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For the most recent reports from the BVI see this page.
- - - 2009 Hurricane Season - - -
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- Life in the British Virgin Islands...
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 10 Feb 2010 11:23:46 EST
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Another clear beautiful day in the British Virgin Islands. Friday is
supposed to be a great day for surfing ! I bet more than a few surfers call in sick at work or
go MIA at lunchtime, as starting NOON Friday, the next 24 hours are
supposed to be the optimal time for surfing. More info at BVIwaves.Com.
After spending millions on the Roundabout traffic lights in Road Town
Tortola, they are being taken down again. Talk about a waste of money!
They went up in August, and now they are coming back down after sitting dormant
for month. Life is funny! More info.
Ha! I've around the BVI since the early 80's and time and time again
they promise to improve the electrical problem. My best advice is to get one of
those nice lightweight portable
generators and wait another 10 years for the improvements to really
show up. With the frantic building boom in the territory, I don't see how
they can possibly keep up. 
One thing I love about the islands, is the chickens! They are
everywhere except at carnival time, you can't seem to find a live chicken
anywhere.  I used to hunt
all over my property looking for eggs. I have no idea where they hide them, but
every few weeks, a new wave of baby chicks would show up in the
yard, following their mother, pecking for treats. I threw out my old bread
and unpopped popcorn for them. The baby chicks had to come from
eggs. But I could never find them. I would have loved some fresh
eggs. I grew up on farm fresh eggs, in the USA, that were wonderfully
delicious. Our neighbor in suburbia, used to drive to the country where
her parents ran a farm and come back with her car laden down with fresh eggs for
all the neighbors to purchase. We were eco friendly too then, we took great care
of our cardboard egg cartons, and returned the empties to her so they could be
reused again and again until they literally fell apart.
At some point, when the farm was sold for a mall or some such
nonsense, we were forced to buy eggs from the grocery store and we didn't think
they tasted near as good as the wonderful country farm eggs, raised naturally.
A while back, my friend, was house sitting and it came with a jeep he
rarely used. One day he went out to drive somewhere, and there were eggs in his
jeep. So he made an omelette for lunch. A few days later, he was walking
by the jeep and noticed more eggs, so he ate those too.
This is great he thought, free eggs, delivered to my jeep!
One day he hopped in the jeep, in a hurry to go somewhere, and encountered
a flustered mother hen, roosting on her eggs. She squawked and fussed and he
hopped out of the jeep and waited for her to exit.
After that, she quit leaving her eggs in the jeep. 
Road maintenance in the BVI is a joke at best. I often call them donkey
trails! I've said my prayers on many hairpin turns in the mountains and a
few times, been so scared, when I encoutered a truck that refused to honk ahead
of time, that I had to utilize the spare undies in the glove compartment. Dodging potholes that
are deep enough to snap your axle if hit right, is a favorite sport, while
terrorizing oncoming traffic as you drive in their lane. We call it playing
chicken and it's played regularly on the roads. To top it off, the government
has an avid addiction to insanely placed speed bumps. No two are built
alike, so you never know whether to go 2 miles an hour or 10, to negotiate
them. Many people think the speed bumps are placed there so they can pass
you. Problem is, they have to go over the speed bump too, so this turns in to an
impromptu raod race. Usually they pull back into your lane,
forcing you to slam on brakes, so as not to rear end them. Often about 100 feet
ahead, they will suddenly stop to make a turn.
I am glad to see that government is thinking of making road maintenance a
priority. Last time I checked, there was no where on the island to get your car
re-aligned and heaven knows, many need it.
Building safety, is another issue all together, I'll poke fun at another
time. 
My prayers go out to the crew, family and co-workers. This is a
very sad tragedy. Another mystery.
Better late than never! I lived for 10+ years off solar in the
islands aboard my boat and am thoroughly puzzled why the bareboat companies
refuse to embrace this technology and save not only wear and tear on the
engines, but solar panels don't pollute like the engines do! 
Full of good belly
laughs!
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- Wonderful day in the BVI!
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Tue, 9 Feb 2010 13:48:09 EST
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Fantastic weather!
I was just thinking , we need MORE government. Who can live without tons of
government poking into your affairs? I guess the fact that
BVI Customs has boats, BVI Immigration has boats, BVI police have boats and BVI
Port Authority have boats and Natural REsources have boats and lawdy mercy,
whoknow who else in government in the BVI has boats, but now they want a BVI
Coast Guard so they can have boats too.
Gosh, the thieves are targeting the POLICE station to
steal t'ings?
You mean all that ash carefully avoided all the
inhabited areas??? Hmm...
150
yachts already signed for 25th ARCYachting Monthly
... a trans-Biscay cruising
rally held in June, and ARC Europe, the 'return ARC' which crosses from
Tortola via Bermuda and the Azores in May.
This has got to be a FIRST in the BVI!!!
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We love to gossip in the BVI! |
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- Fantastic Magic or is it Effing Magic?
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Mon, 8 Feb 2010 10:44:01 EST
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Weather is here, wish you were beautiful...
Just kidding!
How many different ways can you say the weather is fantabulous?
In the islands we like COLORFUL t'ings mon! It's reflected in
Farmer's Week, from the wonderful mural to the bounties from Nature in the
pictures below.
Pictures are courtesy of LH who is so high-tech she sends them to me
from her cell phone to my email! I have no idea how she does that!
Maybe it's FM technology!
I can't even figure out how to take a pic with my cell phone and I
disabled the text feature, because typing one word every 2 minutes, to reply to
texts, was frazzling my little brain. I feel compelled to text up
ridiculous things like "Thank you for your text and yes I will duh duh
duh..." and by the time I did all that, I could have sat at my computer
and knocked out another story...
So folks just have to call me if they want me and forget about texting me.
What's FM? It's my explanation for technology things I don't
understand. So I think, hmm, must be FM technology...
Like when FM radio came out and I wondered how on earth those people fit
into that little radio and talked and sang to me! I never quite understood
FM until I was much older, and found out those little people don't really live
in my radio. Even so, it was still FM to me!
So what's the FM stand for?
FANTASTIC MAGIC!
However, someone once mistook it for something else...
I turned 3 shades of red one day, in my distant past, when I was giving a
tour of the ship I worked aboard because the Chief Engineer was busy with a
severe emergency, so his assignment was handed off to me at the last
minute.
I had not been briefed in what to do exactly except give the passengers who
had signed up, a tour of the bridge and engine room, except explain that the
engine room was temporarily off-limits due to the emergency.
Actually, our ship was adrift with a few thousand tardy passengers aboard. We
were supposed to have docked and allowed them to disembark, by 6pm, but without
engines, we drifted around the Gulf of Mexico while the engineering department
frantically worked into overtime, to get us going again.
So, in my starched uniform whites and gold bars (I was the Chief Purser) I
gave the handful of passengers that had signed up for the bridge, engine and
radio room tour, my own version of the tour.
Passengers kept rapid-firing questions at me, "How does that work?
What is this? How does it work?"
Flustered by the piercing questions, I answered those I could and the
others I mumbled something about it being "the latest FM technology".
Inevitably, it was repeatedly asked "WHAT is this latest
FM technology you keep mentioning?"
I kept trying to move onto other things and ignore that question, but when
the tour was over, the question was presented again and the huddled passengers
stared at me for a clear answer. So far they had believed everything else I told
them, and thank goodness, I wasn't totally clueless, so a few things I could
actually explain correctly.
So I fessed up and sheepishly mumbled I was filling in for the Chief
engineer and didn't know all the answers, "FM technology is my way of
saying it's Fantastic Magic, that I just don't clearly understand."
I guess I mumbled a little too low, and someone in back said "What?" with a
sharp German accent, so it came out "Vut?". Before I could repeat myself,
several passengers turned around to explain to the German.
Suddenly he boomed out, just as our Captain walked onto the Bridge,
"Oh! I get it! It's F at CKING
MAGIC!" and he laughed heartily.
I thought I would pass out from all the blood rushing to my cheeks and
turning my face beet red as the captain gave me a shocked look and the other
passengers laughed themselves silly.
I concluded the tour and escorted everyone back to the Promenade Deck.
A few minutes later, my radio in my back pocket squawked. It was the
Captain and he wanted me to come to his dining table in the main dining
salon.
I headed there, wondering if he was going to chew me out publicly, though
that didn't seem to be his style. In case you are wondering, we had a "Staff
Captain" who was in charge of the bridge when the regular Captain was doing
other things.
I walked up to the honored Captain's table, where all the other
officers (sans the Chief Engineer who was still frantically working
below) sat around him. To his right was an empty seat and he
simply said "Sit! Have dinner with us."
The steward began filling our water glasses while another one brought out
salads. We all waited for the Captain to start eating, our signal to begin
dining. Instead, he clasp his hands over his salad and explained about the
problem in the engine room. Then he went on to say how I was pressed into
service to do the ship's tour on behalf of the Chief Engineer and that I told
the passengers that much of the gear onboard was run by F at CKING MAGIC technology!"
He hesitated for a pregnant moment in silence, while I wondered
if I could just slide under the table and climb into a hole and never come
out. Then he bust out laughing while everyone else roared with
laughter, and I of course, became the butt of many jokes for many weeks
afterwards.
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- Sun Daze in the British Virgin Islands
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sun, 7 Feb 2010 11:13:53 EST
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Surf's Up!
Surf today and most of the next week with Friday and Saturday promising to
be GREAT.
From the Wayward Sailors:
Light winds moved to the South last night.... making some of the boats in
my present anchorage a bit nervous.... they didn't check the weather and were
set up for Eastern winds. Lots of sun with only a few clouds today mid
80's with very little chance of rain and winds light at 12 MPH from the South
and Southeast. HOWEVER on the North Shores the surf will be UP for
the next 36 or so hours. Great for the Surfers at Cane Garden Bay but a
problem for those charter boats who also didn't check weather... not much chance
in getting to the dink dock safely or having much of a dink when you
return!!
Heading to USVI early next week for a bit. Hope to have more photos
of interest.
FROM LH:
Off to see all the local farm produce that the island has to
offer.
Papaya, Sugar cane, fresh Thyme, Rosemary, Lemon grass
& others. Mocko jumbies are suppose to be there as well as local
food.
YUM! Dear Miss Mermaid loves ALL vegetables, fruits and
herbs! Matter of fact, I'm slowly working on a cookbook. However, my
friend came out with a GREAT book full of wonderful recipes (including a few of
mine!)
And Tony Snell from the Last Resort has published his first book too!
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- From Tortola
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sat, 6 Feb 2010 11:55:37 EST
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Another fun day in paradise!
 Washed up in a Wine Bottle:
Dear Miss Mermaid,
The picture of the girl in the hammock reading your book is me.
I think you should ask your readers to submit pictures with your book in
locations all over the world. Let them identify who they are and where
they are. I think it would be great fun for you and your readers,
and I think it could increase sales. How interesting it
would be to see all the locations where people are reading your book, or
they bought it in the BVI and have traveled home with it. You could
even make it a contest for the funniest picture or the most distant location
etc.
Waterlover
aka the Wayward Sailors friend
Dear WaterLover!
Sounds like a GREAT idea!
Thanks!
DMM
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A French Wine Bottle Rolled up on the Seashore
Next...
Unfortunately I have to take you to
task about your piece on Sir Francis Drake. But firstly, I think
the picture of the schooner under full sail against a sparkling
Caribbean sea is truly beautiful, and if I may so quite
magnificent. It's now on my desk-top!
However, and as the man said, 'What we
learn from history is that we don't learn from history' for if we
did today's politicians would have long hesitated before rushing
into the disastrous war with Iraq and now it seems threatening the gates
of Tehran. Anyway, enough of that.............back to Sir
Francis.
He was an English sea captain, privateer, navigator,
slaver, pirate and politician of the Elizabethan era. It was Queen
Elizabeth 1 who knighted him in 1581. He was second-in-command of
the English fleet against the Spanish
Armada in 1588, and second
only to the Queen herself. .
He
first went to see before he was 13, became owner of his first ship when he
was 20 and made his first voyage to what was then known as the 'New World,
when he was 23 in a ship owned by the Hawkin's family of Plymouth,
England. As most British schoolboys know his
exploits were legendary, making him a hero to the English but a pirate to the Spanish who put a price on his head. They failed to make the hit! He asked to be dressed in his full armour before
he died from dysentery in January 1596. He wasn't cremated in his own ship. Romantic
but untrue. He was buried at sea in a lead coffin off the
coast of Portobello, Panama.
He led the first
English circumnavigation of of
the world from 1577 to 1580. Hence his naming of that gorgeous piece of
water........the 'Sir Francis Drake Channel'. Amongst many others
he found and charted the waters leading to the North-West
Passage. All this less than 90 years after Columbus discovered
America!
Of course the other famous
English navigator was Captain James Cook who discovered and
charted Australia, New Zealand and many of the Pacific
islands including those of Hawaii where he was murdered on his
last voyage there.
'Luv
Frenchie |
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- Friday Already
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Fri, 5 Feb 2010 08:16:59 EST
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Village Cay Marina
Winds have died down there is a gentle breeze, and
very pleasant
temperatures. Sailing will not be very sporting over the
weekend, time to motorsail, enjoy a cold beverage and slow down enjoying
paradise.
New Breed of Panhandlers:
While waiting at the Beef Island BVI airport for a departing flight this
little cutie came up meowing looking for handouts at the restaurant.
Who could resist such a plaintive request?
If you are in need of a needy creature to love, then consider adopting
a feline panhandler from the airport. And don't forget to spay or
neuter your new found friend to prevent more beggars... Fixing the males
is SO important, it prevents them from doing foolish things, like running in
traffic to chase the smell of a female cat in heat. They also stop fighting once
they are fixed and thus their chance for disease and bad health is greatly
reduced.
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- Busy Day for Bottles on the Seashore!
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 4 Feb 2010 14:13:45 EST
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Washed up in a Red Stripe Bottle from the *hiccup* Wayward Sailors:
Nice Day at West End.....
Winds and seas moderating and no rain! Next few days looking great
for locals and tourist but winds a bit light for sailors.
Sail mate for past 3 weeks headed home today and I feel the loss.
Always nice to have others about the ship particularly when dishes need to be
washed!
Another great friend and sailor took on the job of referbing my 8.9
HP 2 Cycle dingy outboard. He had loaned us a 4hp 4 cycle. The 2
cycle had become to think it was a Solar Gas Engine..... would only work when it
had 4 hours of sunshine!
The 4 cycle worked much better but was a bit under powered, When I
got the 2 cycle back it scared me with the new found power! Never had it
been able to get the dink up and roaring across the waters! I had
several locals look at the engine but this Brit really understands them and can
make them jump through hoops! Learned much from him and really value his
friendship as I do many other sailors in the area who willingly help us less
informed cruisers! Hope I'll be able to pass on the favor to others as I
continue to learn more about the many elements of sailing and sailing
equipment.... and I thought I knew enough years ago!
Always great to meet really knowledgeable people who enjoy just doing what
they know for the enjoyment of doing it. Wayward Sailor says thanks to
T****! and everyone else who willingly helps others just for the fun of
accomplishing a needed task for someone with out the skills to do it yet
themselves, and sharing the knowledge. One of the reasons I love the BVI
and USVI area of the Caribbean!
Also note I know I just passed the path of a real mermaid...... you can
just feel it when you pass through some ports.... You know she was here and will
return. We all look forward to that!
Wayward Sailor
From Dear Miss Mermaid
Awwwwww, You going to make me cry... I disguised our friend's
name who rebuilt your engine, lest the poor soul be laden with more free
work... 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Washed up in a Sparkling Water Bottle from LH:
Had lunch today at The Pub, off in the distance one of the
three
cruise ships in the harbor that were visiting Roadtown.
Ferry docks
were swamped with tourists, traffic was tough going
through Roadtown.
Very nice day in the BVI for tourists, and
sailors.
Washed ashore in a Rum Bottle:
Dear Miss Mermiad,
I just read your story about the Sir Francis Drake Tall Ship.
It reminded me of the sad fate of Fantome, the Windjammer ship that was lost in
Hurricane Mitch with her crew. I happened to be on another
Windjammer the following year and met the Purser from Fantome. She had
gone ashore with the passengers, and the crew left to skirt the storm.
They never made it. I did not want to tell her my name for fear it would
cause further grief. Fantome was a beautiful ship that also
disappeared with nary a trace. It’s too bad these ships are going
away. Regards, Mitch.
Hi Mitch,
You may already know about the book written about
that:
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Washed up in a Perrier Bottle from Hang Ten:
Ah be limin' at da pool, lookin at dat Peter Islon in da distance.
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Today's truly bad joke:
A group of 40 year old buddies discuss and discuss where
they should
meet for dinner.
Finally it is agreed upon that they should meet at the
Fairchild Gill
restaurant because the waitress's there
have low cut blouses and nice
breasts.
10 years later, at 50 years of age, the group meets again
and once again
they discuss and discuss where they should
meet. Finally it is agreed that
they should meet at the
Fairchild Gill because the food there is very good
and
the wine selection is good also.
10 years later at 60 years of age, the group meets again and
once
again they discuss and discuss where they should meet.
Finally it is agreed
that they should meet at the Gausthof
zum Lowen because they can eat there in
peace and quiet and
the restaurant is smoke free.
10 years later, at 70 years of age, the group meets again
and once again
they discuss and discuss where they should
meet. Finally it is agreed that
they should meet at the
Fairchild Gill because the restaurant is wheel
chair
accessible and they even have an elevator.
10 years later, at 80 years of age, the group meets again
and once again
they discuss and discuss where they should
meet. Finally it is agreed that
they should meet at the
Fairchild Gill because that would be a great
idea
because they have never been there before.
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- Tall Ships, Elegant Ladies
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 3 Feb 2010 11:20:54 EST
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Beautiful weather, again!
There is noting like sailing an old tall ship.
I spent my time sailing and crewing aboard a lovely old tall
ship, "The Sir Francis Drake". Whether she was named after the channel or
the English explorer (who claimed to be the first Englishman to sail around the
world), I am unsure. "English explorer" is a polite term, as he became a
pirate in short order.
The explorer was a colorful man, even in death. He asked his
crew to put him in his armor while he slept. He never woke up, so they put
him on his ship, lit it on fire. He had a cremation and simultaneous
burial at sea.
I worked for two different captains during my time on the tall
lady. One who treated us like slaves and the other who treated us like
crew. I still had a goodly bit of southerner in me and when a
passenger arrived late and began cursing at me, I turned several shades of red
and was rendered speechless. I had never had anyone curse in my face before and
I was totally unprepared what to do.
So I fetched the captain. He was paid a heck of a lot more than
me, let him deal with the savages. The rest of that charter week, I
avoided that couple like the plague, lest they curse me again, for things beyond
my control. They were a miserable pair and deep down inside of me, I secretly
felt sorry for them.
How sad to go through life so miserable. I thank my lucky
stars I am a happy go lucky person, well, most of the time!
Sure, dreadful things sometimes turn me into a funk for awhile,
but I try to spring back and go with the flow. Bad things happen to good people
and that's just life.
Mostly we had happy vacationers on the ship, who laughed and
joked, and had a great time.
Sadly, the ship sank during hurricane Marilyn. Everyone had
taken refuge ashore and left her anchored and moored on her own. Not a scrap of
her was ever found. A real tragedy, because I was considering going back on the
ship again. I truly missed the old lady.
With the new SOLAS rules coming out, many tall ships are being
put out of business, so if you haven't sailed on an authentic one, you aren't
likely to in the future.
I think all in all, I sailed aboard about five historical tall
ships. Something I should write more about, one day soon.  |
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- Heavenly Daze
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Tue, 2 Feb 2010 12:14:44 EST
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Had a to die for massage here at Peter Island, lunch was yummy.
Winds have finally lessened, ferry ride was smooth, and temps still
heavenly.
Peter Island Pool
The color of blues, Sir Francis Drake Channel and Tortola in the Virgin
Islands
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- Monday in the Virgin Islands
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Mon, 1 Feb 2010 09:17:12 EST
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No storms, no hurricanes, no earthquakes, no tsunamis, no volcano
eruptions. Just a great day to forget your trouble and hang out at the beach.
A
Museum Better Known as the US CapitolVoice of America
Our story begins on the Caribbean
island of Tortola during the hot summer of seventeen ninety-two. William
Thornton is hard at work on a set of building ...
The BVI is working hard to catch
up!
The
Kathryn Report: Virgin Gorda airport is now closedBy Kathryn
The BVI Airports Authority confirmed
the closure of the airport today. Managing Director of the BVIAA Denniston
Fraser told the Department of Information and Public Relations “The closure of
the Aerodrome was as a result of a letter ...
The
Ideal Family Sailing VacationBy
CaptainTerry
What does the ideal family sailing vacation mean to you?
Close your eyes and think about it. Does it involve white, sandy beaches, lots
of sunshine and time spent with your family?
A view of Jost Van Dyke from Tortola in the Virgin
Islands
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- Full Moon Blast
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sun, 31 Jan 2010 08:52:33 EST
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Was a bit of a wash out at the full moon party. Heavy rains cut the
crowds and got everyone wet. Most who attended appeared to still have fun
but no Jumby dancers and the
Fire Balls had a time kicking up the big flames. Sorry but the photos
didn't turn out probably rain on the camera lens.
Did have an interesting event during our trip from da boat..... Big gust of
wind and waves in the bay made the boat to dink transition a bit tricky.
My guest hesitated a bit tooooooo long between one foot on the dink and one on
the boat and found herself hanging from the boat and bottom half in the
bay!!!! Fun was had by... ME... her.... not so much! But she took it
in stride including my ribbing as she is a sail boat racer!
Winds and seas still up and expected to be near 20 knots most of today and
tonight. Rain chance remains about 40% and probably only over my
boat. Heading out into the Sir Francis Drake Channel soon and may have
some reports tonight. Planning on being in West End to allow my guest to
jump on ferry mid week and until then who knows where the wind and seas will
blow us.
From da Wayward Sailors
Fireball and Neptune at the Full Moon Party at Trellis Bay on Beef Island
in the beautiful British Virgin Islands
Great balls of fire!
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- Reading Hurricanes & Hangovers: and other tall tales and loose lies
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sat, 30 Jan 2010 12:04:00 EST
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From da Wayward Sailor:
Has become very windy today... about 22 with gust near 28 or so
I'll just have a rum please.....
As you can imagine Dear Miss Mermaid is DANCING around and going to be
impossible to deal with today! Hurray!
LOVE dat pic! THANK YOU THANK YOU!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LH wrote:
Windy morning, decided banana pancakes sounded really good
for
breakfast. Off to the Loose Mongoose!
Yummy... They were
great!
This picture is the view from the Loose Mongoose, look how
strong the winds are what with the flags and palm fronds blowing mightily.
I've also dined at the Loose
Mongoose many times and the cooks are wonderful and the staff has always
been very friendly. Parking for your heap of
a jeep or dinghy dock is free and close by.
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- Full Moon and Farmers Week
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sat, 30 Jan 2010 01:34:24 EST
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Had a wonderful night at Ft Burt. Dinner and Tony Snell played for
the
first time in years. His loyal "Last Resort" fans were there
in
force. Still has his stuff, funny & sang all the
favorites! Don't
know if this is a permanent gig so call ahead if you
are wanting to
see him! A wolf full moon & Tony Snell, it doesn't
get much better
than that.
It's currently Farmer's Week in the BVI.
Back in the early 90's. I got to know some real nice
friends, thanks to Farmer's Week. I had just sailed over to Jost Van Dyke from
Cruz Bay St John, on my sailboat. The day before, I
had finished up chartering on a large yacht and now I was happy
to be back on my boat. Once I put out my two anchors, I sped ashore
with my 2 horse engine. Sped... is an oxymoron, my engine raced at about the
speed of a fast row boat.
Walking down the beach, I went to a bar that was then known as
Happy Laury's when it was in a little orange or yellow building by the
wooden footbridge. It helps if you know that back in the day, Jost Van Dyke
seemed to grow a lot of good herb. Sailors often headed there, for that very
reason.
Hunched at the bar, every bar stool, save for one, was taken by
men hunched over their cold beers. For a bar, it was pretty quiet, no one
talking at all, and they looked terribly bored and glanced up briefly when
I walked in. I noticed everyone of them were wearing a bright green T-shirt that
read "Farmer's Week".
Everyone gave me either a nod or a "good afternoon" then went
back to staring at their beers silently. I don't know WHAT I was thinking, but I
stared at the sea of green T-shirts and said "Farmers Week? What is
that? All the herb growers get together and trade secrets?"
Oh brother. That brought the house down, with everyone laughing
hysterically. Good times were had by all and for days I had free drinks, gifts
of free produce (and free herb) thanks to my new friends.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Speaking of boats, I wish back when I had my boat, they had come
out with this newfangled
collapsible kitchen aids. What a fantastic idea! I would have bought
everything, it seems perfect for the boat galley.
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- Life is Good; REAL GOOD!!!
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Fri, 29 Jan 2010 00:52:23 EST
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- Winds Day
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 27 Jan 2010 14:25:18 EST
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A gorgeous day in paradise, though sailing conditions were pretty rough on
the north, waves slapping the boat from every direction and getting the wayward
sailors wet!
Conditions aren't exactly ideal for the surfer, but could improve later in
the week. The arrow
above is pointing at Cane Garden Bay, which had such sloppy waves yesterday that
the dinghy dock was buried every few minutes, making a beach landing (ship to
shore) impossible. Nothing like rolling in the anchorage all night...
Below, these rocks were stacked up by the wayward sailors LAST spring, and
look, they have survived, all this time!
Maybe that's why we say nothing much changes here, and the islanders move
real slow. Even the rocks stayed put for 8 months. Simply amazing!
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- Check out Deadly Haitian Quake in the Seismically Active Caribbean - NYTimes.
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Tue, 26 Jan 2010 09:54:57 EST
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Dear Miss Mermaid is gallivanting around, with help from friends and fans,
pictures and local info from the islands are continuing to be posted here.
Key Point, Peter Island, British Virgin Islands
There are two fantabulous anchorages on the southern
shore of Peter Island given the right sea and wind conditions. White Bay is
named for its long, sparkling sand beach. Snorkelers will find a variety of
sites including small-mouthed grunts, a small variety of octopus and an
occasional tarpon on the long shallow reef. Key Bay to the west of Key Point is
a small anchorage with room for only a handful of boats. Since it is
typically open to the prevailing winds, it is generally free from bugs. The
snorkeling is wonderful.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The heartbreak in Haiti continues and StormCarib posts reports as
they arrive. While there are legitimate people and organizations
collecting donations for Haiti, sadly it's also an opportunity for those who
wish to create high paying administrative positions off the contributions. By
donating to the Red Cross, you know
your money is going directly to help the victims. Do your research before
donating to other organizations.
If you can't donate, then pray. Prayer is a powerful tool in good times and
in bad.
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- mo info from tortola
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Mon, 25 Jan 2010 20:23:00 EST
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Good Morning,
Weather today is a huge change from yesterday, disturbed
weather has approached Tortola. We have thick hazy Sahara dust, along with
squalls and cool temperatures. There are just but a few sailboats out
challenging the high winds and rain squalls. Good day to read a book while
on a mooring ball or hunker down and take a nap. I'm heading down towards
West End running some errands. Then on my return back to East End I'm
stopping up at Sailor's Ketch for some Saku Tuna. Mark the owner has a
great selection of fish. I always stop in and stock up with, Snapper,
Swordfish, Mussels, and Shrimp. When we have been sailing I've even
stopped when I've done my provisioning. A good day of sailing ending with
Snapper on the BBQ is a great way to finish off the day.
from LH
It's Dear Miss Mermaid's fault this was posted *ahem* a tad late, but I
have a great pic to go with it...
Actually, this pic is from the weekend...Enjoy!
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- Life is GOOD
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Mon, 25 Jan 2010 08:42:08 EST
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View from the porthole
British Virgin Island
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- a bit late, but better late than never...
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- By dearmissmermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sun, 24 Jan 2010 16:42:48 EST
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Today we have had a no wind start of the day. Sir Francis Drake
Channel was flat. Sailors had everything out trying to catch any
breath of wind. This afternoon showers have popped up. Just
a tropical shower! Happy sailing! From LH in East End.  From Dear Miss Mermaid:
And now with the rain squalls, you can strip to your skivvies, shower
yourself, shower the boat, and typically about the time you get both thoroughly
suds up, the rains stops.
Well, not really. Do everything in small batches, so if the shower turns
out to be one of our famous 3 minute deluges, you aren't caught off guard.
My old sailboat rarely saw a marina, but we liked to keep clean. I washed the
outside in small sections during rain squalls, until eventually, I got the
entire boat done.
About then, it was time to start over again, cleaning. Ever noticed how
having FUN attracts dirt? Funny how that happens...
My cockpit had this wonderful rubber grate. It looked gorgeous and felt
marvelous under bare feet. But pull it up to do a quick cleaning, and I would
shockingly find pandora's box hiding under there. Things like dirt, sand, hair,
fur, coins, crumbs, dead things, a loose screw, an errant washer, coffee grinds
and what-not.
I used to recycle the flimsy grocery bags into small garbage bags, so
everyday I had one or two small bags of garbage to go ashore. I often set them
in the cockpit while I was loading my backpack with purse, spare parts, shopping
list, dirty laundry and so on.
At that time, I made a lot of espresso in a stovetop Italian espresso pot,
so the garbage always had coffee grounds. Seems, these flimsy bags often had
small tiny holes too and the coffee grounds would find their way to hide
underneath the cockpit grate, only to horrify me at some point, when I went to
clean.
Ah life is tough on a boat.
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- Saturday
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- By dearmissmermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sat, 23 Jan 2010 15:57:44 EST
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A glorious ending to the day....here in paradise.
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- Sunrise in the Virgin Islands
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- By dearmissmermaid at aol.com
- Date: Fri, 22 Jan 2010 10:32:04 EST
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Good morning from East End. The sun is just popping up for
sunrise
after a stormy, rainy thunder filled night. Numerous
showers not just
squalls, received about 1 1/2 inches of rain. Weather
still unsettled
in the distance. Hoping all will clear up
and the beach time will be wonderful!
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- Thursday
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- By dearmissmermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 15:13:52 EST
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Today was a pretty day here in Tortola. We had a few showers over
night but nothing more than a small one at best. The winds were mild today
and with puffy white clouds dotting the horizon. Had lunch at The
Pub, the crab melt sandwich was very tasty. This evening I was able to
visit with friends over at the Secret
Garden Restaurant. It's such a wonderful location and the food is
fabulous!! Suzanne the Chef/Owner did her magic creating a meal that again
always says come back. Well that's about it from here in East
End. LH in East End, helping Dear Miss Mermaid
NEWS from the BVI:
British Virgin Islands Take Award For
Diving
Elite Traveler
Website
January 20, 2010 - NEW YORK, NY – The British Virgin
Islands have again been recognized in several categories among the “Top
100 Caribbean/Atlantic” diving ...
BVI
Red Cross to host educational talk showBVI News Online
BY Admin-BVI The BVI Red
Cross will be having a talk show on Friday, January 22, 2010 at 8:00pm on
channel 51 – CBN Broad Cast. The talk show will educate
...
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- Wednesday in the Virgin Islands
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- By dearmissmermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:43:42 EST
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Paradise Playground
Tortola in the foreground
Sugarloaf is the tiny hill to the right, on the far side of
the salt pond
In the distance, kind of fuzzy, is St Thomas
To the left is Frenchmans Cay with St John as a backdrop
All the recent rains have made these Virgin Islands islands
green and this picture may make you green with envy!
Temperatures are like a mild summer.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Say more prayers for Haiti, they had
some disturbing after shocks this morning that gave even the relief crews some
green stomachs. I am going to have to do my homework and find out the difference
between a 6.1 earthquake and a 6.1 aftershock!
The Red
Cross has been in business helping the helpless for 140+ years. Your
contribution is safe with them, it goes where it is needed. The Red Cross, is a
strictly neutral and impartial worldwide organization that is dedicated to
humanitarian interests in general and to alleviating human suffering.
Don't fall for scams, put your money where you know it's going
to count.
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- A Ting of Beauty in the BVI
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- By dearmissmermaid at aol.com
- Date: Tue, 19 Jan 2010 17:18:01 EST
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Took this photo today, just arrived on island and tings are oh so
green and lush. The cisterns are starting to fill knowing that
the
dry summer is a few months away.
East End Correspondent LH 
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- Tuesday
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- By dearmissmermaid at aol.com
- Date: Tue, 19 Jan 2010 09:46:52 EST
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Another spectacular day in paradise. All is green, the sun is
out, o hurricanes or himmacanes on the horizon, all that is missing is that
pretty picture I promised you!
Dear Miss Mermaid:
RE: Your post Jan 18th
I see....so folk in the BVI
store their food in the 'panties' do they?
'Luv
Frenchie
HA ha ha, well the jokes on me
for sure! I was dead tired when I wrote that and I guess it LQQKED
ok...
It should have read "they have
no PANTRY to turn to..." But many in Haiti who have had their homes
destroyed probably have no panties either.
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BVI
plane delivers much-needed aid to HaitiBVI News Online
A plane carrying over 1000 pounds
of medical supplies, emergency shelters and food donated by various
businesses and organizations in the BVI flew to Haiti
...
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Colorado
Quartet to perform on VG, Tortola
BVI News Online
... and the other at the
College's Paraquita Bay Auditorium, Tortola on Saturday 30 January at
8:00 pm The members of the quartet are violinists Julie
...
I know there are some
GREAT jokes with this reassignment... feel free to email yours
to me!
A Sailing Trip Like No Other
By CaptainTerry
If you're looking for the perfect
sailing trip, a trip that creates memories to last a lifetime, then the
British Virgin Islands is the destination for you.
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- Remember your prayers for those less lucky
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- By dearmissmermaid at aol.com
- Date: Mon, 18 Jan 2010 13:17:46 EST
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We're so lucky and Haiti is suffering. Many in the islands,
particularly the poor in Haiti, shop for their food daily, so even if their
house is standing, they have no panty to turn to. Be thankful. Make a
contribution to Red Cross for Haiti relief.
The sun is out! Yippee! You can enjoy the greenery and the past
rains, which filled up the cisterns.
Learn from the mistakes of others.
You can't live long enough to make them all
yourself.
From 2003, I wrote this during Hurricane
Bertha, enjoy a blast from the past...
About that time, a coconut came flying by and
hit the roof, it sounded like we had been hit by a bomb. We retreated to
the bar, which covered about 90% of the kitchen counter space and drunkenly
toasted the hapless newscaster on the local radio who was saying things
like:
"Hurricane
*hiccup* Berda, is about um *burp* tur-tee
miles from um (sound of guzzling bottle followed by a big
sigh) Berda has winds of um, about, um, hmmmm, a hun-dirt
miles per *burp* hour...." this was followed by about
two minutes of radio silence but we could hear a chair scraping, some muffled
moans, a glass breaking, and then the announcer came back
on.
"Hurricane, um, Berda, is.....
*belch* .............. oh shit, ................ where's my bottle,
(guzzle) ............ a category, hmmm, ah, well, um two or tree, I
think. Let me take a leak out the window and see what she's doing.
Um, I mean a wook out the lindow, ah, um..... (sound of crashing equipment
followed by more muffled radio static).
We drank and giggled and played scrabble and watched the sliding glass doors bow
in and out as the winds pummeled the condo and marina. The sailboat masts
were all playing the flute, but each on a different key and the melody was like
an injured banshee.
A few minutes
later, the radio announcer cleared his throat, couched up some phlegm and droned
on punctuated by loud swigs from his bottle, muffled burps and belches.
"Hurricane, um, um, well, um, Berda, yeah, Berda, has 100 yeas max, um, 100
winds, uh, 100 miles *guzzle* her power, um, per power, ugh, per
hour. There is a report dat, um, a, um, that um, a um, what-cha-calli-it,
I mean uh, um, roof *hiccup* has blown off in um, east end. If
you out there, um..." and the radio died
completely.
We collapsed in giggles and
spent much of the day imitating the radio reporter, making up our own
reports. There was no electricity, the phones were dead and as night fell,
we managed to assemble dinner by candlelight on a gas stove. I made a huge pan
of lasagna for the group, and it was devoured in about 3 minutes, as besides
drinking and playing Scrabble by candlelight, there wasn't much else to do.
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- dem wayward sailors...
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- By dearmissmermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sun, 17 Jan 2010 20:58:29 EST
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A few days of mixed sun and rain followed by a couple of days of rain here
on St. John. Looks like next week we will be back to sunny days and
moderate winds. Friend and I did the hike from Waterlemon to the old
Danish Gun emplacement and the Old Travelers Lodge and even to Brown Bay in the
light showers yesterday... sorry forgot the camera which was probably a good
thing... we got soaked but it was a fun walk.
Watched the wild donkeys march down the Old Danish Highway in the evening
and cooked shis-ka-bobs aboard before the evening showers set in. Today we
are kicked back reading and doing a generator run to charge up the batteries....
solar cells taking a nap with the clouds and rain!!! Hope they earn their
pay next week!
We will take our camera on next hike but rains are keeping us on da boat
for now. Nice time to catch up on some naps and reading and a bit of
internet work thanks to a certain mermaids assistance! Will be back in the
BVI early next week with more reports and photos.
dem Wayward Sailors
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- Saturday!
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- By dearmissmermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sat, 16 Jan 2010 13:42:41 EST
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- Friday
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- By dearmissmermaid at aol.com
- Date: Fri, 15 Jan 2010 11:06:40 EST
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Scattered rains, winds have picked up!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Heard a HILARIOUS story, from a Caribbean friend who shall for obvious
reasons remain anonymous...
He went to visit his parents in the frigid cold north, for the
holidays and they gave him a Snuggie
Fleece blanket with sleeves as a gift. It's worn like a backwards bathrobe
over your regular clothes, and supposed to keep you toasty warm in the
c-c-c-cold.
So this guy wakes up early in the morning and he's been sleeping in
just his undies and not much else. He wants to smoke a cigarette and his parents
have banished smoking to the great outdoors. So he throws on his Snuggie over
his undies, without bothering to get dressed, (he forgot he wasn't in the
tropics anymore!) He slips on some house shoes and tiptoes out on the front
porch to smoke a cigarette.
He wasn't accustomed to the c-c-c-cold, and it was well below
freezing. There was invisible ice on the front porch. He slipped and slid
across the porch, and just as he's tumbling down the long front steps at a
speedy rate, his Snuggie snags on the iron railing and rips right off his
body. He tumbles to the icy sidewalk below, in just his undies
and nothing else! Naturally he let out some loud cries of distress as his
near naked bony body bangs awkwardly down the icy steps.
He's laying there on his back, all banged up and injured, (smoking
his cigarette nonetheless) but instead of his sleeping parents hearing his calls
of distress , several neighbors heard his screams and they come out to
investigate. His parents are sleeping through all this and the neighbors
are trying to help him up and at the same time about to split their sides
laughing so hard.
Later, as his mother is doctoring up his wounds, his stoic father inquires
"Do you just lay awake at night thinking up new ways to embarrass this
family?"
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- HAITI and how to help
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- By dearmissmermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 14 Jan 2010 07:16:24 EST
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Reports and pictures from Haiti after the earthquake, just sound and look
so dismal and distressing. The best way you can help is with a donation to
the http://www.RedCross.org/.
You can also send $10 through your cell phone provider by texting Haiti
90999.
Haiti's update page:
HAITI:
Caribbean countries react to devastation in Haiti ...By admin
Montserrat, where the
government of Chief Minister Reuben Meade is dealing with a volcano that
roared to life since 1995, said the destruction in Haiti “makes our
volcano seem like a baby. “We within the Caribbean region must mobilise
...
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- earthquake
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- By dearmissmermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 13 Jan 2010 09:51:59 EST
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The big one hit! Oh my gosh! Poor Haiti! Volcanoes,
earthquakes, hurricanes, we get it all it seems.
Steps to the old lodge at Waterlemon Cay, Virgin Islands.
Dear Miss Mermaid,
Do you know what the asking price is for Buck Island, British Virgin
Islands?
Yes.
I guess now you want to know HOW MUCH? I was told only 50 million
US Dollars and it can be yours. (I can see a bidding war starting on this one
right away!)
Man
Escapes From Plunging Car!Platinum
News Online
When BVI Platinum News arrived on the scene, the
driver was reluctant to speak and still appeared to be a bit dazed and was later
transported to the ...
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- Monday in the BVI
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Mon, 11 Jan 2010 15:04:31 EST
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82 degrees with 7 mph winds, just a great day to be in paradise.
Readers have sent in a variety of questions and Dear Miss
Mermaid answers them here for all to enjoy.
What is the proper pronounciation of Jost Van
Dyke?
Yost Van Dike is the proper
pronounciation, or I prefer Yost Van YIKES! and my friend calls it
Goats Van Dyke. THe Y is correct, it rolls off your tongue with just a
hint of a J.
How do you pronouce Cay?
All the
Cays here are pronouced like Keys.
Is Roadtown the main town on
Tortolla?
Yes. Tortola is spelled with
one L and Road Town is two words.
Is liming something in my drink?
Limin' means to laze about or go out on the town.
Any pointers to understanding the local
lingo?
H's are usually silent in the
West Indies, so you have One, Two, TREE (3) and anthrax in the BVI is called
AmTrax (no kidding, they ignore the H and add the M.
When you arrive you say "I reach,
mon" if you are shopping the clerk may ask "You getting true?" which means
"are you finding your stuff or do you need help?" The H is silent in
THROUGH so it sounds like TRUE.
If you
plan to come back soon, you say "I go to come back, mon". This can mean 10
minutes, 10 hours or 10 years.
There
are no rocks or stones in the islands, only stone-rock.
The colorful mushrooms grown in the
mountains are called 'shrooms.
Sandals
are called "slippers".
The electric
power is referred to as "da current".
A
cheery Good Morning or Good Afternoon is always welcomed and expected.
Good night means hello not good bye.
Islanders never say good bye, cause they gone to come back.
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BVI
Sailing: Experience The Virgin Gorda With a BVI Charter
...
By koolsatya007
The British Virgin Islands (BVI) is nothing
less than Paradise on Earth, and Barecat BVI charters can
help you experience the intimate resorts, inns, and villas the
BVI have to offer. Sail into the Virgin Gorda “Baths”,
...
Semantic Bay
- Submit Articles... - http://www.semanticbay.com/
|
Tortola
and Virgin Gorda (BVI) Update [Fri, Jan 8 09:19 EST
...
By admin
... landbase of 1.37 acres on adjacent Tortola .
The main house on Buck Island was completed in the summer of 2006
incorporating finishes to the highest standard. … View post: Tortola
and Virgin Gorda (BVI) Update [Fri, Jan 8 09:19 EST]
...
Cruise News, Information,
Booking,... - http://www.cruisenewsnet.com/ |
China
Ceramics reported Q3 2009 financial results for its BVI
...
By admin
China Ceramics Co., Ltd., the BVI-based
manufacturer of ceramic tiles for residential and commercial
buildings, announced the unaudited financial results for its
BVI-registered subsidiary Success Winner Limited for the
third quarter ...
BVI
Company Financial News -
http://bvi-company-financials.bviincorporation.com/
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Brandon
Scheid - Kiteboarding and Surfing: Real Watersports BVI
Trip
By Brandon Scheid
I depart Tuesday morning for Real's 5th annual BVI
Trip. I leave Grand Rapids at 6 am and I arrive in Tortola later
that evening. We will be joined by The whole Real crew: Jason
Slezak, Captain Sammy Bell, Matt, Trip, ...
Brandon Scheid -
Kiteboarding... - http://brandonscheid.blogspot.com/
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The
Santa Fe Review » Road TownBy admin
We called a taxi for a trip to
Road Town, the capital of the British Virgin Islands. When we
told the driver our destination, he assumed we wanted to go
shopping. Sixty-seven acres of the old harbor have been filled in,
paved over, ...
Sailing
Log of the Independence: Happy New YearBy Pat Stoeken of s/v Independence
We
Virgin Island sailors are spoiled by the steady easterly
trade winds, usually a little north of east in the winter and a
little south of east in the summer. This Christmas season we have
had gorgeous surfing waves out of the north and ...
Christmas Cove on Great St.James has always been a great
snorkle stop and the water has been so clear this holiday season
that we have stopped there almost every day. The rays, turtles and
starfish have kept our guests company in the ...
Souffriere
experiences biggest eruption yet : Kaieteur NewsBy KNews
The Souffriere
volcano on Montserrat began acting up again last
September and Friday was the worst eruption since then. People on
the island described the venting as the largest for the Souffriere
Volcano since this recent spell of ...
Tourist
Attacked & Robbed Platinum News Online
Police
are investigating an attack and robbery committed on a tourist
Tuesday evening while vacationing in the BVI. Information
which is sketchy indicates ...
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- Sunday Madness
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- By dearmissmermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sun, 10 Jan 2010 11:32:02 EST
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80 degrees ad partly cloudy, a great day for serious limin'. Remember
if you wanna lay on the beach all day drinking rum, then you gotta start in the
morning... (Yep, I designed some merchandise
with that slogan...)
Washed up on the Sea Shore in a Jack Daniel's bottle:
Dear Miss Mermaid,
We are battling record cold weather here in
Lynchburg, Tennessee (13 degrees today) and we are headed to the
BVI!
Where on Tortola can we buy your book "Hurricanes
and Hangovers"? Would love to read it while on vacation!
Tennessee Family in search of Warmth
WOW! I love to hear from folks like you! *giggle* In the
BVI, you can purchase "Hurricanes & Hangovers" at:
It's
also available on Amazon
(ships worldwide) and available from ME! (Just send an email, I need to
get a web page up just for selling the book
only.)
I
am trying to get it into more stores, but all things take time.
*sigh*
By
the way I notice you are from Lynchburg, Tennessee, home of Jack Daniels!
Yummmy!
For
the rest of you, here's some
trivia:
The
Jack Daniel Distillery was licensed in 1866, making it the oldest registered
distillery in the United States and a National Historic
Site.
Jack
Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey is made with cool, pure, iron-free cave spring
water from right there in the Hollow. This water flows year-round at 800 gallons
per minute at a constant temperature of 56° and is virtually iron free. It’s the
reason why the Distillery was located in this spot originally – and why it’s
remained there ever since. Just outside the cave you’ll find a statue of Jack
Daniel. The man himself, standing guard over this prized spring. (I guess
that means that worldwide, we can only consume 800 gallons of Jack Daniels per
minute...)
Jack
Daniel left home at an early age and was raised by a family friend named Dan
Call.
Now
Mr. Call was a Lutheran minister, but also owned a whiskey still just outside of
Lynchburg. It was here where young Jack learned about making whiskey. In
September of 1863, when Jack was only 13 years old, Call decided to devote his
life to his ministry and sold him the still.
Miss
Mary Bobo's began as a traveler’s hotel in 1867, where Jack Daniel took many a
noonday
meal.
Miss Mary Bobo ran her boarding house until her death in 1983, one
month shy of her 102nd birthday. Miss
Mary Bobo’s Boarding House Restaurant still stands today, welcoming visitors
for home-cooked midday meals.
Aside from being known far and wide for her
hospitality, Miss Mary is also the oldest woman ever to appear on the pages of
Playboy
Magazine.
But it was in an ad for Jack Daniel’s, of course.
Bet you are wondering HOW Dear Miss Mermaid knows all the stuff...
*hiccup*. Besides Rum, my next favorite spirit is Jack Daniel's of course.
It's served in many BVI bars today.
Hey, if you like reading Dear Miss
Mermaid, send your friends an email and invite them to come on over and read
a spell!
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- Better late than never!
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- By dearmissmermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sat, 9 Jan 2010 16:38:28 EST
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Another summery day in the winter in the Caribbean! Maya Cove and Hodges Creek, Tortola, Virgin Islands
NASA
Earth Observatory: Soufrière Hills valleys and debris ...By admin
Image of the day for 7 January
2010 at the NASA Earth Observatory is this view of Soufrière Hills
volcano on the Caribbean island of Montserrat, captured by the
Advanced Land Imager (ALI) aboard NASA's Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite
...
Volcano? Tsunami? Could it happen? We hope not! Read more.
What has happened to our once peaceful laidback
island?
Prayers for all...
Autopsy
confirms drowning death of touristBVI
News Online
BY BVI CORRESPONDENT An autopsy has confirmed that
Loyd Schrouder, a tourist who was pronounced dead after being pulled out of the
sea at Cane Garden Bay ...
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- Buck Islands, BVI
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Fri, 8 Jan 2010 09:24:17 EST
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Buck Island, British Virgin Islands
For all you shoppers, it's FOR SALE!
Buck
Island comprises approximately 43 acres with a landbase of 1.37 acres on
adjacent Tortola. The main house on Buck Island was completed in the summer of
2006 incorporating finishes to the highest standard.
The island has three hills,
each with 360° views and level house sites. You can go swimming and snorkeling
from the beach. Beach facilities include the clubhouse and sports hut. Extensive
dock and marine facilities exist on the island. The landbase comprises a two
bedroom house and gatehouse.
Buck Island is situated near
the world's finest deep-sea fishing grounds, in the middle of Sir Francis Drake
Channel surrounded by waters from shoal to 15 fathoms. The Sir Francis Drake
Channel is a sheltered sailing ground for yachts. Buck Island lies in the path
of continual easterly trade winds sweeping in off 3000 miles of Atlantic Ocean,
yet completely protected in the lee of Tortola, Beef Island with its commercial
airport and Virgin Gorda.
Another GREAT day in paradise with NO hurricanes on the horizon, and just
balmy weather all around for a terrific day.
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- Thursday, Volcanis Interruptus...
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 7 Jan 2010 10:42:11 EST
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Surf's up for the
next few days. Have your camera ready on the orth shore and you might catch some
great shots.
Rather depressing, I was notified today that 2 of my
books; "Hurricanes and Hangovers" were returned to
Amazon. That gives a writer the creeps...
Good news (sort of) Today is the last day you can still get
$10 off on my calendars and merchandise.
Washed up on Shore in a German Beer Bottle:
I have to remark on your latest update on the
Montserrat volcano, and I thank you for the latest update on impending eruption
---- again.
Usually I know the ash coverage by how much I
sneeze. AACCHHOO all day long. Anyway I have a very funny
Montserrat volcano story, please bear with.
I was flying in from Chicago and after
arriving in San Juan looked at a very dismaying scene as hundreds of people were
sort of "camped " out around all the Caribbean bound flights , which just
weren't flying . After checking into American Eagle , a group of us realized ,
we were told, we may not be going anywhere for days. AAAGGGGHH . Are you kidding
me? I only HAVE a 5 day span to see my "boyfriend" whom would later become my
husband.
I called him in Tortola tearfully, and
said I may have to go back to Chicago as all the the other non
grounded flights ( Cape Air ) and etc. were totally booked for days. American
Eagle and Liat will not fly, cannot fly though the ash clouds. And thank God for
that. But no one seems to get that and blames the airlines for whatever.
Anyway I ended up meeting very lovely people
and a gal from Cincinnati whom I roomed with for the night at the airport. We
woke early at 6 to be first in line for the 7 am A.E. flight to Tortola
only to find that not only were they still not flying , but that we would be on
the last of their l ist now since they had to honor their latest arriving
passengers. WHAT???????
Okay now I'm tired, I'm pissed and I'm about
to go home . But my boyfriend, my love, my savior, Mr. always fix
it, says to me , I have a contact with Air Sunshine, and if you can
get get 9 people to fly to Tortola , they'll take you, Whoo Hoo!
Except that I hate to fly and I don't trust any airline I've never
heard of.
Whatever, I create a homemade sign that says
"Going to Tortola?" and I find nine people to follow me to Air
Sunshine , including a family from Oregon whom had been stranded for a
day, with children. Poor things.
We are all a smelly, tired, crabby bunch
that finally gets called to our flight. We may have paid more than the
usual and we are at the mercy of their time table , but who CARES !! We are
going to Tortola !!
So out walks this cute young kid, and I
think how nice that they have such darlings walking us out to
the plane , until he puts on his sunglasses and assigns us seats
according to our weight and announces that HE will be flying us to Tortola
and the flight will be approximately 40 minutes.
Wait a minute !! Can I please see your drivers
licence ?? Let me out, but NO he puts me in the co-pilots
seat. OMG Really I'm not feeling well and there is no airsick bag so I
look back at my new found friend from Cincinnati and warn her.
Obviously we made it But I can't help but
nickname Montserrat Volcanis Interruptus . LOL LOL.
I LOVED the story! Really cute and we're all glad you made it. And now more info on the
Volcanis Interruptus...
And if Volcanoes aren't enough
excitement...
Mocko
JumbiesYachtPals.com
News
They planned to anchor outside in Simpson Bay and leave St.
Martin around 0400, but we decided to sail all night to arrive in the BVI
by daybreak. ...
Next year do we get FREE
RUM???
Gov't
gives free water to residentsBVI News
Online
BY PRESS RELEASE Road Town, Tortola, VI: 6th January,
2010 – The Water & Sewerage Department today advised the public,
particularly its Domestic, ...
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- Happy New Year! I'm over my hangover! (I think!)
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- By dearmissmermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 6 Jan 2010 11:03:40 EST
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86 degrees and full sun. Just another exciting day in
paradise!
Blast from the past:
I wrote this in December 2002
Not much has changed since then...
Over the years, I have watched the
islands attempt to come up to speed on holiday retailing. I remember my
first Christmas in the islands, over 15 years ago, away from my native
home. I was astonished to receive over 100 Christmas Cards in one
week alone. However, they all arrived the last week in February.
One year, in August, the Post Office
found a shipping container, lost since December, and crammed with Christmas
packages. They gallantly made every effort to deliver the packages inside.
Many folks received moldy cookies, blue fuzzy fruit cakes, and dried up remains
of expensive rotten fruit. You can only imagine what Christmas chocolates,
candy canes and holiday candles looked like, after 8 months of sitting in
a steel container under the gaze of tropical
heat.
Things have improved. Last
year I received four cards before Christmas and packages and other cards arrived
by the end of January.
I remember years
ago, trying to shop on the quirky schedules of the purchasers for small local
stores in the islands. Halloween candy was generally available by
Christmas. At Valentine's Day you could treat your sweetie to Chocolate
Santas and holiday turkeys. On a good year, the Valentine Chocolates would
be on display in time for Mother's Day.
Just last week, I noticed that one pathetic store, is still selling paper
napkins and party accouterments, all decorated for the millennium ... and
at full price!
During the summer bridal
season, one can gaily wrap wedding gifts in locally found green and red
ribbons. During Christmas, packages are adorned with pale pastel ribbons
and bows, more suited for bridal showers.
Tortola and many islands, live in a
different time, at a unique pace.
White is the preferred color for decorating with outdoor lights at Christmas, in
the islands. This is because the lights are rarely taken down, until they
burn out, be it 2 months or two years
later.
This year, Tortola is already
festively decorated, at least in Road Town. We are slowly coming up to speed.
Prayers for those in need:
Swimmers
Urged to Observe Warning SignsPlatinum
News Online
Head of VISAR, Phil Aspinall speaking to BVI
Platinum News on Tuesday following the drowning accident of
a tourist at Cane Garden Bay (CGB), ...
Dear
Miss Mermaid...the OTHER Blog!: Save $10 on Dear Miss ...By DearMissMermaid
Author of
"Hurricanes and Hangovers (and other tall tales & loose lies from the
coconut telegraph). Caribbean Rainbow, Copyright by DearMissMermaid.Com.
Tuesday, January 05, 2010. Save $10 on Dear Miss Mermaid's Calendars and
...
Geoff
Holt's Atlantic mission takes a blowPortsmouth News
As long as Geoff can keep steering the
yacht manually, he hopes to arrive at Tortola on Thursday. Digby said:
'We've got some great breezes pushing us along ...
Montserrat
Volcano Heating UpAbout - News
& Issues (blog)
The Montserrat Volcano Observatory is
reporting the formation of a large, rapidly growing lava dome atop the
volcano, which could portend a major eruption.
...
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- Tuesday NewsDay
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- By dearmissmermaid at aol.com
- Date: Tue, 5 Jan 2010 09:58:09 EST
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Another fantastic day in paradise with gorgeous weather, very spring like
and summery, what more could you want in paradise?
A hammock and a Red Stripe?
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- Mon Daze
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Mon, 4 Jan 2010 10:03:57 EST
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Looks to be mostly Sunny today. Next chance of rain looks to be about
Thursday but only showers. Calm night last night with winds just picking
up about 9 AM.
Waterlemon Bay at St John, is almost empty now that the Holidays are
over and the "working" people are back doing games on their computers at
work. Going for a swim up the reef in a bit then a short hike then back
for lunch... see it is a hard thing to get organized when your cruising!
Careful preparation is the key.
Happy return to work Day!!
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- Sunday, what a Day, to be ALIVE!
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sun, 3 Jan 2010 07:47:52 EST
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January 3rd 2010
Virgin Islands
Wish you were here!
Another glorious day in paradise with sun and sand and New
Year's resolutions to contemplate, such as MORE time at the beach!
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- Heaven on earth must be here
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- By dearmissmermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sat, 2 Jan 2010 11:47:53 EST
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7AM and the dew is heavy on the boat. Had to close some portholes
(those that slope outward) because dew drops were do-dropping in. A cool
start of the day at 75 F degrees, but the sky looks cloudless
with a bit of Haze.
Looks to be a great day for the solar panels! Near Full Blue Moon is
still up in the West and the Sun will pop out over the mountain (417 ft) in a
bit and things will warm up. Great to have a cup of coffee in the cockpit
and watch.
Minimal winds but that should pick up for some fair sailing later in the
day. Going for a hike later and another swim around the reef at
Waterlemon Cay. Saw two mid size turtles and lots of colorful fish on our
New Years Day swim here at St. John. So nice I'll hang about for a day or
two then probably move to St. James Island's Christmas Cove for a night at
anchor.
Again, hope all have a great New Year!
MESSAGE FOUND IN A BOTTLE:
I thought my very funny husband had given me a
lovely stuffed iguana for Christmas ----- until it
moved !!!! Well here he is, trying
I guess to pick out his own present under our tree.
It's just to funny to believe.How DID this guy
make his way to our apartment upstairs???
Happy New Year to you !!!
Elissa
Holy Cow! He looks over 6 feet
long! Maybe he's an orphan and wanted to be adopted and home for the
holidays!
Years ago, I was working as a private
chef in a home built on 6 open tiers starting from the kitchen, on down
to the pool, one could descend from kitchen, to dining, to den, to gallery, to
deck, to pool. The view from the kitchen, at the top, was stunning. But
it was quite a workout whenever I had to deliver snacks or drinks to guests
down at the pool.
I was in the kitchen one afternoon,
making baked brie en croute for happy hour, when an inebriated guest
plip-plopped his way up from the pool with yet another empty tray with
six empty drink glasses. He wandered off in search of a bathroom,
mumbling about how life-like the statues were.
I thought to myself, there are no statues
on this property, he must be pretty pickled and seeing things. Afterall, this
crowd had been drinking at the pool ever since their lunch, hours ago,
of mango chicken pineapple boats.
I whipped up a batch of banana daiquiris
and was just finishing up the glasses with orange slices and paper
umbrellas when the same guy came trudging back, to see if the latest libations
were ready for delivery. He again, mentioned the statue looked so
life-like!
I think I muttered an agreement, as I had
no idea what he was talking about, since I had been all over this property and
was sure there were no statues at all.
He began the descent back to the pool,
with the tray of drinks, and I silently prayed he wouldn't drop them. He
reached the gallery area and was headed towards the steps to the deck when he
let out a shrill scream followed by expletives, Dear Miss Mermaid shall NOT
repeat here.
Then in a high pitched voice he yelled "The statue MOVED!"
I began briskly walking down the various
steps and landings to where he stood, blocking my view, and when I came around
him, to relieve him of the drink tray, which was shaking mightily in his
hands, I saw it! There sat a HUGE live iguana who had taken up
residence in the gallery and was sitting pretty as you please, between a tall
potted palm tree and a wicker arm chair.
I assured him they were harmless, being
vegetarians, and therefore not interested in eating people. His friends
were laughing and yelling something like "Ray! You are drunk
again!"
He answered, "You've got to see
this!"
Finally the crowd ran up to see, and in
their rush, spooked the iguana, who decided to relieve himself and leave a
trail of iguana poop-sickles dropped across the gallery as he made a
hasty exit out the opposite end.
"See?" say Ray, "I TOLD you
the statue was life like! Even his turds look real!"
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- 2010
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- By dearmissmermaid at aol.com
- Date: Fri, 1 Jan 2010 09:27:29 EST
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Happy Howl-it-daze! A wonderful
good time was had by most all last night as the old year was put to rest and the
new year was rung in!
It was a full moon and a blue moon too.
At midnight, kisses and cheers were exchanged at Foxys and around the
world.
But at sunrise, Foxys was bare.
While there weren't any hurricanes, I am sure there were some
hangovers!
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- HAPPY OLD YEAR'S NIGHT! Happy Full Blue Moon!
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 31 Dec 2009 09:40:36 EST
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Winds have been wet and wild in West End, with gusts howling by that tipped
me out of my bunk! Rain clouds are so thick, can barely see across the
harbor.
The dinghy engine doesn't do "wet" so it's hitchhiking to shore until the
sun comes out.
The current satellite pic shows the ash plume going southwest
(Montserrat is in the upper right corner).
All these rains are keeping the islands green, as shown here
at Pieces of Eight on Tortola near Manual Reef and Sea Cows Bay.
Some say it should be renamed SEE Cows Bay, for all the times,
traffic is held up from wandering livestock of the cow variety...
Tonight, if you want to be seen at one of the world's top party
spots, for ringing in the New Year, then you need to be at Foxys
on Jost Van Dyke.
Alternatively, the Full Moon Blue Moon Party is being held at
both Bombas
and the Trellis Bay Beach.
Yes, it's Old Year's Night, and it's a full moon, a blue moon as
a matter of fact! The last blue moon was May 2007 and the next one won't
be until August 2012.
Although a "Blue Moon" doesn't really look blue, there have been
times in the past when the moon has assumed a bluish color. This can be caused
by small airborne particles -- about 1 micron in diameter -- such as ice
crystals, fine-grained sand, volcanic ash or smoke from forest fires, scattering
red and green light while allowing other colors to pass. White moonbeams passing
through such a particle cloud turn blue.
In 1883, when the Indonesian volcano named Krakatoa exploded, it
shot an ash cloud to the very top of Earth's atmosphere. And the moon turned
blue. Blue moons persisted for years after the eruption.
Other recent volcanic eruptions have also turned the moon blue.
People saw blue moons after the eruption of Mt. St. Helens in 1980 and Mount
Pinatubo in 1991.
I wonder if the volcano ash from Montserrat will be thick
enough to show off a true blue moon tonight?
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- Awesome Red Sky Picture
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 30 Dec 2009 12:13:08 EST
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Got up at first light for hoped slow sail down to West End. Wouldn't
you know it... only a whisper of occasional wind and all on the nose from the
West North West.... what happened to the Always Eastern Winds?
Red Sun rise caused me to push the iron jib a bit harder and these
Cruise Ships coming into Road Town Harbor were slowing me down. Skies got
darker as I reached Frenchman's Cay and the race was on for the few open
moorings. Got mine (whew) and set a double line just as the rains hit and
about the time I get seated inside, the squall winds hit, swinging the boat hard
against the mooring line.
It is 82, overcast, WET and windy. This squall line will
pass.
The wind at the mooring ball typically occurs just as you are about to
approach one and attempting to grab the line. Wind comes up and blows you
and your boat away and in these close quarters when singlehandling that calls
for some fast foot work back to the Helm for more power to keep from playing
bumper cars with zillion dollar boats; Most all made of
plastic... like mine!
Looks like the ancient mariners' saying was right again... Red
Sky in morning, Sailor take Warning!
This awesome picture of Red
Sunrise between Ginger and Salt Island in the Virgin Islands can be seen
full size at
this link. |
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- Volcano Sputter
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- By dearmissmermaid at aol.com
- Date: Tue, 29 Dec 2009 09:57:38 EST
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- Two for Tuesday
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- By dearmissmermaid at aol.com
- Date: Tue, 29 Dec 2009 08:53:14 EST
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At Maya Cove and Hodges Creek the Sun came up over the clouds at 7:30 and
the solar cells seem to recall what the heck their Real Job is! All these
electricky t'ings and frige really hit the old batteries hard when the sun be
limin' (not shinin').
At 8AM the temp is 81 with winds under 3 and we are setting atop the anchor
just swinging with the next breeze or boat wake. Tis only the boat wakes
that make having a good HOT cup of coffee a dangerous t'ing early in the AM...
If you can get the drift.... LOL Drift. All is nice then you
start to take a nice long gulp and BANG! some dang power boater sends a 3
foot wake into your broadsides. Hot Coffee baths in the AM isn't something
to look froward to in my state of dress (or undress!)
Be that as it may... tis a great start of the day with nice sun and
anticipated increasing winds with small seas on the Southern side of the
islands.
Thursday and Friday the surfers
might get lucky on the North side and get to test the waves.
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- 3 days til New Years Eve
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Mon, 28 Dec 2009 08:02:11 EST
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At 8AM the sun is looking over Beef Island into Trellis Bay.
Hopefully it isn't just a tease for the solar panels who's primary function for
the past few days had been to be a target for rain drops and bird poop.
Collected about 3 inches in the dink since late afternoon. Everyone
had engines running at sundown to charge up batteries on smaller boats like mine
or run the Air Conditioners on the floating hotel rooms. Hopefully the
solar panels will get to work and I'll be able to have some ice with my
sundowner this afternoon which will be from a new location. Photos to
follow, if ya lucky!
80 degrees with RH of 84% and more showers in the forecast. Winds now
from almost due East at about 5 knots but will be increasing to 12 to 17 as the
day moves on. Smell of coffee and someone fixing bacon and probably eggs
is making my tummy come alive and I'll head off for a block of ice and a few
fresh supplies and be underway again.
Twas a Great Caribbean Christmas in Trellis Bay even with a bit of
wetness.
Now it's time to gear up for New Year's Eve at Trellis Bay or Olde Year's
Night at Foxy's.
If you've never been to Foxy's Old Year's
Night, then you definitely need to go at least once. It IS the party to end
all parties. Probably no where else on earth can you meet so many people
from so many different places on earth, as on Old Year's Night at Foxys on Jost
Van Dyke. This year the theme is come get "inFOXicated"!
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- Sun Daze in da ilons
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sun, 27 Dec 2009 11:28:50 EST
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Partly Sunny here in Trellis Bay today with low clouds over the
Market. It is 82 with RH of 82 and shower chance said to be about 30% but
I feel a drop or two when I was on deck making photo just a bit ago.
Winds are now light but should increase to between 9 and 14 kts
today and increasing winds and seas anticipated for Monday. Hope everyone
had a Great Christmas and Boxing Day. Many locations were closed and some,
like banks will be closed on Monday since Boxing Day fell on a weekend.
Nice start of the day... must get busy in case the rains do come
late!
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- Boxing Day BVI
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- By dearmissmermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sat, 26 Dec 2009 10:30:55 EST
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Happy Boxing Day! After a rather wet Christmas morning, in the
late afternoon, the Sun made an appearance and dried things out. My Dink
motor does not like rain and will typically react poorly to prompts to assist in
the movement of the dink about the bay until it gets its share of fun
laying in the sun.
No rain last night and the Sun is up early today popping its glow above the
clouds which seem to be getting fewer and lesser coverage. Temp is 81 and
RH is79% with a few smiley rain drops showing on the Weather Station indicating
same as today's weather report stated; a 40% chance of rain with same forecast
through Monday with winds 7 to 15 kts.
Northerly swells on the Atlantic facing island shores to increase for next
few days. If the winds would cooperate, the surfers could be
thrilled with that!
View from the porthole
Trellis Bay
Virgin Islands
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- And a MERRY CHRISTMAS to all!
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Fri, 25 Dec 2009 11:43:41 EST
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Having a wet but Merry Christmas on BVI's Beef Island at Trellis Bay.
Was overcast most of Thursday and rain showers started just after 7 PM while a
group of newer and older friends joined the Wayward Sailor for the Special
Christmas Eve dinner at da Loose Mongoose... wonderful food great drinks and
comfortable temps made the night a hit! Stopped raining just in time for
us to dink out to the boats to have quick relaxing drink and more
conversation before hitting the bunks. Early in the morning hours the
constant rains started with a few electrical displays but no too bad. This
AM the dink had near 4 inches of rain water and had to be bailed out before
quest could head back to Tortola.
Flash Flood warnings are in effect for the local islands today through
Saturday afternoon. Marine forecast are for 12 to 17 knots wind with
frequent showers and some thunder shower possibilities. At 7:40 this AM in
Trellis Bay it is 81 with 80% RH Winds have swung back to a more Easterly
direction and are light. Heavy overcast with dark clouds back toward the
South West.
Even a good dose of rain and high humidity can not dampen the Christmas
Sprite, Christmas in the Caribbean... what a way and place to spend it!
Wishing all a very Merry Christmas where ever you are and hope your spirits
and sprites are as bright as ours are! Tipping a good strong Caribbean
coffee (with a dash of Rum) to everyone as heavy rains return to the bay.
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- Christmas Eve in the Virgin Islands
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- By dearmissmermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 24 Dec 2009 10:18:35 EST
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Mostly Cloudy tin he AM with 30% chance of showers with some thunder
showers possible over next couple of days. Not a good thing for dem Solar
Panels.... Looks like most of us will have to run dem generators to keep the
power up!
Now 81 deg Relative Humidity 70% winds about 7 kts from almost due South at
8 this AM with a few spits of rain already felt on a bare back. Coffee is
GOOooooDDddd.
Very quiet here in Trellis Bay.... just off of The Last Resort who put on a
we be jammin party last night with lots of Oldies some of us Oldies really
liked, while visiting with other wayward sailors and having a drink or two or
three or more last night!
Getting ready for Da Loose Mongoose Christmas Eve Party tonight with a
dozen or more friends. Hope we don't have a wet dink ride to and/or
from!
View from the porthole at Trellis Bay
Beef Island
British Virgin Islands
Christmas Eve 2009
Ho ho ho!
CARIBBEAN EGGNOG FOG
1/4 cup
of honey
6 eggs
1 liter
(or quart) of milk
2 teaspoon of vanilla
1 fifth
(or liter )of dark Rum
fresh
ground nutmeg for garnish
In
blender, toss in honey and eggs, give it a whir to mix thoroughly, add vanilla
and half the milk, buzz again to mix, add rest of milk to blender and blend
again, pour into large punch bowl or pitcher, whisk in bottle of rum and serve
well chilled with grated nutmeg over the top. Alternatively, fill cups or mugs
half full with blended mix, then top with rum, stir thoroughly and grate
nutmeg over the top.
Fast,
easy, delicious. *Hiccup*
MERRY CHRISTMAS
HAPPY HOLLY DAZE!
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- the 23rd of December, Ho Ho Ho!
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 23 Dec 2009 09:54:23 EST
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Winds are returning today. At 7:30 already up about 10 knots from S SE
with increasing clouds but still good amount of sun getting through. 83
here at Fat Hogs Bay with RH 70%.
US weather service indicated increasing winds and rain chances today up to
about 30% then a bit more 40% for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day
(ps to Americans... it is not a fight) and the higher chance of clouds and rain
thru the early week.
Going to have Christmas Eve Dinner with friends at Trellis Bay.
Looking forward to that and will let you know how it went and post photos
of it, if possible and of Trellis.
Phone has started back with the sometime can't find the sim chip. Was
hoping that was fixed but think it is the phone more than anything else.....Life
in the islands, some t'ings work some of da time...
The Wayward Sailor...
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- Tuesday
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Tue, 22 Dec 2009 08:06:53 EST
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Winds are under 3 knots and from dead on North. Sky's mostly clear
some large clouds on horizon but still and don't appear to move. Sun just
now popping up and feels nice on this cool morning about 80 or so is my
guess. You can see how flat it is, the Christmas winds are absent!
Sunset in the Virgin Islands
The 12 Days of Christmas, Caribbean
Style
On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me,
a coconut in a palm tree.
On the second day of Christmas, my true love sent
to me, two turtle eggs, and a coconut in a palm tree.
On the third day of Christmas, my true love sent
to me, three wilds cows, two turtle eggs, and a coconut in a palm
tree.
On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love sent
to me, four hitchhikers, three wilds cows, two turtle eggs, and a coconut in a
palm tree.
On the fifth day of
Christmas, my true love sent to me, five golden tans, four hitchhikers, three
wilds cows, two turtle eggs, and a coconut in a palm
tree.
On the sixth day of
Christmas, my true love sent to me, six hens a-laying, five golden tans, four
hitchhikers, three wilds cows, two turtle eggs, and a coconut in a palm
tree.
On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love sent to
me, seven fish a swimming, six hens a-laying, five golden tans, four
hitchhikers, three wilds cows, two turtle eggs, and a coconut in a palm
tree.
On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love sent to
me, eight goats a-milking, seven fish a swimming, six hens a-laying, five golden
tans, four hitchhikers, three wilds cows, two turtle eggs, and a coconut in a
palm tree.
On the ninth day of
Christmas, my true love sent to me, nine Rastas dancing, eight goats a-milking,
seven fish a swimming, six hens a-laying, five golden tans, four hitchhikers,
three wilds cows, two turtle eggs, and a coconut in a palm
tree.
On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me,
ten frogs a-leaping, nine Rastas dancing, eight goats a-milking, seven fish a
swimming, six hens a-laying, five golden tans, four hitchhikers, three wilds
cows, two turtle eggs, and a coconut in a palm tree.
On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love sent to
me, eleven dolphins swimming, ten frogs a-leaping, nine Rastas dancing, eight
goats a-milking, seven fish a swimming, six hens a-laying, five golden tans,
four hitchhikers, three wilds cows, two turtle eggs, and a coconut in a palm
tree.
On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love
sent to me, twelve divers diving, eleven dolphins swimming, ten frogs a-leaping,
nine Rastas dancing, eight goats a-milking, seven fish a swimming, six hens
a-laying, five golden tans, four hitchhikers, three wilds cows, two turtle eggs,
and a coconut in a palm tree
Caribbean Rum Cake
A Tried and True Recipe
Cake:
1 cup chopped, toasted pecans or
walnuts or both
1 18-1/2 ounce yellow cake mix
1 1-3/4 ounce instant
vanilla pudding mix
4 eggs
1/2 cup cold milk
1/2 cup vegetable
oil
1/2 cup Caribbean dark rum
Glaze:
1 stick butter (1/4
pound)
1/4 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup Caribbean dark rum
Cake: Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour 12-cup Bundt pan.
Sprinkle nuts on bottom of pan. Combine all cake ingredients. Beat for 2 minutes
on high with electric mixer. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool in
pan. Invert on serving plate. Prick top with fork. Drizzle glaze over top of
cake. Use brush or spoon to put extra dripping back on cake.
Glaze: Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in water and sugar. Boil 5 minutes,
stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in rum. Note: The rum will cause
steam. Be careful not to burn yourself.
The longer this cakes sits, the better the taste, the Rum preserves it
well. *hiccup*
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- Christmas Chicks!
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- By dearmissmermaid at aol.com
- Date: Mon, 21 Dec 2009 09:38:40 EST
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Another gorgeous day in paradise! Shown below, Da
Loose Mongoose at Trellis Bay, Beef Island, Virgin Islands. I've had many
good eats there and run into many an old salt ashore. December 21st 2009 is the Winter Solstice for the year and for those in the
northern hemisphere, it is also the shortest day of the year with the longest
hours of darkness. (In the southern hemisphere it is the longest day of the year
with the greatest number of daylight hours.)
Today is the official start of winter (in the northern hemisphere).
For 2009, the winter solstice will happen at 17:47 coordinated universal
time and it happens when the North Pole is 23.5 degrees away from the sun. For
us in the Virgin Islands, that is 1:47pm Atlantic Standard Time.
The winter solstice can occur anytime between December 20 and December 23
depending on the calendar. December 20 and December 23 solstices occur less
frequently than December 21 or December 22 solstices in the Gregorian
calendar.
A winter solstice happening on December 20th is the rarest occurrence, with
the next one not happening until 2080.
Many people have a celebration around the winter solstice and see it as a
time of rebirth. (Perhaps because it's close to Christmas?)
~~~~~~~~~~~
Christmas Chicks in
Grenada...
I was sailing in the summer on both charter yachts as hired crew and on my
own sailboat as a hapless owner. I had moored my modest 30 foot sailboat in
Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas on a large charter yacht mooring. I had then hopped
aboard the 60 foot charter yacht, and worked as crew for three weeks, touring
the Virgin Islands. It had been a busy three weeks. First we had the
European honeymooners who spoke the same language as my captain, so I was more
or less excluded from many conversations, as my captain was eager to speak his
native tongue (Swedish) with the guests.
However, they preferred sunbathing in the nude or nearly-nude when we
were out sailing, so this saved us all, on laundry throughout the charter.
The next week was two retired couples. The haves and the
have-nots. How or why these two couples chose to vacation together, I have
no idea. Lots of bickering, and oh my gosh, they were so cheap, that the
first time we took them ashore, they bought ONE rum punch which the four of them
SHARED, then passed to me and the captain, expecting us to finish off the
dregs!
We took them to Anegada where they ordered ONE lobster lunch for six of us
to share "as a snack" they said. By now the captain and I wanted to crawl into a
conch shell and never come out again.
One night, a four man fungi band was eagerly playing when the cheap
guests tipped the band FOUR cents (a penny per band member as the tipping
guest explained to me later...) The music suddenly slowed down and grew
faint as the band memebers looked at each other and stared at the offending
tipper. I ran up and tossed a ten dollar bill into the tip box, (before
the band could strangle my charter guest...) Seeing the sawbuck, the band
grew louder and picked up the pace again. Even back then, a penny didn't buy a
thing in the Virgin Islands, I don't know WHY this charter guest thought he was
doing the band a favor.
The third week we had a hyper couple who wanted to see and do it all and
didn't understand why it took so long to sail from place to place, but when we
got there, by golly, they swam, snorkeled, water skied, dived, hiked, biked,
drank, danced, toured, partied, wined, dined, shopped and flip-flopped their way
through the week when a frenetic energy, as if the islands might vanish if they
didn't rush and hurry and operate at near panic speed.
So, at the end of the three weeks, I was exhausted. I had sailed
everyday, anchored 39 times, prepared 294 gourmet meals, (in the
space of a small coat closet) barely had 6 hours of sleep per night and smiled
myself silly, as well as made beds and cleaned heads (sea toilets) plus did
endless dinghy trips to and from shore, keeping the guests
busy.
One must grin and grit your teeth when a charter guest says (and they often
do) "Isn't it FUN for you to be on vacation ALL the time?" It's a
wonder I never slapped a guest into reality, but I just GRINNED and pretended
like their every word was gospel and agreed with whatever they said. Good
professional crew will keep their guests immensely happy, after all, we want
tips at the end of the week too!
Basically, working as professional charter crew, is about 16 hours of
hard work per day, with an hour of fun thrown in and if you are lucky, you get
6-7 hours of sleep at night and occasionally 2 minutes alone in the head (boat
bathroom). All the while, living with strangers, and your sole mission in
life, besides keeping the boat ship shape, providing exquisite meals etc., is to
keep the charter guests happy and answer the same questions over and over with a
big smile plastered on your face, as if they are the first to ever think up such
a clever thing to say. But, it was a life I loved and still miss! Any job
that requires you to smile all day, can't be THAT bad, can it?
At the end of three weeks, we docked at the marina, in Charlotte Amalie, at
the old Yacht Haven, to clean up the charter yacht after bidding farewell
to the final guests. Then the captain ran me by dinghy out to my sailboat for a
much needed rest.
As I climbed aboard the aft ladder, I noticed a wine bottle rolling around
my cockpit. Funny, I thought, since I never kept any alcohol on my
boat.
Picking up the wine bottle, I realized it contained a rolled up piece of
paper inside. Gingerly, I pulled the cork out, shook the bottle mightily until
the paper slid out, then unfurled the note.
Surprisingly, it was addressed to my boat, and was from a Ham Radio
operator I had never met. It said, that another boat in Grenada (with friends of
mine aboard) had sent me an invitation to come go cruising and left a phone
number for a boat yard. The original sender had made an
announcement on the Ham network, they were looking for my boat, to issue this
invitation. The person scribbling the note, had noted my boat was in their
harbor, scratched out the note, stuck it in a wine bottle and tossed it into my
cockpit.
The note wasn't dated, so I had no idea when in the past three weeks, it
had arrived. I called the number and eventually got through to my friends.
I had to leave a message, wait for them to get it, then call back at the
appointed time when they might be ashore to get my call.
I was too exhausted to sail to Grenada alone in my boat, so I flew down and
joined my friends on their boat for a few weeks. One day we hopped a bus in
Grenada to go sight-seeing. We rode the bus to the end of the line, and were
deposited in a far flung tiny seaside town. We understood we had about an hour,
then we could catch a bus back to the other side of the island.
At that time, riding the bus in Grenada was made a highly
personalized event by the driver. This particular bus was decked out in red,
green and yellow and Bob
Marley played at full blast on the stereo speakers while some wild intense
incense filled the air. The bus was actually a van with several rows of
seats and jump seats that folded out to block the aisle. Sometimes when we
stopped to let somebody off, half or more of the bus had to empty, to let them
pass!
One inebriated passenger announced he had to pee and the bus slammed on
brakes, the steward, which rode kind of crouched in the floor board, pointed him
to behind a tree on the side of the road. We waited while he relieved himself,
them the bus took off at break neck speed again, blaring " Red
Red Wine.." through the speakers.
Once at the seaside town, I was walking around, I believe it was June or
July. There on the sidewalk was a huge handmade sign that read "Reserve Your Christmas Chicks Now".
Um, WHAT did that read?
I approached the sign closer, it was huge, and yes, that is what it read.
Then I noticed parked nearby, was a cage about six feet tall and three feet
square. Inside were smaller cubicles, each with a baby chicken in it, pecking
away at a feed bowl. Another sign read "Will be full grown in time for Christmas
dinner! Reserve now before they are all gone!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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- Happy Sun Daze
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- By dearmissmermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sun, 20 Dec 2009 13:26:59 EST
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Ho ho ho! Happy Holly Daze from Dear Miss Mermaid! It is
mostly sunny with winds lower probably in low teens and it shifted to the South
West and some almost from West which is odd. Seems to be shifting almost
South now. No real rain, just a sprinkle last night.
At 145pm the wind is vectoring back toward the east, with just a few little
ripples, maybe 10 knots or so with a few gusts. It was really calm last
night and the sky is pretty clear.
Riteway has set up their Red Mount Gay Rum tent in the parking lot to sell
Christmas trees and holiday stuff. (Yes, the trees arrived on time this year!)
So far the Virgin Islands is not busy, so come on down and enjoy life in
the slow lane!
Life afloat, with Tortola, BVI in the background.
Follow DearMissMermaid on Twitter.Com
Hurricanes
& Hangovers by Dear Miss Mermaid
Warm and Sunny
Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com
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- 1245pm Saturday
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- By dearmissmermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sat, 19 Dec 2009 12:31:59 EST
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This picture submitted by the lovely Lori showing the Sir
Francis Drake Channel in the Virgin Islands.
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- SaturDaze
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sat, 19 Dec 2009 09:46:55 EST
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Ho ho ho! Happy Holly Daze from Dear Miss Mermaid! *hiccup*
(Eggnog recipe... soon come...hiccup!)
82 F degrees. Nice warm and toasty in the islands, with no snow on
the horizon. If you want a white Christmas, just go to the beach and look at the
pasty white tourists (ha ha ha) or look at the beautiful white sands.
It is no secret that Dear Miss Mermaid is in love with beauty and growing
things. This picture is from Penn's Landing
on Tortola. We need MORE beauty like this throughout the BVI.
(But we STILL want to know why it takes 3 weeks
for a letter to come from Road Town to West End...)
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- Have a Merry Good Time!
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- By dearmissmermaid at aol.com
- Date: Fri, 18 Dec 2009 15:11:37 EST
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Cloudy this morning, but finally the sun is out and the solar panels are
happy! If you are on a boat without a solar panel in the Caribbean, then
you are just not green! Go green, use solar panels. They save wear and
tear on your engine and generator, they provide free power and they are
maintenance free (well you may have to dust off the Sahara dust or the
Montserrat volcano ash now and then).
82 degrees and a terrific day to be limin' or sailing.
And now this year, I have to torture you once again, with my Whale of a
Christmas Tale! (It's true too!)
This year it is dedicated to Elissa at Penn's Landing in East End, Tortola. She
makes her customers feel like family, welcomed and comfy. Hats off to
Elissa, we need more like you!
By
Dear Miss
Mermaid
T'was the Night Before
Christmas, and all through the Caribbean
Not a creature was stirring, but
many fans were purring
I was asleep on my boat, when suddenly I awoke
I
heard a bang, and then a clang!
I sprang out of my bunk,
colliding with a furry hunk
Rudolf! The Red Nose Reindeer! How are you, my
dear?
Need some sunscreen? Or would you like ice cream?
Oh, dear, he
sighed, listen here, he cried!
Santa was sloshing in
eggnog, his mind was off and in a fog
Since it still wasn't day, he leaned
over the sleigh
To take a quick leak, since his bladder was weak
His eyes
were a little blurry, but he spotted something furry
With a wink in his eye,
he exclaimed in the sky
From way up in the air, I can see her hair!
Why,
I've never been laid, by a Caribbean mermaid!
But oh dear me! Santa jumped,
in the sea! But that's not all, this is why I call
Santa was swallowed by a
great big fish, who thought he was a Christmas dish!
I don't know what
happened to the mermaid, but I don't think Santa's gonna get laid!
We need
him back at the North Pole, not in a fish, swallowed whole!
Rudolf, I said,
don't despair, at least it wasn't a big black bear
Let me take you fishing,
I know that you been wishing
For a Caribbean holiday, to come your way!
We
went out in my boat, where on the sea we did float
We baited our hook, we
wanted that crook
That big nasty old fish,
who thought Santa was a dish
Finally we caught him with our bait, with Santa
inside, he was a great weight!
We made that hideous fish, grant us our
wish
And with a great heave, out popped Santa's
sleeve
He came out of that great
fish body, only just a little wobbly
He had this awful smell, it turned the
reindeer almost pale!
We dried off old St Nick, and we did it quick
We
didn't want him to say Achoo! As if he may of caught the
flue!
We got back into port,
cooking up the fish for sport
That one big fish, made a fine Christmas
dish
Off the reindeer, they did fly, with Santa Claus way up high
Back in
my bunk where I was laying, I could still hear Santa
saying
Merry Christmas to all,
I'm having a ball, that big old fish, made one fine dish
But listen here,
when I come back next year, I hope I get laid, by that Caribbean
Mermaid!
****** copyright 1998 by Dear Miss
Mermaid
Not only can you order Dear Miss Mermaid's " Hurricanes
& Hangovers: and other tall tales and loose lies from the coconut
telegraph " book for Christmas gifts, but you can also order Amazon.com
Gift Cards.
Amazon.com
Gift Cards are redeemable for
millions of items on Amazon.com, no fees, no expiration. Really!
E-mail a gift card,
Print a gift card or Mail a gift card.
E-mail now, or schedule up to a year in advance!
Oh my Gosh! Dear Miss Mermaid has hairy
legs! Ho ho ho!
Actually *ahem* Dear Miss Mermaid has a tail
(and a few tales!) but a gentle reader submitted this picture taken today in the
Virgin Islands. It was captioned "Look how hard I am
working!"
PS, if you LIKE these legs, the owner is
single...
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- Takes My Breath Away!
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- By dearmissmermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:33:13 EST
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Christmas in the Virgin Islands is bound to be wonderful! Just look
at this incredible view that Ms Lori took for me today! WOW!
Some say it's a much prettier view than Santa working on his Suntan at the
beach this morning!
Ho ho ho!
You rock Santa Claus!
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- Hump Day
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 16 Dec 2009 08:28:31 EST
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Warm, sunny, breezy with scattered showers.
Merry Christmas from Dear
Miss Mermaid
You can still buy my " Hurricanes
and Hangovers" book for Christmas delivery, makes a great gift for people
who love to laugh, one size fits all!
You can also order autographed versions direct from me or from
Amazon.
Ho ho ho!
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- Tuesday
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Tue, 15 Dec 2009 11:03:31 EST
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84 F degrees and the winds are normal, 15-20mph.
Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas from Dear Miss Mermaid.
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- Monday
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- By dearmissmermaid at aol.com
- Date: Mon, 14 Dec 2009 21:30:33 EST
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Dark thirty and I am late getting this out. No storms. 79F degrees.
Christmas winds are in full force and blowing by! Wheee!
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- Sunday
|
- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sun, 13 Dec 2009 10:53:39 EST
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84 F degrees and Christmas winds!
Boat
stolen from community sailing program  BVI News Online
BY PRESS RELEASE The Royal British
Virgin Islands Yacht Club, which plays host to Kids And The Sea sailing
program, as well as the BVI Youth Sailing team ...
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- It must be the weekend! Yippie!
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- By dearmissmermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sat, 12 Dec 2009 08:52:16 EST
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Scattered squalls are keeping the islands green and the cisterns topped up.
80 F degrees with gutsy gusty Christmas winds. Winter is here, ho ho ho!
Ho ho ho!
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- Thursday here in the British Virgin Islands
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 10 Dec 2009 09:08:38 EST
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84 degrees and typical trade winds, with a hint of Christmas winds coming
around the corner soon!
When
Geoff Holt was last on the beach in Tortola, British Virgin Islands, he was a
fit 18-year-old.
A
diving accident in shallow water left Geoff paralyzed from the chest down and
confined to a wheelchair.
Twenty-five
years later, Geoff plans to return to Cane Garden Bay having sailed across the
Atlantic.
It
is the latest challenge for Geoff who has already sailed around Britain - but
one that he relishes; as he hopes to put some ghosts to rest.
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- Happy Tuesday!
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 9 Dec 2009 10:38:35 EST
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82 degrees F, 15mph winds, just perfect!
Just a gorgeous day in Sopers Hole
Tortola is to the left and
Frenchmans Cay is to the right
Straight ahead is a tiny beach, where sometimes you can find a
treasure trove of washed up sea shells.
In the far right corner of the harbor, the southeast side, is a
tiny bridge, most dinghies, skiffs and a few skinny go fast boats fit
under it.
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- Ya better be nice cause Santa Claus is coming to town!
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Tue, 8 Dec 2009 19:14:22 EST
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Hot air does not light our
fire...
Keep your eyes peeled, maybe he's
on a deserted isle...
Still no sign of missing fishermanBVI News Online
52-year-old Elroy
Henley of Free Bottom left Tortola for a fishing expedition near Virgin
Gorda Bluff around 4:30 am Saturday. He was expected back at 6:30
...
So Sad! We lost another soul at sea.
Walters
Accident File With DPP OfficePlatinum
News Online
An official at the DPP´s office explained to BVI
Platinum News that the file is with the office and following discussions which
are yet to be made, ...
"Acting"...Now
there's a good term for a politician!
Ho Ho Ho!
Christmas
Comes to Spanish TownPlatinum News
Online
Partially sponsored by the British Virgin Islands
Tourist Board, the annual two-day event helps to announce the island´s Christmas
season. ...
Anegada
Dyke Photography: Ghost?By Nativa
Christmas on Main Street is an event that we have every year on
Tortola BVI. The street (Main Street) is blocked off and different people
display their craft for sale. There was lots of food and entertainment. The
event lasted for the ...
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- Summery Winter at Cane Garden Bay
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Tue, 8 Dec 2009 16:41:57 EST
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- Say YEAH to summer in the winter!
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- By dearmissmermaid at aol.com
- Date: Mon, 7 Dec 2009 10:28:33 EST
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Strong winds are on the way, the Christmas winds! Batten down the
hatches, shorten the sail and get ready for the sleigh ride! Ho ho
ho!
Home
Sweet HotelHotel Interactive,
Inc.
He sailed over to Tortola in the British Virgin Islands,
and fell in love. After renting homes there, Hyman began to look for land to
build his own estate. ...
Caribbean
News December 2009All At
Sea
The event starts from both Tortola (BVI) and from Florida,
calling at Bermuda and then cruising the Azores, before finishing in Portugal
and northern Europe ...
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- Sunny Sunday
|
- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sun, 6 Dec 2009 13:58:23 EST
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Scattered clouds, scattered super short showers, lovely warm summery
weather.
Ponderism:
What happens if you get scared half to death, twice?
Age is a very high price to pay for maturity.
Materialism: buying
things you don't need with money you don't have to impress people that
don't matter.
Being right is highly overrated.
Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.
If someone with multiple
personalities threatens to kill himself, is it considered a hostage
situation?
There's lots of people in
this world who spend so much time watching their health that they haven't the
time to enjoy it.-Josh Billings
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(\_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Miss
Mermaid is selling her
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- Pss The Rum Painkilla!
|
- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sat, 5 Dec 2009 10:46:22 EST
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Just a purr-fect day to laze about taking 17 naps, just like the wittle
kitties!
NEWS in the BVI...
Patrons happy with UP's Cineplex
BVI News Online
BY BVI CORRESPONDENT
Patrons to last night's opening of UP's Cineplex have hailed it as a big
success. Customers mingled in the food court, sports bar,
...
Open
letter to BVI Government officials
BVI News Online
I have enjoyed a lot of snorkeling
and diving in the BVI over the years and I know for a fact that
this is one of the last remote, healthy reefs off Virgin
... |
Works On New Hospital On Hold
Platinum News Online
Construction works on the new
Peebles Hospital has once again been put on hold, a Government official
confirmed with BVI Platinum News on Thursday morning.
...
Hospital
project not on hold, manager saysBVI
News Online
BY BVI CORRESPONDENT Project Manager of the new
Peebles Hospital, Bennet Smith, is denying suggestions that the project has been
put on hold despite the ...
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- Fried Day
|
- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Fri, 4 Dec 2009 07:10:11 EST
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A great day to be on the water! 84 degrees, 15 mph winds and fair
weather.
2 days ago, our movie house opened!
Dirty little secrets? Dumpsite
smoke sparks US concernBVI
Beacon
While residents on Tortola have been forced to wait
patiently for a new system to operate in a territory with no legislation in
place designed specifically ...
Up front pricing! We needed this.
Oh no! Let's not drown the goose that
laid the golden egg...
Well, what do ya know!!!
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- Ya'll Come on Down...
|
- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 2 Dec 2009 10:55:11 EST
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- Hurricane Season is Over (more or less)
|
- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Tue, 1 Dec 2009 12:41:18 EST
|
86 degrees F, a few clouds, moderate winds around 10-12mph. Get ready for
those Christmas winds that can kick up to 25-30mph and give you some real sleigh
rides.
Hurricane season is over, I say more or less, because those pesky storms
don't look at the calendar and we have had late scares before, but looks like
overall, we got away unscathed this year *whew*.
Even though the hurricane season is over, my book "Hurricanes and Hangovers
(and other tall tales and loose lies from the coconut telegraph) is still for sale year
round. It makes a terrific one-size fits all, gift (especially for folks
who have it all or you just don't know what to get them).
Warning: it can make you laugh really hard (so have clean undies on
hand...)
You can also mail-order a copy signed by Dear Miss Mermaid herself.
See
details here.
Have a happy wonderful December! Hope to see you in paradise
soon!
BVI Tid Bits...
Oh Goody, maybe there's no recession there!
Robbing the POLICE? tsk tsk tsk! Some
people!
Does that read AGAIN? Oh yeah, we had another
robbery earlier...oh my!
Masked
Men Enter RT Police Station AgainPlatinum News Online
Information reaching BVI
Platinum News indicates that on Saturday morning around 4:00 am, an unknown
number of masked men entered the RT Police Station from ...
*cough cough cough*
CBS
to air David Swain caseBVI News
Online
BY Staff Reporter cbs's true crime documentary '48 Hours
Mystery' is expected the broadcast David Swain's murder trial sometime in
January 2010, BVI News ...
Ho ho ho! Tis the season!
Christmas
Tree At Plaza Switched On!Platinum
News Online
The Lions erected the Christmas tree and the programme is
put on by the Lions Club of Tortola with the BVI Christian Council,"
Allington Hodge, ...
We like to talk and we LOVE to
gossip...
Um, isn't that drag racing held on the carriage way,
late each night?
Enter to win a FREE trip to the
BVI!
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- Saturday in the BVI
|
- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sat, 28 Nov 2009 07:15:38 EST
|
Two , count them "one, two..." more days of hurricane season! Here's the weather
report ad whether it's nice or knot...
88 degrees and if ya stare at the picture a while, you see a rainbow appear
and disappear. Happy sailing in our future!
I'm en route from a wild and crazy party and what it was for a
mermaid!
But we already KNEW that...
Hey, we've waited, what, a decade or
more for this place? What's a few more days?
Toot Toot!
|
And More Info From my Friend Gerald, who
is working on a unique photography project:
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- Gobble Gobble Gobble
|
- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 26 Nov 2009 09:18:38 EST
|
Another summery day in paradise! The BVI doesn't celebrate the USA
Thanksgiving, um, for obvious reasons, but in honor of the numerous American
visitors to the islands, several restaurants serve up turkey and all the
trimmings such as the Rock
Cafe in Virgin Gorda, who shared their menu with me.
Alternatively, whip up your favorite dish and take it to Jolly Roger in
West End Tortola this afternoon and enjoy a pot luck buffet, with JR providing
the complimentary turkeys.
Dear Miss Mermaid, who was originally born in the southern USA on a spring
day, is VERY thankful and has a lot to be thankful for, namely ALL HER
READERS who visit this site and her other blog, plus all
those that support her writing by buying her book, and the local Peebles
Hospital in Road Town, who saved her life this year.
Gert, the angel who runs this website year round since 1996, deserves a big
THANK YOU and a huge round of applause and Dear Miss Mermaid is eternally
grateful for his vision in setting up this unique blog, long before blog was
even a household word! He supports this website out of his pocket and with
contributions. If you're feeling a little thankful for this site, toss something his way.
Alternatively, book your next vacation with Go Beach, who also
sponsors StormCarib, and get a free copy of "Hurricanes and
Hangovers". Everyone wins and then we all have a lot more to be thankful
for!
Life is just grand and a big THANK YOU one and all; to all of you, who have
made Dear Miss Mermaid's life absolutely delightful.
Gobble Gobble Gobble!
Happy Thanksgiving Holidaze!
This is a view to be thankful for...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For those of you who want to Scuba dive and snorkel like Dear Miss Mermaid,
check
out these monofins! You will move faster through the water with a lot
less effort.
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- Happy Holidays!
|
- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 25 Nov 2009 15:01:14 EST
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Warm, sunny and beautiful!
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- Tuesday
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:55:23 EST
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88 degrees and sunny for a pleasant surprise (tee hee
hee!)
Only SIX more days of hurricane season! Yippee! Of
course, we've had hurricane scares in December and January before. Back in
November 1999 we had Hurricane Lenny aka Himmacane Lenny aka Lefty Lenny (my
favorite!)
A step back in time, here's some excerpts from posts
by Dear Miss Mermaid in November 1999 about Lefty
Lenny...
November 16, 1999
I have received concerned email from charter yacht
guests planning to
visit our gorgeous piece of paradise in the
very near future. I will try to
give you an approximation of
what to plan for, based on the current
conditions at West End, Tortola, as
of 10pm Tuesday, the 16th.
If your charter starts today or
tomorrow and you aren't already here,
forget it. If you are already
here, forget it. Relax and enjoy our fabulous
hurricane parties.
Wednesday-no flights unless a miracle happens.
Continue to enjoy
hurricane parties and lend a hand where ever you
can.
Thursday-doubtful/maybe/probably not
that flights will be running unless
we are completely
unscathed.
Friday-might have flights coming in, check this
webpage for island
conditions before boarding.
Saturday-if Loose Lefty Lenny will just leave us alone, then we'll be
back in business and eager to please. Bring comfortable sail gloves as you
may have to untie umpteen lines and lift a few anchors to pry your charter
boat from the dock and/or a hurricane hole. Now is a good time to
learn how
to properly coil rope neatly.
If you
have never rigged up sails (main, roller jib, etc.) on a charter
sailboat
from scratch, this will be a great opportunity to acquire these
skills
first hand.
Unless the grocery stores completely
blow away, we will probably have
interesting food available. However,
much of our food is delivered by
freighter and they have probably
diverted from their normal course to go
hide in their own hurricane
holes. There may be a slight delay of a few days
before everything you
could ever want arrives on our shelves. Be flexible.
Tortolians are basically a sturdy lot. I have been
here through past
hurricanes, and after the storm was gone, folks rushed to
clean up the
island, expedite utilities and prepare to go back to work
showing off our
usual PEACE in paradise!
It's nearly 11pm Atlantic Standard Time, Tortola is currently a
continuous
drizzle highlighted by frequent lightning flashes and long low
rumblings of
thunder. We still have radio, power, phone, cellular and
Internet. I don't have cable or TV, so I've no idea if it is on or
off.
There is virtually no wind at this
time.
Lefty Lenny, why don't you take a benny and speed
out to sea and leave us
be!
November 17, 1999
Lefty Lenny cuts off Wet End, excuse me West End, (sorry my
spell
heckler didn't catch that in the last report.) Local phones are
still
working, though I have not been able to make an outgoing long distance
call.
I just get recordings in various languages telling me I can't
get there from
here.
There is a tremendous mud slide
or avalanche that has completely blocked
the road at the cliffs (or former
cliffs) just east of West End. This
report came in from a driver
who was trying to get to Nanny Cay this morning.
Nanny Cay had a sailboat break loose from the
outside of A-dock. It was
the last one to arrive on the dock, the passengers
abandoned it, a bareboat
crew arrived then hastily tied it up and
departed. It broke loose but was
rescued somewhat.
Our front yard is a nice muddy lake. The wind is
howling and the coconut
trees are doing aerobics. My canvas jeep roof
is most unhappy and
threatening to part company with the base. There
are so many rusty holes in
the floorboards, that the thing is
self-draining.
A local radio station from St Thomas
is broadcasting by cellular phone
from the talk show host's home. He
says St Croix "is really feeling it".
The USVI is
gearing up to cadge all the Federal funds they can out of
this. They
already flew in disaster coordinators before the storm! I find
this
ludicrous!
In the BVI, we are left to our own devices,
after the storm, to rebuild
our community. Sounds like we are going to
need to press all the heavy
equipment into operation to rearrange the
island.
The talk show hosts just announced that the
President has already
declared the U.S. Virgin Islands a disaster
area. After the storm they will
be sitting around waiting to prove all
their damages for money, we on the
other hand will rush to get back in
business as soon as possible. Don't be
surprised if our recovery
efforts are far speedier than theirs.
Santa Claus emailed
me a note, asking if wanted to come to the North
Pole for a while and
be elf-employed. I wrote him that it was beginning to
sound real
attractive.
From Wet End, TOrtola
ASail4U AT aol.com
More on November 17, 1999
The thunder and lightning has subsided. Front yard is over a foot
deep
in water, harbor looks like one big mud slide. Incredibly, a 300'
freighter
has arrived in Wet End heavily loaded with sand. Earlier I
saw a sailboat
mast moving erratically and then it stopped suddenly and
began rocking back
and fourth. I do not know if it was a manned
boat or one that got loose and
crashed into something. I could just
see the mast movement over the roofs of
the little shopping area at Pusser's
on Frenchmans Cay.
We are enjoy a very cool breeze
interspersed with chilling rain. The
neighbors are hammering and
pounding, rushing to get their shutters up. I
hear a dull roar
arriving, have no idea what it is.
from your Loony Lefty Lenny correspondent in Tortola
November
18, 1999
The storm hit us all right and caused
quite a few inconvenient
avalanches, but the road crews were out at the
crack of dawn, clearing things
up. By noon, I was able to drive the road
from Frenchman's Cay to Nanny Cay,
about eleven miles, give or take a few
hitchhikers.
Lefty Lenny howled all night, giving us pause
for the cause, but by day
break we were luckily (as usual) mostly unscathed.
My boat is floating and
safe as are ALL the hundreds of boats in Nanny
Cay marina and boat yard.
If you are planning a vacation
down here, we should be ready to go by
Saturday!
FROM your Lucky Lefty Lenny
Correspondent in Wet End, Tortola (excuse me!
WEST End
Tortola!)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BACK TO 2009!
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- Gorgeous!
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:14:48 EST
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Weather was so rainy last week, that schools were closed for two days.
Since the Virgin Islands don't get snow days, they rely to heavy rains to knock
the kids out of school for a day or two.
Today it's just terrific summery weather with only scattered clouds.
Today's giggle!
STINKY
STUFF!
Drivers'
'smelly' dilemmaBVI News OnlineAccording
to one driver who contacted BVI News, the sewerage system in the
Territory is just getting from bad to worse. “This is ridiculous I think even
the ...
Riding the ferry is going to mean checking in earlier soon, or
miss the boat!
Life's
Work: I Left My Heart in AnegadaCheapflights.comThe Anegada Reef Hotel is one of the
hosting spots for the BVI Kite Jam Competition in March 2010, and the
tiny little island is slowly preparing for the ...
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- Windless Wednesday
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:37:05 EST
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84 degrees and no winds. Current volcano ash
advisories show that Soufriere Hills could be sending some caustic dust to
the Virgin Islands. Just vacuum it all up. I have a Hepa filter vacuum
cleaner that gets the tiniest minute dust up, if you ever need to buy a
vacuum cleaner, get one with a Hepa filter. It's an extra step to empty
the canister, then clean the filter after vacuuming each time, but the rewards
of getting rid of all dirt (small and large particles) at once, is
lovely.
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- Rainy days and Mondays
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:15:19 EST
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85 degrees and raining. Winds are moderate at about 10mph. Love to
hear that cistern trickle up full!
I finally got around to going fishing early this morning but after a while
I ran out of worms.
Then I saw a snake with a frog in his mouth, and frogs are good fish
bait.
Knowing the snake couldn't bite me with the frog in his mouth,
I
grabbed him right behind the head, took the frog and put it in my bait
bucket.
Now the dilemma was how to release the snake without getting
bit.
I grabbed my bottle of Jack Daniels and poured a little whiskey in its
mouth.
His eyes rolled back, he went limp, I released him into the woods
without incident,
and carried on my fishing with the frog.
A little later, I felt a nudge on my foot. There was that same snake,
with two frogs in his mouth.
WASHED UP IN A BOTTLE ON THE SEASHORE
New
airline could be registered soonBVI
News Online
BY BVI Correspondent Investors who have applied for
a license to operate a new airline in the British Virgin Islands are
steps closer to obtaining it, ...
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- SUN DAY in the BVI
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sun, 15 Nov 2009 12:01:27 EST
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85 F degrees and loverly. Just a great day for the mermaids to frollick,
the humans to lay at the beach, and us wittle kitties to work on our 17 naps per
day. Very slight winds today, so no need to worry about messing up your hair (or
your fur!)
Just us kitties, trying to stay on top of t'ings until Dear Miss Mermaid gets back
soon. She said something about going to look for her mojo...
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- FRIDAY THE 13th!
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:25:15 EST
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Us kitties still writing the weather reports; whether it's sunny or whether
it's cloudy. It's usually always warm and very rarely ever cold.
Technically speaking, the thing on the wall says it's 85 F degrees and I can see
it's cloudy somewhat. Winds are around 14 mph.
Ooops! Some of you may have noticed we sometimes type "ad" instead of
"and". The "N" is sticky on this laptop.
Just for fun, us cats, painted up cousin Ivory while he was
sleeping.... He keeps going on and on about wanting fresh fish...
Dear Miss Mermaid sent us a message in a bottle we found at the
seashore while cousin Ivory was looking for fish:
It's Friday the 13th and already, the portable table/desk collapsed,
then flipped over and the laptop computer went for a flying lesson, then
crashed rather loudly to the floor, much to my horror!
On the way to the floor, it slammed itself shut and landed upside
down. I guess laptops don't know how to land gently after unscheduled
flights across the room. I let it lay there for a few minutes, waiting for
the BEEP that tells me it has gone to sleep and thus the hard drive is no longer
writing. (It's never good to jiggle around your laptop, while it is writing to
the hard drive!)
It never beeped.
I waved my magic wand over it and said a little prayer for the angels
watching over me.
I picked up the injured laptop and sat it down on another, more sturdier
table. (The low coffee table at my friend's house.)
After passing my magic wand over it again, I carefully opened it up. The
display was covered in dirt, that apparently dislodged from between the typing
keys when it landed upside down. I cleaned all that off, very
carefully. I had no idea so much dirt could be hiding in the
keyboard!
The computer was lit up with about a dozen windows open. The pointer thingy
was frozen in place and would not let me do a thing. I prayed for angels again,
then used the emergency shut-off button.
A few minutes later, 2 more prayers and 3 more passes of the magic wand, I
turned it on and went to make coffee. When I returned, much to my delight, the
computer was working. Then I noticed a button was missing. I crawled around the
floor and eventually found it tucked away safely in a dusty corner. Whew!
I reinstalled the errant button.
I put it on auto-testing, using the Lenovo System Toolbox, and so
far, it passed all the tests.
YIPPEE!!! I owe the angels BIG TIME! Thank you, thank
you! (Now I better backup before anything else goes wrong! Maybe I
should just go back to bed until the 13th...)
BUY
BVI Trade Expo Kicks OffPlatinum News Online
The Multi-Purpose Sports
Complex will be a hub of activities from Friday morning when the
BVI Chamber of Commerce and Hotel Association (BVICCHA) 10th Buy
...
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- On the eve of Friday the 13th
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:14:50 EST
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Another purdy day in paradise! No storms are eyeballing
us yet *whew*. 82 wonderful degrees, slight winds.
Tomorrow is Friday the 13th. Our 3rd and final one for 2009. Not until 2015
will we again see three Friday the 13th's in one year. *whew*
Beware! Some scams, viruses, and junk can sometimes show up on your
computer. So BACKUP now, on the 12th, just in case. Only 49 days until New
Years! WOW!
Friday the 13th occurs when the thirteenth day of a month falls on Friday,
which superstition holds to be a day of good or bad luck. In the Gregorian
calendar, this day occurs at least once, but at most three times a year. Any
month's 13th day will fall on a Friday if the month starts on a Sunday.
Bring some of paradise into your home with one (or several!) of Dear Miss Mermaid's 2010
calendars which are ready to ship worldwide. Four different calendars
are currently available, with a more scheduled to appear soon.
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- Baa or Maa?
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:02:20 EST
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Just another gorgeous day in paradise of 85 degrees and balmy weather in
the BVI.
Dear Miss Mermaid is in the thick of the remnants of IDA in South Carolina.
Us kitties have been left to bang out the "whether" reports (and tell ya
whether it's nice or not). Which by the way, did ya know another name
for a castrated male goat or sheep is "wether"?
We have plenty of goats and sheep in the Virgin Islands. But I
doubt from the way they produce we have any or many wethers. Some
folks look around bewildering when we point out sheep. They think of the
warm fuzzy kind that make woolen clothing and blankets. But here in the
islands, we have sheep that are often mistaken for goats. Not all goats are the
warm ad fuzzy kind.
Goats have 60 chromosomes and sheep only have 54.
But I bet most of you don't bring your chromosome counter on vacation
with you, so you can tell if you're looking at the herd of goats holding up
traffic or a flock of sheep crossing the road.
Another difference between sheep and goats is their foraging behavior and
diet selection. Goats are natural browsers, preferring to eat leaves, twigs,
vines, and shrubs. They are very agile and will stand on their hind legs to
reach vegetation. Sheep are grazers, preferring to eat short, tender grass and
clover. Their dietary preference is forbs (broadleaf weeds) and they like to
graze close to the soil surface. Goats like to eat the tops of plants.
So if you want to clear your overgrown lot, get some of
both!
Sheep say "baa" and goats say "maa". (I swear, I didn't make
this up!)
Start a conversation with the Caprinae in question to determine which
it is.
The easiest way to tell the difference, is to look at their tails. If it's
down, then it's sheep, if it's up then it's a goat.
This is so the sheep and goats can tell themselves apart too.
Ok, so you don't want to get caught talking to goats and sheep...
well. goats have a tail that points up and sheep have a tail that
points down.
Today in the Virgin Islands
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- Two for Tuesday
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:31:02 EST
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Remnants of IDA are scattered far and wide as she dumps loads of rain and
winds on much of the southern USA . Dear Miss Mermaid is
traveling around South Carolina at the moment.
That leaves us poor wittle kitties to type wiff only two paws and put out
these balmy island weather reports.
No purr-icanes here, just another mess north of us, setting its sites on
Bermuda.
We found another silly cat video, more like a mini-soap opera, I would love
to entitle "As
the Tail Turns..." (click to enjoy).
Speaking of soap opera, Cousin Ivory was delivered to our
doorstep by UPS today. He is looking forward to fresh fish ad warmer
weather. We snapped a picture of him upon arrival, (he's so pale, he could
use a good sun tan...)
Silly Ivory, he thought UPS charged by the size of the
box, not by the weight.
He could have traveled in a more spacious
box...
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- Daze Mon... Mon daze?
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Mon, 9 Nov 2009 17:14:34 EST
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Tropical storm IDA continues to approach the Gulf coast. I pray she doesn't
hit, so many folks have not even recovered from Hurricane Katrina of 2005.
It's 82 degrees and overcast, but paradise is till here!
Things in the islands rarely make sense. Such as when calling
the phone company for help, they always tell you to come in person, then
hang up. I once asked them if I could fax them a letter, and they told me they
had no fax machine (and this was before internet!).
Many tourists go out to eat and drink and wonder why when they
are finished, the server, doesn't bring them their tab. That is because you
didn't ask for your tab! Just ask for it and they will eventually bring
it.
People in the islands rarely wear watches. That's because
islanders don't need to know the time. If time is important, then there will be
a clock somewhere. If there isn't, then time isn't important.
Many islanders and West Indians speak a rapid local lingo
that tourists find difficult to understand. When this happens, just say "Please
tell me again slowly; I think slowly!"
There is a truly bad joke going around...
Did you hear about the Caribbean Mafia?
They make you an offer you can't understand!
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- Ongoing Paradise!
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Fri, 6 Nov 2009 08:52:16 EST
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It's a toasty 84 degrees with sunshine and scattered clouds. Slight winds
around 10mph. Another mess rolling off Africa, but nothing to worry yourself
about.
Tropical depression Ida is over in Central America and no threat to the
Virgin Islands.
Below, November 6 at 1315UTC this satellite picture shows the Montserrat
ash plume blowing westward.
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- No hurricanes this week (and no himmacanes either!)
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Tue, 3 Nov 2009 14:13:14 EST
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86 degrees with slight winds.
The Virgin Islands doesn't change time for daylight savings, so now we are
still on Atlantic Standard time, which is now one hour earlier than Eastern
Standard Time. Before the weekend, we were on the same time as Eastern Daylight
Savings Time.
I hope you are not confused! If you are, just call me!
Hurricane season will be over the end of November, though technically
speaking, hurricanes can happen year round, but rarely do.
Ten years ago, in 1999, we had Himmacane Jose in October make a cameo
visit followed by Lefty Lenny in November 1999.
Here's something I wrote after Hurricane Jose left:
Tortola, Thursday Oct. 21, 1999
7:30pm. Atlantic Standard Time
Power was restored at 7pm, but not
cable. I have been unable to pick up
any radio stations except
for AM1000 in St Thomas, where the governor
announced the curfew had been
lifted in the USVI. We are thankful that no
such curfew is enforced
here.
I went for a drive around noon today. The
North side showed an ocean with
huge swells and few white caps, the South
side looked like an angry confused
sea with numerous white caps.
Occasionally the ocean would spit powerfully
across the shore
road. Small bushes and large branches catapulted across
the road,
tumbleweed style. Indeed the gray overcast and lack of people gave
the
island a ghostly look! A backhoe was working, shoving rocks and debris
out of the road.
At Nanny Cay, quite a few boaters
were wandering around in foul weather
gear, checking out their lines and
chafing. All seemed very well, though the
waves crashed over the
breakwater. Most of the docks are the floating kind
and a trip down
A-dock (nearest the sea) was like some sort of amusement
ride.
At one point the winds gusted so hard that folks were clinging to the
pilings until the winds subsided.
At the Plaza, I
stopped in for a burger and a coke. One patron ordered
his food, then
took off to check on his boat. They were quite miffed that
his food
was ready before he returned. As the cook explained "I am in the
dark
back there cooking by gas, I got no microwave to reheat this food!"
Without having a clue where the storm is now, it appears
to be anywhere
but here. I will try to log onto the Internet and see
what the latest update
is.
P.S.
Tortola, Thursday Oct. 21, 1999
8pm. Atlantic Standard Time In my earlier report I forgot to include the sensationalism! ONE boat in
the Nanny Cay boat yard had fallen over, a ketch around 40'. The gates were
locked and the wind was howling and I was too lazy to trudge through the mud
to see the name of her. It didn't appear she had any damage and only four of
the eight props holding her up appeared to have had chains. Perhaps this was
a "human" error rather than a storm casualty. I am sure the diligent yard
manger will be quite embarrassed to find this out.
Otherwise the yard looked find, though those with tarps were sporting a
shredded look about them. The St Thomas airport has reopened though no
commercial flights have been announced. I do not know if the Beef Island
airport is open or not. All the ferries were tucked away, several in the
mangroves at Nanny Cay.
Tomorrow, is Friday and I suppose a semblance of normalcy will return to
the island, though we are sure to hear "himmacane Jose" as an excuse for any
and everything not working right, including those with hurricane hangovers
(giggle!)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(\_~~~~~~~~~(\_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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- twick or tweat
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sun, 1 Nov 2009 13:37:15 EST
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twick or tweat
smell my feet
gimme some t'ing good to eat!
Do they hand out tuna on Halloween? Mermaids and cats love tuna!
81 degrees, moderate winds and no storms near us (yet!)
da best place to be on a weekend is at da beach in the
Virgin Islands
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- On the Eve of Halloween!
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:56:04 EDT
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88 degrees and a tad cloudy. Remember, the Virgin Islands are on
Atlantic standard time, year round, so there won't be any foolishness of
changing clocks this weekend, in spite of the fact much of the rest of the world
will be changing their clocks around (to confuse the rest of us!)
By the way, we lazy cats have been reminded more than once by recent
emails, that we skip a day here and there. Well what with our 17 naps per day
and trying to type with two paws and no thumbs, it's a wonder we get a thing
done at all! Then there are mice to chase and rats to slay, and being
haughty to the neighborhood dawgs...
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- 33 more days of hurricane season
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:42:35 EDT
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Warm and sunny. Dat mermaid still on walkabout!
A group of former passengers of Windjammer Barefoot Cruises have found
a way to satisfy their love of tall ship sailing -- they've founded their own
cruise line and named it Island Windjammers,
Inc.
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- 4 days before the Great Pumpkin arrives...
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:43:46 EDT
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89 degrees and moderate winds. Halloween is just aroud the corner.
It's not really celebrated in the islands, though sometimes the orange and black
candy arrives just before Christmas on our shopping shelves.
Then around Valetine's Day we are treated to chocolate Santa's.
Easter arrives with shelves of heart shaped candy. By the time Mother's
Day arrives we can buy her bunnies and chocolate eggs. Such is the fate of candy
sales in the islands...
And now for my truly bad jokes...
What did one ghost say to another ghost?
Do you really believe in people?
What do Skeletons say before eating?
Bone Appetite.
What do blondes and Jack-O-Lanterns have in common?
Both have blank expressions and are hollow inside.
Q.What did the skeleton say to the vampire?
A.You suck!
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- 36 more days of hurricane season
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Mon, 26 Oct 2009 11:13:50 EDT
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Another great day in paradise, at least for us cats. It's 85 degrees with
slight winds of around 10 knots. The volcano ash
should go south of us. Hurricane Hole St John in the foreground and Tortola in the
background
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- 37 more days of Hurricane Season in the Virgin Islands
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sat, 24 Oct 2009 18:47:48 EDT
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84 degrees, slight winds, gorgeous day. The volcanic ash seems to be going
south of us somewhat.
Just us goofy cats here to write the reports while Dear Miss Mermaid does
heavens-knows-what and leaves us in the company of friends.
*Tee hee* We found her camera and climbed up the flamboyant
tree to get this picture for ya!
Sunset, West End, Tortola
British Virgin Islands
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- volcanic ash
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:35:27 EDT
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Oooops! Dear Miss Mermaid went on walk about ad left us poor
cats in charge of reporting the weather and island tails...
No purr-icanes on the fur-izon. Just that volcano dust *cough cough
cough*
85 degrees and dusty!
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- Wednesday
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:50:50 EDT
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Better late than never... Just paradise every day...
Living in a home with 17 windows, of which 16 remain open nearly 24/7 and
despite the screens, dust seems to cover everything daily. Either the Sahara is
blowing over, or the neighbor is jack hammering up fine particles of concrete
dust or Soufriere Hills has blown her top in Montserrat. Add to that the salty
air and general dust from around the island and sooner rather than later,
everything is dusty. *Cough cough*
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- Go Outside in the Dark Toight
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:53:56 EDT
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See the meteor shower
toight!
More info:
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- Day 142 of Hurricane Season
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:36:34 EDT
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Another mess awaits us on the horizon, hopefully it's just the last hurrah
and then the fat lady sings and we are done for the season.
87 degrees, scattered clouds, slight winds around 10mph, just an all
around great day.
Today's Sea Shanty
There was a gay young
farmer,
Who liv'd on Salisbury plain;
He lov'd a rich Knight's daughter
dear!
And she lov'd him again.
The Knight he was distressed,
That
they should sweethearts be.
So he had the farmer soon pressed,
And sent
him off to sea.
Singing Rule Britannia,
Britannia rules the
waves
Britons never, never, never shall be slaves...
'Twas on the deep
Atlantic,
Midst Equinoctial gales;
This young farmer fell
overboard
Among the sharks and whales;
He disappeared so quickly,
So
headlong down went he,
That he went out of sight
Like a streak of
light
To the bottom of the deep blue sea.
Singing Rule
Britannia,
Britannia rules the waves
Britons never, never, never shall
be slaves...
We lowered a boat to find
him,
We thought to see his corse,
When up to the top he came with a
bang,
And sang in a voice so hoarse,
'My comrades and my
messmates,
Oh, do not weep for me,
For I'm married to a mermaid,
At
the bottom of the deep blue sea.'
Singing Rule Britannia,
Britannia
rules the waves
Britons never, never, never shall be
slaves...
He said that as he went
down,
Great fishes he did see;
They seemed to think as he did
wink,
That he was rather free.
But down he went so quickly,
Saying,
''Tis all up with me,'
When he met a lovely mermaid
At the bottom of the
deep blue sea.
Singing Rule Britannia,
Britannia rules the
waves
Britons never, never, never shall be slaves...
She came at once unto
him,
And gave him her white hand,
Saying, 'I have waited long, my
dear,
To welcome you to land.
Go to your ship and tell them,
You'll
leave them all for me;
For you're married to a mermaid
At the bottom of
the deep blue sea.'
Singing Rule Britannia,
Britannia rules the
waves
Britons never, never, never shall be slaves...
The wind was fair, the sails
set,
The ship was running free;
When we all went to the captain
bold,
And told what we did see.
He went unto the ship's side,
And
loudly bellowed he,
'Be happy as you can, my man,
At the bottom of the
deep blue sea.'
Singing Rule Britannia,
Britannia rules the
waves
Britons never, never, never shall be slaves..
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- Mon Daze
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:38:17 EDT
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Wonderful weather, perfect for a vacation. The heat wave is finally gone,
for good we hope. Bye bye heat wave! No storms on the horizon, what a
relief there.
Temperature is a typical 86 and wind speeds around 15, just perfect for
sailing.
Found in a bottle washed ashore:
best cam in the BVI is the Saba Rock web
cam
For those of you who like to jump rope for exercise, here is a jump rope
rhyme:
A
sailor went to sea sea sea
To see what he could see see see
But all that he could see see see
Was the bottom of the deep blue sea sea
sea
OK If you don't like to jump rope, you can just
clap your hands.
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- Yahoo it's the weekend already!
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sat, 17 Oct 2009 13:42:08 EDT
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Another great day in paradise, come on down, let's go sailing! NO
storms or hurricanes to worry about, we are about to finish the season free of
both!
Romantic Sunset in the BVI
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- Hurry before the inernet crashes
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:07:31 EDT
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Another glorious day in paradise. Thank goodness the heat wave has finally
left and t'ings be back to normal mon. Just summery warmth with scattered
showers.
~~~~~~~~~~~
My internet is on the fritz again, nothing new there, now is there?
The signal strength goes up and down more often than the stock market.
I had to stop by the hospital recently. It was fun to see my old cronies,
the long term patients that are still there and to see the staff. For my
favorite friend, stuck there for over a year now, I snuck in a coveted
treat, in the form of cashew nuts, which they dearly love, and for some
reason the staff doesn't want them to have. But seeing that the hospital's idea
of basic nutrition is practically non-existent, and my friend is an adult, I see
no harm in treating them to their favorite food.
For good measure I hid the bag of locally grown cashews in an empty box of
laxative suppositories. My friend had a good laugh about
that!
The new hospital building looks no closer to completion than it did before.
Not sure what is going on with that, but whenever government is involved, you
can be sure of long lengthy delays. *sigh* Maybe they need a box of
laxative suppositories to speed things up too!
~~~~~~~~~~~
Here is the Sir Francis Drake channel with only two boats, but soon that
will change and it will be busy with all manner of boats, yachts and ships.
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- Thursday all ready!
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 15 Oct 2009 11:51:39 EDT
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The recent rains out east have been a welcome relief for the cisterns. That
awful oppressive humidity is finally gone and the islands are swinging into
winter season with perfect tropical weather. Still 46 more days left in
hurricane season, but so far, 84 degrees, and some mess rolling off Africa, but
no worries at this time.
Every little t'ing gonna be all right!
Parrot in Paradise
When I first sailed into Sopers Hole in West End Tortola, back
in the 80's, I ended up at a dock near the recently opened
Pussers on Frenchmans Cay. It was actually located east of it's current
location. There are shops now where it used to be. Pussers was
much smaller and had this gorgeous antique pub bar that had been
shipped over from the British Isles. It was truly stunning and gave the
small place tons of character.
Early one morning, at daybreak, I was having espresso in
my cockpit, leisurely greeting the day, when I heard this child yelling
"Help! Help! Help!" It was loud and sounded rather needy.
I scrambled off my boat and frantically ran towards the sound of
the "Help! Help! Help!" No one else was in sight, the other
boats were without crew and closed up. I seemed to be the only would-be rescuer.
Arriving out of breath, I found myself eye to eye with a
talking parrot in a large cage under cover of the open air bar.
I eyeballed him, while checking the surroundings, my
ears on high alert for the next "Help! Help! Help!" . The
parrot stared at me, and folded his head over on his shoulder, looking at
me first sideways then upside down. He cooed ad chuckled.
I looked around for a child in distress and all was silent.
That's when I noticed the lovely old pub bar and I walked away from the parrot
to study the bar, wandering what had happened to the distressed child and where
he was. The bar was close to the old dock's edge, so I studied the waters, which
back then were crystal clear to about 30 feet below. (Some days it still
is!)
I could see no tiny body above, on or under the sea.
A few seconds later, I hear "Help! Help!
Help!" behind me and I whip around wandering why this sounds so close and
yet not a child in sight.
I walked back to the bird cage.
It was the parrot.
He was lonesome and had apparently discovered that whenever he
yelled "Help! Help! Help!" someone would come running to keep
him company. I told him he was a bad bird and went back to
my cockpit and coffee.
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- Happy Wednesday
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:35:19 EDT
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Nothing much happening on the horizon. Temperatures at 86 degrees.
Just another wonderful day in paradise with the typical chance of brief
scattered rain showers.
Webcams in the BVI are becoming far and few! The one at Heritage
Inn doesn't work. Most of the Nanny Cay webcams are gone, though a few
remain such as the fuel dock, but the bar
cam has been down since August.
The webcam at Anegada is out until November. The Soggy
Dollar on Jost Van Dyke "be limin". Cooper Island hasn't
updated since July 20th.
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- day 133 of hurricane season
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sun, 11 Oct 2009 11:14:50 EDT
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Weather is perfect, no storms, nothing much to report, just glorious
tropical weather.
You may have noticed I've taken a hiatus from daily writing. I will
return shortly and more regularly. Sometimes things just spin out of control and
writing suddenly takes a backseat, where usually, it consumes much of my
day!
Peace and love, we all need more of dat!
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- Nuttin' to worry about....
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Fri, 9 Oct 2009 07:15:40 EDT
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Henri come lately... Hurricane season isn't over until the fat
lady sings. Currently we have tropical depression Henri who has
degraded to a remnant low. Well that's good news. It wouldn't do for Henri to
become a hurricane or a himmacane. With a name like that, is HE really a Henri
or merely a shortened version of Henritetta? Either way, we are glad IT is
gone!
All is well and gorgeous, sun came up and everything!
Mo' later...
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- Tropical Storm Grace
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Mon, 5 Oct 2009 11:05:19 EDT
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I'm afraid I've been under the weather, rather than on top of
it! Sorry about that.
We have Tropical Storm Grace out in the northeast Atlantic and no threat to
us at this time. She does have winds of 70mph, so I hope the little sailboats
out there, know about her. Incredibly, she is racing north-northeastward towards
the British Isles (UK) and the Azores. Good grief...
However, east of the islands, a BIG tropical wave is headed our way and
certainly bares watching.
ROLLED UP ON THE SEASHORE IN A BOTTLE:
Dear Miss Mermaid,
You worry me so! It
has been a while since I visited you site, end of season and personal
exhaustion. We all have life trauma's. All I think about when in
doubt is getting back to the Caribbean. Funny as I live in a gorgeous area
in touristville and people always say " oh to live here" Which is
true. BUT! We make our living in 4 months! Then lose money the
rest of the year. Then I think, oh poor missmermaid has the opposite
season to us. Winter is dark for us, but to missmermaid is the time for
the Caribbean. Everyone wants to escape de snow for de sunshine. ( Me
included) But what economic time that be, it be hard to go anywhere. Then
poor missmermaid she get sick. Then we all worry about her.
What do we do wid out her, eh? So we all wish for de lottery so we can be
independent and help de poor mermaid. But no lottery come, so hurry wid
the new book so we can be buying it. I always buy thru Amazon thru you and
anyting else that will help..... We is all in this together. Take
care of yourself, I worry so. Hope to meet you soon. Love Kelly
the northern Good Fairy!
Aw, that is such a NICE letter! THANK YOU so much and I shall work
feverishly towards the next book and let you know the minute it comes available.
And Yet Another Message in a Bottle Washed Up!
|
I just realized how
"hooked " I am on your Storm Carib and
MissMermaid
blogs....
It has been longer than usual
for your inetersting views on island life.
I hope all is well........and
you are having a well deserved rest from the computer and other taxing
matters........
Barbara from
Connecticut
I skipped a few days, for
complicated reasons and I was just well, um under the weather instead of
on top of it! |
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- Wednesday
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 30 Sep 2009 06:55:06 EDT
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That dirty haze we've been having is reported to be pollution! No
idea where from. The humidity is high for this time of year, we hope it will go
away soon and we get to enjoy some relief. My clothes are just soaked every day.
Better to be out on a boat than inland these days. Or better yet, in the
water, cooling off!
86 degrees and not much in winds today.
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- Beautiful Sunset
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Mon, 28 Sep 2009 09:24:22 EDT
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Monday made it here on time. Cloudy overcast skies and humidity indicate
rains on the way, just scattered showers. 86 degrees and a tad breezy.
FOUND IN A FRENCH WINE BOTTLE ON THE SEASHORE...
I'm not a Dr either but
let's get practical! When was the last time you had your cholesterol,
blood counts and your blood pressure checked? Routine for any person
of your age which I suspect falls within the range where such checks are
eminently sensible.............. annually as a minimum, and then as necessary.
If chanting, staring at the moon and/or your navel, makes you feel better then
go on doing it, but for god's sake don't rely on any of those silly mindgames of
which so many of your fellow citizens are susceptible............and that
includes
praying!
Surprising.........but there's no thing as a 'miracle'!
May your god go with
you.
'Luv
Frenchie
Well, I was a guinea pig in the
hospital. They ran blood tests often and did all the counts. I'm extremely
lucky, I've always had normal blood pressure, a bit on the low side, but nothing
to worry about. My cholesterol is low due to my small meat intake. I eat
mostly vegetarian with some meat thrown in once in awhile.
Chanting really works, calms me
down, helps me focus on mind over matter. The brain is a powerful tool. Chanting
and self hypnosis do work. I trained with a hypnotist to do self-hypnosis. He
moved away to find better business elsewhere. But he was fully trained with his
doctorate in hypnotism. I often fall asleep silently chanting to get well, to be
stronger, but obviously I should do this more often!
Yes, there are miracles. It's a
miracle I'm alive! I've had so many near misses, I must have 9 lives
like a cat. There are also angels and devils. The angels keep coming to my
rescue, so they are busy indeed. My landlord's rental
agent is possessed by the devil. Meanest witch I ever met.
Soon, I am going to rest up and
stop all this foolishness for a while. Just get well, then return to working.
Sounds like a plan, eh?
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- Sunday is Here and it's Sunny too!
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sun, 27 Sep 2009 08:41:49 EDT
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Sunday awoke with blue skies dotted with puffy white clouds, still 86
degrees near sea level with slight to moderate winds, but not enough to ward off
the humidity, or maybe it's just me, a mermaid, feeling clammy...
Tropical depression 8 had a short lived history of barely 24 hours, but now
is referred to as remnants of tropical depression 8, which is disorganized with
some showers and thunder storms and tame winds for very brisk sailing. It's in
the middle of the Atlantic, almost due east of us, and no threat to us
anytime soon.
From the Seashore, Washed up in a Tums Bottle:
Dear Miss Mermaid,
I was reading your blog on the carib site. I
wouldn't want to scare you and I am no doctor but, the fact that you tire out
so fast coupled with the heartburn and belching might be cause for concern. I
suggest that just to be on the safe side you might want to consider
seeing a doctor as soon as you are able. Again probably nothing but......./ I
do enjoy reading your blogs and would hate to hear something happened to
you.
Thanks
Ron B.
Thank you for your concern, I will seek alternative advice soon. I
mentioned it to the doctor last time I saw her, and she didn't seem overly
concerned and kept telling me to rest more and stop overdoing it! Well,
the resting part is hard, with so much to be done. But soon, I may just have
to stop all this craziness and seriously rest and heal.
I've been under a ton of stress, not good at all, what with my landlord's
agent harassing me and dragging me through court with a pricey attorney to
represent me. She wanted increased rent or eviction. (I've not even lived in
the place 2 years and a huge rent increase already?) Luckily I won (Friday)
and they have to pay my legal fees. But still, the entire drama took
it's toll on me and adversely affected my health and well being. Now I find
myself living in a hostile situation, not good at all either.
Maybe there is this "need" for me to get so much done NOW, in case
my days turn out to be shorter than I had hoped for. But I think of each day
as a glorious gift and strive to enjoy it, staying very busy.
When I suddenly feel awful and often very scared, I tend to chant to
myself various things including "I am strong, I will overcome this!"
Maybe one day, I have to consider the possible reality that
mermaids may not last forever.
A big hug and a very grateful thank you for reading
my daily posts! It's readers like you
that keep me writing daily, no matter how I feel. ~~~~~~~~~~~~
Inquiring Minds Want to Know...
YES, volume II of "Hurricanes and Hangovers", is on the way, though
that might not be the final title. I've been furiously working on it in
hopes of completion soon. Then the editor gets a hold of it and the slicing,
dicing, and reworking begins. Then there is cover design, typesetting
and finally it goes to print. No date yet, but I will keep you posted
here and on the other blog.
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- SaturDaze
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sat, 26 Sep 2009 21:05:02 EDT
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Tropical Depression 8 which was born at 5pm on Friday September 25 was
downgraded back to a tropical wave by 5pm Saturday.
I think I missed a day here somewhere. I have loads to do lately, but
I tire out so fast, like my wind-up handle unwound completely. I feel like a
cat, I have to suddenly nap. I just wish I could wake up the way my cats do,
with a sudden start and a run. They are the only creatures that do that.
Now it's dark thirty and I got some fantastic pictures tonight before the
sun set. Problem is I need to find my camera download cord. My office is under
renovation and relocation, so finding things is a challenge as I learn the new
non-system.
It was 86 degrees and hot in the BVI. The humidity seems
bad lately, but only on certain parts of the island.
Lots of hot humid HOT AIR in the capital; Road Town.
I tried to wash my car in full sun, and even though I kept drenching
myself down with the water hose, I still kept taking refuge inside, thoroughly
drained. Then I ran out of paper towels while doing the windows and tried to
finish up with a Handi Wipe, a thin towel thingy, you buy and use for awhile
then toss when it wears out.
I emptied out the jeep then put back all the useful stuff. It's amazing
what was stashed in my heap (I mean jeep!) It was like opening grandma's
trunk. I drive like I am in the bush and carry loads of accoutrements such
as bottles of assorted liquid; engine oil, brake fluid, anti-freeze,
Water-Zorb, Windex, 2 cans of Fix-A-Flat, a bottle of water (in case you
have to hike somewhere) a modest tool kit, a tire pressure gage, a flare, pen,
paper, a tire repair kit, jumper cables, (though a little push or hill will
jump start the jeep.) It all filled up a plastic milk crate along with the
rubber gloves. I know laugh, but why ruin your hands just because you have to do
something dirty.
(Did that come out right?) *tee hee hee*
I thought the windows looked beautiful, but later when the water had dried,
outside and my Handi Wipe swipes dried on the inside, well the windows
didn't look so clean after all. *sigh* But overall, the jeep looked nice
again and it rode high on the road, proud to be clean and pretty again.
The crickets and tree frogs are singing up the leaves tonight, must be
mating season as they woo their lovers.
I have the worst case of heartburn. Yuck. I am drinking room temperature
Club Soda and burping now and then. What fun!
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- Friday already? WOW! I need a longer calendar!
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2009 08:12:52 EDT
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Another gorgeous day in paradise! 86 degrees again. Summer has
decided to linger on a few more weeks before it starts to cool down more at
night. Already humid this mornign and very little wind.
Nothing happening for us to worry about YET. The skies are so blue today,
we may not even get our obligatory rain shower.
That tropical depression off the Cape Verde islands is looking like it
wants to form into something. So that may need watching more, as the weekend
progresses.
Another tropical wave well south of us, so the southern islands may getting
wet.
>"."."<
My cats are outdoors now almost 24/7. Maybe they are building a fort
in the woods near us.
However, "dated" turkey coldcuts were on sale at the store and selling for
cheaper than cat food. So I grabbed a stack of the stuff. Cats won't eat bad
meat anyhow, and often the stuff is good way past the sell date.
Oh my gosh, they LOVE turkey. They ate some this morning, then cried rather
loudly for more, totally ignoring the dry food dish. Now how do they KNOW
there is more in the refrigerator?
Furthermore, I had to take one of the brothers to the vet and he weighed an
astonishing 11 pounds. Last time he went to the vet he was a sleek 9 pounds. I
looked him up and down and felt around him all over, and it must be all muscle
cause he is lean and trim. Maybe he has gold hidden in a fake leg or
something. I don't see how such a diminutive cat can pack away 11 pounds. Maybe
the vet lied about her won weight. She weighed herself, then weighed
herself holding the cat.
He doesn't like to be held, Mr Independent, but he did indulge her. She
managed to stay under the 30 second limit. Usually when folks grab him up, we
can time it and within 30 seconds he does acrobats and escapes. Then he gives
himself a shake, like his fur has been insulted to be held so long. Must be the
feral in him. He is tame now, but the fwild brothers never liked being
held. They love to lay beside me or sit beside me, but not on my lap and
not in my arms. *sigh*
The one that went to the vet, is now punishing me, by refusing to come when
he is called. Since his brother was getting a 3rd helping of turkey, I
called him to come get his and he didn't show, so the remaining piglet ate it
all and is now happily grooming himself in the cool corner.
Buy more books *giggle*. I just saw my hospital bill.
YIKES!
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- Thursday already
|
- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 24 Sep 2009 10:14:13 EDT
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Very summery here at 87 degrees and hot. No winter yet. It fooled us
the other day when it cooled down some. I was all over the island yesterday and
it was hotter than a billy goat in a pepper patch.
We have a tropical wave located near the Cape Verde islands, that is
disorganized, but still worth watching.
I had to take my cat to the vet. I threw a homemade catnip toy
into the carrier, then stuffed him in. He sang along the way, not like him,
usually he rides quietly. When we arrived, another cat was yowling and hissing
and not at all happy with whatever procedure they were doing to him. That shut
my cat up. He curled up into a tight ball in the corner of his carrier.
I rubbed the side of the carrier to try to comfort him. Finally
it was his turn. We had to pull him out of the carrier, he wouldn't come out on
his own He was quite content to hide in a tiny tight ball of fur in the far
corner.
The vet took his temperature and he refused to say a word. She
gave him 3 shots and he just sat there, didn't even flinch. Very stoic cat. She
popped a pill down him and he didn't like that, cause he is used to me gently
giving him a pill, which he doesn't really fight. By now he had managed to
shed a fair amount of fur, though silently.
Finally it was time for him to get back in his carrier and he
was thrilled when we got back in the heap of a jeep and came back home. I
brought him inside and fed him some tuna. I fetched his untouched catnip toy out
of the carrier and tossed it at him .Surprisingly, he now found it endlessly
fascinating and laid in the floor playing with it. I guess he forgave me
after all.
That evening, an old friend, our former neighbor dropped by. She
had not been over since we moved. Both cats remembered her and talked to her
endlessly while circling her like little sharks with tails straight in the air.
The one that had been to the vet, talked at length and she said WOW he sure has
a lot to say. I explained he was telling her what a meanie I was to take him to
the vet.
Both cats went outside. The next morning only one showed up for
breakfast, the one that went to the vet was no where to be found. It's not like
him to miss breakfast at all! Usually when my feet hit the floor, they are
lined up at the feed bowls, chatting me up until I open a can or proffer some
tuna.
I fed the lone cat and dashed off for town. Later that
afternoon, when I came home the other cat warmly greeted me as if missing
breakfast was no big deal, but I bet he did it to "punish" me.
I did manage to get him to lay down with me for a nap and I
rubbed him all over, especially his belly, which he purred on about. Maybe he
has forgiven me.
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- scattered rains
|
- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:27:13 EDT
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It hasn't rained out west, but reports from other parts of Tortola that it
has rained a good bit. Just overcast and super summery here. I guess winter went
back into hiding. It did rumble and mumble a good bit, even now I hear more
thunder, or is that someone's new car speakers?
The guys around here like to put in stereo systems worth more than their
old cars. Sometimes the extra equipment fills up the entire trunk and the
back seat too. They blast out the neighborhood.
I was sitting at the ferry dock, waiting n the ferry. I sat down next to an
elderly lady. She was reading and I was just watching the views.
Then this car drove up with super loud speakers and the driver got out and
left his music blasting at near ear splitting volume. The lady looked up from
her reading annoyed. I announced rather loudly "The entertainment has
arrived!" We laughed about it. But it was another ten minutes before the
guy returned to his car and drove away. I guess he didn't want to interrupt his
music while running his errands.
86 degrees, hot and humid. My cats are lazily snoozing, their favorite
thing to do in the heat of the day.
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- Argh! Day 113 of hurricane season
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Mon, 21 Sep 2009 08:06:43 EDT
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It is 84 degrees today! Lawdy mercy, WINTER is on the way! I
thought my thermometer was stuck on 86, but no, it moved, finally. So the
seasons are changing here. Winds are slight, seas are calm, skies are
undecided. I can feel a scattered shower or two or three in mind for us in
the BVI today.
No storms to worry about for now. The former Fred seems to have
disintergrated into nothing much and Grace appears too shy, to make an
appearance.
Argh matey! Sorry I didn't see this sooner! It was brought to my
attention by that wonderful skallywag of a webmaster for StormCarib.com, Gert
himself!
Read closely, you bilge sucking rats. Have a good google me
hearties! Argh! I mean a good giggle!
Cats, ready to pounce and loot the photographer's gold and
tuna!
Picture courtesy of Janet S.
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- Sundaze
|
- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sun, 20 Sep 2009 11:33:46 EDT
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A bit overcast today in the BVI. It's 86 degrees and overcast with
flat seas and mild tradewinds. Remnants of Fred is still farting around,
northwest of the Bahamas (1) but not expected to do much.
A board area of low pressure (2) is about a thousand miles east of the BVI.
It remains poorly organized but well worth watching in case it becomes our last
hurrah.
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- Talk Like A Pirate Day is Here
|
- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sat, 19 Sep 2009 12:23:39 EDT
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Ahoy you rum swilling scurvy bag o' rags! It's talk like a pirate
day. We have 86 degrees and intermittent scattered rain showers. No storms on
the horizon, I know I looked through me spyglass. Remnants of Fred still
linger about, like an old tired lover you want rid of, but they just won't go
away.
Nearly every island here has a hill named Spy Glass Hill. I see two
more messes rolling off Africa, so what else is new this time of year.
I was supposed to go off island today, but the weather looked all wrong for
messin' about in boats, so I stayed put, and fell back asleep. So glad I did as
it's been raining off and on with more frequent showers.
Argh! Go forth, ye bilge sucking rats, and talk like a pirate today,
September 19th!
Keep tossing those messages!
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- Argh! A glorious day to be lootin'
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2009 10:08:51 EDT
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Ahoy mateys! It's 86 degrees accordin' to the newfangled thermometer.
I'm lootin and plunderin' in the BVI waters. Thinking of pirating me a
new ship real soon here, me hearties. And not some old rustbucket
popping rivets. And not some old wooden t'ing explodin' timbers.
Beautiful baby blue skies, with fair weather winds, a grand day to be a
buckaneer.
I had always hoped in the BVI for more themed fun bars. Such as one where
you dress up like a pirate and all the staff dresses like pirates. You
could talk like a pirate and have bucket fulls of fun.
Fun is what life is about; isn't it? Of did I go wrong
somewhere?
Anyhow, you ol' skallywags, I got better t'ings to do than to be yammerin'
here with the likes of you scurvy rum swaggerin' excuses for privateers.
If you need to be shoppin' for your pirate garb and accoutrements and
entrapments, then you best be checkin' out
this link too.
Ok me unfit hearties, I'm off to battle the hooligans, fight the
freebooters, and liberate some gold.
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I made my
FIRST movie. It's very short, about 2 minutes long with music too.
Guaranteed to make you smile and feel relaxed again. It's aptly names,
Shh... We're Sleeping... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rolled up in a wine bottle on the
seashore: Message in a bottle:
Dearest Miss Mermaid,
There is
hope in the wind! I have found cheaper passage to the BVI. My
daughter found an airline from Detroit to St. Thomas, something called Spirit
Airline. Now no promises. But I am hoping to be able to finally camp at
the Ivan's stress free bar and campground, perhaps the latter part of
February. The only concern I have is that I have had to go gluten
free. Sigh, so I need to bring food with me.
No need to bring it with you. Gluten free
stuff is available here and you place your order with Bobby's Supermarket or
one of the stores here in advance, you can get gluten free products. I've seen
various ones, and I used to be a chef and have to shop for special diets. The
more advance notice you give the store, the more likelihood they will just have
what you want and they deliver for free too. Bobby's even delivered to me in the
hospital one day!
They brought me apple juice, yogurt,
bananas, crackers, cookies, a hot meal from their lunch counter and some
other odds and ends I ordered. I tried to tip the driver, and he said he
wouldn't dare take a tip from me being in the hospital and all. That was super
nice of him. When I first came home, I emailed them a list of groceries
and they ran it out the same day.
Also, there is a health food store at the
round about in town, at the big building, who's name I forget, but one of the
stores inside is called Nature's
Way. There is their website, talk to them in advance and find out what they
have gluten free.
This might help you out, and you won't have
to lug it down with you.
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- Chumbucket
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 17 Sep 2009 07:45:23 EDT
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Another drop dead gorgeous day in paradise. 86 degrees with smiley rain
clouds on me weather clock, which typically means a scattered shower of short
duration may be in our future.
Waters are calm and winds are slight, you could go to weather in a sailboat
with the aid of the iron sail and get there very dry. (In other words motor
upwind!)
Remnants of Fred are 450 miles northeast of us, he is rumbling around with
disorganized showers and thunderstorms. Slight chance he will regenerate, yet he
hasn't totally dissolved into nothingness either.
Today in history, 1989, hurricane Hugo hit the Caribbean and nearly
devastated St Croix and St Thomas, ripping off roofs, destroying homes and
denuding the foliage.
Just before the hurricane, I set sail for Maine in a doomed gaff rigged
sailboat. Due to troubles and complications, we made an
unscheduled stop in Charleston South Carolina where we deposited the owner
ashore and continued our trip without him. We heard in horror on the news, of
all the numerous damages in the Virgin Islands. Phones were down and I was
unable to contact my then boyfriend to learn the fate of our floating home.
(Later I found out it vanished during the storm, never to be seen again.)
The owner from Maine, had bought this rust bucket, sight unseen.
He had never sailed offshore and often had major panic attacks in route. The
captain and I, continued at sea without him, but the boat produced more problems
and we too, turned tail, went back to Charleston for the second time, then
motored up the intra coastal waterway.
I had a blast, enjoying the unique sights and mostly gorgeous scenery,
while the captain continually grumbled. As we crossed the Chesapeake Bay,
we heard Hugo had hit South Carolina's shores, destroying much of the beauty we
had just passed through.
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Rolled up on the seashore in a Cruzan Rum Bottle:
Just wanted to drop a note to say, fine posting on the stormcarib blog.
As an accidental co-founder of International Talk Like a Pirate
Day, it
makes me old heart proud to see the idea spreadin' so far
and wide!
And, as a family that moved to St. Croix from Oregon over a
year ago
now, I want to add that from June 1 through Nov. 30 we keep on eye
on
stormcarib.com religiously. First
site we go to in the morning, and
when things are looking interesting (like
when Bill sorta stumbled by)
we check back several times a day. Our Web
Wench suggests you take as
your new motto – "Keepin' the Chumbucket Clan
Safe Since 2008!" Has a
ring to it, it does.
Keep up the good
work!
John "Ol' Chumbucket"
http://www.talklikeapirate.comInternational
Talk Like a Pirate Day – Celebrated every Sept. 19 all
around the
world!
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Argh, me hearties! Thanks for the good words!  The rest of you scallywags
need to listen up, and practice your speech for talk like a pirate day.
Other wise, ya bilge sucking rats could end up walking the plank. Ho ho
ho!
If ya can't yammer like a pirate, thens least you can do is shut up and
dress like one, with a parrot on your shoulder, an eye path over ya peeper
and saw off ya leg and use a timber for a peg leg. Argh!
Keepin Chumbucket safe, since 2008!
Ho ho ho and a bottle o' rum!
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Even older reports from the BVI have been moved to another page.
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