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- Cough, Sputter, Spit, Hurl
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- From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2009 10:50:05 EST
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A gorgeous day in paradise, 29 Celsius, which is 80 something on my broken
digital thermometer. We have a thick haze to the south, due to Montserrat . Her volcano blew a thick cloud of lava, ash, rocks, and gas,
hurling them 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) into the air. We had the
spectacular volcano enhanced colorful sunset last night. I ran out with my
camera in hand but the batteries were dead. Ran back in to charge them and by
the time they were done, well sunset was over. Tsk, tsk tsk. We have only
brief dusk then we are plunged into darkness.
When I first came to the Caribbean , it took me awhile to get used to this phenomenon, as I was
accustomed to living much further from the equator and we had long lingering
twilights. I remember playing outdoors in the summer light until about 9pm
many warm nights. Not so here. We get about 5 minutes of dusk then POOF we are
immersed into the darkness of night.
The
Montserrat correspondent has uploaded some awesome pics of the volcano
eruption. I feel for the people struggling to make a normal
life there amidst an active volcano. Over the years, many refugees have
made their way to the BVI and other countries, for a new start on life.
Surf is settling
down some, but should be awesome again by the weekend. How convenient!
HELP! I've fallen down! I can't get up!
(I think I've overdosed on catnip again!)
Warm and Sunny Paws, DearMissMermaid.com
Still A few Limited Edition
2009 Calendars Left for Sale!
Dessigns by yours
truly!
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- Surf's Up!
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- From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sun, 4 Jan 2009 10:09:20 EST
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82 degrees and breezy this morning at 9am. Internet is down again,
not sure when this will post. Never could get a connection yesterday to
post, and I have dsl. Duh. Well that's paradise for you, t'ings just
don't always work. Even New Years Day we had da current done mash up.
Surf's up and the surfers are out and about. Not as crowded this year, for
a Saturday, but loads of big long waves so everyone was able to scatter out and
catch some good rides.
I saw a wreck yesterday. A truck coming down the road and a new little red
car following on his bumper. The pickup truck slammed on brakes to stop and talk
to someone and the red car jammed up under the truck bed, tearing up his engine
and hood pretty badly. No one was injured but the cars. Shame too, looked
like a new car and the owner looked on the verge of tears. Thank goodness for
seatbelts. I didn't hang around long, didn't want them to think I was part
of the wreck.
My car looks like a bomb hit it. My back windshield is completely shattered
and my front one is cracked liked a spider web on the drivers side and I now
have a big new dent in my otherwise undented jeep. All this happened to me just
before Christmas by an uninsured person. I am still trying to hunt down front
and back windshields. I guess I'll have to pay for it all.
*sigh* But I am alive and well, so can't really complain.
We should have some scattered showers the next few days and the north shore
should continue to be optimum for good surfing.
Also Available at Serendipity Book shop
on Main Street, Tortola
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- 2009
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- From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Fri, 2 Jan 2009 15:24:52 EST
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Yappy Hew Near! 
Nappy Yew Hear! 
HAPPY NEW YEAR! 
*hiccup* 
Both the BVI and St Thomas airports are full of private planes and jets,
that came down for some holiday cheer. Foxys on Jost Van Dyke was no doubt the
best place to be seen at! 
Weather is a tad overcast today, slight winds, flat seas, no snow
predicted. Many residents are recuperating from the big bash ringing in
the New Year with both bars and churches equally busy at midnight. 
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- 2009 Arrived with Great Fanfare in the BVI
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- From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2009 02:01:56 EST
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HAPPY
NEW
YEAR
2009
Pray
For
PEACE
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- HAPPY OLDE YEAR'S DAY/NIGHT!
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- From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2008 08:07:38 EST
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Daybreak was spectacular with beautiful orange hues. Thermometer
reads 8L.4 Fahrenheit degrees,*sigh* and other reads 27
Celsius. Winds are 16-22 knots and all is well. No storms, no
snow predicted. The Soufriere Hills Volcano ash
is scheduled to blow southwest and miss us.
Parties are gearing up around the islands for tonights big
celebration! If you see a Mermaid, I'll see you too!
Surfs UP all
week! Today and tomorrow should be the best! 
I never thought Roosters were that bright, but mine comes around every day
looking for food. If I've failed to put anything out, he marches up to my front
door and cock-a-doodle-doos as loud as he can. He then struts back and forth, in
front of the door, like a nervous father awaiting his first born to be
delivered, until I offer up something to munch on. He's bigger than the cats and
they are happy to have him around, as they would love nothing better than a yard
full of animals. Sometimes the Rooster brings his girlfriend and sometimes
not. She's rather homely looking, considering he is quite a bright fluffy
sight.
I've discovered he loves to eat the "leftovers" from my kitchen sink drain
strainer. I just plop it down in a dish outside and the next morning, he is
there pecking away at it all. Seeing as the cats sometimes leave canned food
bits that dry up in their wet-food bowl, I guess the rooster is eating a lot of
rehydrated canned cat food, after I scrub their bowl clean.
Mock-a-moodle-meow?
Some days I make plain popcorn and of course there are always leftover
kernals, so I toss those in his feed bowl too or in the yard for him to hunt
down. He also likes moldy bread or stale bread, kinda handy. So I guess we have
reached our goal of zero-food wastage. Every crumb is now devoured by somebody
around here. Since he has been eating the sink drainer leftovers, our garbage
never smells up, that's rather nice. usually I haul it every day, as garbage in
the caribbean heat is never pleasant. But what with my jeep problems lately, the
garbage goes out erratically.
A friend took me to lunch in her pickup truck and I tossed my garbage in
back, but we forgot to toss it out. I felt real stupid after she brought me home
and realized my garbage was riding around in the back of her truck. I called up
to apologize, but she had already tossed it and wasn't miffed. Hauling your own
garbage is a way of life here, there is no house pickup unless you pay a private
person to do it. Usually I've lived in walking distance to the local garbage
cans or dumpsters, but not now. Well I could walk it out, if I had an hour to
kill. But the garbage dump is NO where near the beach! I'd walk an
hour to the beach, but for garbage? Hmm...
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- Better later than never
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- From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2008 16:13:56 EST
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Life is good! My thermometer now gives me this reading 8'.5 you can supply the middle figure or we can read
it as the temp is 8 feet 5 I guess since it's now the
ripe old age of 17 months, it has decided to go on walk about. My other
thermometer says 29C and shows a picture of clouds.
At 4am, I couldn't sleep, and I was c-c-c-cold and couldn't find my bath
robe. It makes me wonder if I left it behind when I moved last year. If so,
someone had a lucky find as it was thick white and fluffy, the fancy hotel
type. I did find a long light weight robe, that is almost sheer, and it did
actually warm me up some as I shuffled around in my fluffy slippers and the
temperature at that point read 7-.2, well so much for digit-tell, it tell me nuttin' now! I don't
even know WHERE I've ever seen a temperature thingy for sale on Tortola.
I know I bought one for my oven and 3 people from Tortola emailed me
wanting to know WHERE I got it! But it doesn't do weather, um temperature until
200F and up. I had to get that because my Mexican stove is in Celsius and I am
forever confused having grown up with Fahrenheit. I did find one for
making yogurt, let me see if it works. (Checks drawers and finds it!) Well, it
sort of does, I get a choice of 60-80-100 and so on. It says 80 right now. I
found my meat thermometer and it starts at 140F, so no help there either.
Well, anyhow, it's WARM and sunny with big clouds wafting by. Winds are
moderate and nice. We are expecting fair weather the rest of the week.
I used to have an old cookbook from the 1920's
with thousands of recipes in it. Most of them end in "cook in a
moderate oven until done". Now that sums it all
up.
The book, Culinary
Arts Institute Encyclopedic Cookbook was later updated to
include temperature and time. I was forced to buy a newer version, as I simply
wore the old one out. But they kept all of the wonderful old recipes and
each recipe has fantastic variations. There is a great section on leftovers, and
anohter on lunch box menus. Even a special section on cooking for
just two.
It was my favorite charter boat cookbook, because it assumes you have no
shortcuts and only basic equipment and fresh food to deal with. I was cooking
back in the dark ages, when you were lucky to get a lukewarm fridge and a
cantankerous stove that took 20 minutes to light, and expected to
make gourmet meals for 8-12 with no other equipment other than basic cookware.
Some recipes are a bit hilarious, such as it gives you complete
instructions on how to build a smoke house for your hams, bacon and poultry, how
to make dried salt fish and so on. Actually it gives you 250 ways to preserve
your food and 75 ways to make candy to mention a few odd things. It tells you
everything about pressure cookery and 90 ways to make ice cream without an ice
cream maker.
Caribbean news
briefsCay Compass - Grand
Cayman,Cayman Islands CHARLOTTE AMALIE, US Virgin Islands (AP) — Vice
President–elect Joe Biden and his family are in the US Virgin Islands for a
brief vacation. ...
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- Monday after the holidaze...
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- From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Mon, 29 Dec 2008 15:29:01 EST
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- Sun Day only 3 days of 2008 left!
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- From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sun, 28 Dec 2008 13:07:23 EST
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Gorgeous day, brisk winds, bright skies, a great day to wake up alive in
the Caribbean. No snow predicted, so *WHEW* we are safe from that. Good t'ing
too, cause in my travels, I have lost my only pair of heavy thick wool socks. We
can expect fair weather for the next few days. Yippee! Winds are
17-24, kinda tame for Christmas Winds.
Gert, our wonderful StormCarib.com webmaster, sets sail soon for
Antarctica. Guess he hunts storms and hurricanes worldwide...
Overheard at the beach, Quote from an anonymous
Tourist:
There is no water, only beer, so we are all drunk and dirty...
Coast
Guard rescues two men lost at seaTampa
Bay's 10 - St. Petersburg,FL,USA The Coast Guard said Richard and
Kenneth Sealey failed to return from a trip to Tortola, the British
Virgin Islands. They were reported missing by family ...
Bob's Honor Bar at Smugglers Cove
Beach, Tortola, BVI
Check out my NEW Caribbean Pastels,
available framed, ready to hang on your wall.
Warm and Pastel Regards, DearMissMermaid.com Hurricanes
and Hangovers (and
other tall tales and loose lies from the Coconut Telegraph) is now on sale!
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- Four More Days of 2008
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- From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sat, 27 Dec 2008 12:21:45 EST
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Weather is
here, 82 degrees and windy. Heavy short downpours dotted the early morning
before daybreak. Sun is out, things are quiet, I need get out and about and take
pics, but my jeep is incapacitated, so I am enjoying the views from home. Radar shows
numerous showers approaching, but all seem isolated, and short in duration,
as is typical. However, just past noon here and we are
overcast. Sopers Hole is full, Cane Garden Bay is probably too rolly due
to the northerlies. Surf's up!
Found in a Rum Bottle, Washed up on Shore this
Morning:
Miss Mermaid,
I think you ought to write more books--maybe a series
???.
Puzzles?--
Happy Stories--
Strange Stories--
Unbelievable Stories---
You must have many stories that are just as interesting
as
you can make them.
Keep writing--
You sure made me laugh !!!.
M.G.S. ( ex barefoot sailor !!--Windjammers )
**************************************************************
WOW! Thank you MGS! You have me blushing! I
am glad you enjoyed it! Yes, there are more books and stories on the way, some
are mostly done, but need all the tedious things like spell checking, grammar
correction, general editing and so forth. Some stories need reworking, as I know
them in my heart, but getting all the details down on paper, so the reader
isn't left clueless, is not as easy as it seems. Plus I am famous for
defying even the best spell hecklers, then there is da local lingo mon,
and the nautical terms, plus southernisms I grew up with, that others may not
understand, and it's no small wonder I give my editors migraines trying to
sort through it all. Since this last book came out so late, I don't dare mention
a date for the next book, but let's hope it's soon! THANK YOU for writing
me and thank you for your compliments.
Dear Miss Mermaid
***********************************************************************
Now here's
some more fun reading from another author:
| GOOD NEWS! Airfares are
going down, even fares from the US are surprisingly cheap.
COME ON DOWN! Avoid the crowds, come to the BVI.
|
Holiday
price war as operators slash rates Telegraph.co.uk - United Kingdom Airlines are also
battling to woo cash-conscious customers, with British Airways and
Virgin reducing prices to a range of long-haul destinations.
...
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Jost Van Dyke as viewed from Smugglers Cove
Beach
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- Boxin Day in the BVI
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- From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Fri, 26 Dec 2008 11:44:31 EST
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Stiff Christmas winds have caused many a reef to be taken in the mainsail
and a few scares for the sailors at sea. 86 degrees on my dying thermometer. I
guess those digital t'ings just don't like the atmosphere here. Nothing
but sunshine and isolated showers with brisk Christmas winds are expected the
next few days. Typically Christmas winds roar in at 25-35 knots this time of
year, and make for fun fast wet bumpy sailing!
The Montserrat volcano is still hurling out ash, but hopefully it will stay
south of us, though looking south is hazier than any other direction.
If you are at anchor or on a mooring, I bet you've checked more than once
to make sure the gear is holding. 
My Christmas was very low key. Just 3 humans and 3 cats, sharing a meal and
being very grateful we were all alive and well. Not much more you can ask
for anyhow!
Happy Holidaze! DearMissMermaid.com Hurricanes
and Hangovers (and
other tall tales and loose lies from the Coconut Telegraph) is now on sale!
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- Last Minute Gifting
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- From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 24 Dec 2008 18:13:12 EST
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Merry
C hristmas to All
He has always avoided flashy ads that detract from the
actual content and until very recently avoided any advertising at
all. He now utilizes low key Google and Amazon ads
but thus far, their monthly revenue continues to fall short of the monies
required each month to keep StormCarib hosted, so he continues to dig
deeper into his own pockets each month.
So if you have some spare change, please make a
contribution to StormCarib.com and make Gert's Christmas surprisingly
Merry!
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK
YOU!
Happy
Holidaze!
From Dat
Crazy Miss Mermaid 
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- MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL! The winds are here!
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- From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 24 Dec 2008 13:24:50 EST
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MERRY CHRISTMAS! HAPPY HOLIDAZE! HOLY
NIGHT! SANTA CLAUS COMING TONIGHT!
Can't wait for him to show up, my kitties are being especially good,
staying out of my way, not begging for anything, tippy toing around, hoping
they've been good enough for Santa Claws to toss
something their way.
The Christmas winds are here and the sky is unfortunately very overcast and
the seas are getting a tad rough and expected to get a bit worse. 82 degrees by
daylight but considerably cooler at night. It's a good time to snuggle up in
your favorite harbor and drink some Rum fortified eggnog and then sing Christmas
Carols. That honey in the eggnog will make your voice sound much
smoother too.
For the next week, generally expect much of the same, strong Christmas
winds and rough seas. This is Mother Nature's way of playing a joke on you
bareboat charterers who have scrimped and saved for ages, so you could spend the
holidays in the Caribbean on a sailboat, and be all the envy of your friends and
relatives left back home, (often in a snowbound frigid area.)
Now, for you sailors and racing nuts, I offer up some new
Christmas Carols for you to learn: 
This one is sung to the tune of JINGLE
BELLS:
Hard a- lee hard a-lee , Tacking all the way
. Oh what fun it is to ride - a High Performance
sleigh - eh
Spectra here , Carbon there, what fun to spend the
buck. Dollars make us win today. Hey ! Nothings left to
luck
OOOOOOOh !
Hard a-lee, hard a-lee winning is the way, Dig
really deep my sailor friend, If you want to play-ehhhh
Melges here , J boat there See how fast they
go, If you want to get a first spend money , don't cha
know.
This next one is sung to the tune of "Oh
Christmas Tree" or " O Tannenbaum"
O, wooden boat! my wooden boat! It is my
hope you stay afloat , O, worms and rot, I want you not, There's bottom
paint on , coat by coat.
I varnished here I varnished there I
used brushes of - the finest hair.
O, Wooden boat! My wooden
boat! All this up-keep makes me broke.
Next we sing this one to the tune of " O
Little Town of Bethlehem ":
Oh little boat of fiber-glass, How
still I see thee lie. With blisters on your bottomside, the size of an
apple pie.
But in the dark wet brewing, delamination
grows . Neglected years, the owner's tears, West System Epoxy
knows!
This one is sung to the tune of "The 12 Days of
Christmas"
On the first day of racing , my new
crew brought to me A big fat D-eeee N F.
On the second day of racing , my new
crew brought to me Two tangled sheets and a big fat D-eee N F
On the third day of racing , my new crew
brought to me Three bad tacks , two tangled sheets and a big fat D-eee N
F.
On the fourth day of racing my ,
new crew brought to me ... four spinnaker wraps , three bad tacks , two
tangled sheets and a big fat D-eee N F
On the fifth day of racing , my new crew
brought to me ,... Five accidental jibes .... four spinnaker wraps ,
three bad tacks, two tangled sheets and a big Fat D-eee N F..
On the sixth day of racing , my new crew
brought to me. Six winches back wound, Five accidental jibes ,four
spinnaker wraps , three bad tacks, two tangled sheets and a big Fat D-eee N
F
On the seventh day of racing, my new
crew brought to me.. Seven sea-sick throw ups, Six winches back wound, Five
accidental jibes ,four spinnaker wraps , three bad tacks, two tangled
sheets and a big Fat D-eee N F..
On the eighth day of racing, my new crew
brought to me.. Eight beers a -drinking, Seven sea-sick throw ups, Six
winches back wound Five accidental jibes ,four spinnaker wraps , three
bad tacks, two tangled sheets and a big Fat D-eee N F..
On the Ninth day of racing , my new crew
brought to me .. Nine winch handles swimming, Eight beers a -drinking,
Seven sea-sick throw ups, Six winches back wound, Five accidental jibes
,four spinnaker wraps , three bad tacks, two tangled sheets and a big Fat
D-eee N F.
On the tenth day of racing , my new crew
brought to me .... Ten halyards let loose, Nine winch handles
swimming, Eight beers a -drinking, Seven sea-sick throw ups, Six winches back
wound, Five accidental jibes ,four spinnaker wraps , three bad tacks,
two tangled sheets and a big Fat D-eee N F.
On the Eleventh day of racing , my new
crew brought to me .. Eleven Chute poles broken, Ten
halyards let loose, Nine winch handles swimming, Eight beers a -drinking,
Seven sea-sick throw ups, Six winches back wound, Five accidental jibes
,four spinnaker wraps , three bad tacks, two tangled sheets and a big Fat
D-eee N F.
On the Twelth day of racing , my new crew
brought to me .... Twelve headsails overboard, Eleven Chute poles
broken, Ten halyards let loose, Nine winch handles swimming, Eight
beers a -drinking, Seven sea-sick throw ups, Six winches back wound, Five
accidental jibes, four spinnaker wraps , three bad tacks, two tangled
sheets and a big Fat D-eee N S.
Now for your NON sailors and NON-racers, let me
explain deese songs to ya:
A DNS is a racing term for Did Not Start and a DNF is a Did Not
Finish.
Sheets are those bits of ropes used to tame the sails after they
are up and during racing, need frequent adjusting to keep the helmsmen from
screaming too much.
A tack is when the boat is forced to do a zigzag course upwind,
when you tack, that is when your change direction in your zigzag course so
you have to let go of the sheets on one side of the boat and reel them
on the other side with the use of a winch and winch handle (unless you are
super strong.)
A spinnaker is a big balloon-ish type sail flown off the bow
(pointy end) of the boat and used to go downwind, but when you wrap it around
the forestay, (that long piece of wire helping to hold up the mast) you
typically go nowhere and the captain teaches you a whole new language that
would make your mother ashamed to know you.
An accidental jibe is when you are typically going downwind and
you get off course and the mainsail slams across the boat, bringing the boom
with it (that horizontal stick attached to the mast) often breaking bits of
the boat when it jibes, this also often causes the captain to have
conniptions. The boom is named so, cause that's the last thing you hear before
it knocks you unconscious. (See VISAR term below).
Winches backwound: winches only work one way and typically
that is clock-wise. You wrap the sheet around, then use a winch handle to
crank in the sheets, thus trimming the sail and hopefully gaining speed,
depending on the point of wind. But some folks manage to wrap the sheets
around counter-clockwise, which in effect, makes the power of the winch,
useless. This will slow down the boat considerably if you are trying to tack
and or trim sails to go faster and generally, the captain is clasping
his heart and his face is beat red when you do this. He may even be rendered
temporarily speechless.
A halyard is that piece of rope used to raise the sails up the
mast (that upright tall stick commonly found on all sailboats, some even have
two or more masts). When you let the halyard go by not cleating it off
when done, it dangles from the top of the mast and swings around wildly and
always out of reach of the crew trying to grasp it. If the sail is up, it
generally slams back down, and the sudden force, often pulls the
bitter end up to the top of the mast. This means a crew must
be dispatched to climb the mast (a very difficult feat generally reserved for
coconut tree climbers, or the mentally insane) and fetch the loose
halyard. If you have a spare halyard for another sail, you can tie
a person (generally someone scared of heights) to it and crank them up the
mast and listen to them scream and curse you out, while they retrieve the
errant halyard. The bitter end, well that's the end of the rope or halyard or
sheet. named so for obvious reasons.
A chute pole is rigged opposite the side of the spinnaker
and aids in keeping its semi-balloon shape. A broken chute pole, is therefore
useless.
Headsails are the sails, be it a jib or spinnaker etc.,rigged at
the front (pointy end of the boat.) When one goes overboard, it
generally acts like a brake and stops all motion, it then typically wraps
itself around the keel and then jams the rudder (the thing that steers the
boat) and finally stabilizes the engine propeller (never good!) At this point
the captain my be swiftly contemplating committing suicide or murder,
depending on his/her mood at the moment.
VISAR (Virgin Islands Search and Rescue) is who you generally
call when life and limb are in severe danger (as in captain is now rapidly
making a noose and angrily looking your way...)
Well, I hope you have enjoyed your new Sailing and Racing Chrsitmas
Carols as well as my attempt at defining same for you land-lubbers.
(Land-lubbers are those of you not yet crazy enough to own a boat OR you've
owned a boat before, but don't now, because you are temporarily
"cured".
FOUND ON THE BEACH, MESSAGE IN A PRESIDENTE BEER
BOTTLE:
OPEN Christmas eve, Christmas day and Boxing Day Special
menu including Turkey with all the fixins CLOSED New Years Eve and New
Years Day Soon Come Dec/January Cruzin' surf shop &
boutique. Your Carrot Bay connection for Surf Gear, Local art
& Crafts, Debi Carson Art & Jewelry, Trish Flemming art &
jewelry, Local Carrot bay arts & Crafts, Joseph Hodge artwork, David
Thrasher artwork, Aragorn arts & crafts. Sunny Caribe and
more to soon come. So now there's even more reasons to
cruise on in to Cruzin' Bar & Grille on the North Shore in the heart
of Carrot bay ! Stop by any time for a cool drink, a fresh hot pizza
or any of our great daily specials !
My Happy Garden with Lime tree, banana trees,
bromeliads, and other green stuff...
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Older reports from the BVI have been moved to another page.
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