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For the most recent reports from the BVI see this page.

- - - 2008 Hurricane Season - - -

- Bertha Ain't So Bad...
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Wed, 9 Jul 2008 08:10:18 EDT
Big Bad Bertha has gone from a category three to a two and now a measly category one hurricane. Her category three status was short lived and maybe she was just clocked during some gusts and that briefly shot her rating up.
 
At 5am, Bertha is believed to be 790 miles southeast of Bermuda or 905 kilometers northeast of the northern Leewards. Bertha is moving at 10 miles per hour with winds of about 75 mph.
 
As a category one hurricane, there shouldn't be much in land damages, unless something is poorly built. At sea, well heaven help you if a boat is caught up in a category one hurricane at sea, it won't be pretty. 
 
Ashore, boats at moorings may be ripped away, if not properly secured and should be in a hurricane hole to start with, though finding those with the plethora of boats already in the area, can be difficult at times.
 
Read more about the five categories of hurricanes here.  (No test on it, but good stuff to know.)
 
 
Three fisherman were found adrift from St Lucia in BVI waters. Luckily they weren't fined for entering the BVI without clearing. Indeed they had been adrift at sea for 14 days!  Read more here.
 
83 degrees now, light tradewinds, scattered clouds, just another wonderful day in nirvana.
 
Hyerplinks are underlined.
 
Warm and Sunny Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- Big Bertha
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Tue, 8 Jul 2008 08:30:54 EDT
Hurricane Bertha is now considered a major hurricane at a category three located about 1000 miles southeast of Bermuda or about 675 miles north northeast of the northern Leeward Islands.
 
Winds are near 120 mph with the usual higher gusts. In other words, a category three hurricane is when you find out the difference between having your roof nailed down or screwed down or the difference between having hurricane clips and not.
 
A loose coconut in 120 mph winds is like a cannon ball flying by, and heaven help ya where it lands.
 
Foliage can begin to be stripped of leaves, giving the place a barren look. If you can take slips and cuttings of your plants before a hurricane to propagate in indoor pots, all the better.
 
So Big Bad Bertha should miss us all together, unless she does some sort of funny loopy loops (it's happened before) but for now, everyone thinks she is headed for the open Atlantic to terrorize shipping lanes and the hapless little boats out there that may not even know a hurricane is bearing down on them.
 
The sun is finally out in the BVI, we can see blue sky for a nice change and it's only 83 degrees at 830am.  Tradewinds are brisk and keeping things cool, mon.
 
 
Warm and Sunny Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- Category two hurricane by late today?
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2008 13:18:53 EDT
Yikes!  Better keep your eyes on this one, Hurricane Bertha wants to be big and mean!  Bertha is 775 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands. Bertha is wobbling around at 15 mph with winds of about 90mph.  Tropical storm form winds extend about 115miles from the eye, so she is nearly 10 times bigger than the length of the island of Tortola.
 
Looking at my crystal ball and consulting with my cats, we are going to get some winds and rains from this one about mid week. We pray she stays on her projected path to go north east of us.  Just the same, I filled up my heap of a jeep with fuel and am trying to get my generator OUT of the repair shop.  I have a case of tuna and some odd canned goods, like fruits and veggies and a few packs of crackers, plenty of candles, though I am woefully short of pricey batteries.
 
I have water bottled up, and a few emptied jugs, I am filtering water to put in those as well.
 
Prepare for the worst, expect the best and probably nothing will happen at all!
 
You can bet if Bertha decides to come closer to us, there will be a run on Rum and other entertaining libations. After all we are notorious for our great Hurricane Parties!
 
I have a few extra bunks now, so in the event she heads for us, I imagine some of my boater friends will come calling for shelter. 
 
I am behind on my washing, so catching up the laundry is paramount, as having a stack of towels ready for leaky windows and so on, is always handy. Recently, friends gave me new towels for my birthday, and I kept my old raggedy towels, just in case, for extra mopping in the event of a storm.
 
 
 
Warm and Waiting Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- First Hurricane of the Season
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2008 10:30:23 EDT
Big Bad Bertha is now a hurricane with 75 mph winds, moving a leisurely pace of 17pmh to the west northwest. You can see her predicted path here (but they could be wrong...)
 
Winds extend 115 miles from the center, so we are likely to feel at least the edge of her sneak by.
 
More later!
 
Warm and Guarded Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- Culturati
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Sun, 6 Jul 2008 11:58:14 EDT
Culturati n.pl. people deeply interested in cultural matters.
Culter?
 
Tropical Bertha looms in the mid Atlantic poised to make a grand entrance, trouble is we don't know where she plans to hit. Could be she just stays at sea, but either way, I bet we feel some winds and rains here next week. I am keeping an eye on the kitties, if we are in for bad weather, they will be eating twice the food, stocking up their little round bellies in anticipation of hard times.
 
It's a cool 84 degrees today with truly typical tropical trade winds keeping us cool.   (can you say "truly typical tropical tradewinds" three times really fast?)
 
The sky is bright and gloomy, an oxymoron, but we have a vast dark cloud cover, brightly lit from behind, by the near noon sun.
 
Nothing so nice as a covered porch on the ocean...
 
 
 
Warm and Goofy Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- You're Next!
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Sat, 5 Jul 2008 14:03:16 EDT
As the tropical wave passes south of us, St John and Norman Island have completely disappeared!  Somewhere in the thick cloud mass, they are lurking, if you stare hard enough you can barely see them.
 
    As for tropical storm BERTHA, the forecasters have changed their mind and now have her on a more westerly track, coming closer to us, but missing us. I still don't trust them, my crystal ball says by Wednesday, be ready for squally weather and stay put in a safe harbor.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Just as I got ready to email this 2 hours ago, POOF the Internet mash up again. *sigh*
    I am going to try again soon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Speaking of banking...
    Well, we weren't really speaking of banking, BUT...I read that the BVI has world class banking. That article is the laughing stock  around the locals.
    Our banking is dismal. If more than 5 people are in line, ALL the tellers go on break. If more than 10 people are in line, they ALL but one,  go to lunch. If more than 50 people are in line, then it's a SLOW day at the bank as on a busy day, hundreds are in line.  The longer the line gets, the faster the tellers vanish. No one comes from upstairs to help out on busy days. No sirree. We want everyone to wait for ages to do their banking.
    Of course you get to hang out and chat up your friends. One lady suggested the banks relocate to restaurants and bars, so we could take a number, then eat and drink while we wait our turn.
    That's an idea I like.
    Banking in the BVI is  maddening. I chose my bank only because they accept deposits at their machine.  They are the only bank that does. I can't stand to wait in line for two hours just to make a lousy bank deposit.
    However, I needed to buy a check that would be good in the US, otherwise known as an international money order.  Oh brother. That meant a lengthy wait in a non-moving line. I learned how to nap upright and every half hour or so, the people behind me would shove me forward. I would wake momentarily, then go back to my standing nap.  Moments before the bank was to close, they sold me a check. It took over 20 minutes to buy ONE check.  I was impressed with the speed.
    To the side of me was a lady who had been pulling out endless little brown bags. She would consult with the teller and they would make a deposit, then the next little brown bag would come out of her seemingly bottomless purse.
    She had been at this for over an hour. The folks behind her were sweating and groaning, sorry they were in her line. Finally, she actually finished and left BEFORE me.
    The teller sternly announced in an impatient voice "NEXT!"
    The lady who was now next to get the teller acted like she was on a game show.  IT was hilarious. She jumped up and down, threw her arms high in the air. "Yes!"  she screamed.  "It's my turn!"  and she jumped up and down some more, clapping her hands excitedly  with a million dollar grin as she rushed to the teller.
    There she gushed and blushed and spun around and announced "I can't believe they chose ME to be NEXT!" as she jumped up and down some more.
    I am not sure the bank employees and startled security guard (her antics ruined his nap too) appreciated her humor, but the rest of us sure did and we giggled and clapped excitedly for her.  
~~~~~~~~~
    By the way I KNOW you heard I made another colossal booboo yesterday.  Cattle are herded, not hearded, but none the less, I somehow let my spell heckler make a fool of me again in yesterday's posting about being late for an appointment because I had to herd (not heard) cattle...
 ~~~~~~~~~
    At 2pm I am finally getting this out, as the Internet is working. (SHHHH...!)   I wrote this report at 9am...
    About 15 minutes ago we had that telltale cold blast of wind, the one that whispers in your ear, the squall is coming, mon. And come it did, with hard cold rain for a good 4 minutes. I can hear rumbling, grumbling and mumbling from the skies, so more is on the way!  It's that wave passing south of us.
Warm and Ridiculous Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- The missing picture!
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Fri, 4 Jul 2008 10:11:02 EDT
This the pic that should have been with the post below.
 
 




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- What If
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Fri, 4 Jul 2008 09:59:47 EDT
If Tropical Storm Bertha were to come straight at us, looks like she would be here in about 6 days. Hopefully, she will veer off to the North, as the experts predict and leave us alone.
 
Just the same, I came home with  a case of tuna, the cats have already eaten about half of the last case I brought home, due to thorough begging, pleading, imploring, beseeching, appealing, petitioning and guess who caves in finally. So, the way I see it, in the event of a storm, the other half of the case of tuna, belongs entirely to ME! 
Oh, I wish they had never learned to read the cans...
 
I think I will rename the cat brothers. One  I will name SPOILED and the other ROTTEN... Makes for a nice sound when I have to call them. 
 
Only on Tortola...
    I was late for a meeting and a tad embarrassed, as I pride myself on being prompt, even if I don't wear a watch. I like to leave early and have plenty of extra time for the unexpected but even so, sometimes I am still just late, as the unexpected took longer.
    So I told the truth, after apologizing for my tardiness.
    The truth is, I had to heard cattle to get here and the cows just weren't moving as fast as I had hoped.
    This was met with not only giggles, but nods of agreement. 
    They have had to heard cattle too, so this explanation seemed quite believable. Only on Tortola...
    So next time you are late, try THAT for an excuse...
 
 
Warm and Herding Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- Birth to Bertha
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Fri, 4 Jul 2008 04:48:13 EDT

Tropical depression 2 has given birth to Bertha. I just hope she doesn't find a berth in the BVI...

 

Right now she is 185 miles west southwest of the Cape Verde islands and not an immediate threat to us.

 

Yet.

 

Stay tuned!

It's 445am here and we just had a nice cooling rain fall for all of about 8 minutes.

For local info on island happenings, see City Manager’s Newsletter – 2nd July, 2008

Road Town and You!

 

Warm and Sunny Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- Tropical depression # 2 has formed
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Thu, 3 Jul 2008 10:14:00 EDT
Well, here we go again!  Tropical depression #2 is official now and expected to go north of the islands, but time will tell what it really does. She is presently located at about latitude 12.6 North and Longitude 22.7 West, moving 9 miles per hour, west northwest with 35 mph winds with of course the usual higher gusts thrown in for fun.
hurricane forecasts for the bvi and caribbean
Thoughts go back to 1996 when Bertha hit Tortola in early July, as a category one hurricane.  My boat was in Nanny Cay Marina at the time and I stayed ashore in one of the condos there. The name Bertha was not retired and thus she is our B name for this year.  I think all names should be retired, once used, to save confusion. Be funny if this one is named Bertha and we get hit twice by her, but my crystal ball says she is going to miss us (fingers crossed!)
 
Also of note is a  westward moving tropical wave over the eastern Caribbean is producing disorganized showers over portions of the Leeward Islands.
 
935 am and da current done mash up again!  Sad, cause the storm is no where near us yet. What the heck is going on now?  Rumors are we don't have enough fuel at our power plant and I pray that is just a SILLY rumor with no truth, but having heard this several times, it's a bit scary. Probably my fault!  I have MEAT in my refrigerator (rare indeed for me!) and it seems every time I splurge and buy meat, da current done mash up. *sigh*  I need to learn to just stick to dried beans.
 
I was in town yesterday and found the coveted plain all natural yogurt.  I was afraid it would get way too hot and spoiled by the time I got home with it, so I bought some frozen chicken, to keep it company and icy cold, all this because I forget my town cooler. I guess with this power outage, the chicken witll thaw so I might as well make some Caribbean Stewed Chicken.
 
 
 
*****
I remember after Bertha hit in 96, I ran into a sailing camp counselor at the bar. He was world weary and bags under his eyes sagged, belying his 20 something age. So I foolishly asked' Good heavens, what did Bertha do to you?"
 
He explained that the day before Bertha hit was turn around day for the camp. Hundreds of children and teenagers had flown out of Tortola and a few hundred were expected to fly in for the next session. Due to the storm, all teens and preteens had been unceremoniously dumped in the San Juan airport. 
 
He was up there with them, in charge of rerouting all their tickets and accounting for all the kids. Men awhile 4-500 parents are frantically calling the camp headquarters, wanting to know were their child was!
 
He explained how he had to stand in line with everyone else at the airport and when his turn came, he hands over hundreds of tickets for rerouting, much to the surprise of the airline staff.  They took pity on him, sent him to a back office, where he could sit down, while a supervisor and assistants frantically worked to reroute all the children.
 
Men awhile the kids set up their own half acre camp on the floor of the airport. Those returning from camp were chatting away with their new friends while the newcomers looked around apprehensively. 
 
Two days and several gallons of coffee later, the counselor had all his charges back on planes and either homeward bound or arriving in dribs and drabs on Tortola. At last, he was able to leave San Juan, having had only a few cat naps the past several days. He had somehow managed to garner a 24 hour break from the camp, to recharge his batteries, then it was back to life at sea, teaching children to sail, dive, snorkel etc.
Wish you were here!
 
Warm and Sunny Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- Magic Shrooms are good for ya!
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Wed, 2 Jul 2008 09:16:32 EDT
Garbled Sunshine...
 
83 degrees (29c)at 730am, slight winds, moderate seas. Potential for the odd shower, lots of clouds, but the sun is fighting hard to make a shining appearance.
 
Multiple waves  in the tropical Atlantic can be seen
via latest satellite imagery this morning. While the largest and
most impressive tropical wave with two distinct eastern and
western vort maxes  off the coast of Africa has caught the
attention of many,it remains nearly a week away from the Lesser
Antilles.
 
 
Stay tuned!
 
Vort Max -- Common slang reference to Vorticity Maximum; a center, or maximum, in the vorticity field of a fluid.  Vorticity--Physics. A measure of the rate of rotational spin in a fluid. (kinda like what you see when you flush a clean toilet...)
 
Of more immediate concern will be the tropical wave
located near 10n and 52w, which is expected to propagate
westward just south of the BVI, so we may get some wet scattered showers Thursday and Friday.
 
If you are out sailing, remember please, to close up all your hatches and ports (especially those side ports!) just in case a gusty wind and rain should come your way.
 
I was surprised it took the newspaper so long to report the last sinking (ports left open, gust knocked the boat down and glub, glub!) We rarely have sinkings around here, so you would think it IS newsworthy. Of course we still have a few boats missing in action, mostly privately owned fishing vessels (small dinghies). Sad but true, folks still take to sea without radios, life jackets, flares and cell phones. One day they turn up missing, and by then, it's hard to know where to begin to look for them.
 
I used to go on offshore sailboat deliveries.  On my watch, I used to scan the horizon 360 degrees, looking for life rafts, swimmers, flotsam, jetsam and so on. never found much, but once had to divert course because a huge 40 foot container was adrift and one corner of it was poking out of the waves.
 
Another time, in broad daylight, far offshore, much to my horror, an unmarked submarine surfaced in front of us, and we had to tack in a hurry to avoid hitting them. I am sure they must have known we were there. No flag, no name, just a submarine.
 
Rumor and news reports indicate the cocaine czars of Colombia are now building high tech subs to deliver their evil drugs with.
 
Recently some of us boaters had a discussion about offshore deliveries and the importance of taking triple the projected food supplies. I once had a real heated argument with an owner, who wanted us to provision for exactly 10 days for an offshore trip that was estimated to take 10 days.  I was shopping for 30 days, and he was angrily yanking things out of my shopping cart.
 
I was trying to explain to him, the rig cold break, the winds could die, the engine give up the ghost, and poof, you could find yourself adrift waiting on a random rescue.  It would be nice to know there are at least provisions to keep the crew going for a little while.  Then there is the matter, what if you rescue someone (or several someones) offshore?  What if the closest land is still 3-15 days away? You can't very well starve them, while you eat in front of them, and so on. I told him over and over, when we deliver the boat, you can HAVE all the leftover canned goods and so on. But I sure wasn't setting foot on an offshore 10 day delivery with exactly 10 days of meager food. It's one thing to cruise the islands, where a food store is only a few hours sail away, and a plethora of boats aroudn to effect an emergency rescue, but to be offshore, all alone and in trouble, the LAST thing you want to fret over is lack of food.
***
One boat I joined had an entertaining elderly owner and a partially disabled crew man, so they were looking for a 3rd crew to move the boat. The owner assured me he had food for MONTHS on board. This turned out to be numerous cases of Dinty Moore Beef Stew.  Every time you opened up a locker, there was another case of Dinty Moore lurking about.  So one day we had it plain, the next day with catsup, the next day with BBQ sauce and the next day with A1 sauce and so on. We kept dumping different condiments on it, to make it taste slightly different. What a fun but strange trip that was. Some days out of sheer boredom we had a mock argument over who got to "cook". Ironically, we were days late at our arrival, but we never ran out of Dinty Moore Stew. Whenever I pass the cans of Dinty Moore in the grocery store, I instantly think of that boat trip.
***
For those of you interested in the medicinal benefits of magic mushrooms, (legal in the BVI)  the John Hopkins medical study has been published with unusual findings that these magic s'hrooms have positive effects. (Haven't we in the BVI been saying that for years?)
 
Well, that's nothing new to the regulars that attend the Full Moon Magic S'hroom parties on Tortola!  Maybe John Hopkins researchers should come to the BVI and study the masses that enjoy these monthly ingestions in a party atmosphere. For more info on the study,  see medical use for magic mushrooms.
*****
Recently I ran into a hilarious tourist. She said she ate a bunch of magic mushrooms and then decided to go snorkeling. She reported that the underwater colors were incredibly brilliant.  The more she watched, the more she realized that each fish had individual personalities.
 
Now that is some magic!  Fish with personalities!
 
We train dogs, cats train us, now fish with personalities?  Ohhh-Kayyyy!
 
*****
Might as well move along to more silly stories, this one also true. A friend of mine works 60 hours a week and keeps fairly regular hours.  One day at work, he became seriously ill and was unable to continue his shift. The boss sent him home in hopes he would recover quickly and miss very little work.
 
He caught a ride most of the way, then walked the final 100 yards or so home. He could smell a strong aroma of burning weed the closer he got to his home. He approached his front door, and noticed as he unlocked it, that it was already unlocked!
 
He walks in the front door and there is a stranger, sitting in his favorite chair, smoking weed, drinking beer and watching his cable TV!  He screamed at the intruder who made a very hasty exit.
 
A search of his apartment revealed that the intruder had emptied his fridge of all the cold beer save one, smoked about half of his personal weed stash and was apparently just enjoying a movie on his TV when he was interrupted. Nothing else was  missing.
 
It occurred to my friend that he had come home before to one lone beer, thinking he definitely had more than one in the fridge, but clueless as to where the rest had gone. Ditto for the weed, that seemed to shrink in his absence.
 
Even the thieves are slow here...
 
I ran into my friend recently and asked him if he had any more intruders and he was relieved to report not only was he seemingly safe and sound now (after changing the locks) but his beer and weed stash seemed untampered now and he often came home to find his beer in tact, rather than just the lone one left there. A thoughtful thief?  He drinks all your beer, save for the last one? 
 
The hilarity of this is just mind boggling!
 
Warm and Funny Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com
*all hyper-links are underlined*




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- Tuesday after the holiday
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Tue, 1 Jul 2008 12:39:22 EDT
Rainbow in paradise, shared by Mike the musician
 
Well, it's Tuesday, and I'm back from my walk about.  Actually the itnernet has been at war with the cyber world and I was getting cut off every few minutes, so it was hard to write.
 
Monday was a holiday, so it's been a fun long weekend. The tropical wavev went well south of us producing only teeny tiny swells. We still have this haze that sometimes make our world look black and white.
 
I spent the day at the beach, and it was beautiful. The bartender had his music full blast, which I could have done without, I just like the sounds of nature, but I guess he wanted everyone to know he was open for business by cranking up his stereo to full tilt boogie. I think I still hear the music ringing in my ears today!
 
We're expectin some scattered showers across our area today. There is an ominous tropical wave coming off Africa that must be watched closely.
 
A slice of paradise
 
To catch up on current events, see What's New in the BVI.
 
Lonely for the islands?  Dress like an islander!
 
Warm and Sunny Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- Cat Paws
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Sat, 28 Jun 2008 13:26:19 EDT
Weather is purr-fect, Dear Miss Mermaid has gone to  shoot some pics for ya and told me to post something, so here's my purr-tee mug.
 
Warm and Furry Regards,
Dear Miss Cat




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- Moorings Vessel Sinks in Sir Francis Drake Channel
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:57:36 EDT
OK, it FINALLY made the newspapers but the write up is a bit comical.
 
 
Warm and Funny Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- Plain Beautiful!
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:17:06 EDT
A beautiful day in paradise, the haze has subsided just a teeny tiny bit. It's raining sunshine and we are expecting fantastic weather through the weekend though be careful, we may have some choppy seas on the north side.
 
 
Often times I am asked the very same question "Did you just go on vacation and STAY here?"
 
The answer is always no. Matter of fact, I have never heard of anyone that went on vacation somewhere and just "stayed".  But I bet I have been asked that question well over a thousand times.
 
So now, I wonder has ANYONE ever met someone who went on vacation and just "stayed".  If so, let me know!
 
It is true, I used to vacation in the Caribbean.  I was young, making good money and while my friends were putting their money into car payments and credit cards, I was driving old faithful and putting my money into travel and vacations.
 
A friend of mine transferred from the US to Barbados because her husband was a career Navy man. He had stayed on past the usual 20 year retirement and was at that time about in his 30th or so year with the Navy. He had carefully worked his way up and was offered a real cushy position in Barbados at the Embassy. So they moved and invited me to come visit. Well I sure took them seriously, and immediately planned a trip, 5 months away,  for April 16th as back in those days I did a mountain of tax returns and we always closed on April 16th and I typically took a vacation then.
 
They told me I could bring friends, they lived in a 6 bedroom house and only used two of them. Well, I tried my best to get friends to go, and no one would take the plunge. So I got my passport and by my lonesome, flew to Barbados.
 
I learned to sail while there, and fell in love with Barbados and the Caribbean. It was nothing like anywhere I had ever been. I am eternally grateful for that invitation.
 
Next a friend transferred to St Thomas in the USVI and invited me to visit, so next April, I found myself in St Thomas enjoying carnival. At that time I met professional crew that worked on gorgeous yachts. I thought WOW, you can get PAID to go sailing?  Why wasn't I told this before?  How did I overlook that as a career option? I thought the crews were awfully lucky.
 
Incredibly, I won a free trip on Windjammer for one week for 2 people. My boyfriend and I broke up, so I asked if I could change the trip to 2 weeks for 1 person, and they agreed if I took a shared cabin with 6 bunks.  I did and only 2 bunks were full the first week and only 3 the next week. We sailed all over the BVI and I just loved the weather, the islands, the sailing.
 
All my vacations began centering around either the Caribbean or sailing.  A friend was battling cancer and she wanted to go on  a sailing trip to the Bahamas. We all rode a train from SC to Florida, then hopped on 2 bare boats and planned to sail in tandem to the Bahamas. My friend became sicker so there was a change in plans and we instead sailed the Keys in Florida and never made it to the Bahamas. My friend seemed to love every minute of  the trip. Ten days later, we boarded the train and came home. Much to our shock, she passed away shortly after we got home.
 
I had to go to Hawaii on business and flew out there with 3 friends. Once my business was done, two of us went sailing every day on a big Hobie Catamaran.  Our last day sailing, the main sheet jammed, and though we had repeatedly asked the rental company to stitch up the trampoline, they kept adding more duct tape to it. A big gust of wind hit us, and when we went to ease the mainsheet, it jammed. The cat flipped so quickly, my friend was thrown into the mainsail. It was old and simply split open and I saw him vanish, as I fell through the duct taped hole in the trampoline.  We both resurfaced and tried for hours to right the cat, to no avail. Diving under we could see the mast was broken.
 
We drifted for 10 or so hours before being rescued. Amazingly, we traveled offshore, 28 miles during our drift and were located just before sunset. It was the first time in my life my knees knocked uncontrollably as I boarded the fishing boat that found us. 
 
I must have angels looking out for me! 
 
Well, that still doesn't tell you how I ended up here...  I'll get to that part one day soon...
 
Warm and Sunny Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- good eats
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Thu, 26 Jun 2008 12:56:36 EDT
Another fantastic day in paradise, just perfect for laying around the beach!  84 degrees, moderate tradewinds, calm seas in the Channel.  However, strong winds and choppy seas are forecast to begin Saturday.
 
I went to a farewell luncheon yesterday for my sailing friend and we dined at the Boat House. I forgot my camera. Ooops!  The Boat House is NEW and located at Manual Reef Marina. That is the new marina in Sea Cow's Bay.  Actually, it's on the eastern side of Sea Cow's Bay, so if you are coming from Road Town, you will pass the huge Island Department store on your left in Duff's Bottom, then about a mile or so down the road, you enter Sea Cow's Bay and the marina is off to the left on the water side, of course. The Boat House is upstairs in the pink building.
 
Chef Vaughn serves lunch all afternoon and Happy Hour starts at 330pm until 630pm.  The food is awesome with healthy side dishes like the julienned fruit salad, the green salad with toasted nuts and all manner of stuff you aren't likely to get anywhere else. They also have pizza to stay or to go. Chef Vaughn puts up daily specials, like we had the conch and it was SO tender, just melt in your mouth.  Prices are very reasonable (now that's RARE!)
 
Speaking of food...
If you are in town at night, stop by the famous chicken bus for the best fried chicken on Tortola. I don't know how long he has been around, but I know I ate there over 20 years ago, for the first time and he is still going strong.
 
Warm and Sunny Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- Fair Weather Sailing
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Wed, 25 Jun 2008 12:01:49 EDT
Another great day in paradise. Very hazy, but the sun is fighting for attention. We have a general cloud cover and some winds. So far (fingers crossed) we have da current running.  Yesterday it was off twice!
 
It's 85 degrees at  1130am, with about 15-20  knot winds.  We might get some rain showers or even a rain squall, so beware. Typically just before a gusty squall, one feels a brief cold wind.  It's time to move as fast as you can, as the shower is imminent and often gusty.
***
I sent my heap of a jeep and my generator out for repairs. The heap came back running great, as besides the hiccuping, he fixed my long list of "weird things".  So I drove it around last night, feeling quite confident, but then as I raced up Zion Hill to go home,  halfway up, at the steepest point, it hiccupped and died.
 
Ooops.
 
So back it went this morning, to a mechanic scratching his head, while he figures out this hiccup problem.  *Sigh*.  I was so pleased, he had it running great and even offered to buy it. Well, get in line, I have a long list already of people who want my cute little heap of a jeep and she isn't even for sale!  I hope she gives me 5-10 more years out of her, afterall she is only 11 years old... but looking spiffy with her new paint job and so far NO DENTS (said with prayers that it remain this way!)
***
It's been confirmed, a bareboat did sink during that awful squall on Friday. It just doesn't pay to sail with your side hatches open and then experience a knockdown. THey had full sail up and I guess they didn't see the dark ominous clouds nor feel the sudden cold wind that usually precipitates a squall. After the knockdown, apparently the water rushed in so fast, through the open ports, that the crew barely had time to scramble to the dinghy, untie it  and be rescued. A boat that saw the other one sinking, called in MayDays and someone picked up the crew who reportedly wore only their bathing suits. An eye witness said the boat sank in just a few brief minutes. Scary indeed, but yes, it can happen. So, don't be afriad to reef.
 
Here are pics of the boat in the morning, it sank in the afternoon.
 
I've had the reefing argument several times with macho males. Women somehow are content to reef, men seem to take it as an insult to their manhood, something that puzzles me, no doubt. If you're thinking about reefing, you're likely too late.
 
One time I headed out on a friend's large boat from Jost Van Dyke, I was at the wheel and he was putting up sails. I saw this big black ominous cloud, pointed it out, and  asked him to reef the main. Well, the  argument broke out, so I screamed everytime we heeled over, as I fought the wheel which was straining with too much sail up for the conidtions,  and finally he reefed to shut me up, a bit irritated at me.
 
About 10 minutes later we were hit with a ferocious squall that nearly put us on our ear, thoroughly soaked us wet and shot the boat forward at maximum speed with the rail nearly in the water. (By now he had taken over the helm.)  I bit my tongue and never said a word. But that reef quietly stayed in the rest of the sunny day and we had no more words about it, just sailed on to anchor at Cane Garden Bay and enjoy a lovely sunset dinner on deck.
***
My 30' Catalina that I lived and sailed aboard here for years, had a 42' tall rig mast, as they called it, as that model had an option of a shorter mast. It also had a shoal keel rather than a full keel.  This meant I only needed a breath of wind to go sailing,  and could enjoy private anchorages that many others couldn't reach, but it also meant that my winters here often meant a semi-permanent reef in the mainsail.  I don't like to be overpowered or to fight the helm to steer. If you are fighting the helm, then your sails aren't balanced out or you have too much sail up. I don't know why anyone would set sail with their hatches and ports open. Sure I was guilty of having the companionway boards open for sailing, but they were stowed in a cockpit seat where I could reach then in a second, but all my ports and hatches were always firmly closed for sailing, even on perfectly nice days.
 
I was also well known for NEVER and I mean NEVER leaving a hatch open when I left my boat. Even at a marina, if I was stepping off the boat to go 30 feet away, I closed every hatch and the companionway. My teak always looked great and you never once saw me running at break neck speed, soaking wet in a dinghy,  to close up my hatches. Short rains come and go, and I never once fancied a wet bunk or ruined teak varnish. But time and time again, I see folks go ashore with every hatch open...
 
When I went to sell my boat, the broker commented on my "new teak varnish" on the interior. I said that varnish is ten years old! 
 
Surprise, surprise!
 
It looked new becase (A) I always closed my hatches when home and it rained and always before leaving the boat, even if there wasn't a cloud in the sky, my boat was fully closed up. (B) I used Old English Furniture Oil nearly every week on all my interior teak except for the companionway steps. These I kept in natural teak, no oil, no varnish, as then the wood provided a natural no-slip surface and I didn't have to glue on the non-skid strips (which always look dirty).
Often before polishing up the teak, I would mix a bit of vinegar with water in a spray bottle (about 1/8 cup vinegar to 2 cups filtered water) and clean up the "sweat areas" on the teak, such as the fiddles in the galley where sweaty arms rest, and the compression post everyone touched on their way to the head.  My head was also teak and had a shower, I used daily. I would wipe it down with the vinegar/water spray solution if it got mucky (rarely). Once the teak was completely dry, then I generously coated it in Old English Furniture Oil usually every week.  Even in the shower, the furniture oil generally repelled the waer and soap scum, so often, just wiping down the after showered teak with a corner of the bath towel, or a paper towel, made the head look dry, clean and new again.
 
So you can imagine, my head and chest swelled when the broker commented on my "new varnish" which was ten years old. Oh how I miss that boat...those were the days...
 
CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?
 
Warm and Reefed Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- Ooops!
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:02:53 EDT
The guys below were making an awful racket early Sunday morning with their noisy, unoiled gasoline fired cement mixer.  When it suddenly stopped, my friend and I cheered and clapped our hands. We were a little too loud, and I am afraid they heard us. I felt sorry for the neighborhood church who were trying to assemble inside and preach above the racket.
 
Spin forward to early this morning, about the time the raucous crew comes to life with their equipment. They were being incredibly quiet, not running any dreaded machinery but I could hear them arranging tools, walking around, talking amongst themselves.
 
I couldn't help it.  I let out the mother of all sneezes. It was such a hard sneeze it left me breathless and I reached up to my face, to check and see if my nose was still attached.  I probably blew particles all the way to the Sahara.  Then  I heard this voice from the construction crew below.
 
"Bless you!" he said.
 
I giggled myself silly. Only on Tortola...
 
Last night the tropical wave hit us complete with lightning, thunder and hard rains. I had crew company from a sailboat and suggested they just spend the night but needless to say, once the rains subsided they wanted to go home. I walked up the hill and felt this bad omen. What if the rock slides had hit, what it they hadn't and after I dropped them off at the marina 8 miles away, THEN the mudslide hit and I would be trapped in the middle of nowhere.
 
Islanders don't drive in the rains. They stay home. Or they stay put. Even the taxis turn off their cell phones and go home. They don't want mud sloshing on their pretty taxis.
 
My new used heap of a jeep developed the hiccups and bunny hopped the first mile. It kept cutting off, coughing and complaining. Something new, it's been so well behaved ever since I bought it!  I told my friends, I was turning around and going home.  They wanted a taxi and I warned them, this might be impossible. We bunny hopped our way back home, after stalling out a few more times.
 
Indeed we called about a half dozen turned off cell phones and never did find a taxi, and it was already past 10pm on a Monday. We even called all the local bars looking for a taxi. Nada.
 
So, I made up the spare twin beds in the office and told them they could fight over custody of  the 12 pillows and turned in for the night.
 
The haze is so thick this morning that Norman Island is just a ghost again.   It's 85 degrees at 2pm and da current done mash up over and hour ago. *sigh*
 
This rumor was mailed to me in a St Croix Cruzan rum bottle (I have heard it several times already, so it is probably true).
...some of the winds have been reported in the forty plus mile an hour range. A couple of days ago a charter boat,  in the BVI's sunk after getting caught is a rain squall that they were apparently ill prepared for. The same front turned over a 28 foot boat on its mooring in St Thomas and broke another boat loose from its mooring in St John and put it on the rocks.
 
Bottle #2:
Local gossip: a 393 sank not far away last night. Rumor has it they had their hatches and portholes open when a squall knocked them over. Sunk in less than a minute. The boat is on the bottom, in 120' of water, and has been written off by XXXXXXXX (the charter company). If only I had the appropriate scuba skills, I'd take dozens of tanks down there and vent them into the cabin and bilges, and see if I couldn't pop it off the bottom. Then I'd have a yacht.
 
Bottle #3: 
Wondering if you heard of a bareboat sinking on Friday during that wave that moved through in the afternoon?  We had heard something about that and then in the morning at the airport we saw 3 guys traveling back to the states with nothing but a very official looking envelope and the clothes  on their back and may I say they had a very humble look about them.  Hmm just curious......
 
Well, the same rumor is flying around here, a certain charter boat, all hatches open on top and sides, over powered with too much sail when the squall hit and knocked them down... and under.
 
It's a terrible way to start/end your vacation and it's best to quietly and quickly leave island and take up a different hobby, such as table tennis. Something where the equipment loss is not so great. For $125 give or take, per day, they could have had a professional captain.
***
 
Warm and Sunny Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- Monday Morning Squall
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Mon, 23 Jun 2008 07:32:07 EDT
One, two, three waves headed our way. Dawn arrived with a fierce rainfall that obscurred all visibility. Afterwards, i was astonsihed to still see the haze!
 
The powers to be have forecast scattered showers for today. That is fine with me. I need it for the plants and flowers.
Another Day Ends in a Gorgeous Sunset
 
 
Warm and Sunny Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- Marching Squall
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Sun, 22 Jun 2008 10:56:50 EDT
Last night I woke up and could hear the rain squall marching down the channel. It eventually came through my neighborhood and simply kept marching onwards. My plants barely got spit upon.  But the cadence of the hard rain against the ocean was like Mother Nature's  marching band.
 
Typhoon Fengshen (aka Frank) has been the 6th typhoon to reach the Philippines in 2008. We are so lucky, imagine begin hit six times in one season, kind of like Florida's unlucky year, a while back.
 
Ferry ship Princess of the Star, is now princess of the deep with only 3-4 survivors located thus far out of over 700 on board when she left port in the Philippines. It just doesn't pay to go to sea during inclement weather, as this ship sank only a mile from shore after being battered by high waves.  The advisory was for small ships and this one went out anyhow. Sad. Very sad. My heart and prayers go out to the victims and their families.
 
Somehow I forgot to mention summer solstice, but I supposed we all survived the longest day of the year, we love sunshine in the Caribbean on a near daily basis and maybe that is why I over looked it.
 
Timing of the next tropical wave will possibly affect seas substantially across the region by Monday morning. Mariners should expect seas in the 6 - 9 foot range across much of the local waters as the wave passes with 7 - 8 second periods. Meanwhile, winds will be enhanced with the wave and are expected to be near 25 knots on Monday. Therefore, expect small craft advisories to be raised for Sunday night into Monday for much of the local waters.  When in doubt, don't!
 
It's 83 degrees and my neighbor has his unoiled concrete mixer grinding away at full volume since 630am. He is just above the church!  I hope they ask him to shut it down. What a shame to wreck such a peaceful day. Sometimes I am tempted to go down with a can of oil and suggest he lubricate the noisy t'ing.
*****
Be careful with the cashiers while shopping in the islands. I usually stand guard at the register, watching everything as it is rung up. Many stores here in the BVI play hide and seek with the prices. They don't put it on the item, they don't put a sticker on the shelf, and they don't have scanners for you to check yourself. Now how are you supposed to stay on a budget shopping under those conditions?
 
Oh I FORGOT!  Everyone here has endless amounts of money, so why worry? 
 
When my company was here, we were downtown and stopped in a store to pick up a few items. Well 3 shoppers and one buggy and we got more than just a few items but still it looked very reasonable and barely filled up half the cart.  It was a plethora of veggies, no meats, some odd staples, a few juices and some  exotic non-alcoholic drinks my friends wanted to try.
 
I wasn't there standing guard at the register like I should have been. Shame on me. The bill totaled up and the cashier held her hand out and asked for $615.37
 
You could have knocked me over with a feather.
 
I asked if anyone had bought any Dom Pérignon or fresh flown in ostrich burgers or WHAT that our little half a cart of groceries came to $615.37
 
I asked the cashier to let me see the receipt and she said she would AFTER I paid the $615.37
 
I said "NO WAY do we have $615.37 in groceries" and she shrugged her shoulders and continued to hold her hand out.
 
I asked her rerun the total and began unbagging all the groceries.  She refused.
 
I was aghast!
 
At that point, had I not had company with me, I would have whispered in her ear exactly WHERE she could store my groceries and left the store empty handed.
 
Meanwhile my friend offered up her credit card, I think she thought I was embarrassing her. She just wanted to pay and get out of there. I pushed her credit card back and said "No!"
 
Instead I asked for the supervisor and another cashier came over to check out the problem. Out original cashier wandered off, she didn't want to stick around and find out what went wrong where.
 
The supervisor, engaged her brain, before her mouth,  took a glance at our groceries and she KNEW it wasn't $615.37 either.
 
She rerang our groceries and they came to $165.49
 
Whew! 
 
Buyer beware!
 
*****
 
One good thing about Alzheimer's, you get to meet new people everyday.
 
Warm and Sunny Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com
 





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- lover-ly Saturday
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Sat, 21 Jun 2008 10:40:07 EDT
A glorious day in the BVI, just a fantastic time to be alive ad gaze out at the hazy horizon.  The promised wave was short lived.
 
We should have another one arrive Sunday night or Monday. Meanwhile its a great weekend for watersports, our number one pastime here, right up next to drinking rum *hiccup*
 
 
This rare Tortola jungle cat is napping under the banana trees without a care in the world.
Probably dreaming up what he will train his humans to do next!
 
 
Warm and Sunny Regards,
Dear Miss Kitty Cat




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- The wave ARRIVED!
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:32:19 EDT
12 after 12 noon, the wave blew in with strong gusty winds that caused several of my window screens to take flight!  Then we had heavy thick rains for a good 5 minutes, now the sun is fighting to play peek a boo again.
 
Warm and Sunny Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- Wish You Were Here!
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 11:00:50 EDT
From the Porthole:
We have waves coming our way and African dust on top of that and eventually surf waves for next week.
 
It's cloudy and overcast at daybreak.
 
At 1020am, it's overcast and very breezy with a slight chop in the Sir Francis Drake  Channel.
 
Rumors of impending rainfall would be nice if they pan out. We need rain, I see things drying up already, it doesn't take much to dry up. Our dirt layer is not very deep, and then you hit rock and more rock.
 
*****
I used to think dogs were smarter than cats what with their ability to learn tricks and instinctively protect us from predators. But having 3 crafty cats living with me these past years and I begin to think Cats are the smarter breed.
 
We train dogs. Cats train us.
 
Now that I have the coveted washing machine, I have a clothes rack and an under cover clothes line for drying. Most days the clothes dry faster on the line than they could in a dryer. This saves a great deal of wear and tear on the clothes, so there is a benefit to not having a clothes dryer. Power is so expensive here, I hate to think of what a dryer might cost per month anyhow.
 
Then along comes one crafty cat who picks out a nice fluffy towel, manages to somehow, get it off the line and drags it to a corner of the covered decking and then he scrunches it up in to a perfect cat sized bed.  For the past few days I have allowed him to keep his towel.  He looks so comfy and quite smitten with himself.
 
Where do they learn these tricks? 
 
I sure wish I had a video of him getting it off the line, over to the corner and scrunched up so nicely. Eventually I will reclaim it and reclean it, as no one wants to dry off with  a towel full of cat fur.
 
If they ever come out with a tiny wireless webcam, I would love to put one on top of my cat's head and see what he does all day, like pulling a fluffy towel off the line for his own use. Other days he comes home with construction debris on his fur. Does he have a job somewhere?  One wonders. I imagine him in a little construction hard hat, supervising some hapless crew somewhere.
 
My neighbor remarked that he noticed dogs without leashes out walking themselves. When they came to my driveway, they promptly turned around and ran off. Well, I do know that one day some loose dogs came down the driveway and woke up 3 sleepy cats who gave them a less than welcoming reception. Matter of fact, one cat took a swipe at a dog who came too close, and bloodied his nose!  All three cats pumped up their fur to look like mega-cats and chased the dogs up the driveway and down the street!  The pack ran off, yelping like they had been severely scolded and the one with the bloody nose seemed particularly offended.
 
Yet, if my friend stops by with her dog to visit, they barely notice, like "Oh, a doggy is visiting. Whoopee."  Apparently they distinguish between dogs that are acceptable and those that are not. They grew up around dogs and learned to tolerate them, but they never had to deal with strays wandering in until the neighborhood gang showed up and then they decided to let them know who is boss here and who is welcome and who is not.
 
Beware of the attack cats.
 
Caribbean Pastels?  Caribbean Building Codes?
Only in the BVI is a building considered a building if it has at least one wall OR a roof.
 
 
 
Warm and Sunny Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- Lazy Hazy Dazy
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 10:11:44 EDT
Very hazy day. Crud in my eyes. Ugh. 84 degrees at 948am with slight to moderate winds.  No storm on the horizon yet. Just that mess to the east to watch.
 
There is a weird bug going around Tortola, give you a high fever for about a week and cold symptoms. Makes your sweat really stink up something awful. I lifted my arm to check the overhead fan and passed right out. Ugh. I am battling the tail end of it and the fluids I run through are unbelievable. I drank over 2 gallons of water yesterday trying not to dehydrate, and sprinkling sea salt on everything I eat, and I still feel half dead. Kitties climbed in bed with me, all wanting to be petted and lay next to me and me burning up so badly, I had not one but two fans aimed at me. 

Check out the latest City Manager’s Newsletter – 18th June, 2008

Road Town and You!

 

See what else is new here.

 

Rock slide or rock pile?  Gotta love that nice straight utility pole! The question begs, was it straight when they put it in (but very shallow) and then the wires pulled it over?  Or did they just plant it crooked cause digging a straight hole is too hard?  Who knows?

 
Warm and Feverish Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- Wednesday's Bounty
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2008 11:33:18 EDT
Thanks to the Sahara Dust, we have continuing spectacular sunsets!
A tropical wave located about 1000 miles east of the Windward Islands  is moving westwards near 20mph. Forecasters are divided about the potential for development. 
 
I shall check my crystal ball on this and ask the cats. Yep, the cats know. If something sloppy gets headed our way, they let me know by (A) eating more than their usual gluttonous meals (fattening up for lean times) (B) hanging around indoors, staking out individual "nests" (C) sticking very close to home (30 seconds from the door)
 
This morning somebody dumped a dead mouse in the floor of my dining room!  He was laying on his back with all four feet stuck in the air, I think he died of sheer fright as his eyes were wide open and his wounds were minimal. I suspect the black cat is to blame for this treat as his specialty is rats and mice.  Usually he leave it on the welcome mat, but being that I didn't open the door yesterday, he may have been offended and brought the dead creature indoors to make SURE I saw his bounty.
 
However, the white cat, did a real dirty deed yesterday.  The night before, I was tossing and turning and didn't realize he had snuck up at the end of the bed, just as I tossed over, my foot squarely hit his jaw. He of course ran off quite offended and possibly wounded. He wouldn't let me come near him to check. Poor Kitty.
 
The next morning, I am in my bathroom, upon my throne, when I notice a motionless snake in my shower. Well, that is where the white kitty has lately been depositing dead snakes. I would prefer the welcome mat OUTSIDE, but kitty has discovered my shower has very tall sides, that a small snake cannot escape!  Indeed you have to step over a 15 inch wall just to get in the shower and close the shower doors. That is because the sliding shower doors are tub doors, and were far too short, so they built a tall wall (rather than buy taller shower sliding doors).
 
Life in the Caribbean; we build differently from the rest of the world!
 
So I came off my throne and fetched the long handled dust shovel and sweeper. I was trying to sweep up the motionless snake when he woke up and became quite angry!  I screamed and chased him around the shower with the dust shovel trying to kill him or sweep him up. He moved quite fast but couldn't escape, finally I won (I think he was tired of my screaming!) and I managed to toss him (still alive) out the window.
 
Yuck!  Ugh!  Puke!
 
I think it was the white kitty's way of "paying me back" for kicking him in the chin. Ah HA!  Those cats are crafty.
 
Today winds are around 15mph, scattered showers, we already had a nice cool one early this morning.
 
The moon shone brightly last night again, and of course tonight is the full moon parties.
  
Warm and Glowing Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- (no subject)
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2008 16:03:50 EDT
Better late than never, I've still got this awful fever, so in and out of bed and cold showers, work is waiting, but no choice, until whatever this is, goes away. So I am late again with my morning report. So what else is new.
 
The moon has been so incredibly bright the past two nights, that it wakes me up and I find myself gazing at it for hours.  After it passes over the mountain, the night darkens again and I go back to sleep.  My birth name means goddess of the moon, so maybe that is why the full moon keep waking me up or maybe I am just a nut...
 
Weather here is painfully boring, just loads of sunshine, moderate winds, crystal clear waters. What more could we ask for?
 
Tomorrow on Wednesday is the fool moon party. There is a great article about   The Fireball Full Moon Party at Trellis Bay  in All At Sea.
 
Message in a Bottle:
Dear Miss Mermaid,
Just ordered our summer's supply of Heliocare.  The stuff really seems to work!
Drew & the boyz
 
Well, thank you for this info!  Sunscreen in an herbal pill!  Amazing the number of remedies available from Mother Nature now. For more information, click here.
 
As you may have heard, some airlines are now charging for checked luggage. Well, I've always been an advocate to pack half the stuff and twice the cash. Well now you can have more cash by bringing less.
 
My last two friends that came to visit managed to figure out how to pack the maximum carry on. I felt bad I had told them to meet me at Jolly Roger, as that meant they had to lug their maximum carryon down the road.  Oops!  I never knew you could pack so much as "carry on".  They were here two weeks and only did minimal laundry.
 
I think they were skeptical about my Caribbean washing machine. I lucked out and found a used washing machine, that actually worked!.  Problem is my landlord promised hookups 7 months ago and of course, I haven't seen hide nor hair of any such convenience. So typical of days gone by when so many local abodes were built without washer hookups, many folks simply put their washing machine on the porch or in the yard and hooked it up to a garden hose.
 
To keep the hot water hose from back flowing (most folks just hook their machine up to cold water only) you stick a US Quarter over the pipe in back of the machine, and then tighten the hose over it. That blocks the water hose nicely. Otherwise as the cold water rushes in, it will rush back out the hot water hose (learn something new everyday!)
 
So I did likewise, and when my company arrived, there sat my new used washing machine in the front yard, on blocks, covered by a shower curtain, and attached to a garden hose.  I had an extension cord to plug in and poof, we had laundry running with the waste water going to the banana trees.
 
I had great fun, knowing I have finally arrived in the Caribbean! I have a washing machine in my yard!  Many houses still sport a washing machine on the front or back porch or in the yard like mine. Now that many neighborhoods have access to street water from the desal plants, housing is being built with washing machine hookups. However, when I was home hunting last winter, I saw a brand new apartment, just gorgeous with  Corian kitchen counters, a whirlpool in the bathroom and I asked if it came with washer connections. Much to my surprise, the landlord showed me around the outdoor porch, to the side and there on the porch, they had installed the washer and dryer connections.
 
It was all I could do not to burst out laughing!  Here they had built a drop dead gorgeous apartment building, with an oversized kitchen that could have easily accommodated the washer dryer, yet they had put the laundry connections on the side porch. It was so funny.
 
Well, I am not sure my company was impressed with my washer in the garden. They inquired why had I been so strict that they take such short showers when I had a washer in the garden?  I replied, "that's so we have plenty of water left to run the washer!"
 
I could see that over time having my washer outside,  would more than likely shorten the life of the machine.  Even though my dear friend had come up one day and helped me line up blocks to make an instant concrete pad. This kept the washer level and also, in the event of rain, my beloved coveted machine would not be sitting in mud.
 
I did some measurements and discovered the machine would fit nicely in the kitchen, where the refrigerator was,  if only I had hookups. The refrigerator was shoved up against the cabinets, blocking off 2 cabinets, because the refrigerator was taller than the cabinets. The real estate agent had explained I could use those cabinets for stuff seldom used (and move the fridge every time I needed something). Life in the islands is strange.
 
A friend of mine stopped by and thought he could hook it up, but then he became concerned that he couldn't, and he mentioned several ways to "rig" it up that may or may not result in flooding my kitchen. Well, I suggested that maybe he shouldn't do me such a "favor" after all. He said he would locate a plumber for me, after all he is a house builder, just not a washing machine plumber.
 
Amazingly, the next day, a man called and said he had heard I wanted my washer hooked up and he had time to come by and look at it. I waited anxiously as he promised to be here in a half hour and two hours later he arrives.
 
Hmm, he must be a REAL plumber as they are typically late.  He and his assistant looked over the situation, gave me a quote, asked for a down payment to buy supplies, then left with my money and promises it would all be done by nightfall.
 
It occurred to me then, all I knew was his first name and a cell number and now he had my money and had left for parts unknown. Yep, must be a real plumber.
 
Well, I've had this awful fever for days now, so I needed to lay down and rest with a cold rag. I accidentally dozed off. When I awoke, my kitchen was torn apart and the two guys had tools and plumbing parts scattered everywhere.
 
I began rearranging the kitchen, as the refrigerator had to be moved to accommodate the washer, then the counter I had built months ago, which pretends to be built in, but isn't had to be moved, which meant the bookshelf, on the other side had to be moved to the living room and the big stack of wicker chests in the corner, had to be moved. So I grunted and groaned, sweated, pushed and shoved, until all the furniture was moved to its new location. This resulted in a much larger kitchen, one soon complete with a washing machine, the only place in the house I could find room for it.
 
A few hours later, the guys said they were finished and there in the corner sat new washer hookups while my machine sat in the yard. They were waiting for their final pay and I asked if this was guarantied not to leak or back up etc and they of course gave me their best verbal promises. So then I wiggled my mermaid tail and inquired if they might move the washing machine for me, so we could test it.
 
I might be able to move everything else, but no way I could move the machine from the garden. So they huffed and puffed, moved the machine, hooked it all up and we tested the hot, the cold and the discharge. It worked!  Yippee!
 
I have arrived!
 
***
 
 
Warm and Washing Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- Sea Grapes
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Mon, 16 Jun 2008 07:47:28 EDT
Sea Grapes are producing fruits!
There is just so much beauty to be found all around us, every day.
I am thankful for the food we eat, thankful for the people we meet...
 
A glorious but hazy day in the BVI with moderate trade winds keeping us cool at 82 degrees. The Sir Francis Drake channel is picture perfect for sailing and at 720 am I can see a few boats with sails traversing by. I remember those fun days, of getting up with the sun, on my little sailboat, parking a carafe of coffee in the cockpit and setting sail for another anchorage before breakfast.
 
Those were the days my friend, and I will always treasure them.
 
NOTE: Da current done mash up at 730am!  I am emailing this out before my batt-tree mash up in mah laptop 'puter. It's all mah fault, I plug in dat steamer t'ing to make mah dress look purdy and POOF, a moment later, dat currrent done gone.
 
 
Washed un in a Swiss Bottle on the shore:
Dear Miss Mermaid,
Since we were at Tortola last November we follow your always informative
and often amusing news from this beautiful island. But what we learned
about these new resorts makes us very sad. BVI had the chance to offer
really the last treasures in the Caribbean, means no big hotels, no
McDo, all beaches open to public and without big structures! It's a
shame that the government of the BVI go this wrong way, since we all
know where this way ends.....When we saw what even the cruise ships has
already done to the island!
Is there really no opposition to all this? "Natures little secrets"
becomes a non-sense!
To you all the best from Swiss-Tortola lovers

Max and Rita

Ps: We love your cats too..........

Thanks so much for writing and for reading. Many of us feel the way you do!  Two resorts have now been canceled, both the Smugglers Cove Resort and the Golf course resort at Beef Island. Yahoo!
 
I have many personal thoughts and insights from other locals and overnight tourists that might shock the powers to be, therefore I am putting my comments elsewhere and not on the weather page.
 
Click here for more reading on what I think of the mega resorts and cruise ships.
Sea Grapes
Yes the grapes  are edible and the washed leaves can be used as eco-friendly picnic  plates, but the leaves are not at all tasty for eating.
 
The Seagrape (Coccoloba uvifera) is a sprawling bush or small tree that is found near sea beaches throughout tropical America and the Caribbean, including southern Florida and Bermuda. It reaches a maximum height of 8 meters, but most specimens are little more than 2 meters tall. It has large, round, leathery leaves (up to 25 cm in diameter) with a primary vein that has a red color extending from the base, and the entire leaf turns red as it ages. The bark is smooth and yellowish. In late summer it bears purplish fruit, about 2 cm in diameter, in large grape-like clusters. The fruit also contains a pit.
 
The tree is unable to survive frost. However, it is moderately tolerant of shade, and highly tolerant of salt, so it is often planted to stabilize beach edges; it is also planted as an ornamental shrub. The fruit can be used for jam or the fruit can be eaten right off the tree.




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- Happy Father's Day
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Sun, 15 Jun 2008 15:14:43 EDT
A beautiful hazy overcast day. Very summery temps. Light tradewinds.
 
The tropical wave has apparently declined to make an appearance and quite honesty, shall not be missed.
 
It's Father's Day and many are celebrating.  We have a plethora of children here being raised by single mothers here, I hope they get a rest today as the children spend time with the fathers. 
 
Of course some islanders are deliberately hiding, hoping they aren't fathers...
 
I've picked up the phone ten times to call my own father, only to realize he doesn't have a phone number in heaven.  So my thoughts keep coming back to him and the wonderful memories and the odd gifts I gave him. As a child it was an endless  assortment of either handkerchiefs or ties or a bottle of Old Spice, his favorite aroma to wear.
 
He was a gentleman and always had a handkerchief in his pocket. I know he often didn't make it to work with a clean one, because he had to drive us to school and the seldom running nose or bloody nose or sneezing and he was producing his handkerchief for one of us kids to use up.
 
He had a shoe fetish and while he , and the kids grown, he bought shoes, both mail order and in person. If he liked a particular style, he would buy it in brown, black, tan, white and so on. I remember helping him move one time, kept himself restrained with a family in the household, once he became singleto a townhouse. As a joke, I stacked his shoes, one pair on each stair tread. I still had so many shoes leftover, so I had to put another pair on the other side of the stair tread.  I think at that point, he had 60 something pair of shoes and we laughed about it.
 
Next time I was at his condo, his shoes were still neatly lined up and down the stair treads. He said he merely came downstairs in his socks each morning, and picked matching shoes as he descended. He never wore the same pair two days in a row, this gave this time to air out. All his shoes looked new, as with 60 pairs and growing, each pair was only worn 3-6 times each year.
 
He grew up poor and only had one pair of shoes, often hand me downs.  Many pictures of him as a kid do show him barefoot, so his story is believable. But as a child, he bought us shoes, but in the spring and summer, I ran around barefoot.  When school was let out, I was issued a pair of flip-plops to carry me through the summer.
 
My father was the only one in his humble farming family to graduate from both High School and College.  He proudly wore his college ring every day of his adult life.
 
Happy Father's Day
to all that qualify!
 
Warm and Sunny Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- Hazy Projects
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Sat, 14 Jun 2008 15:51:30 EDT
Another great day in paradise.
 
It has been severely overcast all day.  But there is always beauty to be found.
 
No rains, but very thick and hazy. I hope to drive over to the north shore before sun set, but meanwhile I have my entire abode torn apart for one teeny tiny plumbing project. Funny how that happens.
 
Ha ha. 
 
As I look at the sprawling mess, it doesn't seem so funny, but once we are finished, and I put everything back together, all will be well (said with fingers crossed!)
 
I took this pic shortly after  sunrise!
Look how thick the haze is towards Norman Island
 
 
Warm and Hazy Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- Dark Thirty Again
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Fri, 13 Jun 2008 21:45:19 EDT
It's dark thirty. The crickets and tree frogs are singing along a merry tune.  No dogs are barking. The wind is mellow. The air is cool yet it was a warm afternoon.  A fine day for the beach .A great evening to chill out or go to the many music venues in the islands.
 
We've had a few tiny scattered showers. I would like more.
 
A  tropical wave now located over the eastern Caribbean
waters will deteriorate local marine conditions beginning early
this evening. squalls and thunderstorms will be scattered to numerous and
mariners should keep alert for this. high pressure across the
eastern Atlantic will build quickly behind this wave increasing
winds ... mainly across the Caribbean waters ... this will generate
choppy seas through at least Monday.
 
I better go stock up on mice...
later, mon
 
Warm and Hunting Regards,
Dear Mr Cat




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- So Pretty Today
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Thu, 12 Jun 2008 10:28:21 EDT
Bright and clear here, some dark clouds to the east. No rain yet in West End.  The westward moving tropical wave is headed for the southern windward islands, so noting much to report from here.
 
Just ho hum drop-dead-gorgeous Caribbean weather with balmy tradewinds and calm seas.
 
However, before you get too comfy, we might have some active weather beginning Thursday or Friday from a secondary tropical wave headed our way that could bring on some intense thunderstorms and gusty winds. I guess you call this a trial run for hurricane season.
 
I brought home my case of tuna for hurricane food, it's the one thing the cats and I agree on for emergencies. However, they are dancing around the case of tuna, rubbing up on it and generally begging for it, like I am supposed to start handing it out now.
 
That's the problem with cats. Every year, they want to eat up their hurricane stash as soon as I buy it. *sigh*  I already have loads of candles, I am woefully understocked in the battery department and then there is that matter with the carburetor for the generator...
 
My new old home I moved into last December, did come with aluminum hurricane shutters, but there are the fussy kind, that take forever to put up and take down, a chore I am not looking forward to at all.  I am a sun shiny type person and the thought of being all closed up in total darkness is not appealing. Mermaids need sunshine after all.
 
 
 
Warm and Sunny Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- Picture Perfect
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:16:40 EDT
Another great day in paradise with calm seas and slight winds.
 
Da current done mash up again. I called dem BVI Elec-tricky boyz and dey say dis be d'ere scheduled outage. So what I want to know is, WHAT happened to all those flowery newspaper articles dat say our current problems be OVER?  Now we got rotating scheduled outages and we don't even have a hurricane to blame it on!  Lawdy mercy, ever since dey got current here in the BVI, it's been elec-tricky.  I heard those war town places in Iraq have better current than we do.
 
So now da cable TV be mashed up and da water be off.  This is a great way to make your business efficient. Cut all dem utilities, send dem employees home and save on payroll.
 
Might as well just be at the beach all day or out sailing, cause this landlubber life is rough. This is what we mean when we tell folks who are thinking of moving here, that we don't have many conveniences. Unless you think it convenient to have your utilities off half the day.  It's not so bad if all you are doing is vacationing here. You can lie on the beach all day and not worry about a t'ing.  But if you live here and you need to work, then having dat current mashed up half the day, can be a problem.  Of course many jobs don't require dat current, like gardening and such. Maybe I just be a gardener now and forget about dem elec-tricky folks.
 
*****
My battery died and the Internet was flaky, so that report above I wrote at 9am, is just now going out at 4pm. Yep, da current was off dat long!  And me having company for dinner and the fridge off all day long.  *sigh*
 
No storms on the horizon, no cruise ships in town either, imagine that!  Weather is drop dead gorgeous and nothing weird to haunt us. Yet.
Ferocious Island Tiger guards fruit garden.
 
 
 
 




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- Flat Calm Lake-like Channel
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Tue, 10 Jun 2008 09:25:38 EDT
7:30am, Sir Francis Drake Channel, looking East
 
TROPICAL CYCLONE FORMATION IS NOT EXPECTED DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS.
 
Almost every day, twice a day, I find the above in my email box.  It makes me smile!  48 hours of peace, yahoo!
 
Today, it is flat calm. A great day to motor to windward.  It is only 82 degrees, so if you are suffering from a heat wave, come on down here!
 
My friends are hopping on the Virgin Gorda ferry, which should just glide up smooth as can be on these flat lake-like waters. If they get sea sick, it's because they are hung over (tee hee hee!) from Sorrel Wine they bought at the Cane Garden Bay Arundel Rum Distillery.
 
Support a mermaid and buy a sarong...
 
Warm and  Burping Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- short and sweet
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 08:13:36 EDT
Wind is flat calm.  83 degrees. If you are caught in that awful heat wave on the East cost of the US, come on down here where it's nice and cool!  Can't believe you are getting 100 degree temps there. Amazing!
 
No storms aimed out way. More later!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Warm and Sunny Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- 1000 words
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Sun, 8 Jun 2008 14:14:11 EDT
West End Tortola, BVI
 
Glorious weather!  Bet you can't guess where that mermaid is today...
At the beach?  Or
Perhaps, behind the secret door?
Or in the Palm Grove?
 
Stay tuned for futher clues to the mermaid's where abouts...
 
Hide and Seeking  Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- cloudy
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Sat, 7 Jun 2008 08:16:33 EDT
Partly cloudy in the morning then becoming variably cloudy. Isolated showers.   Highs 88 lower elevations ranging to 82 higher elevations. East winds 5 to 15 mph increasing to 15 to 20 mph in the afternoon. Chance of rain 20 percent.
I copied that from the forecast. Interpretation: moving clouds, might rain, might not, depends on where you are at the time.
 
A westward moving tropical wave is current near the Windward Islands.
 
Got to the Apple Bay fish fry last night at about 7pm, they still had food for us and it was delicious. Some of my favorites like pumpkin and johnny cakes were already gone, but I did manage to get the last serving of conch, which was incredibly tender and had apparently been cooked in a pressure cooker.
 
Warm and Sunny Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- Relax yourself, enjoy life, be pampered
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2008 11:07:03 EDT
Cooper Island, BVI (Thursday)
 
 
Here I am!  Weather is terrific, perfect for a vacation. I happen to have company from afar who are enjoying the lovely weather. Today they are aboard the ferry and off to Jost Van Dyke while I stay on Tortola and slave away at my work.
 
It is 84 degrees and breezy with tiny whitecaps in the Sir Francis Drake Channel.  Sea Temp is 81 degrees. No snow predicted now that June is finally here. Whew!  So far, no storms on the horizon either. What more could we ask for?  Monday and Tuesday might bring enough waves to surf or learn to surf!
 
Lately, ome days I am vacationing and avoiding work, and having great fun being a tourist!  Yippee!
 
Tonight we are headed for the grand opening of the Boat House at Manual Reef.  I ate their twice already for lunch and Chef Vaughn offers up some really creative selections for lunch, seen no where else on the island. So if you are bored with the usual hohum for lunch, check out the boat house in Sea Cow's Bay at the new marina (eastern side of Sea Cow's Bay). 
 
Jenni offers up a generous Happy Hour from 330pm, now that's a great deal, sit on the balcony, enjoy the fabulous views and breezes while sipping on Happy Hour priced drinks. You can even order up pizza to stay or to go as well as choose from the daily specials.
 
Later this evening, we hope to make the Fish Fry in Apple Bay before they run out of food. Besides fish they have numerous other offerings all at reasonable prices. Just look for the ladies under the Banyan trees with their gleaming stainless steel buffet dishes on Friday nights.
 
Yesterday we had a super busy day and I just never got to post because the Internet was intermittent and we had places to be, things to do.  Namely we started off the day with a home visit from Serenity Spa for massages and pedicures and pampering. Now THAT is just a great way to start your day!  We lazed about enjoying the breezes and views while my tail was descaled and softened up, just in case I meet a sailor in need of a mermaid (wth a softened tail!).   
 
My company and cats also indulged in massages and pedicures, so if you see a bevy of brightly colored toes, you found us!
Ahhh, that massage, followed by a nap...heaven on earth!
 
 
Warm and Relaxin' Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- Back on Schedule
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 08:40:14 EDT
Weather is terrific today at 82F or 29C with gentle winds and calm seas. No storms, no snow, just sunshine.
 
Yesterday's report is showing up as today's report (below). (Posted 24 hours later!) For some silly reason my email fought me left and right, tooth and nail and absolutely REFUSED to go out. Late last night I meant to have another go-around with this cantankerous email but instead I went to dinner at Bananakeet on the cliffs. The higher you get, the better the view. 
 
The sunset was heavily obscured by thick haze and clouds, but the wonderful meal made up for it. My friends all had pork tenderloin while I ordered 2 appetizers for dinner, the tuna sushi roll and the steamed mussels in a heavenly sauce. Our plates were left clean but we had no room for their tempting desserts, no matter how hard they tried to entice us.
Anegada, where the roads are paved in sand
 
 
 
Warm and Sunny Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- Life just couldn't get any better!
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 07:19:22 EDT
Remnants of Arthur still remain hovering around Belize, Guatemala and southeastern Mexico, like a jilted lover that doesn't want to go away, even though he's been shooed him off repeatedly.
 
Today, we have a glorious day in the Caribbean!  Life is just perfect and it's a great day to be outside enjoying life.  It's 83 degrees, breezy with mild seas. Life just couldn't get any better! 
 
If you aren't here, you should be planning a trip here soon!
 
Tortola is finally thinking of being eco-friendly!  Yippee!  This excerpt is From the City Manager's Newsletter (wow is Road Town a CITY now???)

An exciting new partnership between the public and private sector aims to reduce the number of plastic bags being used by Virgin Islanders and thus eliminate their appearance on the Territory’s streets and public spaces.  This unique collaboration between the Office of the City Manager, First Bank, One Mart, Rite Way, Bobby’s and the Conservation and Fisheries Department was announced yesterday, 2nd June and will launch on Friday, 6th June, the day after World Environment Day. 

 

To assure the success of this initiative, we’ve asked several local celebrities to join the effort to limit the use of plastic bags by serving as baggers between the hours of 3:00pm and 6:00pm.  Each “celebrity bagger” has agreed to serve at their station for a minimum of one hour and will promote the environmental and other benefits of using the re-usable bags each time clients shop.  To encourage the use of the bags, the participating supermarkets will offer clients a discount of ten cents each time they return to shop with their bag.  The receipt showing their discount will certify their eligibility to enter the quarterly drawings for fabulous prizes which will be held by the supermarkets.

 

Each year, an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide. That comes out to over one million per minute. Billions end up as litter each year.  Hundreds of thousands of sea turtles, whales and other marine mammals die every year from eating discarded plastic bags mistaken for food.  Unfortunately, plastic bags don’t biodegrade, they photodegrade—breaking down into smaller and smaller toxic bits contaminating soil and waterways and entering the food web when animals accidentally ingest them.  In addition, the bags wrap around living corals quickly "suffocating" and killing them according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.   None of the plastic bags in the Virgin Islands are recycled.  Worldwide only one percent of the billions of bags used annually are recycled.

 
I recycle my endless pile of plastic grocery bags, by using them for garbage collection. I have found that buckets hold these bags perfectly, and then I bag up my garbage in them. I haven't bought a plastic garbage bag in 20+ years! So, um, now what am I going to do for garbage bags?  However, many people do NOT resuse their bags for garbage and they do end up in the dump and blowing around town.  Frankly I miss the old fashioned brown paper bags for groceries.  I have plenty of reusable bags, but often when I go to the store with them, the baggers try to race me, to pack all my stuff in baggies before I can get it into my bag!  I hope this will now change. But I still have to rethink my garbage collection. Hmmm.
 

From the Road Town Fact File

 

Cholera, yellow fever, leprosy and various illnesses that one doesn't hear much about nowadays were quite common in the Virgin Islands up to the early 1900's.  A plaque in Long Bush commemorates the 942 people who died in the local cholera epidemic of 1863.

 

Seed Cards for You!

In honor of Environment Month, the Office of the City Manager is offering free seed cards to the public.  Each card can also be used as a postcard and depicts a tree common to the Virgin Islands, along with information about it.  The attached seed packets contain a small number of the relevant seeds and germination instructions.  The cards will be available at various Road Town locations and at the City Manager’s Office.

YES YES YES, how many times have you heard Dear Miss Mermaid say WE NEED MORE TREES!  Yippee!  I am so excited about this!  MORE trees!  Yahoo!

P Get your re-usable bag and bring it with you the next time you shop at any participating supermarket and earn a chance to win a prize.  Go Green!

Well, hats off to:

Eugenia O'Neal
City Manager, Road Town
"The Little City With the Big Heart!"
Virgin Islands
for being so forward thinking in the BVI!  We need MORE like her!  A round of applause is in order for such wonderful insight!

*******

Father's Day is just around the corner. Get your man/husband/father/grandpa/lover/boyfriend/baby's daddy or significant other, one of these cool tropical shirts .  Check out the Gift Basket Grande, not only does it come with a cool shirt, but loads of gifties, sure to please the big daddy(s) in your life! 
 
Warm and Funky Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com

 
 




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- Cloudy with short passing rains
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Mon, 2 Jun 2008 13:10:25 EDT
Arthur is dying out over central America. In the BVI we woke up to thick gray skies and scattered rains.  The seas are moderate and the winds are so-so.   My friends hung around shopping for awhile then decided to take their chances and go sailing for a day or two or three while your truly finished up some work. 
 
Some small short waves may pass our way this week, and we are still watching that mess coming off Africa.   Also, the Sahara Dust is headed our way, and that tends to keep the storms away from us, even though we are sick and tired of this dust. Ugh!
 
Well the banks machine in West End is notorious for running out of money and sitting empty for lengthy periods of time. To combat this problem, they now have shrouded the machine in complete darkness, except for the lit screen. However, the buttons are NOT lit up. So if you are trying to withdraw cash after dark, you can't unless you have memorized where all the buttons are and can operate them in the dark to enter your password, as well as the amount of withdrawal and so on. The alternative is to travel with your own flashlight, to be able to se the buttons. Overall, this has frustrated many folks who have neither flashlight nor memory of which buttons are located where, so many can't get cash out. Fortunately I know where the buttons are, even in the  dark and even without a flashlight, so I was pleased to be able to get some cash out of the machine. Only in Tortola...
 
To welcome in the first day of June, I decided to make a chilled Sunday lunch for my company and a few friends. We sat in the garden and watched the fabulous views of the boats sailing by and dined on:
 
***Crescent rolls stuffed with pepperoni, parmesan, basil and garlic
***Shrimp &  linguine chilled salad tossed with red peppers, Vidalia Onions,  garbanzo beans and wasabi dressing
***Calypso Coleslaw with cabbage, carrots, raisins tossed with  cracked pepper dressing with dill and caraway seeds
***Deviled eggs stuffed with yolks, horseradish, sweet pickle relish, Dijon and mayo, topped with a sprinkle of cayenne pepper
***Antipasto marinated salad with artichokes, grape tomatoes, mushrooms, calamata olives, Spanish green  olives, capers, pimentos, garlic and secret herbs
***Fresh pineapple wedges
***Green Iced Tea with Cinnamon and key limes from the garden
 
I hope my company felt better welcomed, as the day of their arrival, we were all so dead tired, we made our own sandwiches, from selections I put out,  then went to bed like a bunch of wimps. But they had a long day of travel, and I had a long day of cleaning and organizing and nursing a near dead ungrateful cat back to health. He thanked me by fighting and kicking me in the stomach repeatedly as I dosed him with emergency medicine between his firmly gritted teeth.  Getting over half of it down him, I spilled the rest on his paws, which made him even madder, but it forced him to clean himself, and thereby get the rest of his liquid meds. He is the only one mean when it comes to doctoring.
 
The other two trust me completely whether I am cleaning their ears, or popping a pill down them, they act very nonchalant.
 
Once when the three were at the vet for shots, the one meany screamed his head off like he had been run over flat, and lunged at me and the vet with teeth bared, hissing and spitting, snapping his jaw like a rapid dog,  while the other two stood stoically silent, without flinching while getting their shots. Even the vet commented on their lack of reaction. I replied "They are tamed feral cats, nothing bothers them much."  They even ride quietly in the car, enjoying life while the other one screams at the top of his lungs as if we are dragging him down the street tied to the bumper by his tail.
 
Trying to clean and organize the place, I made numerous trips to the dumpster it seems. Where does this stuff come from?  Much of it was stuff left behind from the previous tenant, broken end tables, 10 year old magazines, leftover construction mess from previous repairs by sloppy handymen,  and I decided enough is enough and sent it packing. It feels so GOOD to be clean and semi-organized!
 
Ain't life grand...
 
Warm and Sated Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- Arthur opens the season for us
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Sun, 1 Jun 2008 09:43:27 EDT
I missed a day posting! 
 
Had a whirlwind Saturday trying to do a zillion things before company arrives to stay for two weeks in my modest abode. Funny how every thing looks nice until you look at it as "company is coming".  Suddenly I realized my front entrance resembled a garden junk yard with a few projects in progress.
 
Yep, I seem to always have these half done projects everywhere. Waiting on a part here, a piece there, time for that, or even worse, waiting on an extra pair of hands to assist.
 
I stared at my on-loan angel statue in the garden,  wishing for an angel to come help me,when my phone rang. A dear friend had just sailed in the harbor below, on his boat and needed some shore leave.  He wandered if he could come shower at my place and if I needed help with anything.
 
Heaven help him!  I scrambled for my jeep to run pick him up before he changed his mind.
 
So it was a full day of cleaning and rearranging and organizing and repairing and fixing and rigging to make my front entrance resemble, well a front entrance, without the junk yard, mad scientist projects in progress look.  We were both covered in sweat when we noticed one cat was seriously ill.
 
A few frantic phone calls and I located some medicine for said cat, if I could come to town immediately and pick it up. We abandoned all projects, but loaded the heap of a jeep with a mountain of garbage and rejects, stuff that needed a new home,preferably at the dump, a few things worthy of parking beside the dump, in case some needy soul happened by.
 
It's customary in the islands to park "usable rejects"  next to the dump, rather than in it, so scavengers can pick through it. Hence I came home one day with a gorgeous wicker headboard, I found parked beside a dumpster.  Today I returned the favor by parking an ugly but usable table by the dump. Perhaps the next person would love it and not find it ugly at all.  On another day I parked a brass lamp that had no off switch at the dumpster and the car behind me stopped, inquired if it worked, and drove off with it, he didn't care it didn't have an off button, he could "plug it out" as he explained to me.
 
We got the medicine for the ailing cat, then did a whirlwind shopping tour, me for the guests coming for Sunday brunch and my friend to restock his boat for the month. Heavily laden, we came back to my home, where we picked up working on the various projects, loaded up yet another load of garbage and usable rejects, then I deposited my friend and all his shopping at the dinghy dock, emptied out the garbage and continued.
 
Next I fetched my newly arrived stateside company who were chilling out at Jolly Roger, waiting for my arrival. Jolly Roger is a short walk from the ferry dock and a good way to stretch your legs after long air flights followed by ferry transits and so on. They were happy I had told them to meet me there, as when they came out of customs, it was a major traffic jam with taxis vying for their attention.
 
Loaded them up, gave them a brief tour before sunset, then took them home.  We visited for awhile, ate a very casual dinner of sandwiches on wheatberry bread with granny smith apples.
 
I was dead tired and collapsed in my bed, surrounded by pillows and never did write Saturday, I think my company was ready to rest too, as their travels had been long.
***
 
So, we have a series of shortwaves that will push through the next few days, we have moisture in the air, but no rain  yet, sure would like some rains. Probably when I take my company to the beach, it will rain.
 
Isn't that how it goes?
 
Thunderstorms are predicted for Monday, Tuesday   & Friday. Odd timing!  Probably just short burtst to fill our welcoming cisterms.
 
Meanwhile tropical storm Arthur arrived to officially open up hurricane season and chose a most unlikely spot to form. Arthur is due west of us at 18 north and 90 west, about 115 miles from Campeche Mexico. He is moving west at 7 mph with 40+ mile per hour winds.
 
Warm and Tired but Happy Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- Peek a Boo Sunshine
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Fri, 30 May 2008 11:02:52 EDT
Bright and sunny somewhat today, still a huge cloud cover, but no rains yet.  Moderate winds and calm seas, a great day for boating.
Just a great day to be in paradise, at the beach, realxin' yourself.
 
 
Warm and Sun Tanny Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- Gloomy Bloomy
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Thu, 29 May 2008 17:57:35 EDT
Pink Oleander in Bloom
 
Better late than never. I've been snowed under with work and swollen foot. Argh!  Hard to work with foot propped up, so it's a battle!
 
Weather has been gloomy all day with slight winds and no rains. Very odd. We have a mess coming off Africa that bears watching.
 
I didn't have my camera yesterday, what a shame. Zion Hill had a massive traffic jam at the top of the hill. It was comical. First a big tanker truck broke down at the very top of the hill.
 
So here I come beeping and honking and flashing my lights, cause now I am in the wrong lane coming over a blind hill!  Next someone pulling a boat couldn't pass around the broken tanker,  and their boat ended up in the bushes with rocks and coconuts under the wheels to try to keep it from rolling down the mountain. Apparently they don't know much about backing down a steep hill with a boat in back so into the bushes went the boat leaving the truck at an odd angle.
 
Next a mechanic came and parked in the road to fix the broken truck and ditto for the broken truck pulling a boat. So now we had two big trucks, one boat and two medium trucks, all competing for space at the top of the hill. Traffic was reduced to one skinny lane and no one was directing it. It was taking your life in your own hands each time!
 
I got home a bit shaken and helped myself to a shot of tequila to calm my rattled nerves. Ain't life fun!
 
Rain!  We need rain!  I have company coming for 2 weeks, so house will be full, want that cistern ready to go!
Bougainvillea in Bloom
 
 
Warm and Swollen Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- Heavy Moisture in the Air
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Wed, 28 May 2008 11:52:14 EDT
 
Cloudy and thickly overcast, ray clouds, could rain, breezes are intermittently brisk.  83 degrees at 1145am.
The Sidewalk to nowhere, has been extended a great deal, since the earlier post (scroll down).
 
 
BVI Music Festival ends with “Lovers Night”
SKNVibes.com - Basseterre,St. Kitts and Nevis
By Suelika N. Creque BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - THE BVI Music Festival which was held at Cane Garden Bay, Tortola was a grand event that featured top local, ...
 
Bolton family starts life over on Caribbean sailboat
Caledon Enterprise - Bolton,ON,Canada
He is currently working as a boat-builder in a shipyard in the city of Tortola, in the BVI A highly-skilled woodworker, he kept a busy boat-building shop in ...
 
Warm and Wonky Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- Life's a box pf pillows
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Tue, 27 May 2008 15:56:11 EDT
 
View from the Port Hole
~~~~~~~~
Floating along the seashore, I found another Moosehead Beer Bottle, (from Moose, no doubt!)
 
He writes:
 
Remember the extended cold front that (was) headed your way? Well, it stalled before Puerto Rico and became stationery. But ....
 
These images will disappear as circumstances and conditions evolve so take a quick look at these two images.
 
Humorously, it looks as if the BVI is the pseudo center of the "never land universe."
 
Look at the multi directions of the weather conditions and circulation over and adjacent the eastern Caribbean. Of course this is a vivid representation of the multi layer wind circulations at the surface, mid-levels (to 18,000 feet) and the upper level winds above.
 
Yes, they are all converging on YOU !!!!!!!! Doesn't it just give you a warm fuzzy feeling? LOL
 
And yes, all of this seemingly absurd circulation is a result of the density and strength of that little Low now just off of Greenland. Yikes !!!!
 
Does this all mean you are gonna get some unusual weather, probably not but it sure looks tempting to forecast something out of Jules Vern (spelling?)
 
Have a look as it will change and go away probably within 12 hours ... Enjoy, Moose aka MAX
 
 
 
Have a nice day and keep an eye to weather ...
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks for your insight Mooose!   So far winds have picked up a good bit and skies to the north and west look a tad ominous. THe BVI is famous for it's "never land universe".  We might as well be on another planet. We do business differently that the rest of the world, and we are waiting for the rest of the world to CHANGE.
 
We could get hit with all or nothing, my crystal ball predicts some strong winds and a few scattered thunder storms, trailed by even more Sahara Dust.
 
Temperatures are headed to the summer ranges of 83-84 F degrees.
 
If you live on Tortola, please consider making a $25 donation to the BVI Diabetes Resource Center and get a box of pillows in exchange.  I read the article, called the number and went for my box of pillows. The box was heavier than I could carry, but the lady cheerfully helped me load it up in my heap of a jeep.
 
At home, a sturdy friend happened to stop by and hauled my box inside for me.  He groaned as he sat it down, "WHAT'S in this box?  It IS heavy!"
 
"Pillows!"  I told him. 
 
He said "Feels more like rocks to me!"
 
I took the lid off and we giggled our way through this never ending Pandora's box as first one bed pillow, then the next popped up, until we had 12 in all!  Somebody mighty strong had packed 12 pillows in a box that would normally hold maybe 5 pillows. All were spotlessly clean and freshly laundered. One even had a clean pillow case on it.
 
In case you are wondering, I am a pillow freak. When I lived aboard my boat, I was accused of having a "padded cell" to sleep in, because I had enough pillows to pad the sides of my forepeak, the bulkhead and more to lay my head on.
 
Now that I live on shore, my bed is adorned with 7 pillows, 3 King sized, 4 standards, some soft some fluffy and some firm. I have company coming to stay with me and the thought of having to part with some of my pillows so they could have some, was frightening. What if I woke up and needed the very one they were using?  What if I couldn't sleep because of lack of pillows?  See I like padded comfort and of course I am forever propping up my swollen leg, or I might wish to sit up in bed, padded with my pillows and catch a movie and so on.  Then there are the cats who seem to like my pillows as much as I do and often I find  one lounging on or leaning against one of my pillows.
 
Well, I needn't worry now!  My company of two will have twelve pillows to fight over! 
 
Warm and SWell Padded Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- Wild Winds soon come?
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Mon, 26 May 2008 11:33:00 EDT
Found in a rum bottle, this note from Max:
 
Ya might want to get ready for some unexpected winds from the wrong direction and some weather with it. There's an extension of a cold front associated with a low that happens to be over Greenland, now passing the Dominican Republic. You might get some unusual weather within 24 hours for the next 48 hours ...
 
Just a heads up ... Max
 
We are predicting that Tuesday and Wednesday may be wet and wild around here. We could use some strong winds for a change, from any direction.
 
I remember eons ago, I was anchored in Sopers Hole, before all the rental moorings and  marinas filled up the place.  Maybe 20 boats or more at that time, were full time live aboards like me. I had taken what I thought was safe anchoring from the impending storm. When musch to my surprise, the winds clocked around to the west and blew in hard through the channel entrance. There is a valley formed by the mountain in West End Tortola and the mountain on Frenchman's Cay. So this whipped the winds into stronger force than normal.
 
The wind was so brisk that the rigging on the boats were sounding like a beginning band class, with everyone out of tune and off key, but proudly playing loudly.
 
My boat was getting pushed around by the currents one way and the winds another way, then slapped by the ever increasing waves.   I was getting a bit banged up, as it was almost impossible to do anything except lay in the bunk and read.  Trying to make a simple meal was like being offshore in bad conditions.
 
Then bigger waves started rolling through the harbor. I had never seen anything like it in Sopers Hole. Big sloppy waves cresting about 3-4 feet.  I might as well have been in a washing machine on heavy duty agitation.
 
So I found a big Ziploc baggy, put some dry clothes in it, put my passport and purse items in a Ziploc baggy, some shower stuff into another baggy, stuffed all that into my backpack. I manually emptied my bilge, then checked that the automatic float switch was working and the solar panel had my batteries topped up. I closed my boat up tightly, climbed down to the dinghy and fired up my 2.5 horse engine.
 
I was trying to untie the dinghy painter, and I remember the stern of my boat riding up and down violently, and me praying that it didn't come down on top of me!  Finally got loose and felt like I was on an amusement ride, designed to terrify.
 
For the next 20 minutes I fought waves and winds to travel a few hundred yards to shore. It wasn't raining but the waves were so ferocious, I arrived at Pussers old dinghy dock, soaked and dripping wet in very salty clothes. Even my hair was dripping sea water and my backpack was a pound heavier with salt water, but my belongings were all dry in their baggies.
I snuck into the restroom and changed into drier clothes and felt semi-human again. I put the backpack in the sunshine to dry up some what. At that point and time, I knew mostly boat people and few people ashore, at least not well enough to ask them for accommodation. There were a lot fewer places to stay then and no guest houses or hotels anywhere nearby. The closest rooms would have been Long Bay and they don't exactly cater to the budget minded, as they charge lavish prices.
 
But there was this retired gentleman ashore, who ran a machine shop in his home. He loved to drink wine and talk.  So far, I had only had business dealings with him, but we had sat through a few bottles of wine and chatted each time.
 
I was told, by another boatie, the first time I went to see him, about a bent Danforth anchor, to never darken his doorway without a bottle of wine. Otherwise, your work would never get done. OK, so the bribe is a bottle of wine. Got it!
 
So one afternoon, I had hauled out my bent anchor, bought some wine and hiked to his shop/home. I explained who had told me about him and that I happened to have a bottle of wine, I thought he might enjoy and by the way, could he fix my anchor.
 
All the while, he is standing there in his tiny bikini swim suit and nothing else. He volunteered to go get dressed and I said it was OK. (I had already been warned that he rarely dressed except to walk to the post office, he would don a shirt, shorts and hat, but rarely shoes and that most times at home, he wore his teeny bikini as he used to be an avid diver and boater etc.)
 
He invited me into his living room and set about with wine glasses and drinking. After about an hour, I asked when I should come back for the repaired anchor which sat at my feet, untouched and badly bent. 
 
He didn't say a word, just got up and left with my anchor. I heard this banging and clanging outside, as if he was rearranging a junk yard loudly tossing bits of metal around making incredible noises. I wondered if I had offended him.
 
He walked back into his living room carrying a nice nearly new Danforth with no traces of ever being bent out of line. I said something like "WOW!  I heard you were good, but that is amazing!"
 
He laughed and said, "Oh this isn't your anchor, but it's identical, so take it, and I'll straighten yours out.  One day somebody will need it and I will sell it to them.  But for now, consider this a fair trade. "
 
I next inquired what I owed him, and he set the price at 1 bottle of wine, to be brought up "next time you're in the neighborhood".
 
On this turbulant day, I sat at the bar, chatting with the manager about how rough the harbor was. All dinghies were ashore, folks like me were bruised and banged up and preferring the bar over boat.  We traded war stories and after awhile, I ordered a pizza to go.
 
Then I finally worked up my nerve to go buy a few bottles of wine, stuff them into my backpack and begin the hike up to the shop/house of the machinist, carrying my untouched large pizza.
 
He warmly greeted me in his customary bikini.  I offered him some pizza and he said it was perfect timing, he was just wondering what to make for dinner. I unloaded my wine bottles and gifted these to him. He was most appreciative, claiming to be completely dry at the moment.
 
We sat down over wine and pizza and he told me much of his life history. I told him how awful it was in the harbor and that I didn't look forward to returning home, as much as I loved my boat, I got thoroughly soaked just coming ashore and it wasn't even raining.
 
We walked outside.  In awe and amazement, we watched these huge waves just rolling into the harbor and I pointed out my boat which was bobbing erratically, straining the chafing gear I had fortuitously put on the anchor rodes.
 
Conveniently, my new found friend had his living room furnished with his favorite chair with a twin bed as a couch, a typing table with a manual typewriter, a coffee table, and a few bookshelves crammed and overflowing with books and magazines plus a chest of drawers full of antique china and a few lamps scattered around.  His cat lay at my feet purring.
 
He suggested I could sleep on the twin bed if I felt like it and thereby avoid the risky dinghy ride back to my boat. I thanked him profusely and spent the night.  Before retiring, he offered up his shower, to get the rest of the salt out of my hair and skin.  I most gratefully took a boatie shower and used about one and half gallons total, which pleased him immesely as he lived off of a modest cistern.
 
The next day, things began to subside somewhat in the harbor. I hiked back down to the lone bar, where many boaters had gathered. I felt like a wimp, for staying ashore, but was grateful for my night's sleep ashore. I found out one couple came home with their dog and started to get into their dinghy to go to their floating home. They saw how rough it was, and decided to sleep in their car, dog and all.
 
I met another couple that found it too rough to go back out, so they had slept on the beach, where the sand spit boat yard is now. Another family had splurged for a pricey hotel and stayed ashore. Someone else had managed to go stay with friends. So apparently, I was not the only wimp!  I couldn't find anyone who had spent the night in the harbor, it was THAT rough.
 
In all the years since, I have never seen Sopers Hole like that again. I once brought it up around some old timers in West End and many quite clearly remembered that wild and crazy weather with the big waves rolling in the harbor. One day I shall review my log book and tell you the exact date. My recollection is this was in the early 1990's. 
 
 
 
 

 
 
Sopers Hole May 25, 2008
 
Warm and Bumpy Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- Memorial Sunday
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Sun, 25 May 2008 08:57:53 EDT
MusicFest was winding down just an hour or so before daybreak. The show  is awesome!  Sunrise brought heavy dew in the form of a very slight rain. We have little wind and scattered clouds, no storms, no snow, just plenty of glorious sunshine.  I feel sorry for the wodden boats and pray the get some winds by 10am in order to race!
 
On the long term ... a tropical wave is forecast to move across the
Lesser Antilles on Wednesday. if the timing is right ... this will bring
additional moisture to the area and therefore increase the likelihood
of more active weather conditions at least through Thursday.
 
Tropical waves, or easterly waves, also known as African easterly waves in the Atlantic region, are a type of atmospheric trough, an elongated area of relatively low air pressure, oriented north to south, which move from east to west across the tropics causing areas of cloudiness and thunderstorms. West-moving waves can also form from the tail end of frontal zones in the subtropics and tropics and may be referred to as easterly waves, but these waves are not properly called tropical waves; they are a form of inverted trough sharing many characteristics with fully tropical waves. All tropical waves form in the easterly flow along the southern side of the subtropical ridge or belt of high pressure which lies north and south of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). Tropical waves are generally carried westward by the prevailing easterly winds along the tropics and subtropics near the equator. They can lead to the formation of tropical cyclones in the north Atlantic and northeast Pacific basins.
    I recently took a newbie to the Fool Moon Party. She works in tourism, but doesn't drink and claims that therefore she never felt the need to go out much. However, the tourists she works for are constantly barraging her with questions and it's recently occurred to her, that she should get out more and see first hand what goes on after the sun sets and the moon rises.
    I think her guests have chided her into doing this, as they exclaim, "What?  You've been here 3 years, work in tourism and you've NEVER been to a full moon party?"
    I assured her that plenty of non drinkers  venture out after dark. You can drink tea, water, juice, soda, there is no law you must consume alcohol in order to be welcomed in a place. I do advocate spending some money out, because after all there is no cover charge and the full moon parties have multiple bands to pay, and naturally they use their food and drink sales to power the bands.
    Much to my dismay, she insisted on taking her own bottled water, stressing that their water or drinks might be "suspect".  No amount of cajoling could convince her that "their" bottled water and canned sodas and bottled juices were HARMLESS.  I finally gave up, and thought, well at least I will buy something to contribute.
    She wanted to know if chocolate would on sale there. I explained that at this full moon party, at Bomba's, they mostly favored magic 'shooms, Bomba-Bar-B-Que, 'shroom tea and the usual wide assortment of beverages both alcoholic and non-alcoholic.
    Street vendors typically set up and down the street, selling anything from hot dogs to jewelry to 'shrooms. Yes, the magic 'shrooms are legal. They grow here willingly, though I've been cautioned many times not to tell you where!  Sure I know where, but it's mostly on private property, so they don't cotton to you sneaking up and t'iefing their 'shrooms.
    Speaking of t'iefs, someone snuck into my garden and stole about 100 pounds of bananas!  Me, the landlord and the caretaker are all outraged.  I've been warning my friends, not to take offence, if they come to visit and see some rude signs on the property, directed at the t'iefs.
    Someone suggested I get a very large dog collar, attach it to a chain next to a huge dog dish, to make it look like our large dog, had slipped his collar and  is on the loose!
    My sign that reads "Beware of the Attack Cats" has mostly brought laughter,so I am going to paint over it and think of something stronger.
    Someone suggested "Fruit Pickers Shot First, Questioned Later".
    Well that implies I have a gun and that could open up a whole new can of worms.
    I like this slogan " Go pick your nose, NOT MY FRUIT!"
    Yep, I came up with that one on my own!
Two ferocious guard cats, take a siesta together.
    
 
 
Warm and Missing My Bananas,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- Ya Just Otta Be Here, Mon
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Fri, 23 May 2008 15:59:17 EDT
Another heavenly day in paradise, if you aren't here, you should be, or plan to be. It is just drop dead gorgeous today and with the Music Fest opening tonight, and the Wooden Boat Regatta at Foxy's, it's a busy weekend for all around here. Always an excuse to party!
 
Monday is a holiday in the US, USVI and Puerto Rico, but not in the BVI. We have our next holiday June 14th. The Puerto Rican Navy can already be seen coming in droves over the horizon, they are a fun bunch of people who love a good party and travel in flotillas, so they can help each other out while en route.
 
The waters today are just bright brilliant blue. Scattered clouds and temperatures have soared to a nice sun tan of 85 degrees.
 
I have company coming down next weekend, and I plan to find time to sneak off to the beach as much as possible for the duration of their stay. My office will just have to suffer without me!  And those poor kitties, will just have to be independent boyz and do without me waiting on them foot and paw.
 
 
Warm and Sunny Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- internet up! post out FINALLY!
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Thu, 22 May 2008 16:16:06 EDT
Gorgeous spring weather, flowers in bloom everywhere. Moderate winds, good sunshine, no snow predicted and no storms on the horizon. What more could you ask for?
 
A friend was complaining from here to a long distant caller, that her company had closed for good, leaving her unemployed, and there are no unemployment benefits here, you just have to find more work or go where the work is.
 
I could hear her friend, say quite loudly into the phone, so that I caught it all,  "WHAT?  You are complaining to be unemployed in Tortola, with all those gorgeous warm beaches to go to?  Come up north and be unemployed and freeze your "rear end"  (word changed so as not to offend) off when it dumps snow on you in May!  I have ZERO sympathy for you."
 
At least for now, our beaches are still FREE.  You can show up with your bottle of water, and frolic for free all day.
 
But remember, "If you're gonna lay on the beach all day drinking rum, You gotta start in the morning..."
 
 And on another note about beaches!
 
 
 
Dear Miss Mermaid,
    Hurrah on Smugglers Cove!  I am so pleased.  I did send several letters to some officials there ( not that mine did the deed, as I am sure there were thousands) But I did tell them about our efforts here in Copper Harbor to save Hunter's Point. By the way we did it, all with donations of the public, and on top of that we just bought the adjoining 145 acres for the Hunter's Point Park .  I feel so strongly about saving water front.  It is not fair that the rich buy it up and block it off for there own personal enjoyment.  We also have Gentrification going on here.  Where the workers can't afford to buy any place as the wealthier have driven the cost up.  Now that Hunter's Point is a done deal, my next term in office ( no one is running against me) I hope to help build some kind of reasonable income homes for the working folk, there's got to be monies out there some where. Then to top it off perhaps some green energy, a windmill for power and perhaps some kind of furnace for heat in the winter that will burn the copious quantities of card board we generate here.  You must have the same problem there.  Everything for the tourist comes in cardboard, as well as everything you buy for food etc.  Here we have to pay three dollars for a 55 gallon bag and then they truck it 140 miles away to bury in a land fill.  Personally I see heat.  Literally! I want to process it and burn it all for heat in the winter.  In your case another form of electricity.  What about solar where you are.  We don't have the sun shine in the winter, as it only snows here.  But you have sun most of the time and the trade winds for wind mills.  I know they are expensive and probably in the tropics with the corrosive salt air would need plenty of maintenance, but better that oil. You caught me on a personal rant.  If you like, as I  am researching this I can forward it on to you so you could leave it around elected officials homes.  Then they could say it was their idea.  Pipe dreams or would that be 'Shroom Dreams.  Thanks for the update on Smugglers Cove, if I can ever get back to the islands I will make that a top priority to see.    Alas I have projects here in Copper Harbor to complete (the above mentioned) So I will continue to read your stories and dream, but some day it will be winters  there. With summer in my beautiful Copper Harbor ( can't take the hurricanes).  Thanks again my Dear Miss Mermaid for a wonderful Mother's Day present of Smuggler's Cove.
 
                            K.
                            The Good Fairy
 
Dear K,
    Indeed you are a good fairy to reach out and send your letters to our officials and we do thank you! 
    I can't take hurricanes either, though the hurricane parties are quite fun!  Since I live in a slightly larger place now, and it's got hurricane shutters and concrete walls, I expect some company in the event of a storm and a good party. But on the other hand, I was just thinking of sending all the hurricanes elsewhere this year, I feel guilty doing that, but what with the Sahara Dust having the potential to block the storms (I like THAT idea!)  I think we might escape unscathed again this year. But my crystal ball is wavering on this, so I seem to have a conflict, I must look into.
 
Warm and HAPPY Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- Something Fishy
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Wed, 21 May 2008 12:11:39 EDT
A few surfers take turns on the waves, flanked by the sunset
 
 
The morning was greeted with scattered showers at day break. Ironically first one from the east then one from the west!  Surf was up yesterday but don't hold your breath waiting on it today.  Winds are 10-15 mph, more rains are expected but probably very short showers, nothing noteworthy.
 
Note, that hardly anyone here owns a raincoat, an umbrella is sufficient for the few rapid downpours.
 
Beware of wheel chairs when driving!  Matter of fact, wheel chairs are generally slow moving, so it doesn't pay to run them down.  But low and behold, Sunday evening, Stick Man was run down in his wheel chair at Apple Bay.  He survived even though he had a nasty gash on his head.
 
He asked for a Band-Aid and to be put back in his demolished chair and parked in his customary place, under the banyan tree. Well, the ambulance finally arrived, scooped him out of the road, patched up his head and apparently Stick Man didn't wish to hang out at the hospital any longer than he had to, so he was returned, by ambulance, and parked back under his banyan tree by 2 am.
 
So, if you are driving around Apple Bay, look for Stick Man in his wheel chair and try not to run him down. He's a friendly sort, so if you are feeling good, stop and chat with him.  He's not opposed to accepting gifts of food or a cigarette or a drink or plain old cash.  
 
The driver who ran him down, bought him a new wheel chair, adorned with glow in the dark reflectors.  I wish she would buy him a prosthetic leg, so he just go back to walking the neighborhood, something he loved to do before losing his leg.
 
I looked for him yesterday, to see how he was faring, but couldn't find him. Perhaps he was resting up from his injuries. I will go check around later and see if he is around and doing OK.
 
Stick Man is so named, because back in his walking days, he resembled a stick man!  He is very tall, very slender with very long fingernails on one hand. He is a sweet gentle soul and famous worldwide for being the Stick Man model.
 
Rare Fish-Cat, Hides from the paparazzi...
 
  
Warm and FISHY Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- a great day for sailing
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Tue, 20 May 2008 09:24:31 EDT
A drippy wet day with brief scattered showers, enough to make the islands nice and green again. Spring has sprung. Gardeners showed up finally to tackle the jungle and rein it in to resemble more or less a yard for cats to play in.   Now the rains will fortify their efforts and make it grow back even faster.
 
We can epect another day of showers, give or take. Nothing significant.
 
 
We are so happy to have Norman Island back!
 
 
Warm and Sailing Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- Glorious Sunday
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Sun, 18 May 2008 11:09:33 EDT
A glorious day in paradise. Sun is out with bright blue skies along with bleached white clouds. Sea temp is 81, summer is here!  Air temp is 82 at 10am. Winds are 10-15mph. We might get a teeny tiny shower, but doubtful. The moon is up early every afternoon and quite beautiful. The surfers can probably squeeze in some surf time today, I hope to visit the north shore later today. Tomorrow is the full moon parties aka fool moon parties!
 
The next week promises beautiful weather with no worries.
 
If you want to plan your vacation around the full moon, then look here for the dates. The two parties are held at Bomba's and Beef Island at the Trellis Bay beach.
 
Internet is down again, so not sure WHEN this will get out to ya!  Cable TV was off and on yesterday. Forget about watching any movies, it goes off when the good part comes around. I have to keep my bad tail (leg) propped up a lot and frankly I am sick of TV and ugly shoes, cause I can't wear my nice shoes, I have to wear cut up modified old ugly shoes. *Sigh*. Last year it was the right leg, this year it's the left leg, excuse me, could I have one year with both legs working fine?  Am I jinxed because I loaned away the walker to someone who seemed in greater need than I?  Who knows?  I miss hiking and dancing!  Grrr!  I am sick and tired of keeping my leg propped up, it's hard to get any work done that way.
 
I've had a bit of bad luck, one of my clients is moving off island on short notice and bye-bye paycheck.  However two good Samaritans made some minor repairs to my heap of a jeep, to make sure I can get around when I have to.  It's funny to run into my old heap, while driving my newer heap,  it's like running into your twin.
 
People come up to me and say in disgust "You SOLD your heap of a jeep?  How could you?"  Well, DUH, it was only 19 years old...  but this pretty young thing was for sale and at the time it seemed like a great idea to grab it, as it looked new!
 
Someone I had not seen in ages,  the other day saw me get out of my heap of a jeep, and  accused me of being wealthy because I was driving a NEW jeep. I said "It's 11 years old with a new paint job!  They came over to take a closer look, and check the interior, as dashboards and upholstery are a good giveaway to the age of a car. But Suzuki doesn't change their models much from year to year, so it is hard to tell what year a particular heap of a jeep is. Plus we get Suzuki jeeps here that aren't sold in the USA, but designed for other overseas markets that don't have the stringent requirements that USA and other countries have.
 
I think this particular model was banned in the USA due to lawsuits. If you drive at 90mph then slam on brakes while making a U turn, it can roll over!  Imagine that.
 
It actually does make U turns in a tiny radius, and sometimes out of frustration in Road Town, (the one way and no turn here roads are laid out horribly!) I will sneak in a U turn to get where I am going and believe me I have been yelled out a few times by those pesky people in uniforms.
 
Well soon, I do battle with Labor Department again, to renew my annual work permit to remain self employed in the glorious BVI. I think I waste about fifteen working days a year, just complying with government regulations. What a life!
 
I love it here. Folks are mostly slow, mostly friendly, mostly helpful, mostly crazy.  I meet folks from 6 continents here and enjoy the fact that dress style here varies widely!  But no matter what, we can always identify a tourist. Tee hee hee.
 
 
Warm and Scallywag Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com
 
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- What a Great Day to wake up Alive!
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Sat, 17 May 2008 10:45:29 EDT
Recently I was invited to leave some graffiti behind on a freshly painted bar. So there you have it! Enjoy!
 
Still a bit hazy, but nice to have Norman Island back on the horizon. I was beginning to think some tug boat had relocated the island.  After all, it's reputed to have buried treasure there, to date not found, so why not just steal the whole island and look for the treasure in a remote spot, without spectators.
 
Of course, the treasure may have already been found by someone who can keep a secret. Not everyone is a big blabbermouth about their great luck. Once in a while I have something truly wonderful happen, and I keep it quiet, for fear of jinxing it!  Nothing like that has happened a long while, but I have my fingers crossed!
 
If you want to dine at Oscar's at Frenchman's Cay, you better step on it and get a reservation for tonight or Sunday brunch, as then they close down.  No date is scheduled for reopening. We shall sorely miss their great food and beautiful location.
 
Today it is sunny with scattered clouds and 82 degrees at 10 am with 10-14 knot winds. Seas are a bit rough on the north shores, with big waves and happy surfers. But the seas should subside somewhat over the next day or so. Monday is the full moon.
 
A friend of mine tells me why she loves Tortola:
 
My phone has been out of order for weeks. My husband got me a cell phone because I am 80+ years old, and sometimes I take a tumble and need help getting back up. Fortunately last time I fell, my neighbors heard me calling for help and came right over and picked me up and swept up all the broken glass, refusing to let me help. Apparently the chair's legs were too slippery on the polished tile floors and when she leaned forward, the chair scooted out from under her and she smashed a glass Pyrex lid she was holding, leaving her sitting on the floor among shards of glass. Now, thanks to her husband,  those chairs all have rubber feet on them, to prevent this from happening again.
 
Finally the phone man comes one day to repair the land line phone.  For Christmas, she had received an electronic piano and it was sitting near the phone. The repairman, sat down at her keyboards and began playing and singing a hymn he wrote for his church. So she joined in and sang with him. She said she felt like she was in church again and thoroughly enjoyed this impromptu rendition as they sang a few songs together.
 
Only on Tortola, can you get your phone fixed, and entertained at the same time.
~~~~~~(\_(\_~~~~~~~~~
 
Here's a video about Bert Kilbride, who was again, this year,  listed in Guinness Book of world records, as the oldest scuba diver in the world. It also describes the Neptune Memorial Reef,where Bert and other loved ones' ashes are laid to final rest. The BVI should setup a similar reef, it's a great idea.
 
~~~~~~~~~(\_(\_~~~~~~~~
 
This beautiful Bougainvillea bush greets me when I come home.
Ain't life grand.
 
Well, I've got to run, it's wash day here, so I sent the boyz out for cleaning!
 
 
Warm and Partly Cloudy Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- dark thirty wet weather
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Fri, 16 May 2008 04:10:38 EDT
Norman Island is BACK!!!  That is Frencmans Cay in the foreground, St John to the right in the background and Norman island in the center background.
 
Which by the way, get your reservations at -Oscars at Frenchman's Cay before Monday, Sunday brunch is their last meal for quite a while.
 
Just before sunset winds were slight, causing the boats to drift around at will.
 
Warm and Sunny Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- one of these days, I will get to POST!
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Wed, 14 May 2008 15:19:11 EDT
This is the THIRD email I have written trying to post today. *sigh*  I gave up yesterday!  I wrote and every time I tried to post, something would crash and burn. Argh!
 
The utilities are at war again. Internet it intermittent, ditto for phones, cable and da current (elec-tricky!)  You would think we live in a war zone with so many basics going on and off at all hours. I don't think it will every improve, no matter what. Just the way life is here. Intermittent conveniences.
 
Today it is very hazy to the southeast but not so hazy to the west.  Temps have soared to 84 today but at night are pretty cool in the mid 70's.
 
A northerly swell is building up and should produce great surfing on Thursday through the weekend.
 
Is that a smile or a smirk on his wittle white face?  Notice he is hogging my blankie and my pillow!  Sheesh. I got him his very own bed, but does he use it?  Yes, about a half hour a day, to show his gratitude. I think he wants to claim ALL beds as his own. The only time this little guy is awake is when he is eating. The rest of the time he is testing various beds like Goldilocks.
 
My other cat, managed to drop my camera!  I was so mad, I told him, "That's IT!  I am NEVER letting you use my camera EVER again!"  He sulked off and carefully avoided me, the rest of the day. I waited a whole day before checking to see if the camera would work again. I wanted to be calm, when I found out. Well, it worked! So that is one lucky cat, as otherwise his allowance was going to be suspended for the next 4 years, while he paid for my camera!  Grrr! 
 
The haze to the south east just blurs the sailboats, making the horizon almost impossible to detect. That is St John 2 miles away, on the right, and Norman Island straight ahead! 
 
OK cross your fingers, I am hitting SEND and praying for a miracle!
 
 
 
Warm and Sunny Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- Blurry Haze
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Mon, 12 May 2008 10:30:31 EDT
Another gorgeous day. A holiday too! Tranquil marine conditions should last through Tuesday or Wednesday.
 
Surf will be up come Thursday and Friday and perhaps for the weekend. Today it is 82 degrees and breezy.
 
And hazy. Very hazy. Again. The picture here looks blurry, well it's the haze giving it that blurry look.
 
Internet it intermittent, so it's been TOUGH trying to open/read my email or go to websites. No idea what's going on, it being a holiday, probably nobody working anyhow, they are at the beach parties.
 
 
We are laughing our heads off.  A pretty little girl cat in a fancy collar, has invaded the garden. I have three boy cats. The boys cats are fixed (neutered) and aren't quite sure what to do with a girl cat. The girl cat is in heat. She is trying her best to get the boyz attention and they are totally bewildered.
 
She has tried everything to get their attention, she struts, she sings, she dances, she pleads and the boyz just run and hide and give her strange looks.  She wants to make kitties, and the boyz are clueless.  I went out to investigate and she looks at me totally exasperated, like WHAT is wrong with these boys?  Poor thing, she will have to keep looking. Mine are confirmed bachelors.  (Single and free like me!) 
 
Last I saw she was walking away, shaking her head, and occasionally glancing back, in case the boyz changed their mind.
 
Warm and Hazy Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Sun, 11 May 2008 09:10:46 EDT
Still cloudy with patches of blue and that haze is still here. Monday is a BVI Public Holiday. We went a whole month (April) without a holiday and that was rough.   It's still kind of muggy like September, I do wish THAT would go away.
 
A thoughtful reader sent in info about an article he read:
 
It's a rather interesting read.
 
Bert Kilbride's remains were recently placed atop a column of the reef's main gate at the unique underwater cemetary.  I wish we had something like this in the BVI. It's a great concept for honoring our beloved in a unique way.
 
Now for the FUNNY bone!  I took my sailing friend to town to fetch a cell phone. We wrote down his new phone number and my number so once he got his new phone all charged up, he could make a test call to me.
 
Well, he started calling me a few hours later, and always got this generic voice mail. After awhile, he notices his phone says "you have 3 messages!"  He thought that was odd, he hadn't heard it ring, and furthermore, no one at the cell company mentioned a thing about how to retrieve voice mail. He tries to call me again, and still gets voice mail.  He keeps trying and later he noticed he now has 8 messages and he thinks GOOD HEAVENS!  No one knows his new number but me, how could he have so many messages?  A few minutes later, I call, his phone rings and he answers. We chat away and he tells me how he can't reach me and so on. I said well that is odd, I have had my phone with me all day!  We go over the number and that's when we discover, he has been calling himself all day and getting his own voice mail, which is why his phone kept adding more messages.
 
I said, "Yep, you belong in the islands!"
 
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!
 
 
Warm and Peaceful Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- In Honor Of Bob Denniston
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Sat, 10 May 2008 09:28:19 EDT
Another beautiful morning with southeast 10-20 knot winds but lots of haze. Initially the neighborhood was cranky, at daybreak, dogs barking, chickens squawking, cats meowing,  then after awhile it all got quiet. For the first time in a very long time, the neighbor did not start up his hack-hammer.
 
It's now 920 and eerily quiet. As if the whole neighborhood decided to sleep late without listening to that blasted jack-hammer (aka jerk-hammer!) The cloudiness and haze is expected to hang over us a few more days.
 
The haze is so thick, I still can't see Norman Island.  Yesterday I said "Columbus was right, the earth is flat" when I meant to say "Columbus was wrong, the earth is flat!"  Egads, I get so many things backwards. Might be that lump on my head, which is now almost completely gone (the LUMP silly, NOT my head!)
 
I meant to bring this up sooner, but Smugglers Cove has been SAVED!  The government is going to buy it and not let that big bad investor wreck it. So many around here are THRILLED!
 
 
Miss Mermaid, and MANY, MANY others around the islands, worked hard to fight this development which was to destroy the last beautiful beach in the BVI. Many readers here helped support us with their T-shirt and mug purchases.
 
I suppose the owner is quite happy, as the developer "set the price" though no word on what government is paying. We just PRAY they didn't buy it for the cruise ship taxis. They have enough beaches to overcrowd and don't need our "local" beach too. Not to sling mud at you cruise ship visitors, but Smugglers Cove for many years was a privately owned public park . The heirs though, don't seem so benevolent and seem intent on cashing in rather than continuing to own a private public park. Such is life. Money talks.
 
We are forever in debt to Bob Denniston who quietly bought up 11 acres of Smugglers Cove Beach and surrounding areas over the years in order to protect it as long as he could from massive development.
 
Here is Bob, just a few years ago,  at his old beach bar in his trademark pith helmet and summer outfit. The last person to ride in his convertible suicide Lincoln (in the background) was the Queen of England, then Bob parked the car in his bar for safe keeping. This bar was originally a restaurant that helped serve his 4 room hotel, named Smugglers Cove. 
 
Ironically, Smugglers Cove is properly named Belmont Bay. But when the hotel opened, everyone renamed it and though it has never been officially recorded as such, if you asked anyone today to take you to Belmont Bay, they would be clueless as to where you wanted to go!
 
When several hurricanes kept knocking the hotel out of business, Bob and his wife decided to retire and just fixed up one room for their selves and let the rest slide. The restaurant became the honor bar. You could self-serve, then put your money under a rock in the cigar box. Even if Bob was at the bar, he didn't bother to serve anyone, preferring self service.  He came by a few times a day, to empty out the cigar box ad restock the refrigerator.
 
He was a grand man to talk to and I spent numerous afternoons with him and sometimes his wife Nell, spread over two decades. I used to caretaker a large home nearby and often slept there for maintenance and security reasons between rentals, as there were massive renovations to be completed between guest visits. Whenever I was cooking dinner, I would invite Bob over.  Our last meal together, he seemed to be in excellent health. He was of clear mind, had on his usual clean outfit and was in top form with keen conversation.
 
I learned a great deal of BVI history from him, among other things.  That evening, there were 4 of us dining on homemade Chili with Cheddar and Garlic Bread. Bob usually drank iced tea, but this evening he asked for a glass of wine, something we had not seen him drink before. We were equally surprised when he got up not once, but TWICE to serve himself extra helpings of Chili and Cheese. He even had a second glass of wine.
 
We talked late into the night, eventually polishing off some ice cream that was hollering at us from the freezer. He went home around midnight.  A few days later, I was back in my tiny two room apartment and I was cooking a roast and veggies in the crock pot. I called Bob several times to see if he felt like driving to my apartment for dinner on the balcony. He never answered the phone and I was to learn from an incoming phone call, he had passed away in his sleep.  I had set the table with an extra setting for Bob, in case he turned up.  Learning of his death, made that empty plate feel like it weighed 50 pounds, as I struggled to put it away.
 
Another time, I was cooking near Smugglers Cove,  for vacation rental guests that had arrived at 11pm for their 8pm dinner, due to flight difficulties. I stayed to cook for them, as there were no restaurants open and they were famished. While serving hors d'oeuvres they said they would like to meet Bob during their stay, having read and heard so much about him. Knowing that Bob often stayed up late talking on his HAM radio to friends around the world, I rang him up on the phone and asked him if he felt like a midnight dinner.
 
Much to the astonished surprise of the guests, Bob arrived 3 minutes later, around 1145pm,  and sat down for this midnight dinner, entertaining the guests with his numerous stories about life in the islands. He knew how to enjoy life and getting an invite at nearly midnight for dinner seemed like a grand idea, carpe diem! (Seize the day!)
 
Both Bob and his wife Nell who passed on around 2000, have their ashes scattered at Smugglers Cove. Bob worked tirelessly to lovingly take care of his ailing wife in her final months of illness, and kept his promise, her wish fulfilled, that she would be able spend her final days gazing at the beach, and the Caribbean Sea and sunshine, from her bed at home, on Smugglers Cove, and not in some rotten nursing home or hospital.  Many tried to sway Bob otherwise, but he held fast and honored his wife's wishes, despite unwanted criticism. Now that is true love and his wife died feeling immensely loved, til death due us part.
 
I am sure they will both be immensely happy to know their legacy will be forever protected. Just as they wished.
 
Bob passed in mid-May of 2002.  This news makes a wonderful birthday gift!  He would have been 89 now. I still miss him and a place in my heart will always treasure the wonderful times we had together.
VP2VI
Rest in Peace
Our world was blessed to have known you.
 
*****************
Darn. At 750am the power just went off again. Sheesh. Internet and power and cable TV and the phones have all been competing lately to see who can aggravate us the most. They seem to take turns being OFF.  *sigh*
 
Shift change comes at 8am, so no use calling in the outage, will have to wait until the new crew shows up at 8. *sigh*
 
 
 
Warm and Happy to have Batteries,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- hazy lazy daze
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Fri, 9 May 2008 17:55:08 EDT
The thick haze still lingers and is currently being blamed on the Sahara dust, making for poor air quality and reduced visibility.
 
I spent $$ on fancy allergy eye drops, because the Sahara Dust is just alternately drying out my eyes, then gluing then shut.
 
Last night, a wayward sailor found his way to my gazebo, with an emergency jar of catnip.  This sent the cats into ecstatic ballet heaven as they ate it, rubbed it on their whiskered faces, decorated their fur with it, danced in it, purred at it, drooled on it and performed patio ballet.  Talk about great local entertainment!
 
So as a thank you to the wayward sailor, we sat out in the gazebo from sunset to dark thirty,  with icy cold drinks, devouring a bowl of  five spice stir fried wild rice with locally grown cashews, julienned portobello mushrooms, carrots, onions, cabbage, pepperoni, sweet peas and garlic tossed with sesame seeds and a hint of my secret teriyaki sauce. Yum!
 
We could not see St Thomas due to the haze, and when it was completely dark, we expected to at least see a hint of lights from St Thomas, but it was completely enshrouded in a dark haze.
 
This morning, I took this picture:
 
Picture taken from West End, Tortola, with Frenchman's Cay in foreground, St John in right background and to the left in the background we have Norman Island...
 
What?  You can't see Norman Island? 
 
Columbus was right!  The earth is flat and Treasure Island (aka Norman) has simply fallen off!
 
The haze is SO thick, that Norman Island is just totally obscured.
 
We may have this thick haze for another week or so. I wake up throughout the night with a dry mouth that tastes like the Sahara. Yuck. I brush my teeth and tongue, drink water go back to sleep. A few hours later, the same thing seems to happen again. Now that is thick!
 
I have had Internet problems since yesterday.  I am going to try to get this out NOW. Wish me luck!  Been trying since 8am!
 
 
Warm and Slippery Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- Muggy-uggy
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Thu, 8 May 2008 10:32:52 EDT
It's been muggy-uggy.   Most unusual for this time of year. I went back to town yesterday and came home almost overwhelmed from the heat.
 
I foolishly didn't wear a hat and en route my air conditioning in the he new old heap of a jeep gave up the ghost!  First time in my life I have A/C and it died. UGH!
 
We have some serious haze going on.
On the far right is Frenchman's Cay, less than a mile away is St John in the background and look how thick the haze is, in just that one mile.
 
For the next few days we can expect hazy partly cloudy weather with isolated scattered showers.
 
Washed ashore in a Foxy Rum bottle comes this note from a Jost Van Dyker:
 
Dear Miss Mermaid,
 
    Your article about the "Sidewalk to nowhere" amused me as we have watched the construction of this over the past year, on our weekly jaunts to the dreaded Road Town we had a laugh every time we saw it.
    Building it  round the tree is totally amazing and could only happen in the BVI, can you imagine anyone walking down there, they are still going to have to step off into the road to get round it.
     We figured that somebody from the Government must live above that piece of road as there are a couple of very big houses just there.
So for a few months things were dorment, the sidewalk to nowhere went nowhere - BUT only last week major construction has started again and the "sidewalk to nowhere" is progressing towards Road Town.
    Here we are in the middle of nowhere, building a sidewalk to nowhere, I can think of many places a sidewalk is needed, but not in the middle of nowhere!
    I just cannot fathom the logics of building this sidewalk, however it would be interesting to find out who lives above. Just another waste of good Public Money in the BVI.
    I will be going to Road Town in the morning, be interesting to see how far they have progressed!!!!
 
R.
Jost Van Dyke  
 
In a Gin Bottle on shore I found:
An alert reader (JSM) from the UK sent this in:
Mermaid spotted in UK!  
(I am truly blushing now!)
 
Warm and Sunny Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- muggy
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Wed, 7 May 2008 05:08:34 EDT
4 am and it's hot and muggy. Most unusual for this time of year. I can't sleep,so I get up and wander around and note that there is no wind and the birds are cheerfully singing.
 
The roosters are thankfully, still asleep.  Then a I write the heavens open up and pour down. A few minutes later and all is quiet and dry. The humidity seems to have passed and the birds resume their singing.
 
Sudden drowsiness is setting in, so back to bed for me. More later...
 
Warm and Sleepy Regards,

Dear Mister Cat...




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- it was a dark and stormy night...
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Tue, 6 May 2008 08:52:19 EDT
Ahoy!
 
After a dark and stormy night, we are treated to some partial sunny skies this morning at 79 degrees temperature. Many brown patches are turning green again. Some of the haze and dust has settled somewhat.
 
Seas are building on the north shore into some sloppy choppy waters. Winds are slight at about 4 knots. Today might be good for a little surfing but don't count on it the rest of the week.
 
Somehow I missed a day writing. Hmm. I didn't realize that. I guess I was just having too much fun!
 
Sidewalk to nowhere. For a few years now, we have been treated to his nice sidewalk. There are no houses, no businesses, no schools around. But still for 1/8 mile or so, we have this lovely sidewalk.
 
I am particularly touched that they left the tree, by simply paving around it. Some blind fool apparently mistook the green tree for a green garbage can and dumped their garbage there. Thirty lashes to the thoughtless scallywag who did that!
 
Some folks claims they don't toss their garbage out on the road intentionally, but they are afraid to put it in the car, so they put it on the roof and forget about it. I have seen this many times, and where ever it blows off to, is where it stays. If you don't overload the bag, then it won't leak and it can safely ride in the car.
 
I am not quite sure why the road was cut away, leaving a nice soon to be weedy patch of muck or mud between the sidewalk and the road. Guess they wanted some green space. Most municipalities have the curb and road actually touching in one smooth alignment, but here in the BVI, we do t'ings our own way.
 
I haven't been able to find the Limin' Times lately to tell you all the upcoming events, but of course we have the full moon parties on May 19th, followed by the Music Fest and Foxys Wooden Boat Regatta on Jost Van Dyke on Memorial Day weekend which is May 23-25.
 
 
 
 
 
Warm and Sunny Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- donkey daze
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Sun, 4 May 2008 04:40:08 EDT
Surf is up and getting better. Notherly swell energy from the big low pressure center over the central Atlantic, will be pointing towards the BVI the net few days with swells increasing Sunday and peaking Monday at 2.5 meters (8+ feet) at 12 seconds.  Small craft advisory likely to be issued for Monday.
 
I heard the government was meeting with the taxi drivers to design a public transportation system. Excuse me, but isn't that like asking a heard of goats to watch over your fruit and flower garden?  Duh...
 
The BEST eco friendly transportation on the island is the donkey. Here he takes a break under a shade tree. 
Sailing, the fine art of slowly going nowhere at great expense...
Friday I tried to play hooky fro work. Friends called and invited me to meet them at Rudy's bar for Bar BQ.  I dashed right out there, Rudy's is legendary for his food.
 
As we munched away, nearly every car that went by the roadside open air place, knew SOMEBODY there. I was comical;.

 
Warm and Sunny Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- Dead stuff
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Fri, 2 May 2008 07:00:35 EDT
At 630 am the sun is up and all is quite beautiful at 79 degrees in May. Winds are slight at 4 mph. My neighbor started his jerk-hammer at 601am. 
 
*sigh*
 
There is talk around the neighborhood of thieving that jerk-hammer or breaking it.  Nothing will happen though, but he has touched a few nerves and we like to fantasize about the awful things we would like to do with his jerk-hammer.
 
I did get quite a giggle watching a guy the other day trying to chop up a tree that had to be at least 10 inches in diameter and the tree surgeon was whacking away at it with a machete.  I expect he may be there a few days before he knocks that tree down.
 
Seeing as how I am up, might as well throw open the door to the patio and go take a look around the garden. Or at least that was my thoughts at the time. I throw open the door and before I stepped out, I realized a big fat rat is staring back at me from the welcome mat. He is dead, having suffered a really bad gash at his throat and his beady little eyes remain wide open in surprise.
 
Gee, thanks kitties, glad to know you are on patrol.
 
That kind of gagged me, I am thinking, oh it's too early to deal with dead bodies. I head for the bathroom with intentions of taking a wake-up shower.  With my eyes at half mast, I disrobe and step in the shower, before I can reach the water faucet, I scream and leap right back out.  I peered back into the shower, and YEP, there is a mouse head in my  shower.  No body, just a head.
 
I put my robe back on. Two dead bodies.
 
Very busy kitties.
 
I go into my office and look carefully under the desk, seeing no dead bodies, I sit down to write. Not a cat in sight this morning, but I am sure they will show up in good time, purring and  looking for rewards for their double bounty.
 
Wednesday surfing
Followed by a gorgeous sunset
As seen from Lena's Bar at Cruzins
While we didn't have the Voodoo BBQ, we did split a plate of cracked conch which was done perfectly and shared a grilled cheese pizza.
 
 
I am still half asleep, but wish to email this before anything crashes. Then I am going back to bed and will deal with the dead bodies later.  
 
Warm and Sleepy Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com
 





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- Carrier Pigeon has ARRIVED! (thanks Gert!)
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2008 16:11:03 EDT
Ding ding, round two!
 
That's how I feel about emailing. I had my report all written and poised to push the "send now" button when , ut oh, the Internet froze, then crashed and ate my email.
 
Ding ding, round three!
 
Wrote my new email, saved it before the machine could eat it, but Internet crashed before I could send it.
 
Ding, ding!  round FOUR!
 
Argh!  Those scallywags!
 
I am REALLY GOING TO GET THIS EMAILED!  I have been trying for 14.5 hours now!
 
And if this doesn't work, Gert will just have to deal with my carrier pigeon!
 
Last night we had a squall that was pretty blustery, cold and wet, followed by 3 wet, cold cats asking for towel rubs and a snack and a belly rub.  They think I live for them and have nothing better to do, than to get up and spoil them rotten.  They are out of catnip and seem to remind me daily about this dilemma. No one sells the stuff on Tortola. I have asked everywhere!  All this excitement at 230 am.
 
The squally weather was due here a day ago, but here in the islands, things run late. Even the weather.
 
T'is the season where it pays to keep your vehicle topped up and I don't recommend letting it ever fall below a half tank. Power outages, gas shortages, you name it, we could have it. Then there is the storm threat and you want to top up long before the panic sets in.
 
Then there is other stuff you need to start accumulating for hurricane gear. My suggestions are:
 
candles, matches, rum
flashlights, radio, batteries, rum
assorted canned goods, individually wrapped treats and rum
buckets, bleach, ropes, mops and rum
First Aid kit, medicines, manual can opener,  rum
cash stash, jumbo Ziploc for important papers, rum
spare cooking fuel such as propane or sterno and rum
several gallons of bottled water (I filter my own), a cooler (though ice may be unattainable if it's a bad storm) and more rum
heavy duty garbage bags and rum
A permanent marker comes in handy for labeling canned goods before the label falls off as well as other things.
 
If you have pets, be sure to label or tag them and stock up on their food and water needs plus a comfort toy/object and/or treats, cats will need emergency cat litter/sand box.
 
Shelters won't take pets, so if you and your menagerie don't live in a hurricane safe home, then start now, asking around who might adopt you and your loved ones for a few days, in the event of an emergency.  You can embellish your qualifications, such as you come with a case of rum and exotic canned goods with perhaps a parrot that tells dirty jokes.
 
After a bad hurricane, pets will have lost their familiar smells that tell them where their neighborhood is, so keep a good watch on them at all times until things get back to normal and they've had a chance to pee out their new boundaries.
 
If you are lucky enough to have a generator, make sure you have plenty of fuel and oil etc. for it.
 
I once read a missive on the bleach that is on every hurricane list, folks couldn't figure out what the bleach (or the rope for that matter) was for. Well, a few drops of bleach can sterilize questionable water. One gallon of bleach can sterilize 3800 gallons of water.
 
Ratio of Clorox Bleach to Water for Purification (mix well, wait 30 minutes before use) Keep an eyedropper taped to the Clorox emergency bottle.

2 drops of Regular Clorox Bleach per quart of water

8 drops of Regular Clorox Bleach per gallon of water

1/2 teaspoon Regular Clorox Bleach per five gallons of water

If water is cloudy, double the recommended dosages of Clorox Bleach.

(Only use Regular Clorox Bleach (not Fresh Scent or Lemon Fresh). To insure that Clorox Bleach is at its full strength, replace your storage bottle every three months.) 

Alternatively, you can bring water to a rolling  boil, then simmer for 10 minutes, all this in lieu of using high quality filters for fresh water.

Oh, and what's that rope for?  Well, many homes in the BVI still have cisterns to store water and an electric pump is used to supply the pipes. If the current mash up, then you need a rope to tie to your bucket and then you can dip water out of your cistern, assuming you know where the access lid is.

OK, if you live in a hurricane area, and actually get all these preparations done NOW, it will be totally useless and we won't have any strikes this year.  

Warm and Funny Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- Pass the tums
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Mon, 28 Apr 2008 00:50:23 EDT
Just after midnight and we have rumbling,mumbling and grumbling in the distance like some big giant with an unhappy stomach. 
 
So far, no moisture yet to go with it, yet the radar looks a tad unhappy.
 
 
Warm and Grumbly Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- From Sleeyphead and Pluffed Cat
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Sun, 27 Apr 2008 11:04:28 EDT
 
It rained most of the night, finally easing up into a steady drip, like the heavens had a leaky faucet.  My black cat was delighted with the frequent rains. He showered thoroughly, then came home and woke me up to dry him off with his fluffy towel.  That felt so good, that when the next downpour hit, he pretended to be caught outside unaware and came back home, soaking wet,  begging once again to be dried and fluffed.  His coat is now spotless and shiny and he is strutting around like something special.
 
As for me, I am still sleepy!  But how can you sleep with a dripping wet cat meowing in your ear?
 
Today it is 80 degrees and overcast. Winds are forecast to pick up later today and become squally again. Swells are going to build and surfers would be quite happy for the next few days, if all goes as planned.
 
For those that missed the Air Show last week, it's being played on the Channel 1 loop. No idea what time it comes on, but check back on chanel 1 often and eventually it turns up. I watched a good bit of it very early this morning, while drying the wet cat...
 
Royal Palms
 
Oleander
 
 
Warm and Sunny Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com




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- Here's the Pic I forgot to post earlier
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Sat, 26 Apr 2008 10:12:03 EDT




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- You Be Crazy Mon
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Sat, 26 Apr 2008 09:57:36 EDT
79 degrees, with slight winds, cloudy and overcast. My crystal ball predicts showers and possible thunder storms across the area, but nothing much to worry about.
 
 
Washed up in an old bottle from Washington State, USA, was the tear-stained letter below.
 
NOTE:  The blue writing is from the letter in the bottle, the pink writing is Dear Miss Mermaid's comments)
DEAR MISS MERMAID,
I have searched and searched the Internet to find some speck of reality in the islands, and I came across your site or blog or whatever.
 
Reality?  Speck of reality?  Sure, a Mermaid in paradise is pure reality! "Whatever" describes my writing perfectly...

I recently returned from Jost Van Dyke, which was the saddest day of my life. 
 
I can understand that!  I am always sad when I leave Jost Van Dyke too!
 
 I feel like I have left home.  I didn't get to see too much of Tortola other than the ferry dock and the Jolly Roger, but my heart is homesick.  Doesn't make sense I know.  I was pulled there by some unseen force I have felt since I was 12.  My best friend at the time used to live on St. Croix and we would lay camped out on the deck at night on the weekends, and she would tell me stories of the Islands.  Ever since then, I have wanted to go.  I finally made my dream come true and spent a week in White Bay on JVD.  We stayed at White Bay Villas. 
 
OK, I know your problem. You have "Island Fever".  Some call it dreaded Island Fever (don't know why)  most just call it "Island Fever".  It strikes about 99% of the people that ever visit a Caribbean Island. 
 
Symptoms includes, tossing your watch and clocks out with the garbage, feeling homesick, feeling the need to be slow, thinking "no problem mon"  no matter what is thrown at you, excessive daydreaming of the islands, inability to concentrate on anything unless island music is playing, a taste and urge for island delicacies, finding that Rum has become a mainstay in your home, wearing sarongs to work (when they expected you in a suit), stringing a hammock up in your yard (even though it's snowing) everything in you life has to be either Caribbean pastels or Rasta colors, you ask restaurants for a side of plantains (and get bewildered looks) etc.
 
In most cases the Island Fever is gone in 3-10 days and victims resume their normal life.  But for a small handful of patients, Island Fever can stricken them for weeks, and months and begin to disrupt their entire life. Sometimes the only cure is to compulsively visit the island often (expensive, but many do it, some coming as often as once a month!) or attempting to move here permanently or semi-permanently.

I guess I wonder, how difficult is it, being American, to move to the BVI?   They are different than the US VI.  Am assuming you are a local, or transplant?  How do I do it? 
 
Every island is different, but all are Caribbean. Yes, the USVI and BVI are very different in many ways, Jost Vary Dyke and Tortola are different and so on. As an American, you can move to the USVI at any time and work legally. In the BVI is vastly different, you have to be recruited and go through a lengthy convoluted work permit process, sponsored by an employer and so on, or start your own business in the BVI, but approval, IF you get approved, can take a long time.
 
I am a mermaid, and not originally from the Caribbean.  So I live and work here and have to file for renewals every year, pay hefty fees and provide a small mountain of paperwork and a great deal of prayer, to get a new stamp in my passport each year that entitles me to live and work here year round.  
 
 How could I make it happen?  If you could give me some sort of direction, I would be very grateful.  I work now as a medical assistant in a hospital, do medical transcription from home, which I could also do from there I suppose, but what else is there?  Is it possible to buy a house if you are a foreigner?  How expensive, where is the best place to live on the island, (hopefully with a view like you have)?  Am I just plain crazy? 
 
You already have a great "at home" job. Familiarize yourself with Skype.com (the wonderful international phone company that we in the islands just adore!).  Then come here on a six month "visit" and bring your work with you. With Skype.com, your US employers won't even know you are elsewhere, since you can buy a number in your home town, that rings when ever you have a computer hooked up (pretty nifty eh?)
 
Now technically, as a visitor, you are only allowed to visit up to six months per year, and you are not allowed to work locally. But if you are working for your US folks while vacationing here, I don't see where that is a problem. Many vacationers feel the urge to bring their laptops and do work while theyvisit here (WHY, I have no idea!)
 
At least then, with a lengthy visit you could find out whether you love living here as mush as you loved vacationing here. It is two different t'ings, you know!
 
The current laws don't allow you to even seek employment while visiting here. But while you are up there and not here, you can fax and email your resume all over creation, in case anyone wants to "recruit" you. It does seem all over the Caribbean, they are short on trained medical staffing, so you might be on to something... 
 
Buying a house as a foreigner can be done if you are quite wealthy and patient, as closing can take 1-2-3 years from when you first put up your hefty deposit in escrow and there are no guarantees you will be approved for a "landholders license". Housing is not affordable for the vast majority of workers here (VERY SAD but true). This is not true on all islands, but over the years, has become the norm in the BVI.  Many locals inherit land and therefor are able to build their own homes, but trying to buy a home and land on existing island salaries can be next to impossible.
 
There is NO "best place" to live on the island. Everything comes with a price. People in West End will swear it's the best place to be, folks in Carrot Bay wouldn't dare live anywhere else, those in East End are immensely proud to be East Enders and so on. Rents are all over the place and many are outrageously ridiculous. My friend ran an ad for a 3 bedroom, 2 bath home for her and her 2 kids to reside in. The first rental offer came in at $2400/month (about double what she has in her budget!) 
 
So finding an affordable place to live, may dictate what neighborhood you end up in.
 
A few neighborhoods are very ethnic, most are international.  Some are noisy, some are quiet, many have great views or great location, some don't.
 
If you truly wanted to move here, I would dispose of 90% of your worldly goods and just show up with a suitcase and take it from there. Anything you pay to ship or move here, assume it is coming here one way.  Sometimes it's just not worth the cost of shipping to bring your junk with you. Just show up, rent a fully furnished place and then see if you can live without the junk.
 
Islanders aren't compulsive consumers and shoppers, which is heavily encouraged in America and some other places. People live a bit simpler here. Many just own their clothes and little else. They hitchhike, walk  or drive old vehicles, they own two pairs of shoes max, they rent a place fully furnished or furnish it from dumpster diving.  Some strive to collect everything and own everything, but many just live quite simply.
 
Some folks spend a fortune getting all their vast worldly goods here, take a great job and move on the island. Many just can't take the island life and the lack of conveniences. Within a year, sadly, many depart, selling off their stuff at a huge loss and heading for "home" again, now broke and empty handed. Very few transplants last more than a year or two, then there are folks like me, who never leave and wouldn't dream of moving/living anywhere else.
 
By lack of conveniences, you have to learn to be super patient and flexible. It may take cable TV, two or seven months, to find your new home. The power might go off all day.  You go to the store for milk, bread and eggs and discover they are out of all that, but limes and canned corned beef are on special. You see something in a store, that you think will work perfectly at home but you don't buy it just yet, cause you want to measure or think about it or wait for the next paycheck. You finally get back to the store, ready to buy,  and it's GONE.  The store might reorder it next week or next year or never.
 
Now typically if you ask folks here, how to move and work here, you will receive a great deal of discouragement and most will convince you it can't be done, SO FORGET IT. That's because everyone that comes here, wants to be the LAST ONE and they want to CLOSE THE DOOR and not allow anyone else in paradise.

Thanks in advance for any ideas, I really enjoy your words. 

Thanks again,
Signed,
Homesick
 
Dear Homesick,
    I think I answered most of your stuff above.
 
PS: YES!
 
    I think you be crazy mon! 
 
    But that's a requirement to live here anyhow, so you might be on the right track already...
 
Warm and Loony Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com
 
 





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- Hazy Amazy
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2008 20:07:45 EDT
Still a bit hazy here!  Hurricane season is around the corner, but we aren't worried. Nope. Not yet, anyhow.  Weather is perfect here right now!
 
Bullwinkle brought up that you should mark your hurricane canned food with a permanent marker because the labels can fall off when wet. I would definitely say YES, mark the top or bottom of the can with the contents, but leave the labels on, until they fall off naturally. That way if you are bored, you have something to read.
 
Gert has updated a good bit of http://StormCarib.com in preparation for the WHAT IF.  I am just glad that none of the storms are named after me. WHEW.
 
One of the nicest things about Tortola, is the politeness of the people and willingness to help. When out shopping and unable to find what I want, I merely ask the clerk where they think I might find it. Amazingly most all clerks immediately come up with a list of suggestions, often at stores or places I am unfamiliar with or had not thought about checking.
 
Several times when asking for directions, people have actually taken me right where I was going!  Either by having me follow them, me ride with them or they ride with me, or we walked together.  
 
The few odd times my heap of a jeep,  has left me on the side of the road, I needn't wait long, a good Samaritan has always got me going again.
 
I was once mortified to be in a store after buying $80 of goods, and realizing I had left my wallet at home. The clerk, who knew I frequented the store often, shrugged his shoulders and told me it was OK, to come back tomorrow and pay, then let me leave with my purchases. (I did go back and pay too!)  A different clerk was on duty and actually seemed unimpressed at my repeated thanks, they had done it for 100 other people and now me.
 
A small island is like a small town. Someone once said the reason everyone is so polite is because of the relatives. If you get into it with somebody, they might be related to all the other people you deal with and this could cause many problems.
 
On the other hand, if you are well liked by a few, you discover pure strangers know your name and chat you up!
 
And finally, if hear the same rumor 3 times, it's probably mostly true.
 
St Thomas in the distant distance is more of a hint than a reality.
 
Warm and Hazy Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com
 
 





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- Caribbean Sunset
  • From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
  • Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2008 03:06:41 EDT
A glorious end to a lovely day.
 
Scattered showers have dotted the evening and night. At 2am, winds are naught and all is very quiet. Not a rooster nor dog nor bird is making a sound. However, tree frogs are gently singing in a muted background.
 
Today should be great weather for watersports, life and living.
 
I went to town today. My least favorite thing to do. Town means spending money, traffic woes and parking problems. Any list over 3 items will never be completed. It just ain't gonna happen. After 3, your odds change. Say if you have a list of 8 items to do, you are LUCKY if you get 4-6 knocked out. A list of 12, and you get maybe 4-8 knocked out, if the Gods are with you, a list of 18 and if you get 4-10 knocked out...you are extremely lucky and should play the lottery.
 
If you have a list over 12 things to do, and actually get them all done, then you probably end up in the emergency room with a stroke.
 
Why is it so hard to complete a simple list of errands?  Because our traffic patterns of one-way streets and streets that don't let your turn where you want to go, was all designed by someone who has never driven in their life.
 
Yep.
 
So, if you MISS one of your stops, you can't just run around the block and get back to it. Nope!  It may take you 20+ minutes to finally get back to that missed stop.
 
For instance, I missed my turn off to the labor department. This meant I had to go turn left onto the double carriage way, go through the round about, turn at Bobby's, turn at Burnym's, turn at the cow, then 2 blocks later, WHEW, I am back at labor. Miss one turn, and you could end up a mile away before you can legally turn and get back there again.
 
Argh. 
 
I know, laugh, it's only 12 miles to town, but seems like a LONG ride when you are stuck behind a chain of cars driving 26 miles per hour.
 
So I began enjoying the scenery and twisted the cap off my water bottle and BLIP the cap spun out of my hand and dove into  never never land. Sigh.
 
Great. This bottle was to last me the next few hours, as Road Town always seems too hot for me. All that car exhaust, blacktop roads and A/C units pumping, coupled with lack of enough trees, hot aired politicians and yep, Road Town is hotter than the rest of the island. So I like to sip on my cool water and it makes me feel great. Calms me down.
 
I hate buying bottled water. I filter and bottle my own water and it tastes terrific. If I had to buy bottled water, I would be broke by now.
 
My new/old jeep didn't really come with a drink holder, dang it!  Well, there is sort of a spot for a drink, but it's made for the backseat passengers, which I rarely have. If I had a passenger, I could say, here you hold the opened water bottle or you find the bottle cap.  But it was just little old  me.
 
Traffic was getting slower, so I was digging around the jeep looking for the bottle cap, then I decided to give up, after all, stupid things like this cause car wrecks!
 
I stuffed the offending opened bottle in the backseat cup holder.  I could reach it, sort of, if I was careful.
 
I didn't even want to go to town, but had business with government and others to conduct. I've decided the best way to tackle town, is to get all dressed up and grin like an idiot, as if I am THRILLED to be in town.
 
It works. Everyone was very nice to me!  I even found PARKING! 
 
Shhhhhh... 
 
It's as if I was expected everywhere I went, and there right up front, was a parking spot, saved just for me! Incredible!  I am used to parking illegally somewhere obscure and hiking for a few hours, to run errands. Being as my cantankerous foot is swollen up like a football and I have to wear my cut-up ugly  shoes that look hideous with my dress, I was actually hoping not to hike more than a mile.
 
I even found a place with key blanks to make spare keys. I have been searching for spare keys for weeks and months now. I like to have a spare set around, you just never know, when you could lose a set and then be locked out of your life. When I moved, I somehow lost my spare set of keys along with a few other things of note.
 
Actually, I think I lost a whole box of stuff. Cause I have a list of things I haven't seen since I moved, and tallied all up, it equals one box. Where that box went, I have no idea.
 
At the counter, I handed over 3 keys and asked for 2 duplicates of each. The nice man disappeared in back to go make keys. 10 minutes go by, 20 minutes and then 30. Another clerk comes to the counter to help me. I ask him what ever happened to the man who went to make my spare keys. He disappears and actually comes back about 3 minutes later and informs me "He is working on them".  I think to myself, he must be chiseling out those blanks by hand back there.
 
Finally he appears, hands over my original keys and vanishes. A few minutes later he comes back with one set of spares. I ask about the other set. He looks crestfallen. "You wanted 2 sets?"
 
Not wishing to wait another 40 minutes for the 2nd set, I told him it was OK, one spare set would do. He grinned and even gave me a free key chain. FREE!  Now on Tortola, to get anything free from a business (except on Christmas Eve) is RARE.
 
Maybe this key chain was left over from Christmas. I thanked him and paid the $11 for the keys. Yeah, $11 for 3 keys. I shall treasure them with my life.
 
At the grocery store, I ran into a few sale items (imagine THAT) sale items are also extremely rare, but this was out of date or nearly out of date stuff, that isn't really out of date, but it's on sale and I can use it, so into the buggy it went.
 
At home, I decided to back down my steep skinny driveway to see if this was easier for unloading. I know it will be easier for exiting the driveway, and I carefully made it down. If you "miss" backing down my driveway, well um, that is VERY bad news, the dirt to one side of the driveway has eroded and leaves quite a drop off.  I made it. WHEW.
 
This for some reason, amused the waiting cats. As I opened the rear jeep door, two of them hopped into the jeep to inspect it and my shopping. Seeing that I had remembered to bring home 6 weeks of assorted cat foods, made them extremely happy.
 
 




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