll scooter over to Yamaha and pay four bucks for the part. After I did that I hit the grocery store and bought myself some stuff. Back on the boat, I finished fixing the dinghy and we set sail for St John around 2 PM. It was a nice cruise over and we reached a nice little spot called Cinnamon Bay. We got anchored up, I dove to check and make sure we were set and we had a nice relaxing night in this beautiful little cove drinking rum and coke, listening to music and enjoying the stars. Next day, we went to pull the hook and oh great, the freaking windlass (the machine that pulls up the heavy chain and anchor) was no worky. Now we had already had the starter motor rebuilt in St Thomas for this thing because it quit on us back in Vieques. Now we had a different problem, the drive wasn't engaging on the gear so it wouldn't wind in the chain. Once again we had to hand over hand pull in the chain and anchor, old school style. We sailed north to Jost Van Dyke to Great Harbour and dropped anchor in 15 feet of water. Now initially Brian wanted to anchor in less than 7 feet of water, on rock, near the reef... Umm, no. I dove and literally there was barely room for me to swim between the keel and the bottom. I moved the boat out a little deeper and we anchored amidst a huge field of boats that were mostly chartered. That means someone rents the boat and has very little idea what they are doing as was evident when I swam around looking at the surrounding boats anchors to make sure we would be safe. Most of them had very little chain out and the anchors were not set on some of them. Not a good feeling, especially when 3 large catamarans sailed in and I kid you not, side tied to each other on anchor like we do at the freaking lake. Wow. To say that some of this shit is a huge adjustment for me to make is a massive understatement. On the bright side, Jost Van Dyke is a bad ass island. Get there sometime in your life. Before I'm gone I guarantee I will be doing a New Years party there once. Foxy's bar on the east side of the small white sand beach is a world famous place and I highly recommend it. Foxy is an old dude born and raised there who still plays music and hangs out welcoming all the guests. Fri and Sat nights they do a BBQ buffet and have one of the best bands I have ever heard in any bar playing until the wee hours of the morning. When I shook his hand he told me to enjoy myself and sleep on the beach if I wanted, no one would bother me. I did lay in one of the hammocks as I listened to that great band. In between Red Stripes I managed to hang one of our FFD on duty shirts above the bar (see pics) which is cool cause the entire bar is covered with stuff. After getting back to the boat I could hear the music wafting through the harbor until well after 3 in the morning, it was great. Jost Van Dyke is my kind of place.

The next day (Sat) we pulled up the anchor and set sail for Tortola. Quick little two hour cruise and we pulled into Road Town, the capital of the British Virgin Islands. Road Town wasn't as great as the other places we had been. It's a little older town, a little dirty and just didn't have the same vibe from the people. I tried like hell to track down the parts for the windlass but to no avail. I did manage to have my first Painkiller here. This is a drink famous in the BVI. Basically it is pineapple and coconut juice, a little bit of nutmeg and a shitload of Pussers Rum. Pussers was the official Rum of the Royal Navy and each sailor was given half a pint allowance a day all the way up until 1970. It is actually pretty good rum and the Painkiller you ask, they are awesome. Much like Buffalo Milk that is native to Catalina Island back home for me, a really tasty drink that will kick your ass if you aren't careful. Sunday morning we pulled the hook and headed west to Sopers Hole. This is still on the island of Tortola and is a very cool little spot. It's a small anchorage and marina used as a hurricane hole. We ended up grabbing a mooring there instead of anchoring and we spent the majority of the day cruising the wharf shops and marina. About 90 minutes before sundown I cruised Tish and I in the dinghy over to the north side of the island for a twilight snorkel near Brewers Beach. Very cool little spot with lots of sand, scattered rocks and reef strewn randomly about. It was a very chill little dive and by the end of it Tish was getting after it learning how to freedive and clear her ears. She kicked ass and said she enjoyed herself so we launched the dinghy from the beach into the surf and were off for the boat. Last night I was trying to get some internet in Pussers Bar and Grill but instead had some Painkillers and bullshitted with the crew from a racing sailboat that is chartered out. Tish and I checked us out of customs this morning and we had a great afternoon of sailing all through the islands on our way back to Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas. The plan is to spend the next few days here finishing up a few projects on the boat, provisioning at the store, taking on fuel and water and getting the boat ready for our cruise to St Martin. The weather doesn't look good until Friday so hopefully around then we will be able to head out. It's about 100 miles to the east of where we are right now. I'm hoping we will sail to St John on Thursday and I will be able to hike the Reef Bay Trail there and spend the night up on the mountain they have in the National Park. I will hike out on Friday morning and set sail for St Martin at that point. That pretty much catches up everything for the last week.

The chaos has continued to plague us because there are still fucking bananas on the boat and almost daily there is something new that we have to fix. So far in the last week the pull cord ripped out of the outboard motor on the dinghy, the windlass broke twice, the dinghy is leaking air somewhere I can't find yet, 3 of the 4 shower sump pumps are out, all four bilge pumps aren't working, I have had to dive 3 times to unwrap the tow line we are using on the dinghy (yes, we are still towing the dinghy, yes, the motor is still on it) from the port side propeller because someone has backed down on it while we are anchoring as well as some fishing line once, the front toilets keep clogging for some reason unknown yet so they have to be taken apart, the steaming light and the anchor light at the top of the mast are out, and I still have to pump out the bilges by hand sometime this week. Brian is wild. Everything that dude touches gets demolished. He knows how to fix things but when something breaks he basically rips it apart and usually ends up adding a half day of work to what might have been a simple fix. It's amazing. I honestly have no idea how this dude is alive. After some of the stories Tish and Jo Ann have told me I think I'm going to lock him in his room while we are underway just to keep him from either burning the boat down or just crashing into an island while I'm sleeping. Seriously, the more I get to know him the more I am just in a constant state of wonder as to what is next. But fuck it, I hope when I'm 64 I'm in half as good a shape as him. The guy still can pull the chain and anchor up I know guys my age that can't so I can only imagine what a bad ass he was in his day. Life is good and keeps getting better. The islands are everything you've dreamed of and more.

One more thing before I sign off. A guy who is like a brother to me, Josh Henderson aka The Deer, was hurt yesterday in a dirt bike accident. This dude is a great firefighter, an absolute demon on a dirt bike, one of the funniest guys ever and just a good man. He broke L3 in his back and shattered his Tib/Fib on his right leg. So far they are holding off operating on his back but they say he will recover, albeit his road will be a long one. If you know this clown, call, text, e-mail, or just get off your ass and go see him. If not, keep him in your thoughts or prayers or whatever it is you do. I know he will be alright, the little bastard is as tough as a coffin nail. Get better brother, I miss you and I want pictures of you in all your goofy looking casts and back braces.