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For the most recent reports from the BVI see this page.
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- Earthquake close by
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Sun, 23 Jan 2011 05:23:11 -0800 (PST)
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Good Morning,
Here's a web site that gives the location to the
earthquake that we felt yesterday.
No aftershocks or other tremors that I can
report.
All is good and very quiet.
This morning we continue to have peek a boo sunshine, winds are up and there is haze as I look out across the channel, we could be having an inversion layer going on however looking at the Sahara dust map we actually have a bit of Sahara dust happening. 
I see that there are a few sailboats out enjoying the breezes which are at 10 mph SSE, temperature is 81 degrees we are expecting to top out at 84 degrees, and seas are 3-5 feet.
Yesterdays guess your best picture, which I know I didn't get many clues, was from Scrub island. Had a lovely day over there with a friend, read by the pool while waiting for the restaurant to open for lunch. The restaurant had a pretty classic American type of food. My friend had a huge burger that was really good, the first for the year! 
I had a crab cake sandwich and that too was tasty.  There where a few large yachts in the marina and a few smaller boats as well. Our humble dingy looked out of place but it was still a fun day checking out a new place.
Have a fun Sunday where ever you may be. For those of you anywhere that is cold, come down to the BVI we would love to have you feel our warm breezes, and have the trade winds fill your sails until then......
Cheers!
the Mermaid Gardener
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- OMG the Russians are coming! I'm shaking in my flip flops!
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2011 11:01:49 -0800 (PST)
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Good Afternoon I'm laughing out loud thinking of
the Movie "The Russian's are Coming, The Russian's are coming!"
"Emergency, Everyone to get from street!" That is
what is ringing in my ears after sighting again the "A" mega yacht off shore way
in the distance from Marina Cay.
Here's a good web site to check out this yacht.
http://www.yacht-sea.net/mega-yacht-profiles/a.html.
Have had several readers write me about the Russian
sub looking cruiser, as well as Dear Miss Mermaid also wrote earlier
about the sighting.
I think we can safely say that there
is no invasion.
It is fun to see these ships, boats, yachts and flags
from other parts of the world enjoying our Caribbean waters.
Was able to get over to a new place that I have not ever
been to...can you my location guess?
FYI the earthquake I felt was a 3.58 magnitude on
the Richter scale. Still feel my flip flops a shakin!!! Just
kidding. Here's the disaster management's web site if you would like to
check it out.
Sail safe and enjoy the day!
the Mermaid Gardener
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- The ground was a shakin!
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2011 07:17:20 -0800 (PST)
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Good Morning!!
Just felt an Earthquake! It was very subtle and more like a tremor, not that I'm experienced in earthquakes since this was the first one that I actually saw and felt my house shake. My glass table shook and I thought now that's wierd! All my workers that have been doing some projects for me came down and asked me if I felt it. I'm thinking YIKES get under the doorway!! Guess it's time to reread the earthquake awareness web site.
Today is a peek a boo sunshine kind of day. Winds are still up quite a bit and seas look to be 6 feet or so.
Have a great non shakin afternoon!
the Mermaid Gardener
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- Motor Yacht "A" in the BVI
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2011 21:30:51 EST
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Washed up ashore, message in a bottle from a gentle reader in
Illinois:
The photo attached to your Jan 20th blog, is the Motor
Yacht A, a 390' power boat owned by Russian billionaire Andrey
Melnichenko. Designed to create little or no splash at 24knts. Saw
her last May in North Sound. Another example of Russian wealth gone wild
!
A motor yacht name "A"? I thought the Russians has no shortage of
consonants. 
Doing a little research, Power and Motorcraft magazine, listed "A" as
the seventh largest mega-yacht in its 2009 review of "super" boats. (The longest
yacht, 'Dubai," is 531-feet long.) It reportedly burns 700 gallons an hour
of diesel.
My gosh, he must have to raft up to a super tanker, just to top up his
tanks! 
When I worked aboard a modest power yacht of about 130 feet, we didn't
bother to top up at the marina pumps. We would go to Puerto Rico and buy a whole
tanker truckload of fuel. 
Maybe Motor yacht "A" was headed to the St Croix refinery to top
up his fuel. 
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- Thursday morning
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2011 04:17:58 -0800 (PST)
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Good Morning! Shot this picture this morning of a mini cruise ship coming in, weird shape, almost like a submarine on the front. This morning is scattered with light puffy clouds, there is a little bit of haze out there as I look over the water to other islands. Winds are up I can tell they are steady because I'm loosing pool water each day from wind evaporation. This morning decided that I'm putting on the solar blanket to save my cistern water. My pool has been quite cool since I turned off the solar heat while I was away. You may ask why not keep it on? I would rather know that my closed pool system is purring on it's own and not worrying about the other system. It's just like my propane. I turn that off as well whenever I leave. It's just
a good idea to not have things on that are not being used. That's just me. My Mom always taught me to turn off the lights after leaving a room. It's a great morning to do work outside or inside. Temperature is very comfortable. I'm not sweating up a storm like I do in the summertime. Have to run and fill up the hummingbird feeders!! Cheers! The Mermaid Gardener
Attachment:
IMG_1211.JPG
Description: JPEG image
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- Wednesday a great day!
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2011 12:49:58 -0800 (PST)
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Hi to all,
Sorry not to have written in a few days was off island and now back on island.
It was a very pretty day, with winds out of the East at 12 -17 knots. Seas 4-6. We had really pretty clouds today you know those fluffy Caribbean clouds. No rain, but did see a rainbow coming from Road Town looking towards the East. Very pretty and faint. We got a sprinkle last night but nothing to really cause me to jump up and down for joy. My plants received just a quick splash!
Cheers to being back on island!
the Mermaid Gardener
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- Mondaze in the BVI
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2011 16:25:44 EST
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Rolled up on the seashore, message in a bottle:
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Where is daWaywardSailor?
I miss reading his blogs. I am sure that others
do, too. |
Thank you for your email!
I have good news and bad news....
We are very sad to report that da Wayward Sailor was robbed of his new
laptop computer on Tortola. Can you believe it? His old laptop died, so his
friend flew into the BVI, bringing him a new laptop, which he purchased.
Whilst he was not at home, persons unknown busted into his boat, stealing
his brand new laptop. I don't think he even had it a full month. So his
reports have mostly stopped until he gets another new puter.
The good news is a friend is flying into the BVI some time in the
future and bringing him another new laptop. So we should hear from
him soon, we hope.
Meanwhile weather is GORGEOUS, come on down!
I recommend anyone with cell phone, laptop or camera, to use finger nail
polish to customize their electronics. Fingernail polish is very hard to remove
off plastic without leaving the plastic marked up from the effort, even when
using acetone.
Since thieves are notoriously lazy, they would rather avoid something so
highly customized, as to have unique initials and or drawings on the equipment.
All my stuff is heavily decorated with assorted finger nail polish colors, this
makes "my stuff" readily identifiable and less of a target for the thieves that
seem to plague Tortola now and then.
I must admit, when I first came to Tortola, in the early 80's,
thieves were virtually unheard of and when one was caught, he very
often got a very lengthy sentence in Her Majesty's Prison to send a severe
warning to others that were contemplating such dastardly acts.
While it's safe to say the crime on Tortola is no worse than anywhere else,
it's super sad to say, it's not the carefree honest place of yesterday. I
could spend hours, weeks, expounding my theories on what went wrong
where... but that's another subject for somewhere else...
Another wonderful day at sea in the BVI.
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- So pretty for eye to see!
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2011 09:05:18 -0800 (PST)
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Good Afternoon
This afternoon we are enjoying 84 degrees with winds out of the south east at 13 mph, and seas are 6-7 feet. Skies are scattered with a few puffy clouds, defiantly a pretty day out there. I've included a couple of pictures today of the beauty of Tortola through the eyes of a gardener.
This is a cape honeysuckle
plant.
Gorgeous African Tulip
Tree.
Love the colors!
Cheers from your dirt under my finger
nails....
Mermaid Gardener
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- Saturday! Finally the weekend!
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Sat, 15 Jan 2011 08:33:30 -0800 (PST)
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Good Morning and it's great to finally have the
weekend be here. Skies are bright and beautiful time to hit the
beach! The Soggy Dollar is a hopping place.  Pull out the sunscreen, a hat, a book and enjoy a cold beverage. Enjoy the weekend!!
Happy Saturday
cheers!!
the Mermaid
Gardener
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- Gloomy day and windy too!
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2011 06:34:18 -0800 (PST)
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Have had reports of large white caps between
Trellis Bay and Marina Cay. Folks are staying put. Trellis Bay is packed and on one is moving to a new location. Winds have been up over the past few days and
will continue in that trend for the upcoming week.
Saved this picture from a web cam over
at St. John. Pretty cloudy out there. It's currently only 76 degrees
out....burr!!! Our rain forecast is 30% for today but it sure looks like we
could have more of a chance than just 30%.
Time to pull on the warm woolen socks
that we buried in our sock drawer from last January.
A chilly cheer!
the Mermaid
Gardener
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- No Snow in the BVI
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2011 19:03:27 EST
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SNOW in 49 of the 50 United States, including the Hawaiian mountains, but
no snow in Florida.
No snow in the Virgin Islands either! Matter of fact, the lowest
temperature recorded was 52 degrees in November 1999 on St. Thomas, followed by
55 degrees in March 1991 on St. John and 57 degrees on April 1997 on St.
Croix. Brrrrrrrrr!
Tonight expect it to cool down to 73F degrees, (better dig out your socks!)
but tomorrow it will be back to 80-something degrees when the sun makes an
appearance.
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- Cloudy but warm..no complaints
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2011 07:01:12 -0800 (PST)
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Things are looking a bit cloudier out
today, it's right now 81 degrees and we are hoping for 84...don't know if
we will make it. The chance of rain is again around 30% so not one of
our stellar days but still can not complain about the weather too much
when our friends to the north are getting hammered by horrible winter
weather. From reading the NOAA report sound like our north swells
will continue and seas may be increasing. Have looked at the
extended forecast and it looks as if winds will increase through the rest of this
week and into the weekend.
Our winter winds and the north swell are
here for a bit. Sail safe and watch the weather.
A few years ago when I had
my sailboat I encountering huge north swells at this same
time of year. During that trip my party and I were thinking of
spending a night in Spanish Town...(love the marble
bathrooms there)... the night before we were going to try to head
into Spanish Town we heard from several sailors who had surfed
literally into Spanish Town!!! Yes surfed into Spanish Town! So we
decided that hanging out in a very beautiful anchorage and reading a good book
was right up our alley. I'm not one for surfing in a
sailboat....just doesn't feel right to me. My party and I ended up staying
on the south side of Tortola that week and enjoying many pristine
anchorages.
Cheers!
The Mermaid Gardener
From NOAA today:.TODAY...EAST NORTHEAST WINDS 15 TO 20 KNOTS. SEAS 5 TO 7 FEET IN
NORTH NORTHWEST SWELLS. NUMEROUS SHOWERS.
.TONIGHT...EAST WINDS 15 TO 20 KNOTS. SEAS 5 TO 7 FEET IN NORTH
SWELLS. NUMEROUS SHOWERS.
...SEAS WILL REMAIN HAZARDOUS TODAY...
.HIGH PRESSURE NORTH OF THE REGION WILL MAINTAIN A TIGHT PRESSURE
GRADIENT...HOLDING HAZARDOUS WIND WAVES. IN ADDITION...NORTHERLY
SWELLS WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE LOCAL ATLANTIC WATERS TODAY.
AMZ710-722-725-732-741-121645-
/O.CON.TJSJ.SC.Y.0090.000000T0000Z-110114T1000Z/
ATLC WATERS OF PUERTO RICO AND USVI FROM 10NM TO 19.5N-
ANEGADA PASSAGE SOUTHWARD TO 17N-
COASTAL WATERS OF SOUTHERN USVI VIEQUES AND EASTERN PUERTO RICO
OUT 10 NM-CARIBBEAN WATERS OF PUERTO RICO FROM 10 NM TO 17N-
MONA PASSAGE SOUTHWARD TO 17N-
420 AM AST WED JAN 12 2011
...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM AST FRIDAY...
A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM AST FRIDAY.
* WINDS AND WAVES: WINDS WILL INCREASE TO 20 KNOTS OR MORE AND
SEAS WILL CONTINUE AROUND 8 FEET.
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- Pussers Rum
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2011 17:24:10 -0800 (PST)
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A message
in a Pusser's Rum bottle! This is a little late in posting but still very note worthy.
For all of us who have sampled Pusser's Rum here's a toast to the man that
brought it to the BVI!! Congrat's to Charles Tobias and to Mrs. Lorna
Smith another dedicated Bvi'er, both of these individuals have given back
to community over many years!! Cheers to both of them!
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- Just up to limin
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2011 08:14:30 -0800 (PST)
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Hey Good Morning!
Our winds have been up a bit
over the past couple of days, currently the temperature is 84 degrees and winds
are 14 mph ESE. Not up to much as I look out my
window. Here a couple of pictures of sights around the
islands. Enjoy!
A lovely Banana Tree
Flowering
The
Baths always a wonderful excursion and fun sail.
Enjoy your Monday!
the Mermaid
Gardener
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- BVI Weekend what to do?
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Sat, 8 Jan 2011 07:46:06 -0800 (PST)
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Another weekend is upon us. The big
question is what fun things are there to do. Today started out a bit
cloudy but the clouds have now dissipated. It's currently 82 degrees
but they are still predicting a 30% chance of rain through the weekend.
Let's just keep our fingers crossed.
I've got friends down at Trellis who
are enjoying their live aboard community of friends and having them come over
for dinner this evening. It's like having your Midwest neighbors come
over for a BBQ in the summertime. "Hey come on over I've got the
burgers if you will bring a side dish!" it's that easy and you have a quick
fun party with friends happening. The only difference is potential dingy
butt you don't get that in being land locked!
Here are just a few
things going on around the island from the "Limin Times".
Events in Trellis Bay
Trellis Kitchen has
added some fun to the weeknight lineup with local live music on Fridays from
7pm; Ladies Night with 2 for 1 drinks on Tuesdays; and movies shown every
Wednesday from 7pm. Be sure to check out these new events!
Lat 18 Halyard Challenge
It's another racing weekend at the
Royal BVI Yacht Club, with the Latitude 18 Halyard Challenge on Saturday. There
will be classes for racing, cruising and windsurfing, and a swimming competition
to boot! Register Friday night at the Yacht Club between 6pm and 8pm, and grab
some food while you're there. After the races, head back to RBVIYC for more
food, prizes and partying!
Quito's Art on Exhibit
Cane Garden Bay
musical legend Quito Rhymer also has another talent – art! For those unfamiliar
with his work, the perfect introduction is the exhibit open now at the 1780
Sugar Works Museum in Road Town. Across from the Red Cross and Althea Scatliffe
Primary, the Sugar Works Museum will display the show until January 31.
Enjoy your weekend!
the Mermaid Gardener
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- Scattered clouds but still just a walk on the beach
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Fri, 7 Jan 2011 07:27:47 -0800 (PST)
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Good Morning
Looks as if today will be a repeat of
yesterday. Temperatures will be hovering right around 81 degrees and winds
10 mph out of the south. Our chance of rain has went up over to 30% for
the next couple of days. By the look of the satellite picture that is not
much in the way of nasty weather coming our way.
One of my favorite things to do
while living here on the island is to try to take a walk on a beach whenever
possible. I find that even though I have a pool I need to get more
exercise than that. Several of the beaches I love to walk are near East
End. One is Long Bay Beach by the airport. It's a nice long beach,
the sand is pretty fine and easy to walk on. There has been a huge effort
to keep that beach clean of litter. The other beach that I enjoy strolling
on is Trellis Bay. There's always a chance that I'll meet up with friends
at the Loose Mongoose, or run into them on the beach. Trellis is a quaint
beach and there are plenty of sea creatures to see along the
shoreline.
At certain times of the
year you can find Starfish quietly living along the shoreline of some of
our beaches. I've always been amazed at these sea creatures and love to
look at them. They move so slow and are quite beautiful. If you happen to see them.....look, take pictures but do not
take a souvenir from the BVI. They are a living creature and asset to
our marine environment. Let's save the Starfish for the next generation of
kids who have never seen one. So come down, sail, enjoy a bit of paradise and check out the marine life!! Isn't nature amazing whether it's flowers or sea creatures? I just love the eye candy!!!!
Happy walk on the
beach!!
the Mermaid
Gardener
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- Another day in paradise
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Thu, 6 Jan 2011 08:47:27 -0800 (PST)
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Good Morning
I've been asked by friends up north....so do you
ever get tired of the weather in Tortola....NOPE! The other question I get
is..... the Caribbean is so beautiful do you ever get tired of looking out at
the beauty....not at all! It's so interesting living here on an island in
the Caribbean. The weather constantly changes, the clouds are generally
different each day. At this time of year we do get the Christmas
winds and that keeps us cool but overall when looking out at the islands they
are stunning every time I look at them whether it is rainy, hazy, stormy or
sunny. I'm prejudice because I love the BVI so much but it truly is a
little piece of paradise.
A message washed up in a
Julia Child's wine bottle with spaghetti sauce still in the corked
bottle.......news is that da Wayward sailor is still floating
around the BVI, cooking his spaghetti in the Julia Child's culinary method
and will be back online by mid month.
I'm sure that he will have stories to
tell!!
The weather in Tortola is currently 82 degrees,
again scattered clouds, a small chance of rain but hey it still could be a
great beach day, and winds are 11 kt and seas 1 foot or less, lets just call
that practically flat!!!
Cheers!
the Mermaid Gardener
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- Anegada beach time!
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Wed, 5 Jan 2011 11:50:16 -0800 (PST)
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Scattered clouds dot the horizon but still a great
day to hit the beach. The beach at Anegada looks like they are having fun just
limin!!! It's currently 81 degrees with winds out of the ESE at 12 mph. It's been quite a while since I was over to Anegada maybe there will be a trip in my future to head over and have a fabulous lobster lunch on the beach!! I'll have to chat with a friend to see if we could sail over or maybe even catch the ferry for a day trip. Renting a car on Anegada is pretty easy too. So if your taste buds are dying for lobster plan a trip over for some of the best local seafood going.
Cheers from the beach!
the Mermaid Gardener
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- Gloomy Tuesday
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2011 07:00:29 -0800 (PST)
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Today is starting out to be a
cloudy gloomy day. Time to pull out a long sleeve t-shirt and read a
good book like Dear Miss Mermaid's "Hurricane's and Hangovers". Our
winds are out of the northeast 16-19 knots Seas 4-6 with scattered showers,
mostly cloudy and a temp of 77 degrees.
We
could use some rain. My flowers are looking a little dry so hope for rain
just today otherwise, I'll have to put out the soaker hose for my
bougainvillea. This time of year it can be fairly dry so the
island could use a good rainfall just to perk things up and make the flowers
happy.
Curl
up, sip some tea this morning and wait for the sun to come out! The
weather here is always changing.
Cheers!
the Mermaid
Gardener
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- January Monday Holiday
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2011 09:32:09 -0800 (PST)
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Good Morning
Tis the season for
Bananakeets and hummingbirds to fly around my garden looking for nectar.
I've even had a roof rat, a lizard, Jack Spaniard wasp and butterflies come to
my feeders. What a joy it is to see them all enjoy the sweet
nectar.
It's currently 81 degrees winds are out of the ENE 13 mph, seas are 5-7 feet.
Take a moment to enjoy the beauty of our tropical paradise.
Cheers!
the Mermaid
Gardener
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- 2011 has arrived in the BVI
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sun, 2 Jan 2011 11:25:13 EST
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Slightly cloudy but still a great day to be at the beach. Weather and water
are warm, come on down!
I hear that some of the folks are still recuperating from Foxy's Olde
Year's Night!
NOW through January 3rd at 11:59PM (PST) you can take 20% off my Dear Miss Mermaid Designs
including 2011 Calendars at http://CafePress.Com/DearMissMermaid
(opens in new window). Coupon code CHEERS
must be entered at check out.
All Calendars and Products Ship WorldWide.
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- Year in review January through March
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2011 16:31:03 -0800 (PST)
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Happy New Year to one and
all!
Thought I'd send off a year
in review with pictures. Enjoy my New Years Gift to ring out the old year
and ring in the new one. There were so many pictures to pick from and it was so difficult to choose but these are but a few that I remember so well. Sorry that my computer skills are lacking...I was unable to put these all on one posting so you will have to browse down to see all the months.
Cheers!
The Mermaid
Gardener
January From Pussers East
February butterflies galore.
March Beef Island tranquility.
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- Year in review April May and June
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2011 16:28:25 -0800 (PST)
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April Easter at the beach, look at what washed up
on the shore!
May..... Star fruit time on the
island
June Penn's Landing peaceful and
charming.
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- July and August pictures year in review
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2011 16:27:52 -0800 (PST)
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July Surfers in the
Sky!!
 Now
somebody has a lot of time to look at the clouds...da Wayward Sailor be limin
mon!!!
More Iguana's on Tortola
August Festival time!
Weather whipping up at Trellis.
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- September and October year in review pictures
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2011 16:27:22 -0800 (PST)
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September.....Hurricane
Earl and it's path
Hurricane Earl pounding the West End at the Jolly Roger.
Earl was a big one from this picture....it felt like it was big
too!!!
Earl pounding the island.
St. John, Cruz Bay dock...where? It's gone!
More to watch on the horizon
October.... Halloween paradise
style!
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- November through December
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2011 16:26:53 -0800 (PST)
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November..... ah what a great
view!
December
Riteway had incredible fruit over the
holidays...  A Whopper of a pomegranate!
 Best Christmas wishes to Dear Miss Mermaid
Waking up to this is a joy in
itself
 Christmas Dawn 2010 what a sight to behold.
 New Years Eve at the Soggy Dollar!
Happy New Year!!!
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- 2011 Has Arrived in the Virgin Islands
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2011 16:47:44 EST
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Happy Slappy *hiccup* NEW YEAR! Foxys and the beach at Jost Van
Dyke was packed from the rafters to the seashore with revelers. The party went
on until dawn!
More on a party theme, Pam from St John alerted us to this festive
video from St Croix in the Virgin Islands:
On St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands
it just wouldn't be Christmas without the annual boat parade. 20 brightly lit
boats of all sizes circled Christiansted Harbor Dec. 11, 2010, to the delight of
the thousands of revelers lining the boardwalk.
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- All quiet on the eastern front
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2011 06:10:04 -0800 (PST)
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Happy New Year!!
Thought I would check out some of the web sites
this morning to see what is happening in the aftermath of New Years celebrations.
Looks pretty quiet out there. We have a temperature of 77 degrees with winds out of the east at 8 mph, and seas are at a foot. So for those who are nursing too much New Years cheer it will be a flat day..... pull out all the sails so you can try to catch a breath of air.
Our risk of rain is only 20% so that pretty much means it's going to be a typical tropical day here. With the temperatures on the cooler side locals are complaining that it's cold out but our visitors are happy to be some place warm and getting a tan.
Enjoy the day and Happy New Year!!!
Cheers!
the Mermaid Gardener
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- St John New Years Eve picture
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2010 12:08:29 -0800 (PST)
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This is a late afternoon from St. John! Just
a couple of hours before sunset in the BVI.
A fond farewell to this past year!
Greetings!
the Mermaid Gardener
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- another Soggy Dollar picture
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2010 09:02:53 -0800 (PST)
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Here's just another picture from the
Soggy Dollar....clouds have started to come over but everyone sure is out there
enjoying themselves! I'm sure they are getting ready for Foxy's New Years
Eve party!!
Cheers and more
cheers!!
the Mermaid
Gardener
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- Bright New Years Eve Morning
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2010 05:49:26 -0800 (PST)
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What a nice picture over at White
Bay on Jost Van Dyke!! Sun is out and folks are enjoying the day.
We
are currently at 79 degrees and winds are light 10 mph out of the East.
Rain potential is 20% so not too bad. From the look of the radar we have a
few scattered showers off in the distance north of us but from what I can see it
will not be a rainy day. Last night it was cool around here,
I'm sure many folks covered up and even thought of wearing socks. Have not
decided yet what I'm going to be doing for New Years Eve, but I'll probably
spend it with some friends and have a quiet peaceful night.
Enjoy the sunshine!
Cheers!
the Mermaid Gardener
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- Keeping warm winter is upon us
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Thu, 30 Dec 2010 05:36:43 -0800 (PST)
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Today is again starting out a bit
cloudy. It's currently 77 degrees and we have a 20% chance of rain. High is suppose to be 80 degrees so a little on the cooler side. I'll have to break out my long sleeve t-shirt to keep a bit warmer. With only a short time before New Years Eve there are plenty of places having New Years Eve parties, of course "Foxy's" but remember to go early to find an anchoring spot. I've also heard that for finer dining that Scrub Island is also doing a New Years Eve dinner, that tid bit came from the "limin times". www.limin-times.com
If you are on island the limin times is a great place to find out what is happening on the island. The Beacon too lists some of the festivities that are going on.
I'm going to pull out my long sleeve t-shirt cuddle into my couch, sip tea and read a good book for now.
Keep warm out there!
Cheers!
the Mermaid Gardener
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- Beauty in the BVI
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Wed, 29 Dec 2010 05:08:11 -0800 (PST)
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Good Morning from colorful
Tortola
It's amazing to me that right around
Christmas for the past two years, and even after the hurricane that we lived
through earlier this year along with the tropical storms that battered our
lovely island we still have beauty bursting everywhere. The bougainvillea
have really blossomed and are quite stunning.
Today however is starting out to be a
little damp. There are a few showers out there on the horizon, we have a
20% of rain and currently the temperature is 73 degrees. Winds are out of
the North East at 13mph. A few showers are always a good thing for not
only our flowers but also our cisterns.
Hope to stay more on the dry side today if
not a good book might be in my future.
Cheers!
the Mermaid Gardener
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- Through my Spyglass
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Tue, 28 Dec 2010 07:37:46 -0800 (PST)
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Good Morning
Passing by my house the other day was this wonderful sailboat. I could not figure out the country of origin using the flag...seems that the web sources I used didn't have that flag. Maybe it's just another pirate ship cruising our Caribbean waters!!
Yesterday most government offices were closed because of boxing day, the grocery stores were open as well as gas stations, but I suspect down in Roadtown there were few businesses open.
Today winds are light. We have a speckled sky, some peeks of sunshine with clouds passing over really slow. Not much wind out there.
Temps will be in the tropical mid 80's and our potential for rain is at 20%. Can't beat that.
All is well here in paradise. For those on the east coast come down and thaw
out....you need it after yesterdays messy weather!
Cheers!
the Mermaid Gardener
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- Happy Holidays in the BVI
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Mon, 27 Dec 2010 14:34:51 EST
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Happy Holidays from my boat to yours!
Another gorgeous day in paradise... 
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- Boxing Day
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Mon, 27 Dec 2010 02:06:11 -0800 (PST)
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Good Morning
Yesterday, Sunday, was a hazy
kind of day, but did end up going to the beach even if the sun was
filtered. There were quite a few locals down at the beach hanging out
enjoying the day. Even had a Christmas ornament float ashore a sign of the
last hurrah for Christmas. Winds were up yesterday as well the sailboats
were out in full force yesterday loving the freshening wind. No rain but
skies looked like a fall day.
Looking at the weather for today, we
have a 20% chance of rain, not bad, and 5-10 knot winds, with 4-6 feet north
swells. Temperature is suppose to be in the mid 80's.
Last night saw many friends out
celebrating the last bit of the Christmas holidays. Everyone I spoke to
told me that they had a very nice Christmas. Next will be New Years.
Have not decided what my plans are but I'm sure that there will be something
happening on the island.
Cheers!!
the Mermaid Gardener
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- Christmas Hangover
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Sun, 26 Dec 2010 07:55:52 -0800 (PST)
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Christmas Hangover!!
Wow had a great Christmas day.....2
parties to attend. Great food.
The first party that I went to was
early in the day a buffet open house. It was a lovely turkey,
ham, sweet potato, gravy and a fantastic Caribbean truffle.
Everyone there was so friendly and happy to be with other friends.
My second Christmas dinner was
in the evening with another group of great friends. It was
spectacular, everyone brought something. I brought 2 side dishes, wild
rice with walnuts, bacon, cranberries. The second was a brussel sprout
with toasted walnuts, fresh cranberries and maple syrup with cider vinegar. This
recipe was given to me over the phone via Suzanne from the Secret Garden which I
executed really well for the first time. I don't usually like to try new recipes
but oh well the recipe was from Suzanne and I was willing to take a chance.
So I ate so much at both places that
I'm feeling it today.....time to hit the beach and catch some filtered
sunrays.
It's not overly pretty here but hey
it's a little bit of paradise and can't miss a day at the beach.
the Mermaid
Gardener
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- Christmas Wishes
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Sat, 25 Dec 2010 13:58:56 -0800 (PST)
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Good Evening to all our readers and
especially Dear Miss Mermaid,
A message in an aged Cherry Heering bottle
that came a shore near Maya Cove.
To Dear Miss Mermaid whereever she and her
RV may be, as well as little Harley. Da Wayward Sailor sends his best
wishes for a very Merry Christmas, good health, great friends and new
adventures in the coming year.
I too wish Dear Miss Mermaid a very Merry
Christmas, may the wind in your RV sails take you to far away lovely places.
Thanks for all your postings and I'm sure that all our readers send there best
wishes to you too.
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- Merry Christmas from Tortola in the BVI
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sat, 25 Dec 2010 09:24:25 EST
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Merry Christmas from Tortola.
A Christmas gift from the Internet service has been that the Internet
is down. Will have to post via dear miss mermaid and cell phone.
Winds are again light, seas down, and Santa has arrived at homes all over the
world. My Christmas wish to all is peace, love, great sailing and
beautiful flowers surrounding us.
Merry Christmas from the Mermaid
Gardener
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- Ho ho HO and Merry Christmas
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sat, 25 Dec 2010 09:18:18 EST
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The weather is kinda hazy today, very little wind and a calm sea....I guess
the weather has gone on holiday and just been left on neutral!
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- Christmas Eve Dawn
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Fri, 24 Dec 2010 10:42:49 -0800 (PST)
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Good Morning on this
Christmas Eve day.
As I wake up and enjoy the
first moments of
the morning, sipping my
tea, the temperature is mild, no wind the pool is flat and skies are beautiful. I'm taking this moment to enjoy the peace and quiet before I start my day.
Enjoy!
the Mermaid Gardener
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- Another Santa sighting
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Fri, 24 Dec 2010 04:13:25 -0800 (PST)
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Oppps! Missed that Jolly
ole Saint nick over at Cane Garden Bay! He was floating around all the
cruise ship folks and I saw him eating at Myett's but when I tried to catch a
picture of him he quickly concealed his face. I think that he wants' to
remain incognito! I did hear that he's still out there checking to see
who's been naughty and who's been nice! He doesn't say much about who's on
the list nor if they will get there Christmas wishes. He just gave a wink
and took a long sip from what appeared to be a Red Stripe. Well Santa
should be sipping something with the word "Red" in it during this holiday
season.
All is quiet here in the
BVI. A slightly cooler day but the sun was out and winds are
low. Doesn't get much better than this.
Ho Ho Ho!
the Mermaid
Gardener
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- Full moon treat
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Thu, 23 Dec 2010 17:41:58 -0800 (PST)
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Our December winter solstice full
moon party down at Trellis Bay was filled with great food, music, and the
fantastic fireballs. There were quite a few folks limin around. We
ate down at the Loose Mongoose then strolled up to where all the action
was. The full moon rose and was glowing just like the fireballs. If
you find yourself needing a vacation away from all the slipping and sliding come
join us. There are always fun things to do here on the island and you get
a chance to thaw out.
Cheers!
the Mermaid
Gardener
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- A bikini turkey?
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 23 Dec 2010 14:02:35 EST
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Weather in the BVI today is sunny, good breeze for sailing, the usual
scattered clouds. And it's WARM! No snow predicted, so we're safe there.
Whew!
Ho ho
ho!
Happy Holidaze from dat
crazy
Dear Miss
Mermaid!
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- Santa sighting
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Thu, 23 Dec 2010 01:14:05 -0800 (PST)
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Ho Ho Ho!!!
A message in an aged Christmas rum bottle
washed ashore......
A friendly reader sent me this photo of good
old St. Nick over at Yost Van Dyke......I've also heard that there have been
several other sightings of Santa around the island. I'm sure that he's
here checking his list to see who's bee naughty and who's been nice.
The weather has been a mixed Santa bag, the
days seem to be starting out with cloud cover and grey skies but by the
afternoon there are peeks of the sun.
Our temperature has been pleasant and very
mild. There has been no snow, no freezing drizzle, no ice
storms....however the grounds keeper over at the out door ice rink has told me that he's
having a hard time trying to freeze the water for skating.....he he he! 
Cheers!
the Mermaid Gardener
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- Day One of Winter
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 22 Dec 2010 15:47:16 EST
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The view from the porthole looks fantastic! Nothing like Christmas in
the islands. Not a drop of snow predicted either. White Christmas is at
the beach!
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- Special weather disturbance and winter soltice in the Virgin Islands
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Tue, 21 Dec 2010 10:40:02 EST
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Hurricane season was officially over November 30th. Did Mother Nature get
that memo?
A small low pressure system located about 50 miles east of Barbados
is producing disorganized shower and thunderstorms. It's moving towards the
west-northwest at 10-15mph. This could cause enhanced rainfall and winds,
across portions of the windward islands today.
oops! I forgot to alert my readers to the full moon, the lunar
eclipse and Winter solstice. I fell asleep before the lunar eclipse last night,
dang it. Me bad! I still be on island time; late for everything!
Winter officially begins at 638pm today. Yes, today is the shortest day of
the year. Sunlight will slowly increase each day now.
Beware of the Christmas winds
coming our way! When in doubt, reef the sails. If you think
you might need to reef, then you do. I have many fond and not so fond memories
of sleigh riding the waves on a small sailboat, with stiff Christmas winds.
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- Winter Solstice
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Tue, 21 Dec 2010 03:40:21 -0800 (PST)
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December 21, Winter Solstice
As the moon rose over the horizon last night we had a
fair amount of cloud cover but there were peeks of the almost full moon.
It was pretty with all the clouds being pink and blue.
After hearing that there was going to be an eclipse of
the moon early this morning I decided to set my alarm for the
eclipse. So at 415am my alarm went off and I was hoping that it would not
be a fruitless alarm......as it turned out I was able to see the eclipse of the
moon. To me it appeared to be a red color, very spooky looking.
After my quick look I ran back into bed and covered up for a couple more hours
of sleep.
This morning I'm watching 2 cruise ships pull into
Roadtown with a clipper ship of some sort also waiting in line to have the pilot
come out to navigate them in. From the looks of it they will probably not
have a pretty day here we have a fair amount of cloud cover and we are expecting
scattered showers possibly. But I'm sure that I'll be seeing plenty of
buses filled with tourists when I run into Roadtown for ingredients for
Christmas cookies. Today will probably be a nice day to make some and also
to wrap Christmas presents.
Cheers on this Winter Solstice day!
the Mermaid Gardener
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- The good island life!
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Mon, 20 Dec 2010 16:57:45 -0800 (PST)
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Two furry island pals just limin around! Now
that's what I need to do before Christmas!!
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Who me
sleeping.....nope! |
Just hanging around....your Mermaid
Gardener
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- No frost bite here
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Mon, 20 Dec 2010 04:21:16 -0800 (PST)
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Yesterday was another stellar day here in the BVI. Got back out on the water with friends and met new friends. Several were visiting from Tennessee where they had recently left snow...there's no better place to be to escape from the snow then down here in the BVI where the water is deep blue to sapphire blue. Our voyage over there was pretty smooth, some chop to the Sir Frances Drake but nothing that would spill our beverages. Once over to Peter Island we dropped anchor at Little Harbor....is was breath taking. We spotted a spotted ray right under our boat gliding past us. Most of us took a swim in the water. I thought for being December that the water was refreshing but not too cold, but then again a Mermaid Gardener who lives part of her time on land where the water freezes doesn't mind it if the water is a bit refreshing.
After having a wonderful lunch we headed back to Maya Cove for a short journey back to land, this Mermaid Gardener loves her pool but the ocean is her favorite.
The weather today is just as beautiful, winds seem to be down and temperatures are a repeat of yesterday. Not too bad!! Winds will be out of the south 11-16 knots and seas 3-5 feet. However we may be in store for a new front coming through that could brings us some cloud cover. Let's hope that our 20% chance of rain stays that way.
Time to pull off the solar blanket from the pool and hit the water.
Cheers!
the Mermaid Gardener
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- Sundaze in the BVI
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sun, 19 Dec 2010 15:58:29 EST
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Weather is here, wish you were!
The new Riteway is fantastic, the fruit they have right now looks and
tastes great! Pomegranates, persimmons, the colors are
spectacular!
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- Village Cay Xmas Cheer
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Sun, 19 Dec 2010 04:15:11 -0800 (PST)
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Cheers from the BVI
the Mermaid Gardener
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- Christmas winds are here
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Sat, 18 Dec 2010 18:05:55 -0800 (PST)
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Hello to the Christmas winds...they have arrived and are giving us 13 to 18 knots of wind with seas 3-5 high.
We had scattered showers throughout the day but did have some sun as well. Got to attend a lovely wedding today down at Sea Cows Bay. What fun to see all these very beautiful young people having fun walking down the aisle in vivid pink. Plus the flowers were stunning, a mix of Christmas decorations and wedding flowers. The reception was held over at Scrub Island. That was beautiful, my first time over there and it was so lovely. Had a ferry ride over and as we pulled up we saw the wedding party on the steps of the facility and
they were taking photo's of the wedding party. The reception was buffet style with turkey, ham and veggies. It was just a wonderful afternoon and evening.
Going to start to wrap my Christmas gifts and make some Christmas cookies. Wish me luck on finding all the ingredients that I need.
Cheers!
the Mermaid Gardener
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- Saturdaze in the BVi
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sat, 18 Dec 2010 14:36:19 EST
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Sunset from West End, just another glorious end to a wonderful day in
paradise.
See the latest holiday antics from Dear Miss Mermaid at Ho,
Ho, Ha Ha.
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- Winds are up
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Fri, 17 Dec 2010 12:16:48 -0800 (PST)
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Good afternoon
Winds are up today, still out of the northeast and some what gusty. Right around 15 knots.
We have a few puffy clouds but very little haze. The cruise ship is just leaving and those folks had a very nice visit on the island. Chance of rain has been at 20% but so far today nothing has fallen. My plants are getting a bit dry so we could use a little rain to just freshen up the plants.
This afternoon ran over to Trellis bay for lunch at the Loosemongoose, had the surf burger and a salad....pretty yummy. Trellis seemed to be full of boat so I'm thinking that sailing is picking up now.
Cooper island looks busy as I gaze out. Still quite a few boats out sailing plenty of boats were out today. Nice to see that.
Cheers!
the Mermaid Gardener
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- Burr there's a chill in the air
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Thu, 16 Dec 2010 02:50:23 -0800 (PST)
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It's beginning to look a lot like disturbed
weather moving in. Yesterday had more clouds than sun. Still had a
lovely day out at the beach with girlfriends. Chatted away the
afternoon.
But today looks like it could be rainy and more
disturbed weather from the north. We have a 30% chance of rain with isn't
that much but it won't be a picture perfect day here for those arriving.
For our sailing friends the north wind has picked up the seas and the Sir
Frances Drake is a bit choppy. Did have a nice rain shower last night but
nothing that really filled up the cisterns. Going to check to see if my
poinsettia's are turning red.
Cheers from a chilly Mermaid Gardener.....I've
must have thawed out....I'm feeling the cool breezes!!!
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- From the south side
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2010 16:14:16 -0800 (PST)
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Flat flat flat seas on the Sir Frances Drake Channel,
both yesterday and today. I'm sure it will be calm and flat with no
wind for the next few days. The reason for that is our current weather
system is giving us light breezes out of the north with building north
swells.....so the surf may be up on the north side of the island, but sailors on
this side will have to put out all their sails and any laundry to catch any
breezes.
Temperature is very pleasant. Today may be a day
to "lim" out at the beach!!!
Cheers! The Mermaid Gardener
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- Exercise at the airport in the BVI
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2010 12:26:18 EST
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Wow had an interesting occurrence at the airport last night. Saw a
huge plume of black smoke way off to the side of the airport over by the Long
Bay Beach area..at first didn't see any fire trucks but then they were called
out. The fire was put out fairly quickly. About 20 minutes later the
Roadtown fire department and ambulance drove by my house, sirens going moving
fast. They did end up at the airport well after the fire was put out.
Planes were still landing while this was all going on. Have no idea if
this was an airport drill or not will check around tomorrow. News travels
fast here on the island, it's just like Mayberry !!
Later I ended up finding out that the whole situation at the airport
was just the bi-annual emergency simulation exercise.
Sure looked pretty
real from where I was.!! So no real emergency just an
exercise.....
Manchineel Bay, Cooper Island, today
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- Flat enough for Santa's sleigh to skim over water
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2010 04:14:45 -0800 (PST)
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Good Morning!
It's still quite flat out on the Sir Frances Drake Channel, so flat in fact that Rudolf could land Santa's sleigh on the water and just skim over it.
I'm sure that it will be a no sail day just motoring on this side of the island. The wind is so light and you can see the wake from boats for miles. It's partly cloudy today but hoping that will burn off and be a wonderful day to hit the beach.
Catch ya later!
the Mermaid Gardener
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- Fa la la la la!
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Tue, 14 Dec 2010 12:50:41 -0800 (PST)
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Good afternoon!
Have had a busy day with folks coming up to my house,
it's the gardeners day, and my housekeepers day to make things look pretty and
smell oh so fresh!!!
Heard through the coconut telephone line that the da
wayward sailor is still having computer issues. Don't you just hate that when
that happens!
Today was another spectacular day here in Tortola.....I
have to say that it feels so good to thaw out from being up north! Those
of you in the snowy tundra need to come join all us thawing out snowbirds here
in Tortola.
Winds are down quite a bit and I'm getting nibbled on as
I type....my elbows.....ankles...any skin that is not covered. Just need
to run into the house and put on some on my favorite BVI perfume....eau de
off!!!
The skies today were a smattering of different types of
clouds and they didn't move very rapidly at all. Looking
out over the Sir Frances Drake Channel I see no nasty weather like snow, or ice,
or snow pellets, or slush. Life is good here in the BVI. Come join
us if you can!
The Mermaid Gardener
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- The waters are warm!
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Tue, 14 Dec 2010 14:24:07 EST
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A bit overcast, but the waters are warm! Come on down to the BVI and
thaw out from the winter storms.
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- Message In A Bottle on the Seashore
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Mon, 13 Dec 2010 17:22:52 EST
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WASHED UP ON SHORE, NOTE IN A BOTTLE:
‘Tis that festive time of year again when thoughts turn to
all things Christmassy, especially Reindeer names !!. Yes, the Yacht
Club’s Christmas Quiz is this Wednesday (15th) at
7.00pm.
Come along and join in the festive FUN.
Only Ho – Ho – Ho’s will be welcomed. Baa humbugs and Scrooges
not allowed.
There’ll be a Christmas Hamper too for the league
winners. Who will it be? It’s all to play for on the
night.
Goodness, how much excitement can we all stand in just one
night.
Regulars and guests very welcome.
Quiz Mistress Julie
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Miss Mermaid's 2011 Calendars are now on sale!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Another Message in a Bottle:
IF YOU SEE A FAT MAN ...
Who's jolly and
cute,
Wearing a beard and
a red flannel suit,
And if he is chuckling
and laughing away,
While flying around
in a miniature
sleigh,
With eight tiny reindeer
to pull him
along,
Then let's face
it... Your eggnog's too strong!
Ho ho ho!
Merry Christmas and a Happy
2011
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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- Ho ho ho! It's snowing at Bobby's in Road Town!
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Mon, 13 Dec 2010 14:18:27 EST
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Here's a bit of Xmas cheer for you. Out in front of Bobby's they have
all these inflatables lined up along the sidewalk. It really helps to get
you in the mood! Today was a mixed Santa bag of weather... Some sun, some
clouds, and some tropical showers. Winds were down seas flat....sometimes
the bugs are out nibbling on me and friends that are visiting.
The
Mermaid Gardener
Snow in the Caribbean! Who'd a thunk it?
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- It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in the BVI
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Mon, 13 Dec 2010 03:39:46 -0800 (PST)
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As I drive around the island, the little bit that I have
done, there are signs everywhere of the holidays. Even Snoopy has decided
to join us here in the BVI for December.
This morning skies are clear bright and quite
beautiful. Seas are a bit more up maybe 3-5 but winds are still
light. I'm hoping today that we have a sun filled day.
Had a fun time on Saturday down at Caribbean Cellars
checking out the damaged goods list of adult beverages that were 50%
discounted. Did not get into too much trouble buying goodies. It's
funny though...I figured that it would take a while for purchasing the goodies
that I was going to bring back home. Sure enough it did....stood in line
for 30 minutes then stood in line for another 30 minutes so they could fill the
order.....lots of folks were unhappy at having to wait so long for their
treasure trove of goodies. Living on the island you have to just sit back
and know that it will take time especially if there is a deal to be had.
Even at the banks here you have to be patient....the lines are long and teller
are methodically doing their jobs.
Getting back to my story, I was able to pick up some
nice wine and sparkling water. Must have to admit that waiting around for
the order to be filled was easy, once I got the bottles back to the house they
all had to be washed. I enlisted a friend to help me wash them and dry
them a job well done.
Saturday night had a paella birthday party for myself
with 10 of my friends here at my house. What fun!! Great food, funny
stories, wonderful friends and a night that I will cherish forever. A
friend even bought me my favorite cake.....Red Velvet from the Culinary Bakery
in Roadtown. Yummy!!
Cheers!
The Mermaid Gardener
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- Beautiful Sunday in the British Virgin Islands
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sun, 12 Dec 2010 08:40:22 EST
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Some folks enjoy the sunsets but sunrises are just as spectacular if your
up early. Seas are flat, a very light cool breeze, some clouds off in the
distance. Enjoy Your morning!
Mermaid Gardener
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- Oh-My-Gadda Anegada
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sat, 11 Dec 2010 15:54:43 EST
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- The Sun is Out in the Virgin Islands
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Fri, 10 Dec 2010 12:42:40 EST
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What a nice morning it is here. Winds are up a bit so it will mean
that I'll need to put the solar blanket on the pool. Not only does it heat
it but the water level stays constant. No evaporation...more water
conserving.
Have had a great couple of days, busy ones but fun! Getting
myself ready for a lovely weekend with special friends.
Weather
here is warm about 84 during the day, winds are about 12-16 knots. Seas
3-5.
Going to join a friend for a nice walk on the beach this
afternoon. So hoping that sun stays out. Have gotten word in a rum
bottle washed up ashore that the wayward sailor is having computer issues.
I'll do my best to fill in while he sorts out his technical computer
difficulties.
The Mermaid Gardener
From Dear Miss Mermaid:
I'm flying pie on pain hills thanks to the doctors. Pain fills are
pun! I no longer t'ing a feel. You can read more at the other blog.
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- Thursday night
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Thu, 9 Dec 2010 16:22:36 -0800 (PST)
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Good Evening
Signs of Christmas abound here around the island, from old main street's decorations to out in front of Bobby's grocery store the line up of inflatable lawn ornaments that look as if they were marching in line like the toys in Walt Disney's movie Babes in toy land. They appeared to be waiting in line to start marching. Up at the gas station by Riteway again multiple inflatable lawn ornaments abounded. Some goofy, others of Mickey Mouse, others of Santa Claus. The main round about is filled with decorations that light up.
Looking at the San Juan radar there's a huge rain blob north of us that is pouring down north of Puerto Rico. it's currently 79 degrees winds are 14 mph but they seem to be picking up at night. I've noticed
during past December's and January's that the winds really pick up at night. Last night the wind gusts were tremendous laying in bed overnight listening to them. We did receive a bit of rain last night that helped out my pool. She was a bit down yesterday. From all indications right now we are missing the brunt of the messy rain that's north of us. But we could get some rain if the upper level winds change or slow down. Seas are high with 8-9 feet seas tonight and building over the next couple of days.
Sail safe if you are out there!
Your Mermaid Gardener
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- Ho ho Ho! Tis the Season!
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 9 Dec 2010 09:58:46 EST
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Ho ho ho! Tis the season! I'm posting for the Mermaid Gardener,
tee hee hee.
Finally escaped from the frigid Midwest . Heading down on one of
Santa's metal sleighs to thaw out. Tis the season for many of us Ex-Pat
snow birds to fly to the warm tradewinds of Tortola. Landed in San Juan to
cloudy skies that seem to want to open up and rain but no sign of that yet.
Temperature was 82 degrees at 3:30pm. Flying Cape Air to Beef
Island. They seem to be getting into the holiday spirit with trimmings and
a nice Christmas tree. Once on island I'll keep you posted on the
Festive happenings.
Holiday cheers from a starting to thaw out snow
bird.....the Mermaid Gardener
I just love the tropical plants peeking around the Christmas tree.
I was supposed to post this yesterday, on behalf of the Mermaid
Gardener, but I was incapacitated. A trip to the doctor left me heavily
sedated, unable to type or think. Afterwards, Puppy and I curled up in bed,
staring at borrowed Christmas movies. I can't really remember what we
watched, thanks to the heavy sedation, but it was fun.
I think.
For some juicy gossip...
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- Finally thawing out
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Wed, 8 Dec 2010 13:44:13 -0800 (PST)
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Hello from warm and Tropical Tortola
I've finally shed my winter coat, knitted scarf, hat, earmuffs, gloves, warm socks and winter boots to fly down where the trade winds are light and the temperature is wonderful.
Santa's sleigh brought me down last night and what a difference the ocean breezes have on a frozen northerner. Winds today have been light and no rain although the skies are somewhat cloudy and seem to want to threaten rain.
Had a lovely day painting with my friends at fun location here on the island and loved the peacefulness of painting. Did run into Riteway but ended up forgetting one of the two bags of groceries......hum did Santa take that one for Rudolf? Did get a hold of Riteway and will run
out tomorrow when I do my major shopping and pick up the goodies that I forgot.
From the looks of things there are more tourists and sailors here on the island. Roadtown was busy but not overly crazy this afternoon when I made a pit stop into the best ice cream shop on the planet....La Dolce Vita ice cream. I know I've talked about this in the past but honest it's the best ice cream going. Have turned many friends on to it.
I've included a picture for you to pull up sorry it's an attachment but enjoy anyways.
From your now thawing out Mermaid Gardener!!
Attachment:
Bvi airport xmas.jpg
Description: JPEG image
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- Gray Days in the Bays
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- By daWayward Sailor <daWaywardSailor at hotmail.com>
- Date: Tue, 7 Dec 2010 15:27:54 -0400
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Today started off with a short mist of rain and sky is mostly cloudy
however the half inch of forecast rain had now been moved to Wednesday.
From the Sat Photo you can see the front is now over us but thicker clouds are
to the Southwest and heading toward us.
“Local” radar (out of PR) confirms we are not yet under the heaver rain
cells but looks like in 18 or so hours we will be.
Winds are about 5 to 6 knots here in Fat Hog Bay but I can see some
indications by the sailing boats that they are probably seeing the 10 to 15
knots forecast. Seas have bumped up a bit and now at 3 to 5 in the Sir
Francis Drake Channel and some swells are noted. Still a fair number of
boats are out just after noon local and they seem to be having fun. Looks
like Wed will be a wet one for most of us... I’ll be walking around in town and
bound to get soaked but last I checked... I was not made of sugar..... although
I can be RrrealLLLY sweet to some ladies 
Was in Road Town today. Not very busy, just possibly less than
typical for a No Cruise Ship day. You could see areas that had rain
earlier this AM and some that seem to have been missed. I’ll be checking
it out again in the AM and hope to be able to get a report in about this time
again.
I had several messages in bottles float up to da boat in the past couple of
days. One of them indicated we may have a frozen mermaid being shipped it
to thaw out for a while. This is da tall one... da Mermaid Gardner I
think. MMMmmm wonder if she will bring snow with her???? You
know song by Jimmy Buffett says you take your weather with you””
Later,
da
Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book:
"Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and
our Dear Miss Mermaid. Check out "Hurricanes and Hangovers" at
http://DearMissMermaid.Com
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- Great Day in Paradise
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- By daWayward Sailor <daWaywardSailor at hotmail.com>
- Date: Mon, 6 Dec 2010 15:30:10 -0400
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Sunday I did get a chance to finally take my “long” walk about Trellis
Bay. I’ll by pass my walk to the trash dump...LOL jGezzz everyone
generates trash but thanks for Trellis’s free trash bins to right where the
commercial boats come in. It was near a high tide and not much of the
beach was dry past da Loose Mongoose. But I love these boulders which can
make for nice back drops for photos of friends. Always seems to be a
popular spot.
This 5 headed Palm stand is one of by fav places to have a rest and look
out over the bay. Not much beach to lay on today 
Here is a shot from near the mouth of the Bay looking back at the Airport
and da Loose Mongoose and the other places at Trellis.
Not all beaches are sandy.... this one Never is! You can find all
sorts of strange stuff that has been washed up and lots of shells and broken
coral. Not a place to bare foot 
Weather was great as I left Trellis Bay this AM. Winds were about 5
knots from the East Northeast and it was mostly sunny with a few clouds
attempting to build.
Today should be really nice but by Tuesday night we should stand a good
chance at rain in the half inch area or so. That will be good for me but
hope it does not cause the flooding that sometimes occurs when we get a bit but
too fast.
The blob under us is moving in and will be here about this time
Tuesday. Tuesday night looks to be wet and a little breezier. Temps
still between a high of 85 and low of 77 for us sea level types... cooler
higher up. We will probably have some overcast for a couple of days until
this thing passes but the new front moving down from the states may just back it
over us again later in the week or early next week. Still it looks like
good sailing and just lim’n weather for most of the week. Maybe a good
book afternoon Tuesday or hang with a friend that has read one!! 
Here is a shot of Red Rock as I passed it this AM on my trip back in....
anyone have any question why they call it Red Rock 
Going to be tied up in the AM’s next couple of days... will post when I can
get back to da boat ... probably mid afternoon I hope I’m not all wet by
then!!! 
Later,
da
Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book:
"Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and
our Dear Miss Mermaid. Check out "Hurricanes and Hangovers" at
http://DearMissMermaid.Com
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- Sunny Sunday
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- By daWayward Sailor <daWaywardSailor at hotmail.com>
- Date: Sun, 5 Dec 2010 08:21:19 -0400
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A Sunny Sunday here in Trellis Bay. A few high level scattered clouds
with only chance of isolated showers.... wish one would come over me!  I need to get
some salt washed off da boat!
At least I can make some Sun Tea 
Winds are very light here in Trellis Bay and at the Airport, out side the
immediate area winds are expected to run from 7 to 15 knots and seas 3 to 5 feet
over the next few days. By mid week we may see
marginally higher seas and winds as our chance for some rain increases and
we may get a half inch according to recent forecast.
The front that was moving down from Florida has basically vanished.... as
we expected the rain we may get will be mostly from the former Blob moving off
South America.
Here is the last report of the 2010 Atlantic Hurricane Season from the
National Hurricane Center in Miami:
Disorganized showers and thunderstorms
continue over Panama, costa rica, and the adjacent waters of the southwestern
caribbean in association with a weak area of low pressure. Development, if any,
will be slow to occur, and there is a low chance, 10 percent, of this system
becoming a tropical cyclone during the next 48 hours.
Elsewhere, tropical cyclone formation is
not expected during the next 48 hours.(note: da weather service
sometimes makes even my spelling look great!  )
We will
still be here for ya!!! But we hope we will
only have Happy Stuff to report along with some good weather photos showing why
this area is so popular because of its weather and people.
Well,
already had my coffee and English muffins... time for a walk on da
Beach...MMMmmmm may take da picture taking box and grab a few shots for a later
post.
Later,
da
Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book:
"Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and
our Dear Miss Mermaid. Check out "Hurricanes and Hangovers" at
http://DearMissMermaid.Com
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- 2% of moon should be very clear tonight
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- By daWayward Sailor <daWaywardSailor at hotmail.com>
- Date: Sat, 4 Dec 2010 10:23:14 -0400
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In Trellis Bay, when I arrived Friday Afternoon the winds were about
calm...... then went calm for several hours. This always results in a good
test bed for bug spray on the boats and ashore. Da Loose Mongoose was
fogging the area and had plenty of bug juice for customers and it was needed
until the winds started to pick up later Friday Night. I just love my
50-50 mix of water and Skin So Soft.... only place I get bothered is where I
forget to apply it! Like my nose and eyelids..... those little #$2 at at *&^%$$### actually attempted to bite
me on my face!  A bit of my
special juice in the palm of my hand and lightly wiped over my face and hair
seem to keep them away. The Screens and Mosquito netting I have made for
the boat do a great job as long as I have them up by sundown.... if not I have
to de-vampire da boat with spray to kill off those waiting for me to expose
unprotected parts  as I go to bed.
Trellis Bay this AM. Light breeze about 4 to 6 knots at best....outside it
is should be 7 to 15 but I think in the channel it still isn’t that much.
Seas are to be 4 to 7 feet but I also think that is a bit much. In the
area between Trellis and Marina Cay the seas are under 3 feet.
You can see the mostly sunny sky with only a few very wispy clouds
about. May get some build up and an occasional very light rain with only
trace amounts. Next real chance for rain appears now to be next Thursday
and Friday..... MMMMmmmm when I need it “they” keep moving it out a day or two
at a time!  Actually the
front moving down from the US has slowed and appears to have weakened. We
do seem to be getting a chance of rain coming from the South West as the former
Blob over South America is moving East and will allow the Windward and probably
Leewards to get some rain... we are more iffy.....
Looks like we will be between two systems, one from Florida and the Bahamas
moving South Southeast and one from South America moving Northeast. Could
have some gusty winds and a good chance of unsettled weather by later this
week.
For now it is just GREAT 
Here is a shot I took Friday on my round about trip into Trellis Bay, of
the new resort at Scrub Island. I have not visited the place yet.
Sent in an e-mail request for info and never got a reply. May make a visit
later this month with a special friend.
Here is a shot of Pussers Marina Cay as I passed it Friday going on into
Trellis Bay.
Scrub Island only had about 6 boats in the marina and Marina Cay had about
the same on mooring to the right of this photo. Trellis is almost always
near full because such interesting and good looking people congregate
there!!!!  You never know
what you will see and it is a fun group
of people to hang with..... then leave to REST UP a bit
Note: In a few Days, I’ll have copies of Dear Miss Mermaids book
aboard for those of you who can’t make it to one of the retail places or having
mail service issues or are on the run from the Law and do not want them to know
where you are and what you read!
Later,
da
Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book:
"Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and
our Dear Miss Mermaid. Check out "Hurricanes and Hangovers" at
http://DearMissMermaid.Com
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- Overcast Friday on Tortola
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- By daWayward Sailor <daWaywardSailor at hotmail.com>
- Date: Fri, 3 Dec 2010 14:18:18 -0400
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From the early AM until near 2 PM it was overcast with only a few holes
where real Sun was getting through. It was a about 77 in da boat and winds
were calm to just DEAD early in the AM. They had been nice until well
after I went to sleep. I remember the sounds of wind in rigging.
Forecast is for partly cloudy over the weekend. The front that was moving
down from the US seems to have weakened and we may not get the rain relief I was
hoping for. Actually long range forecast say mid next week we may get a
quarter inch or so. Need it to wash down the salt build up on the
boat! Even the mooring lines have hard places where the salt is building
in.... need a good soak soon to clean them out. 
Went into Road Town to get a couple of things done, including having a cup
of coffee and roll at Road Town Bakery on Main Street. Noticed the road
was blocked and tents were set up and about 9 people started setting up
tables. I ask one of the people if a Christmas Festival was going on and
discovered it was for today and Saturday. Town was crowded and two large
cruise ships were in and one small one. If you are ever on Tortola for a
cruise.... take a tour bus and see the island. You will see things you
never will forget.... those who just stay in town really miss out... as there is
really very little in town to see! And you can do that in an hour
anytime.
On returning to da boat, I set off for Trellis Bay under still very
overcast skies. Sir Francis Drake Channel was unusually calm for this time
of year. Seas were said to be 3 to 5 but I only saw 2 to 3 and an
occasional wake from an ill mannered ferry boat driver. I also actually
saw a BVI Police boat!!!!!!! After being here on and off several years and
this is only the 3rd time I’ve seen it on the water underway! This is the
Big one.... probably 60 foot made of steel. Kicks up a big wave also...
must use former ferry boat drivers as crew  Actually the only
reports I’ve been told about were these guys are very professional and courteous
to boaters the meet. Not sure what they are looking for but I would be
sure I had a BVI fishing license if I had fishing poles exposed and that I had
permits to use the National Parks Moorings. They were just leaving Trellis
when I started my run into the bay. Got a ball and getting ready to make
my dink run up to da Loose Mongoose to see if any of the Gray Beards of Tortola
are about. If so I’ll probably have a Red Stripe and get caught up on the
going on via the cocoanut telegraph and watch some football for a couple of
days, then head back to Penn’s on Monday.
Have lots to do next week and love the ability to catch the bus or take one
of the discount share a ride taxi’s that East End has. Taxi service from
West End is very expensive but I can get to Road Town for $3. by taxi and $2 by
bus. Love the Busses but they don’t have as many as they do taxi’s and the
taxi’s can be fun because they sometime will take side trips that are worth far
more than $3.oo would be expected to bring.
Hope to post some photos in the AM. Gotta go for a Red Stripe run and
a late lunch.
Later,
da Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the
hilarious book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves
the Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid. Check out "Hurricanes and Hangovers" at
http://DearMissMermaid.Com
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- Great Day for sailing in the Virgin Islands!!!
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- By daWayward Sailor <daWaywardSailor at hotmail.com>
- Date: Thu, 2 Dec 2010 16:30:13 -0400
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Started the day off at Christmas Cove St James USVI after a really great
night sleep. Weather was perfect  Got up early...
about 6 and headed back East to the BVI. Pillsbury sound was rough in the
middle and the Hawks nest Channel was also a bit of a mess but everything else
was really nice. I did motor most of the way since I was dead on the nose
into the wind and I needed to be back in West End by 9 AM and in East End by mid
afternoon. While seas were forecast for 4 to 7, in most of the Sir Francis
Drake Channel today it was more of 3 to 4 and the winds were an almost constant
14 knots. I locked the wheel and only had to make a few adjustments for a
easy trip back.
Here is a photo of a Cruise Ship coming into Pillsbury Sound in USVI early
this AM. They appear to have took a holding position to sent their shuttle
boats (fancy life boats) into Cruz Bay.
This is actually a shot of me arriving at St. James which is just off
Channel Rock ahead on the photo. St, Thomas is to the right, St James and
Christmas Cove to the Left.
Really great trip up the channel with no gust just constant winds and a
good number of sailboats were out. Unfortunately a couple did not realize
you had to get out of the wind shadow of some of the island to get wind and
sail.... but they soon learn and looked as though all had fun.
Here is a shot of when I was just getting to West End Tortola this
AM.
After a quick check in with Customs and Immigrations, I was again off on a
run up to East End.
Two cruise ships were in Road Town today... down town is very small....
would hate to have needed to get some place!
The seas, winds and sun were about perfect.... the only thing that cause a
gloom feeing is a VHF MAYDAY which indicated a Diver was Down. Appears a
dive may have had a heart attack while out on one of the charter dive
boats. Several boats responded to the USCG notice and the BVI Viscar
responded. Only info provided with the person was male and 59 years of age
and estimated weight was 300 pounds. The medical officers request for any
know medications the victim was taking resulted in a list of heart, cholesterol
and blood pressure medications you may anticipate. Sure hope the gentleman
pulled through. Not sure these conditions and problems really match up
well with a Scuba Diving trip that most consider to be at novice max
limits. Not saying he was a novice but these dives are to depths of 60
feet and better in many cases. They were located off Cooper Island which
always results in delays in getting on the spot assistance. We can only
hope it was in time.
As I moved up the channel toward East End Tortola I saw a large motor yacht
just outside Fat Hog Bay. Not something we see much of!
Yes even with rather smooth seas... a sailboat does sometime rock when you
don’t expect it to!!! Or was this real and I just thought it was the boat
that rolled?
Later,
da
Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book:
"Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and
our Dear Miss Mermaid. Check out "Hurricanes and Hangovers" at
http://DearMissMermaid.Com
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- End of Hurricane and Himmacane Season for the BVI
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 1 Dec 2010 11:10:14 EST
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Today marks the official end of the 2010 Hurricane Season. Notice I said
"official". Mother Nature has her own agenda and doesn't always ask the
officials first.
A disorganized area of showers and thunderstorm are in the far southwestern
Caribbean, and not a threat to the BVI at this time, hopefully, it will just die
down. After all, it's been "officially" notified.
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- Last Day of 2010 Atlantic Hurricane Season
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- By daWayward Sailor <daWaywardSailor at hotmail.com>
- Date: Tue, 30 Nov 2010 16:46:27 -0400
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Well today is the last day of the 2010 Atlantic Hurricane
Season.... and good riddance to the storms... but wish I had the time saved to
spend now!
Do we shut down??????
NO!!!!!! We will keep on giving updates to actual
weather conditions as we see them occurring and sending out interesting photos
of the area showing what is going on when we are less in fear of big
storms.
Has several comments on the photos posted yesterday..... ALL
were about the Super Market Photo! Lots of people
wished they had a similar market where they shopped but most wanted to know what
the huge red balls were.
I got one It is a ReaLLLlly
Large Pomegranate. Have not cut into it yet... saving it for another day
and letting it get nice and adjusted to the warmth of da boat and get even
ripper!
I sailed down Sir Francis Drake Channel this AM and here are a
few photos:
The specks on the horizon are charter dive boats heading to
the wreck sites off Salt Island. This is where the Roan went down in a
storm many years ago. You have probably seen the Roan as several movies
have been made using it as a set. Usually the story takes place some other
place. Yes that is Dead Mans Chest to the right.
View of Road Town about a mile or so off. One Cruise
Ship at the docks.
Dink on a wave about 30ft behind me. Sorry for the off
center shot... a gust of wind over powered the boat a tad just as I took the
shot. Had about a half hour of nice surfin conditions and got to 6.3 knots
which is big time for my small boat With Only the Genny
UP! It does make it a tad harder to handle in heavy winds but not
bad. On such a short trip, singlehanded getting the main up and down, is
just too much work and I do not work when I don’t have to. This was just a
fun run down the Channel.
Here we are surfin down a wave a few miles from the
Narrows. All in all it was a great sail but would have been better if I
had my special crew to join me but it was not possible today.
Channel had small white caps all day with an occasional large
one which would goose the boat in the rear.
Seas were 4 to 6 most of the day and winds were 14 to 21 Knots
and should stay around the upper end tonight! Temps between 84 in the day
to 75 at night. This weekend we may see 70 degree nights!!! MMmmmmm with no
long paints and very few long shirts I may have to cook some hot soup and Coco
all night!
I’m tucked into Leinster Bay tonight and have good protection
from the North East winds even if they turn Southeast. About the only way
wind will hit me bad is if it is from the NNW which is unlikely. Don’t
think I’ll need the mosquito netting for the companion way and forward and cabin
hatches but will stick them up anyway!
Heading down to Cruz Bay in the AM but will probably be back
here or at Christmas Cove for a night, then back into Tortola some time later
this Week.
Hope everyone had as great of a day as I did!!!
Later,
da Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the
hilarious book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves
the Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid. Check out "Hurricanes and Hangovers" at
http://DearMissMermaid.Com
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- November 30th, last day of hurricane season (we hope!)
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Tue, 30 Nov 2010 10:00:33 EST
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Today is the last day of the hurricane season. So suck in your gut, take a
super deep breath and then go "ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"...
Well, we got out alive and through another season, though the floods have
made a mess of the already troubled roads of Tortola.
There is a broad area of low pressure over the southwest Caribbean...
Could that be the last hurray?
I remember when the government, with no public input, decided to allow the
mega cruise ships in the BVI, saying all that money they get off them from port
fees and daily passenger taxes would go to benefit the BVI. Well, where did it
all go? (To benefit a few bottomless pockets?)
Well, the seas are still lovely in the BVI! Just look at these
pictures from Thanksgiving week shared by a gentle reader from Ohio who snuck
down to the BVI to snap a few:
My favorite: Anegada Turkey at Thanksgiving!
*tee hee hee*
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- In Road Town Today
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- By daWayward Sailor <daWaywardSailor at hotmail.com>
- Date: Mon, 29 Nov 2010 13:50:49 -0400
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Tuesday,November
30 is the final day of the 2010 Atlantic Hurricane Season. It was very
active with 19 named storms, 12 hurricanes, and 5 intense hurricanes, and a wide
range of local strong storms that did not make the named list. Most
indications are that we are in a less attractive environment for hurricane
development.... it is sometime Nice to be unattractive
Looks like we will continue to have some of these high
overcast conditions on and off for a while. Still lots of sun getting
through and today it is sunny on Tortola AND on my solar panels 
Winds are from the Northeast at between 14 and 20 knots.
We actually had short white caps in the bay early this AM when the winds were
more East. Did give da boat a nice rock and roll. Seas are 4 to 7
feet in Northern Swells. Temps are continuing to run between about 75 at
night to 84 in the day. These temps are at sea level.... cause that where
da boat is!!! At the higher elevations it is actually a bit cooler and the
winds can be + or – depending on what your exposure is. Seems mountains do
not always follow the forecast weather conditions but make for a nice escape on
a really hot day. Visit the “Rain Forest” for a cooling treat. I’m
not totally sure these are true Rain Forest... but that is what they are
commonly referred to as being and they do have lots of the type plants that you
would see in a Rain Forest so.... a rose is a rose....
Went into Road Town this AM for some shopping for my upcoming
trip. Seems Christmas in the Caribbean is on its way!!  Here are a few photos
of what I saw.
That $85.00 Christmas tree is at the new Road Town Rightway
Market. Here is a shot as you go into the door. This it the largest
and newest Food Market on Tortola and a joy to shop in... except for the
$$$$$$
Since we have less of a worry about Hurricanes after the 30th,
I know some of our readers may be relieved at the Much Safer Conditions we will
have... But.....
Do you ever follow the Earthquake Activity around the Virgin
Island Chain? Did you know that on any given day we will have had 5 or 6
earthquakes with in 100 miles of us? Many of our islands have volcanic
origins and these same earthquakes are often related to subterranean volcano
activity. Who knows.... a new island may form just for me. It should
be ready to live on in say a few hundred years 
| Earthquake Activity |
 |
| City: |
Distance to
Epicenter: |
Magnitude: |
Date: |
| Settlement, British Virgin
Islands |
42
miles / 67 km
|
3.5 |
9:39 AM AST 2010-11-29 |
| Settlement, British Virgin
Islands |
38
miles / 61 km
|
3.2 |
4:51 AM AST 2010-11-29 |
| Levittown, PR |
97
miles / 156 km
|
2.7 |
2:24 AM AST 2010-11-29 |
| Culebra, PR |
41
miles / 66 km
|
2.9 |
6:55 AM AST 2010-11-28 |
| West End, British Virgin
Islands |
59
miles / 95 km
|
3.4 |
8:37 AM AST 2010-11-27 |
| Settlement, British Virgin
Islands |
66
miles / 107 km
|
3.1 |
3:29 AM AST 2010-11-27 |
| Culebra, PR |
55
miles / 89 km
|
3.1 |
2:05 AM AST 2010-11-27 |
| Settlement, British Virgin
Islands |
64
miles / 104 km
|
3.2 |
7:18 PM AST
2010-11-26 |
No effective Tsunami Warning System
has ever been used here. Heck most Sailboats have nothing on but short
range VHF Radio while out and most can not really hear the darn thing because it
is usually located in the cabin not the cockpit. That is why I carry a
handheld in the cockpit when underway.
I’ll be in the Sir Francis Drake
Channel going West early in the AM. If possible, I’ll post a report in the
afternoon with photos of what I’ve seen on the trip and give an update on the
conditions we observed.
Had a raft of Messages in a Bottle
hung up between da boat and da dink this AM. Most of these pointed out the
use of a fuel additive is suppose to help with the fuel problem I was working
on. Yep, I also though that was true... and it may be. I have always
added the stuff with each fill up. It probably helps but one long term
cruiser pointed out that when the stuff works it can leave a gum like residue
over time, which settles into the bottom of the tank. This appears to be
what I’ve found. Fact is the fuel in the islands is almost never “fresh”
and once it get into a tank, it may set for weeks or months. It isn’t like
a car where you often go through a tank a week. I may go though a 75 L
tank every 3 to 5 months... I R A sailboat and don’t use a lot of fuel.
I’ll probably try a different type but they all do about the same thing as I
understand it. I will be keeping a closer watch on the color of the fuel
at the bottom of my first stage filter, and when ever possible filter the fuel
prior to putting it into the tank. I’m also looking at a fuel polishing
set up. Several are commercially available but none fit the small space I
have available, so I’ll have to rig up a specific set up to do the off line
polishing of the fuel on a routine schedule.
MMmmmm wonder if I could use one of
Dear Miss Mermaids Brita Water filters to filter my diesel fuel????
Just kidding.... she would not like the flavor of her coffee  and the tea would
probably be a bit off to 
Later,
da
Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book:
"Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and
our Dear Miss Mermaid. Check out "Hurricanes and Hangovers" at
http://DearMissMermaid.Com
|
|
|
- Bright and sunny Sunday
|
- By daWayward Sailor <daWaywardSailor at hotmail.com>
- Date: Sun, 28 Nov 2010 19:02:50 -0400
|
While Saturdays forecast by the big boys was for a sunny and clear day...
it just didn’t happen until late in the afternoon. The AM overcast I
reported turned into mostly cloudy and that didn’t clear out until about mid
afternoon. However Today was Mostly Sunny all day. Lots of boats out
and going all over the place. Saw several come into Fat Hog Bay to
reprovision at the convenient RightWay Market. Some stayed over night and
the High Season is apparently here!!!
I was very busy with boat jobs today. I need to be sailing by Tuesday
and had a fuel problem that ended up in me taking the whole tank out and
cleaning it! Actually it was not as big of a deal as I feared.
Problem with sailing is you do no use much fuel. With the temps the fuel
tends to grow gunk in the tank. It does not help that some fueling
stations have less than fresh/ clean fuel around the West Indies. Dirt and
water contamination are very common. Spent today and most of yesterday
changing filters, cleaning fuel lines and removing the diesel fuel tank.
After cleaning it putting it back in and bleeding the lines of air and getting
the engine to start I just didn’t have time to post earlier. Thanks
to DMM for posting about the great day we are having,
For the next 5 days we should see temps between 77 at night to 84 in the
day..... not a bad swing and great for sleeping!!
Christmas Winds are with us and should range between 15 and 21 knots for
the next few days. Seas are typically between 5 and 7 feet except when you
get near a commercial boat or ferry boat where they may end up seeming much
higher!!!!!  They do not seem
to like recreational boaters or those of us who live on the seas. Law of
Gross Tonnage seems to apply  The bigger you
are, the more rights you can take. Of course you can elect to be DEAD
right.
Going to be heading West on Tuesday for a couple of days. Will try to
report with possibly some photos on what I see if I have internet
connections. Will be back in good internet area by end of week so I will
not be out of action long if any.
Wayward recalls when he use to be coming down for a few months, he would
contact Dear Miss Mermaid and ask what she needed him to bring from the
unlimited supermarkets in the States.....  Always, Brita
Filters and Cat Nip!!! You would NEVER believe the problems I had when a
package of Cat Nip broke in my luggage as I came through customs!!!! Yea
Cat Nip.... lots of folks bring 2 pounds of Cat Nip into da islands  They actually
generally knew who I was bringing it for so they just gave me grief for the fun
of it. Of course I didn’t know that at the time!
Later,
da Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the
hilarious book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves
the Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid. Check out "Hurricanes and Hangovers" at
http://DearMissMermaid.Com
|
|
|
- Postcard from the BVI
|
- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sun, 28 Nov 2010 09:48:50 EST
|
What a wonderful beautiful day in the Virgin Islands!
How many of you would love to trade places with this man here on the
beach?
No storms, crystal clear waters and only the typical scattering of the
clouds for those oh so wonderful 3 minute downpours.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I know dat Wayward Sailor, up close and personal. He was never much on
drinking rain water, he prefers his drinks brewed to make beer or distilled to
make rum.
Ever since I first set my mermaid tail in the Caribbean, sometime in the
early 80's, I always used a Brita
Filter Pitcher for my rain water. I built a custom rain catcher for my
sailboat, and relied solely on the rain water caught for bathing, drinking and
cooking. All the drinking and cooking water was always filtered, just in
case.
When I moved ashore, I lived in places with cisterns, so I continued to
filter my water. Bleach and chlorine are very bad for drinking, but it's always
recommended for purifying water. The Brita removes the chlorine, thus making
treated water safe again for drinking.
Mermaids need lots of water to survive. 
|
|
|
- Bright but high Overcast
|
- By daWayward Sailor <daWaywardSailor at hotmail.com>
- Date: Sat, 27 Nov 2010 10:22:05 -0400
|
Forecast calls for a clear day today.... Well that is not quite what is
occurring. It is often bright but we have a high overcast that is
filtering out much of the Sun. Not the best thing for da ol solar panels
but all in all it is a nice enough day. Possibly a tad choppy out in the
Sir Francis Drake Channel. Most boat I see are bare pole this AM and we
are getting a bit of a sloppy chop in Fat Hogs Bay. Temps over the next
few days should run from a nightly low of around 77 to a high of 84.
Little chance of rain  , the radar dose show
some isolated showers but presently they are well North of us and only PR
appears to be having much of the wet stuff. Winds continue to be Fresh at
14 to 20 knots with some gust and all from the North East. That is
bringing in some Northern Swells and Small Craft Advisories are in place for
most of the area. MMmm anyone know what a “Small Craft” is by
definition? A hint.... it is a lot larger than most think! 
After almost killing myself over eating on Turkey Day.... I was a very good
boy yesterday and feel lots better for it. Tried to tune into a football
game I wanted to follow but missed it... guess that is good since they lost by a
single point.
Looking at the weather that our Mermaid Gardner is having in the frozen
North.... Geezzz. I think she must grow frozen foods!  Understand she
has her show shoes ready to start the walk back down to where she can thaw out
for a while!
I think we may get some disturbed weather by the end of next week.
Looking at the sat photos, the front across the boundary between the Leewards
and Windwards is moving this way. Not sure what will stop it if anything
but we could get a bit more rain chance. That big red blob off South
America is also something to watch but at this time of the year don’t think it
will develop into anything major.... he says in a hoping breath.
Got a few jobs to do on da boat this AM and hope to have some help on a
couple. With this chop I don’t like to do too much engine room work.
Even I can get a bit green if I push it in confined spaces. Thank my lucky
stars I always have the cockpit to get fresh air if I need it!
Message in a Bottle found this AM in my dink (wonder what size wave
plopped in in??)
Dear Wayward,
Since you are not getting as much rain now, what do you
drink?
Betty P
 Dear Betty..... I
B A Sailor...... Water is generally for bathing once or twice a year
minimum  Drinking requires
something with more spirit to it.... Pun Intended!!!! Actually I do
drink lots of water but typically in the form of tea and coffee or a nice glass
of bottled water with a lemon or lime slice. I actually do not often drink
the water I collect from the rain, although I could. I do use it for
coffee occasionally or cooking things like boiled eggs or where I boil the water
in the process of cooking. Nothing wrong with water collected from rain
fall, that is what most islanders use as they have cisterns built into their
homes. Our Own Dear Miss Mermaid used cistern water for years and
years. Some time she would use something like a Brita Filter for ice tea
and French Press Coffee.... she is big on flavor of important foods and
drinks. Betty the specific answer to your question is most often my drink
of choice is Red Stripe Beer and occasionally something with Pussers Rum such as
a Dark and Stormy.
Hope you all have a great weekend.
Later,
da
Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book:
"Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and
our Dear Miss Mermaid. Check out "Hurricanes and Hangovers" at
http://DearMissMermaid.Com
|
|
|
- Friday in the BVI
|
- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Fri, 26 Nov 2010 14:30:55 EST
|
|
View from the porthole!
Beautiful weather in the BVI, what luck!
|
|
|
- After Turkey Day
|
- By daWayward Sailor <daWaywardSailor at hotmail.com>
- Date: Fri, 26 Nov 2010 09:08:47 -0400
|
Well..... I did it. Over ate like a huge Pig....  Had a very nice pumpkin
soup then a huge portion of light and dark turkey, dressing, roasted potatoes,
steamed veggies, garlic mash potatoes, glass of wine and then a large slice of
Pecan pie with ice cream and whipped cream.....all of that was
after a couple of drinks watching football. OMG was it GOOD BUT... I felt
like I was going to explode any moment..... I Never Learn when it comes to over
eating at events like this. In half an hour I was almost hoping I would
die just to be over the overstuffed feeling I had. Ended up walking back
to the Airport where I was going to take a taxi to the boat, but rather than
take a taxi I walked all the way then only felt like I was afraid I may
die. The brisk wind on the dink ride from Penns Landing to the boat was
good for me, cool and fresh. I almost felt human again! Some how I
managed to get ready for bed, brush my teeth and fix a bottle of water with
lemon to take to the cabin.... I knew I would need water with my body breaking
down all the protein I had shoveled into my mouth . Glad the seas
had eased up a bit and were only rocking me to sleep. That took about 3
seconds... I was fast asleep before my head settled into the pillow. I
always say never again but always end up over eating at
holidays.
Temps look like about 84 as a high for next
few days and winds 14 to 20 knots with what looks like fewer gust. Seas
are 4 to 7 feet still with some Northern Swell to them. Looking at the Sat
images below, I can see less of a gradient between fronts and that means less
chance for odd gust and more of a Trade Like Winds. It was be partly
cloudy with some high overcast and a low chance of rain with only trace
accumulations for the next few days.
Radar shows a few showers but they seem to
be well to our North and only PR is getting rain. Here is a show of how it
looked this AM when I got up for coffee... WE WILL NOT DISCUSS HOW LATE
THAT WAS!!!!!! Well. you can probably guess just from the position of the
sun...... IF you are a sailor......
Message in a bottle I found this AM while having Coffee &
Toasted English Muffins with Bitter Orange Marmalade in the
cockpit:
Wayward,
It's
very clear from all that you write that you have a great feel for boats and
sailing. Is this why you refer to ships under sail as 'she' and ships under
power as 'he'?
Free
winds,
Mike
Gee Mike, I
actually didn’t realize I did that . Thinking about
it, I think you did pick up on my feelings about sailboats. They are much
like women. I once wrote a poem about “My Three Lovers”, one was Mother
Ocean, one was my sailboat and one was the best lover I’ve ever know or would
want to know. You get to know a sailboat far better than you would ever
get to know a power boat. In a sailboat you are part of the boat and it is
part of you. May be hard to explain but I guess that is how I feel.
Here is a quote from Jack London I post with many of my cruising related
blogs. It follows about what you picked up on about
me.
I prefer a sailboat to a
motorboat, and it is my belief that boat sailing is a finer, more difficult, and
sturdier art than running a motor.
--- Jack London
Sailing is a finer art..... just as women are a finer art than men....
anyway that is how dis ol sailor tinks 
Later,
da
Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book:
"Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and
our Dear Miss Mermaid. Check out "Hurricanes and Hangovers" at
http://DearMissMermaid.Com
|
|
|
- Happy Thanksgiving from fridged Midwest
|
- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Thu, 25 Nov 2010 09:35:28 -0800 (PST)
|
Happy Thanksgiving!!
Would like to wish Dear Miss Mermaid, da Wayward Sailor, friends, ex pats, and all of those that read Dear Miss Mermaid a very warm and Happy Thanksgiving! Keep reading and we will keep writing.
For those of you in the BVI enjoy the warm trade winds for I'm extremely jealous. Woke this morning to 5 degrees and -10 wind chill. The only sand that I'll be seeing up here is that which is thrown on the road for better car traction. It's funny when I'm talking with my local BVI friends they have no idea what 5 degrees feels like. I explain to them ask the manager of Riteway if you can go stand in their freezer for 5 minutes, then you will understand!!!
Will be getting thawed out soon enough in the BVI. Again Happy Thanksgiving to one and all..plus pass the turkey and stuffing around one more time!!! And what about the pecan pie with Rum caramel sauce!!!
Thanksgiving Cheers!
your Mermaid Gardener
|
|
- Turkeyday
|
- By daWayward Sailor <daWaywardSailor at hotmail.com>
- Date: Thu, 25 Nov 2010 09:18:27 -0400
|
When I was a kid, Thanksgiving morning was often spent out in the woods
hunting with my cousins . We never actually shot anything our main reason
was to just be hour on a good hike in the woods working up a real appetite for
the dinners each of us knew was going to be about ready when we returned.
That was another reason we did not ever actually shoot anything except a few
inanimate items for target practice. Having to clean something that you
had taken while hunting just was not what we wanted to consider when a great
mound of food was going to be available. All but one of us was really just
a hiker with a, 22 one was a true hunter but we made so much noise only a really
dumb or deaf critter would show itself. One reason he never asked any of
us to join him when he was actually hunting.
Not totally sure where my Thanksgiving Dinner will be occurring but have a
couple of choices. I know I’ll probably over eat and may consider walking
to one and having to walk back a couple of miles. I should be OK by
then.... of course I could just exercise restraint.........errRRrr who am
I kidding.... I’ll do the two mile walk back.
Made it up to Penn’s Landing just after mid day and it was rough in the
channel from the Narrows to about Road Town. Winds were about 14 to
18 knots with some gust to over 20. Seas were a sloppy chop with average
state being between 4 and 6 feet with a few larger fellows popping up just to
see if your paying attention. Few other boats were out. Those that
were seem to think that having every sail out was best and caused them
problems. I did run across this boat leaving West End as I was going
in. Obviously she knew how to set sails.
That is less than a third of her sail set. As she got into Westward
move, she did unfurl some of her square head sails but was too far away for a
photo.... but did she look fine.
As you can see from the photo from my Port side, it was partly cloudy in
the AM with a bit more sun as the day went along. Winds continued through
the night and are back again this AM. If you look close at the photo you
can see about 3 to 4 foot swells in this close in and a bit more protected area
of the Narrows. White caps were on my Starboard side. As I continued
up the Sir Francis Drake Channel, another full size Cruse Ship came up behind me
and pasted to my Starboard in the distance. Here they are just past Dead
Mans Chest. Anyone know what Dead Mans Chest is famous for and what a Dead
Mans Chest is???????? 
Thought this fellow was going to make the outer cut to the Carib just
before Cooper Island but he came about and crossed ahead of me and turned into
Road Town and I got this shot.
Saw him leave after dark as they normally do. One day in Road Town is
about all any of these big boats spend as they do in most ports.
We are expecting similar weather but probably dryer to hang on for the next
week or so. Winds are to be between 14 and 20 knots with gust. The
seas should be around 4 to 7 feet with a Northern Swell.... Sorry Cain Garden
Bay... you will get lots of surfers but not many boats!!! Best to see Cain
Garden Bay this time of year by taxi and it is probably safer.... although you
may have 2nd thoughts when you look over the side of a few mountains you will
climb and do down.... have your cameras ready  . Rain is only
expected to be of the very isolated type we always have. Short term and
light with no accumulations to be expected. Not good for my water
tanks! My solar panels should be reasonably happy with a haze but mostly
sunny skies.
What is this??????
Any idea???
Well it is a night shot from a very simple digital camera of the Cruise
Ship leaving Road Town. No they do not have large circles for lights....
the circles are caused by the waves my boat has during the very short
exposure. Think it would have been nice if I could have made the exposure
last longer but in the dark I can’t figure out how to do that. I’ve always
had fun with doing photos in odd situations and use to develop film and photos
myself using techniques not normally used by the photo shops. Now with
digital all that is gone but a new set of tools are available but often not as
much fun as being in the darkroom.
Don’t eat too much and even if your Not an American... it is OK to follow
the Holiday tradition. Have fun
Later,
da
Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book:
"Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and
our Dear Miss Mermaid. Check out "Hurricanes and Hangovers" at
http://DearMissMermaid.Com
|
|
|
- Gobble Gobble
|
- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 24 Nov 2010 09:56:56 EST
|
|
No storms on the horizon and hurricane season officially ends in 6 days.
however, Mother Nature doesn't listen to the government... so anything could
happen, but we hope not.
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving for the USA, and it will be celebrated with a
potluck dinner at Jolly Roger. Other places will offer up parties and the
traditional dinner as well. The Canadians in the BVI tend to celebrate their
Thanksgiving along with the Americans, and loads of folks from other ports will
join in the festivities.
I will post some more foolishness on my other blog, there is a lemon
turkey recipe I want to share with pics, soon as I locate it.
Ooops!
In a previous post, on November 22, my link to Dispute over ownership
of conch meat continues in Martinique was wrong, try this link.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
I'm thankful to still be splashing around..
|
|
|
- Still windy with unsettled seas
|
- By daWayward Sailor <daWaywardSailor at hotmail.com>
- Date: Wed, 24 Nov 2010 07:23:58 -0400
|
Wind is still up a bit. Presently we have about 15 knot winds with gust up
about 22 knots. Seas have settled a bit over night but we expect them to
wake up after they get the few drops of coffee from the bottom of a few cups
that are tossed overboard. No real rain overnight, did have a short light
mist that didn’t actually get anything very wet. Good thing was not many
bugs. Think most have been blown away or have taken cover
underground. Temps are nice at about 78 now and the Sun is just coming up
over the mountain to my East into a partly Cloudy sky. Getting frequent
gust which will probably last for a few more days until we get a break.
The break will not last long!
Our Christmas winds will surly make themselves know shortly.
Not totally sure of our plans yet this AM. May make the run to West
End then up to either Penn’s Landing or Trellis Bay for the Thanksgiving
Holiday. May be a busy one for lots of people. If possible when I
get to moving on, I’ll shoot some photos  to post later.
While this holiday is a US one, many if not most places in the BVI have some
sort of special event for the many visitors from the US. Beside.... who
does not like really good food?
ALSO, in a few days I’ll have a few copies of Dear Miss Mermaids
“Hurricanes and Hangovers” aboard da boat!!!!!! I’ll post again when I
have them and if you would like a copy to read or use as a great
Christmas Gift for a good friend.... I’ll let you know where I’ll be hangin
out....... LOL Probably a bar near the water  . Will let you
know where and when.  
Well need a cup o coffee 
Later,
da
Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book:
"Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and
our Dear Miss Mermaid. Check out "Hurricanes and Hangovers" at
http://DearMissMermaid.Com
|
|
|
- Breezy with Waning Gibbous moon 96% is Illuminated
|
- By daWayward Sailor <daWaywardSailor at hotmail.com>
- Date: Tue, 23 Nov 2010 11:13:12 -0400
|
Last night we had a fresh breeze around 14 knots most of the night but
about 1:30 AM local we had a half hour or so of much stronger winds which really
swung the boats around for a while. The afternoon was a mix of overcast
with short periods of Sun and quick rain showers. One did last long enough
for me to collect about a day or so worth of water. This time of year
every bit helps as this is normally a rather dry time for us. Did take the
opportunity to run both the boat engine and the generator for a few hours to top
up the batteries. Solar Panels don’t work as well with shaded
sunlight. Times like these I consider getting a wind generator but most
make such a noise and vibration I really don’t want to have that.
Today we are looking at winds 17 to 24 knots and seas 5 to 7 feet. I
do see whitecaps out on Sir Francis Drake Channel but a few boat are moving
around. I’ll probably hang for another day... have a good book and no
place I need to be. Wednesday will probably be my move day as I’m hoping
the forecast is a bit more cautionary than real and the seas and winds will drop
by late tonight. I do have a bit of sun and the solar panels are chugging
away and even toping up my computer battery.
Note the clouds over the most Northern Leeward Islands, they are moving
more or less Northeast to Southwest and the clouds over the area between the
Leeward and Windward are actually going in the opposite direction. That
sets up a strong gust pattern between the two and it was something like this
that was over us the past few days. We still have it but it is weaker and
hopefully will drop more over the next 24 hours. Winds seem to actually be
picking up here but it may just be another higher gust period.... what I like to
avoid when doing kicked back sailing.
Later,
da Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the
hilarious book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves
the Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid. Check out "Hurricanes and Hangovers" at
http://DearMissMermaid.Com
|
|
|
- Paradise with tad few clouds
|
- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Mon, 22 Nov 2010 11:49:59 EST
|
A bit cloudy in Tortola at the moment, but it's warm and sure to be sunny
soon. Dear Miss Mermaid is alive
and well, on her way back to the islands, with the final arrival date to be
announced.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A gentle reader on Tortola is trying to rehome a nice doggy he found after
the Otto rains. Check out this webpage for details:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Another of my gentle readers alerted me to the Conch fiasco in
Martinique. They claim it's worth 1.6 million dollars Three
companies plus the government are fighting over ownership.
Talk about beating their conch... or blowing their conch!
Conch has to be beat or tenderized. One of the easiest modern methods is to
use a blender, drop small batches of conch into a blender, then zapping it
repeatedly until it shreds. For some reason, it doesn't work well in a food
processor, but does much better in the blender.
I imagine the restaurants and tourists in Martinique are none to happy.
Conch is one of my favorite foods though I haven't had any in awhile, just
writing about it makes my mouth water as I think of savory conch fritters, or
spicy conch scorch (ceviche).
I hope they settle that dispute while the conch is still good. I presume
it's frozen, but still, unless kept at optimum temperatures below
freezing, the shelf life deteriorates.
Dispute over ownership of conch meat continues in
Martinique
|
|
|
- Fresh Breeze and lots of gust!
|
- By daWayward Sailor <daWaywardSailor at hotmail.com>
- Date: Mon, 22 Nov 2010 09:45:12 -0400
|
Marine Forecast today continues as yesterday and we are experiencing Fresh
Breezes East Northeast between 16 and 24 knots with seas running 6 to 9 feet
with lots of white caps. Odd thing is when we get the gust, they seen to
be coming from more of an East Southeast direction causing the boats at mooring
/ anchorage to swing wildly at times. Can catch you off guard if your not
careful... a time to remember even at a mooring, One hand for the Boat and One
for what your doing. Sir Francis Drake Channel seem to be building up as
should be expected when these stronger winds come from more of an East
direction. We are getting a bit more sun which is nice but a few short
showers did play their games with everyone all night and earlier this AM.
How about this view!
These full size Cruise Ships do not normally come up through the Narrows,
they go out side, and when they do it is because they don’t want to handle the
seas out in the Caribbean. This one is heading to Road Town Tortola... not
sure where it is from but it was the NCL Norwegian Dawn. Probably from
down islands, they typically do not hit St Thomas and Tortola back to
back.
A cool 77 degrees here with the wind blowing. High today and for most
of the week is forecast to be about 84..... about the same temp as the water,
however when you come up from the water and the wind hits you... you will think
it is a lot cooler than that! da Sun will help after a bit but my early
morning dip was a tad cool feeling  and the after swim Hot
Chocolate was wonderful... reminds me of a ski lodge! 
On my hike down the ol Danish Highway at Leinster Bay, I took a
couple of photos showing the storm damage caused by Earl and Otto. Lots of
wash outs and a few land / rock slides that make the hike a bit more difficult
but still easy to handle by most people. The Sandy Beach still gets lots
of walk in visitors. Odd thing is I have not seen any Donkeys yet!
Normally they have a morning and afternoon walk though but they seem to have
found some other place to roam.
Was considering heading into West End today but think I’ll just hang here
and read a book until things settle down out there...MMMMmmm yep got food, got
beer, got run got lots to read.... guess I have ALMOST everything I need/
want  Well just another
windy day in Paradise.... Guess someone has to do it..... I volunteer!!! 
Later,
da
Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book:
"Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and
our Dear Miss Mermaid. Check out "Hurricanes and Hangovers" at
http://DearMissMermaid.Com
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- Breezy and a bit of a roll
|
- By daWayward Sailor <daWaywardSailor at hotmail.com>
- Date: Sun, 21 Nov 2010 10:43:29 -0400
|
Forecast for this week call for a Fresh Breeze with seas running a bit high
with a Northeast wind. Here is the Marine Forecast:
Small
Craft Advisory in effect through Wednesday
evening
Forecast as
of 3:54 am AST on November 21, 2010
Coastal Waters Of
Southern Usvi Vieques And Eastern Puerto Rico Out
10 Nm-
Today
Northeast winds 18 to 23
knots. Seas 4 to 6 feet. Scattered showers.
Tonight
Northeast winds 17 to 22
knots. Seas 6 to 8 feet. Scattered showers.
Monday
East northeast winds 18 to 23
knots. Seas 6 to 8 feet. Numerous showers.
Monday Night
East northeast winds 17 to 22
knots. Seas 7 to 9 feet. Scattered showers.
Tuesday
East northeast winds 18 to 23
knots. Seas 6 to 8 feet. Isolated showers...then scattered showers.
Wednesday
East northeast winds 16 to 21
knots. Seas 5 to 7 feet. Scattered showers...then isolated showers.
Thursday
East northeast winds 16 to 21
knots. Seas 5 to 7 feet. Isolated showers.
No Tropical Storms in area or expected but look at the IR
view below.
NWS Tropical Prediction Center National Hurricane Center, Miami, FL 700 am est sun
nov 21 2010
For the North Atlantic, Caribbean
Sea and the Gulf of Mexico:
Tropical cyclone formation is not
expected during the next 48 hours. Forecaster Stewart
The blob over us accounts for much of the clouds we had yesterday. I
could see sunshine hitting lots of places around me but I seem to have had a
cloud over da boats solar cells all day! Today seems to be starting out a
bit better with bright sunshine and da solar panels are humming away....
actually they make no noise at all  We still have a
20 to 30% chance of trace amounts of rain.... the kind where by the time I close
all the hatches.... the rain has stopped until I open them again and get settled
in with a good book.
This AM early we had very little wind and boats were pointing in all
directions which I thought was rater at odds with the forecast but now at 10:30
we have a fresh breeze building up from the Northeast as forecast. In a
few hours we will see this reflected in increased seas in the Sir Francis Drake
Channel. Winds are still a bit gusty rather than the typical steady
trades, probably due to the blob moving over us in the above IR shot. This
will cause some of the charter boats problems and many will probably tend to
hang in the hot spot resort areas rather than be out sailing if all aboard are
not comfortable with a bit of a ride while out. Many if not most charter
boats have a mix of people some who love to sail and others just down for the
views and maybe a swim or two. Often half the boat’s crew has little or no
experience with sailing in fresh breezes and few have experience picking up a
mooring in such conditions. This often results in some loving the
Experience  and other not liking
the Ordeal  Key for these
folks is to have a good mix of events and not try to live to a hard schedule
made up months ago in a landlocked location.
Sleeping at a mooring or anchorage in high winds is typically a problem for
some that are not use to it and always a concern for the skipper. I never
recommend anchoring when moorings are available during periods of high winds and
seas. Everyone will get a better night rest with minimal “anchor watch”
stress. Also, the best berths are those that go lateral across the boat
such as what is typically found in many Masters Cabins. Berths that are
along the main length of the boat will rock more and the body is more
stressed. Often in Charter boats, one side has most of the storage
area. My own has most on the Portside which causes a slight tilt to the
port when all things are equal. That makes sleeping in the Masters Cabin
even more restful as your head is just a bit higher than your feet almost all of
the time. Kids seem to be immune to any problem. Just the old people
like my younger friends 
Tonight AND Monday are both FULL Moons!!!! Actually this is often the
case as the full moon moves between two different days at midnight, but this
time is causes about the same amount of area each night so we have Two Full
Moons.... wonder how the Full Moon Parties are going to work THAT out???
You probably want to call ahead if your going to make sure which if not both
they will have things set up.
Going for a short hike and a swim. Water is a cool 84.... well that
is cold to me but refreshing.
It also helps me to remember to ware a long sleeve shirt or better a rash guard
to off set both the coolness and the sunburn lots of people get when they become
a “One horn Buttfish”  I just saw their
ad a few days ago have just HAVE to get me a shirt! That is what my Mom
said was the only thing she ever saw of me in the water after I got my very
first snorkel in at Panama City Beach.... many full moons ago
Again, thanks for the comments and questions. Love responses from the
viewers
Later, da
Wayward Sailor  da Wayward
Sailor recommends the hilarious book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read
for anyone who loves the Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid. Check out
"Hurricanes and Hangovers" at http://DearMissMermaid.Com
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- No Tropical Systems at this time... in the World!!!!!!
|
- By daWayward Sailor <daWaywardSailor at hotmail.com>
- Date: Sat, 20 Nov 2010 09:27:12 -0400
|
This AM we have had two very light misting of rain and it is mostly
cloudy. Actually had to just close the hatches due to a bit heaver
rain but looking at clouds it does not appear to be going to last long.
Maybe just enough for cleaning the Starboard side so I can do a bit of rain
water recovery  It is always nice
to have a good supply of nice rain water to shower with after a swim in the
salty waters. It does not look like much accumulation is expected but
individual locations often do have sufficient amounts to top up the cisterns and
my humble efforts at collection on da boat. Radar does not show any heavy
rain in immediate location but as the day goes on the clouds may get heaver and
we could/ probably will see a bit more. Forecast show a good chance, later
in the week, for accumulation and I’ll be watching for that 
Winds are forecast to be in the range between 15 and 24 knots and seas 5 to
10 feet for the next 5 days. Going to be breezy and a bit choppy for a
while.
National Weather Service indicates for this
area:
Small craft should
exercise caution until this evening
Small Craft
Advisory in effect from this evening through Monday afternoon
Invest 94 is once again off the charts
and No Tropical Storm activity is being tracked in the Atlantic or
anywhere else in the world.... that is nice to hear BUT..... we
still need to follow the possibility that it will reemerge in a few days
probably as a different named storm in a near by location. Even if
it does, chances are it will not be a major problem due to increased wind
shear.
Last night was very nice sleeping weather on da boat near West End
BVI. Looks to me as though Soper’s Hole had a near full capacity
crowd of boats last night. I’ll probably head in some time next week
if the winds are not too high. Taking a mooring single handed in a
crowded area isn’t a lot of fun  Hope to be
at either Penn’s Landing or Trellis Bay for Thanksgiving... getting tired
of eating my own food  Actually
tired of cleaning up after I make it.... love to make it most of the time
and love to eat it  ... often too much
and I always hate cleaning up.... just not my fav thing to do but a must
do on da boat. Mmmmm maybe I need to find a galley slave  or galley
wench 
Well back to reading one of the books I have started. I use to
do only one book at a time but now I typically have a couple and sometimes
3 going on at the same time. Think it helps keep me on my toes
keeping them apart. Think I may make a short hike to the location I
can deposit some of the paper trash that I’ve accumulated over the past
few days and maybe take a couple of photos if it look to be clear for a
while.
Want to thank those of you who drop us a line. Always love to
hear from those who follow our ramblings and let us know what your doing
and we also love the photos! Got one a couple of days ago of a very
nice view of snow and ice totally covering everything with probably 6
inches of the white stuff.... BOY if you could pack that stuff and
bring it down here and put some sweet syrup on it... You could make a
fortune  |
Later,
da
Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book:
"Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and
our Dear Miss Mermaid. Check out "Hurricanes and Hangovers" at
http://DearMissMermaid.Com
|
|
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- Friday, Breezy and Clear
|
- By daWayward Sailor <daWaywardSailor at hotmail.com>
- Date: Fri, 19 Nov 2010 09:26:28 -0400
|
Left Christmas Cove on St. James in the USVI Thursday and am now visiting
St. John with a great views of Tortola’s West End. I’ll probably hang out
here for a couple of days as I have BVI phone and internet availability  The trip up was
nice except for the pass at Hawknest where the seas were really confused with a
washing machine type condition only added to by rude ferry boat operators.
I made the run via the South path around Johnson’s Reef which was a sight
with breaking seas but not as bad as I’ve seen it when the tide was
lower. Winds went almost calm for a bit when I arrived at Waterlemon
which was nice for picking up my fav mooring! Only a few boats even
as the sun set... we only had 6 in the bay with winds that didn’t follow
forecasts and were from about any direction including West but always
light. We must have done at least 3 180 degree swings between the 5
o’clock and when I finally went to sleep about 4 hours later. We were
pointed West several times when I awoke and checked the heading compass in my
cabin.... now that I finally have it wired with a nice red light, I can check it
with no eye strain!!
Todays forecast is for winds from Northeast at 12 to 17 knots.... about
what I had Thursday. However this weekend appears to be an introduction to
the ‘’Christmas Wind” season with winds anticipated to be between 17
and 23 knots and up to 28 knots on Sunday. Seas building from 4 to 6 to a
choppy 5 to 8 feet. We will probably see a few boats out and
getting wet with these increased winds but with the Full Moon and Fools
Moon parties... many boats will probably hang in close to some of the popular
moorings and attractions such as Trellis Bay. Appears things will calm
down a bit in the early part of the week but still in the mid teens for winds
and probably 5 or 6 foot seas. We should expect some swells on the
Northern exposures and probably not a great place to overnight.
Invest 94 seems to not to want to go away. Hopefully it will this
weekend but it could resurface next week. Some models have it going North
into the Gulf of Mexico and making the late season run from Texas to Florida’s
Panhandle. Another shows a possible turn back to Cuba... hopefully these
will not occur. It seems unlikely since we have increased wind shear over
most of the Carib and more dry air and the waters are cooling a bit.... not much
but a little. The increased Wind Shear is something that should hang with
us for a while and will be a key factor in knocking off any new storms
developing in our area.
I’ll probably hang here for a bit and do some hiking and snorkeling until
the weather settles in. No real reason for me to fight my way East in 20+
knot winds  I’ve found that
when I single hand as I’m now doing, being a fair weather sailor by choice is
lots less of a problem. After all I have all I need here 
Later,
da Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book:
"Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and
our Dear Miss Mermaid. Check out "Hurricanes and Hangovers" at
http://DearMissMermaid.Com
|
|
|
- 94 fizzled out
|
- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2010 11:08:29 -0800 (PST)
|
Invest 94 has fizzled out!!! Hooray!!! As Jeff Masters writes down below that we have had a very active November for hurricanes. I'm just happy that we have dodged another messy weather pattern, allowing the island to dry out and folks to make repairs to their homes. In October when I was in the BVI I still saw remnants of damage form Earl and Otto. So it will take time for some of the damage to be repaired. Most islanders start right away fixing and repairing the damage done my Mother Nature.
Looking at the web cams and satellite today appears to be a pretty tropical Caribbean day. Light puffy clouds are on the horizon and just a few typical spotty showers.
Temperature is 79 degrees with a
13mph breeze out of the Northeast.
From wunderground.com Here is the posting from Jeff Masters:
What may be the final tropical
disturbance in the Atlantic (94L) has fizzled, due to dry air and
increasing wind shear, and there's an excellent chance that this will be
final "Invest" of 2010 in the Caribbean. The 2-week wind shear forecast
from the GFS model is showing a dramatic increase in wind shear over
the Caribbean in the coming weeks, which should put an end to the
Caribbean hurricane season. However, it's been another remarkably active
November in the tropics this year. The formation of Hurricane Tomas
this month marks the fourth consecutive year in the Atlantic with a
hurricane occurring November 1 or later. We had Category 1 Hurricane
Noel in 2007, Category 4 Hurricane Paloma in 2008, Category 2 Hurricane Ida
in 2009, and now Category 2 Tomas in 2010. This is the first time since
beginning of reliable hurricane records in 1851 that there have been
four consecutive years with a late-season November or December hurricane
in the Atlantic. The previous record was three straight years, set in
1984 - 1986. It used to be that late-season hurricanes were a relative
rarity--in the 140-year period from 1851 - 1990, only 30 hurricanes
existed in the Atlantic on or after November 1, an average of one
late-season hurricane every five years. Only four major Category 3 or
stronger late-season hurricanes occurred in those 140 years, and only
three Caribbean hurricanes. But in the past twenty years, late-season
hurricanes have become 3.5 times more frequent--there have been fifteen
late-season hurricanes, and five of those occurred in the Caribbean.
Three of these were major hurricanes, and were the three strongest
late-season hurricanes on record--Lenny of 1999 (155 mph winds), Paloma of 2008 (145 mph winds), and Michelle of 2001
(140 mph winds). Of course, the number of storms we are talking about
is small, and one cannot say anything scientifically significant about
late-season Atlantic tropical cyclone numbers, unless we include storms
from late October as well. This was done, though, by Dr. Jim Kossin of
the University of Wisconsin, who published a 2008 paper
in Geophysical Research Letters titled, "Is the North Atlantic
hurricane season getting longer?" He concluded that yes, there is an
"apparent tendency toward more common early- and late-season storms that
correlates with warming Sea Surface Temperature but the uncertainty in
these relationships is high". The recent increase in powerful and deadly
November hurricanes would seem to support this conclusion.
From reading what Jeff Masters has posted we are looking at a much longer hurricane season in the North Atlantic. I'll just keep my shutters handy and keep on the look out.
Warm and friendly regards,
the Mermaid Gardener
|
|
- Another thing to watch
|
- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Tue, 16 Nov 2010 16:46:47 EST
|
|
The season just doesn't want to die down! Here's another one to
watch, but no threat at all to the beautiful Virgin Islands at this time, but
still... this has been one strange season.
|
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- Wishful thinking
|
- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Tue, 16 Nov 2010 08:11:01 -0800 (PST)
|
Thought for the day......as I look out my window I see snow falling, I dream of the BVI and it's warm trade winds brushing up against me. Wish I was there. Currently the BVI is at 84 degrees, winds 7mph and not much in the way of cloud cover. I checked the Satellite view and there is not much on the horizon. It's been a while since I checked the Sahara Dust information and thought I'd like to see if any haze out there from Africa. It seems that most of haze will be actually coming off of the US east coast line and drifting south towards the Caribbean. Here is the web site to check out the Sahara dust. http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/tropic/real-time/wavetrak/movies/m8g10split/m8g10splitjava5.htmlIt's so interesting to be down in the BVI and have a clear beautiful morning and then watch the haze drift in. The islands actually disappear in the haze. I learned early on after I bought my home in Tortola that the Sahara Dust will leave a film all over everything. I'm dusting in the morning and by afternoon it is time to dust again. Even on the boat you can get a thin film of brown dust on the fiberglass. The things you learn when living in a new environment. The other interesting thing about Tortola is that when people ask me about my home and gardens in Tortola. They always think that it will be like Hawaii in that it's lush and a rain forest. But here on our rocky island there are different
Eco-systems. East end seems to be a bit dryer than the North side of the islands. West End can also be dryer much like East End. It seems that when we get the nice puffy rainclouds that cross over Beef island and Buck Island that the land and probably the heat from the land deteriorates the clouds as they come close inland, but sure enough once it passes us and rises over the hills then the north side ends up getting more rain than us. I enjoy the challenges of having a subtropical garden, that at times can be especially arid. I have many cactus and succulent plants scattered around my gardens. I have to admit that I do try and have failed at growing the more fragile water loving plants like bird of paradise. So, I've learned that there are many wonderful drought resistant plants that can do especially well in my gardens. But I'll always dream about trying to keep bird of paradise alive in my
garden. Wishing that all of us could be in paradise.. your Mermaid Gardener
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- Start of a new week
|
- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Mon, 15 Nov 2010 06:08:42 -0800 (PST)
|
Good Morning Beef Island is currently reporting a temp of 82 degrees with winds 7 mph with wind gusts up to 22mph. They are predicting a high of 84 degrees, 20 % chance of rain this evening. Sounds like it will be a beautiful day in the BVI. Invest 94 is still hanging out there wondering what it wants to do. Most of the models show it going north west. So at this point they are not showing it to be a threat to the British Virgin Islands. One track shows it going to Jamaica and another shows it looping around and heading towards the Dominican Republic. Lets just keep our fingers crossed that it stays away. I'd hate to have to pull out my hurricane shutters again but if mother nature calls I too will make the call to shutter my house
up. Took a quick look at several of the Web cams that Dear Miss Mermaid has supplied. Cooper this morning looks as if the majority of mooring balls had boats on them. Saba Rock web cam up at the Bitter End didn't look quite a busy. It appeared that there were some mooring balls still open. From the looks of things the sailing season is starting. Most of the restaurants are just now reopening for the season and by the end of November most if not all will be open. Here is the web page for the web cams. I noticed that some of the web cams are not working alas probably hurricane Earl took them down. But the ones that are up and running are fun to check out. Who knows you might even see friends down here if they are sailing. http://reservationsbvi.com/web%20cams.htmlCheers!! your Mermaid
Gardener
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- Update via snow country
|
- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Sun, 14 Nov 2010 07:10:06 -0800 (PST)
|
Good Morning from Snow country, da Wayward Sailor has asked me to send in his report for him since he is without internet. After having a buggy night and listening to the local band at the bar above the marina. I've packed up da boat,took the last water readings and will be heading out this morning. Woke up to partly sunny skies with a 30% chance of rain. Currently the temperature is 86 degrees and when the sun is out it's quite hot. Boat activity seems to be on the rise, checked with the marina here and they indicated that starting next week that the boating season will be beginning.
They have seen a rise in their boat activity for next week. Will be out of internet range for the next few days. Once I'm back into internet range will post an update them. Till them...........da Wayward Sailor From the Mermaid Gardener
I will report long distance while da Wayward Sailor is out enjoying sailing life.
Beef Island it is currently reporting 84 degrees, with very little wind 4 mph east north east. Scattered clouds appear to be on most of the web cams that I've looked at. Invest 94 is a low pressure area that has disorganized showers and thunderstorms associated with it. It
is located in the Caribbean Sea some 977 miles away from San Juan. Even though hurricane season is winding down we can always have an errant hurricane or tropical storm at this time of year so we need to be diligent. Have spoken to friends of mine that are in the process of using wet vacs to clean and remove the water left from the drainage of the past weeks torrential rainfall in their home. One person I spoke to said that he is unable to have any construction work begin since things have to dry out before any work commences. I had also heard that Soldiers Hill Road was closed going over to Cane Garden Bay last week due to boulders and debris in the roadway. I suspect that portions of the road actually were undermined with the torrential rains and probably have washed portions of the road away or down the hill. So if you are heading down to Tortola check with your car rental company for any good gouge on
which roads are closed and which are now open. I was actually pretty impressed when I was down there for Otto and seeing how the government was handling the pot hole and washed out roadway situation. They seemed to get out fairly quickly and were patching and fixing. Here are a couple of web site links that you can check out what is on the horizon around the BVI. http://reservationsbvi.com/cam/soggy dollar web cam.htmlhttp://reservationsbvi.com/cam/cooper.htmlCheers! from your Mermaid Gardener
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- Late Up date
|
- By da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at gmail.com>
- Date: Sat, 13 Nov 2010 19:30:08 -0400
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|
Having to use my old e-mail account today... for some reason the ISP for this WIFI has a problem with my Windows Live account via Hotmail. Odd how "selective" thee can get!
Most of us in the Virgin Islands seem to have had a mostly cloudy day based on how it was as I moved about today and from the mostly cloudy sky. I didn't get any rain but it sure looked like it was about to break down any moment. Forecast for the next 5 days only have the standard 20 to 30% chance but only with "trace" amounts.
Invest 94 continues to look more like a storm and the chance is now up to 40% that it will be a Tropical Storm within the next 48 hours,,,,, actually most indicate it will be a Tropical Storm in about 3 days but the existing steering currents and other conditions, should keep it slowly moving to the North West. This blob dose not seem to be any threat for the Eastern Caribbean or the States. It will probably move in over Nicaragua in just under a week.
Is Invest 94 the last? Well I tired of worrying about them so I hope so! Realistically the only thing the end of November assures is we are closer to a New Year; Storms have occurred much later than Mid November and we just all need to not be too over confident that Mother Nature will follow the rules we set for her.
I'm in Red Hook tonight on St. Thomas. A very nice Carib flavor band is playing and I feel I want to move around but I can hear it very well here on da boat in my slip,,,, and the drinks are far cheaper and mixed exactly like I want them!
I'll probably be out of internet for the next few days but I attempt to contact the Mermaid Gardner and see if she can provide a couple of updates based on my observations as I'm moving about.
I understand she is now Snowed In OMG!!!!!! She better get herself back to da islands!!!
later
da Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid.
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- Invest 94
|
- By daWayward Sailor <daWaywardSailor at hotmail.com>
- Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2010 19:36:23 -0400
|
The disturbance off Columbia that was forecast last week is now a real
event. It appears to be in a position to gain strength over the next few
days but only a 30% chance in the next 48 hours.
Early models as we know are very unreliable but most have it going in a
generally North West direction. Some show it crossing into the Pacific and
some up toward Cuba..... and OOOHhh yea.... one even had it possibly making a
visit to the Virgin Islands but that is a long shot for now. No reason to
think a storm with the name it would have would come visit a fat
sister???? Anyone know what I’m saying!!!
Weather today over the US and British Virgin Islands was mostly
sunny. I did see what appeared to be some rain over Jost Van Dyke and St.
John late in the afternoon. Didn’t have internet then and radar now shows
only a few scattered showers over the entire area so most of us will be dry 
Had several questions about Northern Swells and beach breakers. While
they are related they are not the same. The swells generally are far less
than what can be seen as a breaker coming ashore. Depending on the
location it can be several times as large a breaker as what the Northern
Swell may be. It is all in what the bottom is like and how far out it goes
and what type of a land fall it will make. We have many more rock
formation beaches than sandy beaches. The sandy ones get all the attention
for obvious reason. With Northern Swells of 7 feet, much larger breakers
can and do form which can be very dangerous.
Cane Garden Bay is one of the few Northern exposure popular spots for
boaters. During these times it is better to take a taxi and spend the day
then taxi back, You can get the taxi from almost anyplace to start but
Road Town is probably most frequently used, but Nanny Cay, West End or Trellis
Bay or any place you can call for a taxi will work. DO agree to a
price. I prefer to go one way both ways when I taxi. Have your
cameras ready and make sure the taxi driver will stop for key shots..... Note
the roads you will be traveling will often be an what you would normally
consider to be an impossible angle. It takes a 4 wheel drive to do it the
way I drive but some taxi drivers seem to be intent on doing it only using two
wheels........ if you get my understanding! You will have some breath
taking shots if you stop. With all the rain, some shots will have very
tall weeds you will need to shoot through! I found the very small Rum
“factory” to be interesting!!!!! but be warned while the Rum is very good... the
temp controls are very..... well... they don’t seem to have any!!!!! and
that can result in a whopper of a hang over even if you only had two smalls
ones 
the answers to the other questions are Yes, Maybe, Not on your life and
3.
Later,
da
Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book:
"Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and
our Dear Miss Mermaid. Check out "Hurricanes and Hangovers" at
http://DearMissMermaid.Com
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- Invest 94
|
- By daWayward Sailor <daWaywardSailor at hotmail.com>
- Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2010 19:05:51 -0400
|
Later,
da
Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book:
"Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and
our Dear Miss Mermaid. Check out "Hurricanes and Hangovers" at
http://DearMissMermaid.Com
|
|
|
- Mostly Sunny in BVI and USVI
|
- By daWayward Sailor <daWaywardSailor at hotmail.com>
- Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2010 12:02:23 -0400
|
Motor Sailed down the Narrows that separate BVI from USVI early this AM
about daybreak. Really great time to move about on a boat. Winds were
running about 8 knots and we did have the start of the Northern Swells. I
know the surfers are heading to the North Shores as I speak and will probably
flood them over the weekend. They are reported to be bringing 10 foot
breakers on some shores and will be increasing as the weekend comes. By
Sunday 20 Breakers are expected on some Northern Exposures..... obviously places
we Should not be taking a sailboat!! Still some charter people will
attempt to enter places like Cane Garden Bay with Northern Swells running....
this is a major mistake! You may be able to get in but getting back out is
a problem. Once you are in... you have no place to land. The small
dink dock is not usable when Northern Swells come rolling in.... sure some do
it... and I have seen sunken dinks, dinks pined under the dock, and dinks with
punched air bladders. and one that actually flipped when going into the
beach.... which you are not suppose to do! For the next few days think
Southern shores, and watch the areas that you pass that have exposure to the
Northern Swells such as where they come in-between the islands.
I was expecting the area between USVI and BVI around Johnsons Reef to be
really bad but while the reef had white breakers pounding it with splashes 12+
feet, the sea was not that bad. Swells were about 4 to 5 feet with a
sloppy chop of an additional foot or so. Only problem was when the ferry
boats about run you down.... for some reason they like to pass Port to
Port while most pass Starboard to starboard and that results in close by passes
and very high and dangerous wakes.
I’m in Red Hook today and doing some shopping and stuff. Internet is
poor on free WIFI but I can do e-mail sometime but forget about doing any
searches.
Sun has been out most of the day so far and wind is becoming fresh.
Luckily, American Yacht Harbor in Red Hook has a little protection from the
North but none from the East where it generally is.
Well off to da K-Mart...... You can only be a true islander when a
trip to K-Mart on St. Thomas as a Real Adventure.... until you can feel that....
your still just a tourist!
Later,
da
Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book:
"Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and
our Dear Miss Mermaid. Check out "Hurricanes and Hangovers" at
http://DearMissMermaid.Com
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- 11 Nov trip down to West End
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- By daWayward Sailor <daWaywardSailor at hotmail.com>
- Date: Thu, 11 Nov 2010 21:13:43 -0400
|
Here are a few photos I took on the way to West End today.
The area of
the Land Slide was on the road to West End just before you get to Fort
Recovery. Looks to have been several small landslides and one major one
where I could see cars having a bumpy trip over the area even today.
Several crews were still working the area.
Note the
one photo of a low cloud crossing the high mountains of St. John.... it was
raining at the top where the mountains cut into the cloud and sun just a short
distance away.
I went into
West End and had considered staying on a mooring ball for the night but with the
West winds and a swell kicked up by them, it was uncomfortable..... heck da ol
Wayward Sailor almost spilled a beer!!!! I finished my business in
clearing out of BVI and went over to St. John’s Liensters Bay. It was
almost empty with only two sailboats and one power boat and one sailboat left
just before dark. It is still a little rolly here but not as bad as Sopers
Hole. 
We will
probably have a ride into St. Thomas in the AM as we will be exposed to the
Northern Swells in several locations. It is always interesting crossing
Pillsbury Sound... like a washing machine even on nice days.
More later
if I have internet!
Also,
thanks to our readers.... love getting your e-mails and on some occasions
actually meeting up with a few! Special thanks to those that go out of
their way to wish us well as we are moving about and we will be doing lots more
of that over the next few months! Glad you hang with us!
Later,
da
Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book:
"Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and
our Dear Miss Mermaid. Check out "Hurricanes and Hangovers" at
http://DearMissMermaid.Com
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- Still wet and a possible problem next week
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- By daWayward Sailor <daWaywardSailor at hotmail.com>
- Date: Thu, 11 Nov 2010 09:45:04 -0400
|
First I want to thank all veterans on this holiday for
those who have served or are serving and their families. We owe them more
than most people know
Still under a cloud here in East End but it looks as
though we will get a break in the mist rain that I still have falling on da
boat! 93L is no longer being tracked by the weather services... well I
don’t we don’t need them to track it.... it is on top of me ..... thank you very
Much
While the Official Storm Season is suppose to be nearing
its End..... da Wayward Sailor knows Mother Nature does not follow man made
rules.....Next week, there is a chance of another disturbance developing in the
southwest Caribbean that has been depicted by several of the global computer
models. Although it is very late in the season, water temps in our region are
still warm and surface pressures remain a bit below normal allowing for better
conditions than we would expect in mid-November. The models indicate possible
development early next week! We all need to
watch things closely. With 93L not an issue except for those of us Under
it... no other issues remain in the Carib at this time
Time for me to put away da ol/ brand New computer and get
things ready to slip those lines to the mooring ball and head out into the Sir
Francis Drake Channel .... if I can see it throuhg the rain mist. Hope
Sopers Hole had a mooring for an hour or two while I can check out of the BVI
later today. Will try to report on adventures in St. John and St. Thomas
if I run across a good WIFI. Will be back in BVI in a couple of
days
Later,
da Wayward Sailor
da Wayward
Sailor recommends the hilarious book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read
for anyone who loves the Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid. Check out
"Hurricanes and Hangovers" at http://DearMissMermaid.Com
|
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- Mid Day update
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- By daWayward Sailor <daWaywardSailor at hotmail.com>
- Date: Wed, 10 Nov 2010 14:17:41 -0400
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I now know how Noah felt when he was on ark and the rains came for 40 days
and 40 nights!  Well we actually haven’t
had the full 40 days or nights but it sometimes feels like it when you have a
solar soul like I do.  It has been a
continuous rain since my earlier report, some very heavy and some lite. We
now just have a bit of a mist but the radar shows we will probably get more in a
few hours. I hope to make it to shore in the dink to pick up some
additional fuel for my gen set... da Honda 2000i. My Solar Panels have not
done anything for past few days and the little Honda has done a great job
filling in.
The bay at East End is now a light chocolate color. Run off will
continue for days. I know of several people who have had flooding problems
IN their Homes. Glad I have da Ark!!! Yesterday I got all my sails
installed that had been down for about 3 months... since Earl actually. I
seem to have picked up a small leak under the Main Sheet Traveler hold down on
the Port side. No biggie but when I’m doing the dishes I get a drip about
every minute or so. Took me a while to figurer out it was not just
splatter from the open companion way. Will only take about 3 minutes but
will have to be dry.... which could take days... weeks... Hope not!
Have had to empty out the dink twice this AM during light mists.
Bailed out about 35 gallons or more from a 12 foot RIB and a look a bit ago
indicated I have almost 10 back in it. I know lots of localized flooding
will be causing problems for days ashore. I’m actually seeing a good
number of sailboats out and about when ever the rains let up a bit. These
intrepid souls will soon be heading into ports for the evening which will come
an hour or so sooner due to the massive overcast to the sky. Most of these
are only down for 7 to 10 days and some take advantage of small breaks in the
weather... others head to the bars and the rain seems not to matter as much
after a few hours... if you can FIND your boat after a few hours.... the
boat had a white hull with blue sail covers and had one stick in the
air... well that cuts out about 12% of the boats but leaves 88% still as
possibly yours!!! It always gets harder at night  a few wrong
boarding's at night are typical in many of the hot spot anchorages.
Winds continue to be variable and from almost any point on the compass at
times, but mainly when we get a good breeze it is mostly from West
Southwest.
Thank goodness for good WIFI I have here at Penns Landing on the mooring
and for Skype! While making a warm lunch>>>> note is is COLD
here!! down to 73 last night and most of the day about 77! That is cold
for me!.... anyway when I was doing lunch I was also talking to a friend on
Skype and the suggestion was made to add something to my Shells and seafood
pasta dish. We are really into doing doing new things with standard boat
dishes. Adding capers along with the shredded Parmesan cheese really made
a very nice addition and a great flavor/ texture difference.... but it almost
cause me to eat the WHOLE THING. You know, here rained in and you don’t
have much to do (always have something that needs done but we don’t want to),
eating becomes an event... I sometimes make it a marathon event! I
try not to do that often now that I’m at my “fighting weight” 
Well need to check on the mooring lines while the rain is slow!
Later,
da
Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book:
"Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and
our Dear Miss Mermaid. Check out "Hurricanes and Hangovers" at
http://DearMissMermaid.Com
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- I'm not Sailin' West Today!!!
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- By daWayward Sailor <daWaywardSailor at hotmail.com>
- Date: Wed, 10 Nov 2010 08:04:02 -0400
|
Not heading off early as previously planned. Way TOOooooo much rain
between me and where I need to go! Probably a little wind and Northern
Swells are forecast to be coming on to the Northern shores and between the
islands along the way. Think a plan B is in order!
View East at Sunrise Attempt!! Below is a view to the West where I
was going to head off to.
Here is a shot from the Sat. I would have a lot of red orange to plow
through,,,, think I’ll wait for a better / dry run possibility.
This is coming over me now. Not a lot of wind but lots of wet
stuff. Hope it clears by this afternoon and I’ll head out Thursday
AM. I’ll try to get in a report sometime Thursday showing a few things I
run across but after Thursday I may have trouble getting ISP as my CCT does not
work in USVI and historically some of the WIFI’s are not very good or are
$$$$$$$$ Will report in as availability occurs. Will only be gone a
few days! Hopefully Dry ones!!! Got lots of running around to
do!
 used flash to show rain drops
Had about a dozen e-mails already wanting to know what song I had that sent
da message I wanted to send yesterday..... MMmmmmmm Well if I told
that, ye may tink da ol wayward sailor twas a softee!!! I do have a soft
side some place... but I try not to show it very often!!! LOL Gives
others the chance to skewer da old pirate!!! We can’t be havin da can
we!! But da old Pirate thanks ye all fer sending da messages in da bottles
thru the computer.
Now where are those DVD’s I’ve been savin for a rainy day....... and
popcorn..... maybe a beer.... only if it is a Red Stripe!!!
Later,
da
Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book:
"Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and
our Dear Miss Mermaid. Check out "Hurricanes and Hangovers" at
http://DearMissMermaid.Com
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- Invest 93L 500 miles away to South West
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- By daWayward Sailor <daWaywardSailor at hotmail.com>
- Date: Tue, 9 Nov 2010 12:32:49 -0400
|
Just when we hope the season is Over... it ain’t Over!!! Invest 93L
is located just south of DR/ PR and is forecast to move on a mostly Northern
path. I for one an not going to place too much faith in these early
forecast of just developed storm cells. Only a 10% chance of developing is
assigned to this area, for developing into a Tropical Storm, but the water is
Warm and conditions could change over the next few days allowing it to be a
problem if we do not pay attention to it.
Here is a Radar shot showing the blob moving toward PR and the Virgin
Islands. We have small craft warning up until Wed Night. I was
hoping to move down to Sopers Hole West End Wed afternoon but will take a 2nd
look before I head out
Last night we had more rain, but not much wind. Only had to empty
about 7 gallons of water out of the dink this AM. We have had a few very
light mist pass over the boat so far today. I could see several other
similar short duration spot showers across the Sir Francis Drake Channel.
Looks to have been about 6 to 9 showers all part of one basic set of clouds but
each separated.
Got my sails up over the past two days and now a real sail boat
again. Still planning a quick trip to St. John and St. Thomas, hopefully
over the weekend but will watch the blob. Maybe this will just be a bit
more rain although we really do not need any more rain for a week or so!
Need to dry out and let the sun recharge all of us and my solar panels/
batteries!
While running my gen set to charge batteries and use the computer last
night, I searched my music in iTunes. I had been looking for a song I
recalled but did not remember the name or group. Only thing I knew was
that as I recall it, it Said exactly what I wanted to say to someone. Ever
have a song really say what your feeling are about a subject? Anyway this
one I was sure would fit although I only had a vague recollection of what it was
as it was more than 12 years ago when I last played it. Long story short,
I did find/ stumbled across it last evening and had the opportunity to
communicate it. Funny how some songs can say exactly what you want to
communicate better than you can actually say them. I remember one a good
friend of my had many years ago... “Take This Job and Shove it” He hated
his job and in part because of the song quit and went back to school. I
guess since most songs are about what has occurred to someone in real life, many
have a place in our own life at times. Just really glad I found it when I
did. Had lots of good feelings about it. Now have played it a half
dozen times.
Hope we all get some dry weather and fair winds.
Later,
da
Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book:
"Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and
our Dear Miss Mermaid. Check out "Hurricanes and Hangovers" at
http://DearMissMermaid.Com
|
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- Lots of Rain and a bit more to come
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- By daWayward Sailor <daWaywardSailor at hotmail.com>
- Date: Mon, 8 Nov 2010 07:25:36 -0400
|
Sunday was Rainday with out the Sun. With rain on and off all day,
accumulations were probably over 3 inches in most areas and some local flooding
would have occurred. Run offs have discolored bay waters already and will
probably be a chocolate brown by noon here in East End and many other
bays. It will take a day or so for most to clear in the areas where the
Guts pour into them.
 Sunrise?????
We still have forecast for an additional inch plus of rain over the next 48
hours but hope this is an over statement. Tortola and all the islands need
a few days to dry out and some Sun for our souls. Most of us have Solar
Souls and a few days with out sunshine is hard to take, just about like my solar
panels for the boat and my solar lights I use at night in the cabin. Sat
photos show a big blob moving over us and more that could be here Tuesday.
This AM it is a cool 77 degrees and for now we have No wind. Boats
are selecting their own direction to the wind and many just drifting about the
mooring lining up on the last puff they felt.
I do see several sailboats out in the Sir Francis Drake Channel with sails
up but it appears they are motor sailing with only hopes of having some
wind. We will see a big swing in the winds today as we have for past
several days with them briefly coming from anywhere from North West to South
West and possibly South East. No Christmas winds yet! After the
effects of Tomas, who is now no long even a storm, clear the area our more
typical Easterlies will return.
Well, I’m going to take advantage of a break in the rain and get a few
things done ashore and on da boat! Hope we all can dry out some today
in-between the showers.
Later,
da
Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book:
"Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and
our Dear Miss Mermaid. Check out "Hurricanes and Hangovers" at
http://DearMissMermaid.Com
|
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- Wet but little wind this AM
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- By daWayward Sailor <daWaywardSailor at hotmail.com>
- Date: Sun, 7 Nov 2010 07:07:57 -0400
|
 Had had light rain
Saturday night that turned in to Heavy to Moderate rain about 5 AM here at East
End Tortola near Beef Island Airport. I would estimate we have had about
.3 inches in past hour and some Thunder Storm activity in the distance.
Winds are near calm at the moment, just a little rock here in the bay.
Seas in the Sir Francis Drake Channel appear to be subsiding from their heights
of the past few days and now appear to be about 3 to 5 feet. What winds we
have are from the West.
PR Radar shows a break in the heaver rain approaching but the
possibility of another narrow ban of heavy rain does appear to exist later in
the AM. Seems unusually quiet, not even the Roosters are out doing their
thing this AM. Only sounds are a distant rumble of Thunder and an
occasional sound of a pump keeping the boats bilges dry. I have filled my
aft water tank to capacity and had to close to input port.
Bay has only a few ripples in it and an overall glass like
appearance. Normally by this time the local fishermen are out in their
small boat kicking up a few waves but they are probably all home still in bed
this AM due to the anticipated rains.
Red Rock looking South
Over the Bow looking South West during the slow swing at the mooring.
Bay is near glass like.
Raining a bit harder again and closer Thunder, still not bad but much more
will cause some people problems from run off but unless we get a lot more,
hopefully no damage to roads and minimal flooding will occur.
Later, da Wayward Sailor da Wayward
Sailor recommends the hilarious book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read
for anyone who loves the Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid. Check out
"Hurricanes and Hangovers" at http://DearMissMermaid.Com
|
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- More Rain to come
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- By daWayward Sailor <daWaywardSailor at hotmail.com>
- Date: Sat, 6 Nov 2010 08:54:58 -0400
|
Friday ended up being a Much nicer day than I had though based on what the
early AM looked like. By 10 AM most of the clouds parted and allowed us a
good 5 hours of great sun which my solar panels loved. Clouds were still
over much of the island but not over me! We did get a few showers as the
afternoon and evening passed. Winds still up a bit between about 12 and 14
knots and the seas were still unsettled and 4 to 7 feet in the Channel.
Could see a few boats out and they were having fun, or hanging on for dear
life.... it is all a matter of Attitude. Last nigh we had several showers
some heavy but only for a very short time, probably less than 5 minutes.
Clouds covered most of the sky and few stars were out, winds seem to die down
and seas started to subside a little.
This AM we have mostly cloudy skies but I’m hoping for a repeat of windows
of sun during the day. Winds are now about 8 to 12 knots and seas appear
to be 3 to 6 feet with a few white caps. Temp is a really pleasant 82
degrees. TropNet Radar shows lots of rain heading our way. These are
bands following Tomas which is now a Tropical Storm and just North East of the
Turks.
We will are expecting about an inch of rain Sunday in the day and another
inch Sunday night according to most recent forecast.... think I’ll run up and
check out a few good movies and have the popcorn ready to Pop! Looks like
by Tuesday we should be in the clear. One worry, the BAMS computer
forecast indicates that Tomas could make a hard right turn and go over the DR
then PR then St. Thomas then then Tortola, BVI and curve down the Leewards to
St. Martin then jog Northeast. GEEZZZ... I know this is an outside
chance that forecasters give little credit to but I worry on how a computer
model could be so mean! I mean that is just not nice!
The blob in the area Southwest of Cape Verde is actually retreating back
toward Cape Verde! The Sat Loop shows that the out flow of Tomas and the
trough off the US are pushing the blob West Northwest along with most of the
“stuff” in the mid Atlantic. What we have is the “stuff” coming off South
America and all that is now going almost due North but will probably shift a bit
to the East as if follows the trail of Tomas until Tomas weakens and is no
longer strong enough to pull the weather with it.
Hoping all that suffered through the hardest part of Tomas are having a dry
out and some sun to allow them a moment to catch their breath. We are all
hoping Tomas will be the last of the 2010 storms but we all need to stay
ready. Mother Nature does not like to be ignored.
Have good thoughts, even if you are in a cold dark place.
Later,
da Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the
hilarious book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves
the Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid. Check out "Hurricanes and Hangovers" at
http://DearMissMermaid.Com
|
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- Hurricane Thomas is BACK
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- By daWayward Sailor <daWaywardSailor at hotmail.com>
- Date: Fri, 5 Nov 2010 08:49:05 -0400
|
At 5 AM Tomas was once again called a Hurricane. While a Cat 1 it is
still a dangerous storm but with less potential for rain than could be expected
but that is probably Not going to be enough due to the areas it is going into
such as Haiti which can not stand much rain at all at this time. Tomas is
expected to continue on a North then more Northeast path then curve more
Eastward where, hopefully it will find the less moist and cooler air and SST’s
and have a fast destruct mode.
If you recall my concerns on the blob that was to the East of Tomas, well
it popped in for a visit late last evening. Unforecast gust of 43 MPH were
reported at the near by Beef Island Airport with sustained winds of 23
MPH. We also had a period of heavy rain fall in Fat Hogs Bay, I collected
30 gallons of rain water in my tanks in less than an hour and on a small 36foot
boat feed by only one side... that is a LOT!! Seas picked up quickly and
the few cruisers out were caught by surprise and I noted several having
difficulty picking up moorings in the rain and winds then seas pitching
around. Seas at that time were probably near 8 feet in the channel and
about 4 to 5 here in the bay. It was a wild ride for a bit.
Winds continued through the night and we still have 17 knot winds and 3
foot seas in the bay. Lots of white caps in Sir Francis Drake Cannel with
6 to 8 foot seas. Not much light as most of the sky is overcast.
Temps are a comfortable 82 degrees and it seems dry with a RH of 77%
I think some of those detaching blobs along the Southeastern part of Tomas
will work their way up to visit us for the weekend. Forecast that had
dropped the call for heavier rains now have them back in the forecast with
accumulations of just over 2 inches from Saturday night thru Monday.
Cloudy conditions will also continue.... bad news for my solar panels, times
like this I wish I had a Wind Generator!
Have a look at the blob just Southwest of Cape Verde. It has really
appeared to take on a circulation in the past 24 hours. Hopefully the
trough moving East will be strong enough to pull it Northward an keep it away
from any land fall. We should not be seeing much from that direction this
time of year but something this ugly needs to be watched!
For something on the light side after watching the problems Tomas has
caused, I needed to do something to take my mind off the storm. Just about
an hour before the winds and big gust came up last night I cooked a meal of
Leeky Drunken Shrimp. A modification of one of
my fav dishes a very good friend makes for me when I visit. This was the
first time I had tried to make it myself on da boat. While I never have
all the fresh herbs and spices and all the things she puts into it, it turned
out really great! NOTE: I did use the Julia Childs Method of
Cooking:
My ingredients:
one leeks or is that a leek???
Two bottles of GOOD White Wine
1 pound of cleaned Shrimp, leave tails on
two Garlic Cloves
4 table spoons of Butter
2 table spoons of Red / Yellow or Green Bell Pepper (not all 3)
3 table spoons of Sun Dried Tomatoes
Crusty Bread
Have a full glass of wind to make sure it is GOOD Wine.
Remove the hard parts of the Leek and chop into confetti size pieces, same
with the Bell Pepper and Sun Dried Tomatoes
Re test the Wine but only a half glass.
Place Crushed Garlic and butter into sauce pan and melt then add the Leeks,
Pepper and Tomatoes. Cook gently until you have finished another half
glass of wine
Add a glass of white wine to the veggies
Place the Shrimp on top of the veggies and when the down side turns pink
flip them over for about the same time.
Cover the pan and reduce heat. Allow to steam for a minute or
so...... have 1/4 glass of wine to measure time
Serve Hot with Crusty Bread to Sop up the fantastic butter wine
sauce! OHhh also serve with a nice cool glass of White Wine.
I just love the Julia Chiles Method of cooking!!!!! Everything always
seem to taste so much better!
This will normally feed two or three people... or one very hungry Wayward
Sailor. Increase amounts of ingredients to fit your needs. You can
also add cleaned Black Muscles and Baby Clams for a real eye stunning meal... of
course you may need a case of Good White Wine.
After that meal, the 40+ MPH gust and high seas really didn’t bother
me!!!
Later,
da
Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book:
"Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and
our Dear Miss Mermaid. Check out "Hurricanes and Hangovers" at
http://DearMissMermaid.Com
|
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- Tomas now heading North
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- By daWayward Sailor <daWaywardSailor at hotmail.com>
- Date: Thu, 4 Nov 2010 11:44:26 -0400
|
Tomas is now heading almost due North but should continue to move to the
Northeast later today heading to Haiti. Tomas has become stronger but only
has a 41% chance of becoming a Hurricane by the time it crosses Haiti.... guess
that is more or less good news as Haiti really can not take much more in the
wake of recent earthquakes and flooding rains. It appears Tomas will move
out to the area of the Turks later and not be visiting us.
Our rain forecast have significantly decreased. The prior forecast
for possibly 2 or more inches over the weekend is about gone with only a few
tenth of an inch now anticipated. Was actually hoping for a very small bit
more to fill the water tanks and give the island a light wash down. From
the Sat Photo below you can see we may still have some weather come up from the
South. I’m a bit suppressed by the revised low rain forecast.
The “blob” to the East of DR and West of PR seems to be moving North East
and if it does not “go away” I would think the rain would be far more.
Guess the trough moving in from the States is strong enough and the moderate
shear is enough to discount it for now. Think we should however keep an
eye on it.
Most of the boats from the local Hurricane holes seem to have been moved
out and getting ready for the big mid and late November kick off for the new
sailing season. We seen to have ongoing fresh breezes now from the East
and Southeast. Friday it should be more from the South which will probably
make the Sir Francis Drake Channel a bit more rolly. We now have 12 to 19
knot winds and 4 to 7 foot seas. I really do not see the boats out and
about that I thought I would see at this point. Seems most are hanging in
to moorings and not island jumping all day.
Later,
da Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the
hilarious book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves
the Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid. Check out "Hurricanes and Hangovers" at
http://DearMissMermaid.Com
|
|
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- Fond farewell to BVI
|
- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Wed, 3 Nov 2010 10:26:36 -0700 (PDT)
|
Good afternoon from San Juan
This morning had to say good bye to Tortola, dear friends, and my paradise getaway. My travels are taking me back up north for awhile. I'm thinking that it's just a little reality check, even though I feel that Tortola and all it's splendor really is truly my reality check.
The weather this morning at take off was a sky more dabbled with clouds than in previous days. We had several small rain showers over night but nothing substantial. The island could use a small rain shower just to keep things bright and beautiful.
Yesterday I met with someone who had finally been able to leave St. Vincent. He told me that on Saturday when Tomas hit they received about 6-8 inches of rain. The problem there was mud slides, rock slides, no power and no water service. He was suppose to have
flown out on Saturday afternoon but they closed the airport before the storm hit. Monday one flight was able to leave St. Vincent to barbados and then yesterday one flight up to Tortola. He was telling me that unlike Tortola where we have rock underneath the top soil, there in St. Vincent they have loose soil so once the island is saturated with rain any more rain would lead to mud slides, foundations of homes collapsing and a greater amount of lost lives.
St. Lucia from what he told me was hit very hard, homes and people were lost. I have not seen any numbers on the devistation in St. Lucia but will report if I see or hear anything.
Thick clouds are here in San Juan, no rain yet but sure looks like a fall day.
Cheers from a sad to leaveTortola...
Mermaid Gardener |
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- Tomas still a question
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- By daWayward Sailor <daWaywardSailor at hotmail.com>
- Date: Wed, 3 Nov 2010 12:50:46 -0400
|
While Tomas has weakened the conditions that have caused it to weaken are
slipping away. New Steering currents have started causing Tomas to make
the anticipated turn more Northwest then North and then Northeast by
Friday. Now expected to cross Haiti and the Dominican Republic this
weekend and possibly stall north of DR. Models are not very consistent on
what Tomas will do after that! Yep, another wait and see. Most seem
to favor it going toward the Turks and Cacaos Islands but many conditions can
cause that to change. Still TOOooo close for total comfort here in the
Virgin Islands. Looks like we will possibly get 1 to 2 inches of rain
accumulation Friday through Monday. If much of that is at the same time
then we will have problems with flooding. If spread over the days in a
somewhat even slow rain fall, it would make us all happy! We just can’t
handle the run off from these steep mountains. Full repairs to the streets
from the damage Otto caused, are still underway. We need to continue to be
alert.
This AM was a bit more cloudy than the past few days and I’m actually
getting a few.... very few rain drops on da boat here in East End at Noon.
Solar Cells will not be doing a great job today but hopefully they will do
enough to keep me from running the engine or generator or at least not for very
long. I’ll conserve energy and hope for the best!
Seas are running 3 to 7 feet through most of the next 5 days with forecast
winds running between 13 and 21 knots. Think we probably are below that
now at I would say 7 knots here in Fat Hog Bay East End Tortola at this
time. We do have or rather had a nice rock earlier in the AM but it seems
to have moderated a bit.... making me sleepy.
For the past several days, here in Fat Hog Bay, I’ve had the opportunity to
observe what appears to be two groups of Magnificent Frigate Birds (Fregata
Magnificens) doing their early AM feeding. A total of about 18 to 20 birds
including at least two really large adult males that are just ... well
Magnificent!!!! While these birds are large, their bodies are very thin
and small. I’ve only seen the to eat in the AM and less frequently in the
late evening just prior to dark. All day long they just seem to play in
the wind currents using very little energy with minimal wing movement.
They just move the wing tip feathers and fly using the up draft cause by the
winds hitting the rising mountains.
I’ve also seen lots of the Bananaquits. Often what appears to be
several mated couples dodging in and out of very think cactus growth and even on
occasion coming into homes for a short visit. These are almost like
Hummingbirds and can hover much like a Hummingbird but have much shorter beaks.
Got lots of work to do on da boat today so I guess I had better get to it
rather than use the internet as an excuse to delay what has to be done!
Later,
da
Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book:
"Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and
our Dear Miss Mermaid. Check out "Hurricanes and Hangovers" at
http://DearMissMermaid.Com
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- 2 Nov Tomas still in play
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- By daWayward Sailor <daWaywardSailor at hotmail.com>
- Date: Tue, 2 Nov 2010 12:24:23 -0400
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BVI has had fresh breezes for several days now forecast for 13 to 20 knots
most of coming week with seas running 4 to 7 feet. Mostly Sunny but often
with an overcast causing a glare that is hard on da eyes! Seas seem to dip
a bit last night as the rock and roll of da boat was significantly less than
during the day. Far fewer boat were observed out and about for the Past
few days, probably caused by a combination of Parties and higher winds and
seas. Rain chance remains about 20 to 30% until the end of the week when
it is forecast to be in the 60 to 70% range due to influences of Tomas as it
passes over the DR or PR. If it is Puerto Rico we will have more
accumulations possibility an inch a day for a couple of days which will cause
local flooding as the water moves down hill.
Everything can change if Tomas moves more East or West on its Northern
run. For the next couple of days Tomas will probably be about the same
strength but after that it can and probably will intensify. Loss of the
shear and wet rather than dry air feeding it as it crosses warm water is a bad
combination. Only time will tell. In all probability the DR and
Haiti will see very heavy rain fall, always a bad thing for Haiti with its
stripped landscape and problems such as the cholera that is a left over side
effect from recent storms.
I do notice an increase in cruisers returning to their boats and getting
them ready to cruise for another season. Not many out yet and many are
still on the hard just looking at what is going to occur with Tomas. I’ve
delayed putting sails back on my boat but hope to have them up within the next
two weeks if things look good. Will probably sail a bit in November and
December and hope to be able to post more local photos of some of the sites and
goings on.
Later,
da
Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book:
"Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and
our Dear Miss Mermaid. Check out "Hurricanes and Hangovers" at
http://DearMissMermaid.Com
|
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- Monday worth watching
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Mon, 1 Nov 2010 08:33:05 -0700 (PDT)
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| | | | Good Monday Morning,
Winds have continued to be up and quite gusty. Not many sailboats out this morning but maybe they have hunkered down for the day. After a fun filled Trick or Treat weekend I'm laying low here at the house. So I too am just hunkered down. The sun is working to try to cut through the clouds so I'm hit and miss on working on my tan.
It's currently 86 degrees, winds they are saying are at 14 mph out of the east but I'm thinking that it's quite a bit higher than that especially may 18-20 mph with quite a few gusts. Sort of feeling like a fall day here in Tortola. Tomas is still looming out there it is now south west of us and very worth watching and keeping on guard.
I've attached my jack-o-lantern picture from my Halloween party, everyone thought it reminded them of home. The smell of burnt pumpkin always reminds me of fall and
Halloween back home when I was a kid walking or rather running from house to house trick or treating.
Time to kick back and have leftovers from the party for lunch.
Cheers!
the Mermaid Gardener
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- Promise Tomas
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Mon, 1 Nov 2010 11:19:25 EDT
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It looks like hurricane Tomas may very well miss the Virgin Islands. But
forecasters are clearly divided as to his proposed direction.
Does this mean they promise Tomas won't hit us?
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- 30 Days to go
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- By daWayward Sailor <daWaywardSailor at hotmail.com>
- Date: Mon, 1 Nov 2010 08:25:19 -0400
|
We have 30 days go go in the “Official” 2010 Strom Season..... but as we
all know these events do not really follow any human set boundaries of when and
what they can do. We only know/ and hope, that most of the time we are
free of major activity after the end of November. While October has left
us with a still troublesome storm, Tomas to deal with in November, it may not be
the last we see.
As of the most recent reports I’ve been able to go over, Thomas is down to
a possible 45 MPH and moving almost due West and no storm warning or watches are
in place at this time, things can change. They are Expected to start
changing in about 36 hours or so when the wind shear decreases and a
trough moves into the areas which should mover Tomas back to the North
East.... Yep!! NORTH EAST!!!
For those of us in the Virgin Islands, it still looks like all we will get
about this next weekend is rain..... but possibly Lots of Rain. Present
forecast are for possible accumulations of between a half inch and an inch
during the day and nights for 3 days or so. As you know, here in the
islands with steep mountains, this can be a major problem for the lower areas
when all the rain collects in “guts” and flows down often into peoples homes and
businesses and damages roads many of which are unpaved. It also turns the
bays and surrounding waters an almost chocolate color from the run off and that
is not good for the water or sea life in it. It also can effect our local
economy when the Caribbean Sea around our island is off color.
We have had a few showers and gusty winds mostly from the East since
Saturday and this AM isn’t much different but the winds may be near 21 Knots and
the seas seem to be building up again. Five or six foot seas should
be anticipated and cruisers should consider putting a reef in the sails due to
the more gusty conditions. Getting you sails overpowered can be fun a few
times but when it occurs every few minutes and your on a 3 or 4 hour trip it can
be very tiring and possibly dangerous when in close quarters.
On the lighter side, I did have the opportunity to attend the Halloween
Party at Penn’s Landing and had a blast! While it was a private party for
the clients and friends of Penn’s Landing it was filled with some very
interesting and wide ranging group of people most of whom have boating in
common. Some truly Award Winning Chili was made up by some one who often
contributes to the post here at Storm Carib/ BVI. MMmmMmmm was it
GOOD!!!! I’ll have to admit, I did make a PIG of myself and had two
servings WITH Cornbread!!!!! I thought Cornbread with Chili was a Southern
thang..... But this lovely lady is from Chicago! Guess a good thing
is good no matter where you are from! Several of the ladies took up the
challenge to dress as their mates/ dates and it was lots of fun, others had
various costumes on but the center was a wonderful friendly greeting from the
crew of Penn’s Landing.... but da Food was all wonderful too!
While all the contributions to the StormCarib Blog are performed by
volunteers like Dear Miss Mermaid, myself and Many Others... the cost to keep
the web site and servers up and running is a growing expense and the limited
advertising assist it does not cover the cost of the operation and donations
make up more but a great deal of the cost are absorbed by our leader Gert.
Below is a request for donations I hope all of you that enjoy these reports will
consider. With out servers, and such the volunteers would not have a place
to put our reports!
| donations needed...
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I don't like to do this but I need some
more donations... Unfortunately this year and last years' donations are
down and with the advertising income it doesn't cover the cost of
operating this website. If you want to support the stormCARIB website
please visit the donations webpage. Thank you! |
Later,
da
Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book:
"Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and
our Dear Miss Mermaid. Check out "Hurricanes and Hangovers" at
http://DearMissMermaid.Com
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- Trick or Treat! It's Hurricane Tomas!
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sun, 31 Oct 2010 14:34:11 EDT
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Better keep a close eye on Hurricane Tomas. He could go anywhere or do
anything, the forecasters are clearly undecided about him. Winds are 90 miles
per hour, so where ever he goes, it may not be pretty.
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- Happy Halloween!
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- By daWayward Sailor <daWaywardSailor at hotmail.com>
- Date: Sun, 31 Oct 2010 12:08:54 -0400
|
Looks like Hurricane Tomas has passed the Windward Islands with varying
degrees of trouble for different islands. All Storm and Hurricane watches
and warnings have been ended but things can change.Tomas is now located about
320 miles south of the Virgin Islands. I was expecting more effects than
the forecast predicted due to the very large Northern wind field but it seem it
fell apart. We did have winds in the 20’s and seas of 10 feet are possible
in some areas but we are seeing about 6 foot seas in the Channel but some may be
larger. Boats are pounding heading East and are exhibiting some
significant hobby horsing going down wind.
Tomas has several different computer models showing different
forecast. Most indicate it will continue West Northwest with lesser
intensity for the next couple of days but in the 3 to 5 day range it could gain
strength and several things could occur. Really will have to see what
things look like over the next week but it seems as though the Virgin Islands
isn’t going to have much more of a problem from this storm!
Da Wayward Sailor went to a really great Halloween Party last night with
lots of friends in costumes. It was lots of fun for everyone... Arrrr,
even a Pirate Wench with RED HaiRRrrrr and a cutlass was in da group, making da
old Wayward Sailor feeling much younger and even more Wayward!
Later,
da
Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book:
"Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and
our Dear Miss Mermaid. Check out "Hurricanes and Hangovers" at
http://DearMissMermaid.Com
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- And things began to twitch...Tomas
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Sun, 31 Oct 2010 04:00:28 -0700 (PDT)
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| | | | Happy Tropical
Halloween!!
Thanks to da wayard sailor for helping me post my pumpkin picture. Have yet to figure how to post photos.
We are all holding our breaths as Tomas is 331 miles to our south. The skies here to look like a scary Halloween day. Grey and extremely windy. The frigate birds are having a difficult time flying can't image a spooky witch being able to fly in this wind either.. Very gusty and the wind even smells funny. Just like in many other places around the world you step off the plane breath in the air and you know that distinctive sea air smell. This morning it smells thick dusty not fresh at all. Now that it is brighter out I can see that the inversion layer is what is so thick and dusty smelling. Everyone here is looking towards the sky and being more diligent about the weather.
Even last night at my wildly spooky fun Halloween party, there was talk about
Tomas. I got the feeling everyone hopes that he will pass us by so that we can avoid battening down the hatches and shuttering up the houses. It's been along hurricane season.
My party was amazingly fun last night. We drank an adult punch called "Elvira's Evil Elixir" the beverage was a creeper upper so those who dared were warned to BEWARE! It was a costume party so there were prates and pirate wenches, a priest showed up to bless the elixir, a sexy Vamp, Goldfinger, pussy galore, and many other halloween participants. I had Pussers east make the chicken wings for me which worked out really well. Everyone brought something either finger food....or a beverage of their choosing. We laughed, sang, and howeled into the night air.
Today there is another Halloween party that I've been invited to and am planning on being there. Have not heard how the Last Resorts party was but I'm sure
that many Ex-pats and boaters were over there having a spooky time.
Happy Halloween!!
from your Scary Mermaid Gardener
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- Got Tomas? Got Pumpkin?
|
- By daWayward Sailor <daWaywardSailor at hotmail.com>
- Date: Sat, 30 Oct 2010 09:17:00 -0400
|
Well looks as if we will have some effects of an unwanted guest at
Halloween this year. TS Thomas or possibly Hurricane Thomas is expected to
pass about 300 miles South of us Sunday. Outer cloud bands will most
likely extend over us for some of Sunday and possibly Monday. Weather
forecasters do not show much in the way of high winds or rain coming out way...
at least for now. Would not be suppressed if we get more than the 20 Knot
winds and 6 foot seas now forecast. Lots can change in the next half
day. Everyone needs to stay alert!
As you can see the plot for the eye is a good bit different from what the
cloud cover Sat photos show as far as what areas will be under some sort of
Tomas related effects!
However, tonight looks to be a great opportunity for those early Halloween
parties! Here is a shot sent to me by our Mermaid Gardner....
da Wayward Sailor wants to know how she grew a pumpkin with a face like
That!!! Wow... she not only had a Green Thumb but several colored
fingers!!
Later,
da
Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book:
"Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and
our Dear Miss Mermaid. Check out "Hurricanes and Hangovers" at
http://DearMissMermaid.Com
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- Two too many storms today
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- By daWayward Sailor <daWaywardSailor at hotmail.com>
- Date: Fri, 29 Oct 2010 17:27:02 -0400
|
Well, we now have two new Tropical Storms and one disturbance.
Tropical Storm Shary is a concern for Bermuda an sea lanes but no other land
mass according to forecast. Invest 90L is still out in the Eastern
Atlantic and not anticipated to move toward the Islands. Tropical Storm
Tomas, has the potential to be a different animal. Located just South of
the Windward Islands the various plots take it across different islands
depending on the specific computer plot. Most keep away from the Virgin
Islands but as we all know that early plots do not often actually indicate where
they will end up going. Here is a summary of watches and warnings from the
National Weather Service:
SUMMARY OF WATCHES AND WARNINGS IN EFFECT...A
TROPICAL STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR...* BARBADOS...MARTINIQUE...ST.
LUCIA...ST. VINCENT AND THEGRENADINES...GRENADA...AND TRINIDAD AND TOBAGOA
TROPICAL STORM WATCH IN IN EFFECT FOR...* DOMINICAA TROPICAL STORM WARNING MEANS
THAT TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS AREEXPECTED SOMEWHERE WITHIN THE WARNING
AREA...IN THIS CASE WITHIN24 HOURS.A TROPICAL STORM WATCH MEANS THAT TROPICAL
STORM CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE WITHIN THE WATCH AREA...IN THIS CASE WITHIN 24
HOURS.TROPICAL STORM CENTER LOCATED NEAR 11.1N 57.5W AT 29/2100ZPOSITION
ACCURATE WITHIN 20 NM PRESENT MOVEMENT TOWARD THE WEST-NORTHWEST OR 295 DEGREES
AT 15 KT
Lots of things are occurring in the area, most are
what appears to be a general decrease in conditions that hinder storm
growth. While the present warnings are for the area of the Windward
Islands a few possible circumstances could significantly alter the
forecast. All interest in the Caribbean need to be watchful of this
storm. I’ll delay putting my sails back on as I had planed for early next
week and will reschedule the event when it looks like the chance of needing to
remove them again for a storm is less.
In the BVI we had a nice shower early this
AM. The East End location picked up possibly 2/10 of an inch based on my
estimates of what I saw in my dink and containers I had setting about. We
may see another rain tonight or Saturday but it may be of lesser
accumulations. Think the mosquitoes loved it! They seem to have
started out on the blood hunt early today
See increasing numbers of charter boats out today
and this will probably continue as this is one of the last low season discount
weeks many charter operations will be giving this year.
It has been a mix of sun and clouds but all in all
a great day to be in paradise
Here is a photo that I received from the Mermaid Gardner. Her view
point has to be one of the best in the BVI!!!!
Looks like for little ducks right in a row being towed to a new
location.
Saw this not too long ago and thought it was really cute and
maybe a sign of the times. A new season is right around the
corner!!
Hope Tomas does not bother the ducks!!!!!!
Later,
da
Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book:
"Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and
our Dear Miss Mermaid. Check out "Hurricanes and Hangovers" at
http://DearMissMermaid.Com
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- Trick or Treat, Tropical Storm Scary Shary
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Fri, 29 Oct 2010 10:08:00 EDT
|
Hurricane season is not officially over. Tropical Storm Scary Shary is
expected to possibly visit Bermuda later today.
To keep things interesting, there is another disturbance out in the
Atlantic, due east of the Bahamas.
Also, there is a tropical wave about 600 miles East Southeast of the
This could easily become a depression or storm, rather soon. Either way,
the islands look like they are in for rains and thunderstorms. I'm beginning to
wonder if we are going to run out of the hurricane alphabet this year!
By the way, when daylight savings ends November 7th, remember that the
Virgin Islands do not observe daylight savings at all (thank goodness). So
eastern standard time will be one hour earlier than Virgin Islands time
(currently they are the same until daylight savings time ends).
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- 28 Oct
|
- By daWayward Sailor <daWaywardSailor at hotmail.com>
- Date: Thu, 28 Oct 2010 10:15:24 -0400
|
Looks to be another really great day in the BVI. Cool AM breezes and
lots of Sun with a few clouds tossed in just to show off the Caribbean Blue
sky. See several boats out, in the estimated 12 knots winds which will
probably run between 8 and 15 most of the week, possibly lower on the high end
as we get into the weekend. Seas are backing down and should be about 4 to
6 in the open areas. Rain chances are about 20 to 30% with tonight being a
possibility of some accumulations... may get a few gallons in da H20
tanks!!! Not much but if the low chance matches up with the location we
could get .19 inch according to most recent estimates/ forecast... hope it goes
over my boat!!!
Invest 90L located in the North East Atlantic between Cape Verde and
Burmuda is still going about to plan and should curve back more North into
cooler water in the next day and then go away... I hope 
The one to our North East looks to stay away and does not appear to be a
problem.
The third is now Invest 91L and forecast do show its probably path is
across or just off shore of South America below the Windward Islands.
However this is in the same area that this time of the year, forecast are
difficult to make in the early stages of a storm... and this year even after
they are reasonable well formed. They just seem like unruly
kids! Two plots do bring them across the Windwards and in our
directions. This was what I have been worried about  Actually, no
reason to panic but we do need to keep an eye on this one until it isn’t
anything at all. As the Great Yogi said, it ain’t over till its
Over.
Later,
da
Wayward Sailor
da Wayward
Sailor recommends the hilarious book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read
for anyone who loves the Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid. Check out
"Hurricanes and Hangovers" at http://DearMissMermaid.Com
|
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- No Storms! Great... 3 Invest.... Not so Great
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- By daWayward Sailor <daWaywardSailor at hotmail.com>
- Date: Wed, 27 Oct 2010 17:20:57 -0400
|
This AM was really nice! Cool with nice breeze and a mixed bag of Sun
and clouds. Lots of small but rather dark clouds racing by. Several
locations across the island had light rain but not me. As I moved around
the rain seem to move away from me. As I had no protections that was
nice.  Winds still Fresh
at about 13 to 21 Knots depending on your exposure. The view on the Carib
radar looks like green measles with orange blotches on some. Just a large
number of very small rain clouds streaming in from the North East. None
appear to have the ability to get us very wet, just a quick rain then gone and
the winds dry us out. Seas and winds should ease up a bit over the next
couple of days and get back to the 3 to 5 range in most locations.
TS Richard is no more but we have 3 invest to keep an eye on. Invest
90L is well NorthWest of Cape Verde and still not anticipated to be of any
significant to any one other than shipping interest. We have one
disturbance about 650 miles to our North East which is causing the rash of small
rain showers we have and will see over the next couple of days. Looking at
the Sat Loop, it does not seem to be moving just spinning in place. Looks
like a front from the US may push it more North East but have not seen anyone
say where it will actually go. Since it isn’t very organized they have no
plots yet. The Third disturbance is off South America under (south of) the
Windwards. This one should go into South America and not be a long term
problem but we all know what can occur in that area. I’m actually more
worried about it than the one just to our North East.
Really feel for those people in the Mid US with the horrible storms that
have had over the past few days and may have for a day or so more as the front
moves on. They had winds of 60 MPH and higher with lots of tornadoes and
straight line winds that have destroyed or damaged many properties. Ever
place has its own bad weather and good weather. We have hurricanes but we
also have some of the most wonderful weather in the world. Everyone just
needs to stay prepared and aware of what the weather is expected to be
like. Far too many people just do not attempt to be informed of potential
weather events that could have significant impacts on their lives.
Later,
da
Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book:
"Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and
our Dear Miss Mermaid. Check out "Hurricanes and Hangovers" at
http://DearMissMermaid.Com
|
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- Approaching dawn
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Wed, 27 Oct 2010 03:44:05 -0700 (PDT)
|
Good Morning Currently 77 degrees, winds 17mph out of the east north east. We are expecting the temperature to again be around 87 degrees and chance of rain is 20%. Not too bad for another day in paradise. Have been working on a Halloween party that I'm throwing for a few friends of mine. Seems like this year more places are having Halloween parties. I've heard that the Last Resort is having a Vamp Halloween party. I saw the add in the Limin times and that could be quite fun to attend. There are several other much smaller parties that are going on around the island as well. Most BVIers do not celebrate this holiday. The parties that I've heard about are Ex Pat's doing the Halloween thing. I know earlier I reported on my
Roof Rat morning and worrying about my Halloween Candy that I brought down. In fact I brought down a suitcase full of Halloween decorations and stuff. There is no way that you can find Halloween decorations down here. Take for example simple candy corn. I thought I saw one bag at One Mart last week, but I just bet that it might be last years Thanksgiving candy that they held over. So yesterday a friend and I were on a treasure hunt for several candy items that we needed to make a candy bark for my party. On the hunt we were looking for Skor or Heath bars....no can find....next was Reeses peanut butter cups and Reeses pieces....again a strike out. So today I'm continuing that search. However, yesterday day I found a real pumpkin in two places. Bobby's in Roadtown had pumpkins for 11.95 picked one of those up I'll carve a scary face in that one. Then over at Riteway I found painted
pumpkins!!! They were great splurged and picked one of those up too. The last time I was down here for Halloween was about 4 years ago and no one had pumpkins. This year my pumpkin search has been fruitful or should I say gourdful or pumpkinful!! I still have a few things on my grocery list and I'll continue my search for the Halloween Bark ingredients may have to just substitute and be creative!!! Cheers! the on the Halloween search Mermaid Gardener
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- Great Sailing Day in the BVI
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- By daWayward Sailor <daWaywardSailor at hotmail.com>
- Date: Tue, 26 Oct 2010 08:53:26 -0400
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Looks like today will be a great sailing day here in the BVI. Fresh
Winds and lots of Sun, seas may be a bit to deal with as they are running 4 to 7
feet and many of the charter people may feel this is a tad too much but the good
thing is the winds are not very gusty, more of a steady wind which you can
adjust to and rig your sails making for fewer needed changes. Winds are
East with a bit of Northeast in them. Temps are really nice this AM and
around 84. Minimal rain accumulations anticipated but chances run 20 to
30%. Wish I could go out for a while but still do not have my sails up yet
and at with a fresh breeze going on it is not a good time to re rig them single
handed! Never was into hang gliding. Heading back into town
for lunch and getting some needed shopping done  , wonder if the Cruise
ship has gone? It probably has as most do not stay overnight... lots
cheaper to be underway heading to next destination than berthing
overnight.
TS Richard appears near the end of its run. As it gets into the Gulf
of Mexico, wind shear and dry air are anticipated to bring it to a remnant by
Wednesday. That would be fine with me 
Invest 90L seems to be doing what was expected and should be no problem to
land masses only to shipping interest.
Had a great night aboard and fell asleep “grading” music. Got
the new iTune program in this new computer and most of you know it has this
grading system to allow you to identify the songs you like most. Being a
“former” Engineer I still have this “need” to fill in the blanks so I grade the
songs... I have a bit over a thousand and some of the tunes are special cuts
that last 30 min or more. Got some very fond memories of some of those
long cuts Mmmmmm eeRRrr my mind slipped a bit on that
thought!  With the music
and the boat doing its 15 knot swing with some rock and roll of its own the only
thing that woke me was someone attempting to take a mooring near by in the dark
with high winds.... always something to watch!
Later,
da
Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book:
"Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and
our Dear Miss Mermaid. Check out "Hurricanes and Hangovers" at
http://DearMissMermaid.Com
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- Photos from Mermaid Gardner
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- By daWayward Sailor <daWaywardSailor at hotmail.com>
- Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2010 20:02:43 -0400
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Here is a photo the Mermaid Gardner asked me to post.
Here is our Spooky waning full moon from last night. The glow from
Maya Cove gives this picture an eerie surreal look to it. Enjoy!!
Cheers!
Your Spooky Mermaid Gardener
----------------
Nice shot MG! Full Moons and Caribbean Islands are something
special!!
Note: As I was reading the reports on the earthquake last night.... I
recall going through a shake or two while on land a few times. The largest
was in Turkey in Mnnnmmm let us just say a long long time ago! On da
boat here last night I didn’t feel anything different but that is to be expected
being on a boat. Da ol sailor is usually really happy when the earth moves
for him  Later,
da
Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book:
"Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and
our Dear Miss Mermaid. Check out "Hurricanes and Hangovers" at
http://DearMissMermaid.Com
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- Slept through that earthquake
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2010 11:32:14 -0700 (PDT)
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Good Afternoon,
Must have slept through the 4.6 earthquake. I didn't feel any rocking or rolling After looking at Miss Lissy's report I went through the house and did my once over check to see if anything was a miss, it was not.
Miss Lissy is correct in that we need to always remember to be diligent with both hurricanes and earthquakes. Our paradise home is right next to the Puerto Rico Trench which is an active fault line and periodically will rock and roll us.
Link to wikipedia for more information on the Puerto Rico Trench:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Rico_Trench
Link to the BVI Department of Disaster Management
http://www.bviddm.com/index.php?action="article&id=709
The Mermaid Gardener
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- Earthquake
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2010 10:00:58 EDT
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Sunday October 24, 2010
Dear, Miss Mermaid
Oh we had a good rattle here last night around 10.00 pm. It shook us for
less than a minute but it was a strong 4.6 according to the USGS and was
felt throughout Tortola with many people reporting in on the BVI news
website . Just a reminder that we are just as susceptible to
hurricanes as we are earthquakes .
Miss Lissy
You can also report earthquakes felt at:
It looks like that was a 4.6 earthquake! Yikes!
My internet has been flaky lately (just like me!)
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- Monday 25 Oct
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- By daWayward Sailor <daWaywardSailor at hotmail.com>
- Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2010 07:45:16 -0400
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Still see the moon over East End at 7:30 this AM but the sun is hiding
behind a cloud for a bit longer
Winds have died down a bit but our range is still expected to run between
12 to 20 knots until mid week. These winds are allowing us to feel cooler
and that is nice!
Seas have kicked up a bit and will be running between 4 and 7 feet most of
the week. Guess we are in pre season training for the Christmas
Winds! We have a nice roll here in Fat Hog Bay and the sun should pop out
anytime and it will again be a warm day around 87. I’ll be running into
Road Town later this AM and hope I miss the 30% chance of rain as I often
do. Just lucky I guess. I’ll stop by the Road Town Bakery on Main
Street for a sweet roll and good coffee. Typically meet up with friends
for a chat while sipping coffee, these often turn into hour long discussions on
about any subject but often Island politics which is always interesting
here.
Hurricane Richard is now once again Tropical Storm Richard and has passed
over Belize and is moving across Guatemala and soon into the Gulf of
Mexico. The Mexican Government has cancelled all storm warnings and
Richard is expected to move into the Gulf very weak and dissipate by week
end. Hope this it true but still feel we need to watch. Conditions
can and often do change and we do not want to say it is over until it is
Over.
Invest 90 L is still about 600 miles Northwest of Cape Verde and still not
forecast to be a problem for other land masses including here in the
Caribbean.... but again we will keep an eye out.
Later,
da Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious
book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for
anyone who loves the Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid.
Check out "Hurricanes and Hangovers" at http://DearMissMermaid.Com | |
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- Sunday catch up
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Sun, 24 Oct 2010 16:51:16 -0700 (PDT)
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Good Evening
Sunday here was lovely. The winds have began to freshen up throughout the day. Our daytime winds were probably at 18-20mph so things like mosquito's were having a difficult time landing and biting.
Drove to Pussers East for brunch with friends today. It was so fun chatting over breakfast. Pretty soon 2 hours had passed us by. One hot topic was the new Riteway. If you are traveling down to Tortola you need to try to stop in to the new Riteway. First of all it's huge compared to the tight quarters of the old Riteway. Then there is the air conditioning. All I have to say is that I may find myself lingering at the grocery store longer than I used to in the old location. The bakery/deli produce section is wonderful, there are still many of the old familiar faces. The
gal in the bakery recognizes me each time I'm in Riteway, I ask her to make sure that she gives me the glazed donuts that do not have any calories in them. She laughs and thinks I'm funny. The isles are huge compared to the old one where I usually ended up parking my cart at the end of the isle or in a far away location then did my shopping by walking up and down the isles. But now 2 carts can pass by each other easily. I've noticed that the shelves are generally well stocked although there were some items that they must have miss calculated and were out of. Check out lines are nice, you still have to empty your basket or cart (trolley) at check out but the registers are brand new and quick.
All and all the new Riteway is a fun outing and I enjoy having cool air conditioning when I go shopping.
The other thing that we chatted about was the restaurants that were starting to open up again.
Rumor is that down in West End there will be a new restaurant opening up at Frenchman's Cay. Don't know any details but sounds like they are going to try it again. That is the same location where Oscars and Watermark were located. Not sure if this time around the restaurant is going to be high end or mid range.
Have a nice night and will post again soon.
Your Mermaid Gardener
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- Windy Sunday
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- By daWayward Sailor <daWaywardSailor at hotmail.com>
- Date: Sun, 24 Oct 2010 09:34:22 -0400
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Last night was just great! Still about Full Moon, winds were
up a bit and knocked the bugs off the bay and several of the local
establishments had Full Moon Parties in progress. I was at Trellis Bay but
was at a private birthday party that was just great! Was on an older
Shrimp Trawler that had lots of space and was much nicer than I could have
imagined. We probably had close to 30 people on the boat at the peak
occupancy with plenty of room to roam and from the top deck had a great view of
Trellis Bay and all the activity taking place with the moon making it almost
like daylight. Great Food and really great people and even some live
entertainment... possibly a drink or two were had by all, and everyone had a
great time. Since my boat was not in Trellis Bay, great friends provided
shuttle service between the party boat and shore. Lots of thanks to
the host boat, he was a great guy to allow his boat to be invaded by such large
group of friend at one time.
Wind was up to about 15 knots and we later had gust up to
20. Todays forecast calls for winds between 15 and 20 with 20 to 30%
chance of rain with low accumulations. Partly Sunny with some not too big
clouds racing across the island. We will get lots of sun and a fresh
breeze today and probably until late this week. Great time to be in
paradise!!! This is very similar to the Christmas winds but the seas are
less. We are seeing 3 to 5 foot seas and often in the Winter we will get
Northern swells that really build up with the winds and seas jump up for a while
making the surfers happy but access to the North facing bays a more difficult
task. The more protected bays and those on the South Side have nominal
wave action and just enough rock and roll to make sleeping really
easy.
Looks as though TS Richard could become a hurricane....
Heading into Belize in the next day or so but we hope not a strong one.
What happens next is still a question as Richard could reemerge into the Gulf of
Mexico and cause more worry. As things look now, even if Richard does come
back into the Gulf, it appears Wind Shear and other effects would end its trip
in a few days. Things do not appear to be conducive for getting stronger
if it goes that way but as we all know.... things are not always as they appear
and we need to keep an eye out on this one.
Invest 90L is about 600 miles Northwest of Cape Verde and not
much has changed. Some heavy rain is still hitting the islands but
forecast still indicate this should not be of concern to the Caribbean as it
should head more North into cooler waters and dissipate.
Lots of things to do this week, lots going on and it is all
fun. Hope to have some fun photos for next Sunday!
Later,
da Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious
book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who
loves the Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid. Check out "Hurricanes
and Hangovers" at http://DearMissMermaid.Com |
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- Winds are up
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Sat, 23 Oct 2010 11:48:08 -0700 (PDT)
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Good Afternoon
Wow I have a pool!!
Plus the cistern are out of my driveway. Unbelievable and ohhh so good! Took the 3,600 gallons of shocked pool water ran it back into the pool then added about 10,000 gallons from my living room cistern. The pool folks were out on yesterday trying to balance the ph....I was waiting with baited breath wondering if and when I could take my first dip in the pool in 3 weeks! 3 hours and counting was the determination.....Tick tock tick tock....ho hum.....had my first dip and ahhhhhhh the feeling of shear joy!!!!
This Mermaid Gardener is a happy swimmer!!!
Your wet and happy Mermaid Gardener
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- 23 Oct Tortola
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- By daWayward Sailor <daWaywardSailor at hotmail.com>
- Date: Sat, 23 Oct 2010 12:38:06 -0400
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Last night was a Full Moon. Caught this shot visiting
friends in East End.
Sun was still up in the West and the Moon was well over Beef
Mountain in the East, great colors can’t actually be shown in a photo.... ya
have to come and see for yourself!
Winds did pick up over night as anticipated and are between 10
and 15 knots. Seems just a bit cooler than we have had and that is really
nice. Small clouds and a few rain mist were seen in the Channel but not on
my boat and only very light on shore where I was meeting with friends.
This weeks rain probability seems to be at the 20 to 30% chance with very
minimal accumulations until possible Wed of next week when 2/10 of an inch are
predicted. Most other times it is something like .02 inch and trace.
Most likely a few more clouds but still lots of Sun.
Looks like Richard is picking up strength and most probably
will go ashore sometime Sunday or Monday in Belize then possibly come back into
the Gulf of Mexico as a weak disturbance early in the next week then be pulled
apart by wind shear and dry air masses. We may be free of Richard by next
Wednesday.
Invest 90L just North of Cape Verde has remained about the
same and should move North Northwest and not be a problem to most land masses,
however Cape Verde will/ is having strong winds and heavy rains.
NOTE TO SELF: Cape Verde is not a fav place to be in
Hurricane Season.
Made it into town for an appointment and to pick up supplies
for a upcoming event. Stopped by Village Cay and had a nice breakfast with
a friend and the view was nice and had a nice view of a not too busy
marina. Did see a few charter cats move out... could tell they were
charter cats as they went out at full throttle sending up a wake on the other
boats. Seems some people do not understand the throttle WILL work between
stop and full forward or Full Reverse!!! Think Charter boats should
REQUIRE detents in the throttle so people will possibly better understand the
engine will work at these in between areas.
Later,
da Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book:
"Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the
Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid. Check out "Hurricanes and Hangovers"
at http://DearMissMermaid.Com
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- Interesting sights on Tortola today
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- By daWayward Sailor <daWaywardSailor at hotmail.com>
- Date: Fri, 22 Oct 2010 18:28:20 -0400
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This is one of the best T-shirt’s I’ve seen and it made be laugh....
probably some truth to a lot of it! 
Don’t be too confused by the change in e-mail address.... had to do it to
be able to get photos in the body.
Think this will be easier for everyone and make it more fun to view.
Later
da Wayward Sailor
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- Who's that lady
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Fri, 22 Oct 2010 14:28:29 -0700 (PDT)
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Thanks to a stormcarib reader for more insight on St. Ursula. After checking further into the legend I found the following web site to be very informative. She is actually on the BVI flag.
http://flagspot.net/flags/vg.html
Cheers!
the Mermaid Gardener
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- St. Ursala day???
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Fri, 22 Oct 2010 09:09:33 -0700 (PDT)
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Good Morning on St. Ursala's day!
Earlier this week I found out that today was a holiday I asked everyone what they were going to do? Is there a parade, do you have school events? Or do you just chill out and lim at the beach??
Everyone gave this blank stare you know the kind that is the deer in the headlights look!! No one could tell me much of anything about why they even have St. Ursala day. My housekeeper who is a belonger and has lived here for over 20 years didn't know of any events going on around the island. My contractor who is from St. Vincent and has lived here in the BVI for quite a few years knew it was a holiday but had not idea if anything was happening. So I went on Wikipedia and tried to find out more about this strange unknown holiday.
Okay so here's the short version. Ursala was a
princess getting married to Governor of Brittany, she was asked by her father to make the long journey and sail there. They ended up encountering a storm that got her to Brittany from South East England all in one day. She decided to make a pilgrimage to Rome with her 11,000 virgin handmaidens, met up with the huns...not a good thing...... the virgins were killed, and Ursala was shot in the head.
So it is a day to commemorate the British Christian Saint Ursala on the date of her death.
Whew....I had asked my friend back up the midwest who is a catholic about St. Ursala's day and she told me that not only was she embarrassed that she didn't know anything about her but would have to look it up on the internet as well. My thoughts are that here on the island is just a fun holiday to go to the beach, nap, relax, eat good food, watch the full moon with friends and just enjoy the moment.
Happy St. Ursala
Day!!
Your Mermaid Gardener
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- Tropical Storm Richard enters the parade
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Fri, 22 Oct 2010 10:38:40 EDT
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TS Richard has been moving erratically, keeping everyone guessing and on
their toes. He is probably not a threat to the BVI *phew* so we can breath a
sigh of relief.
Richard is currently about 230 miles south of Grand Caymen.
Below are two pictures that were emailed to me about the Otto rains that
did a number on Tortola. Sorry I didn't get them posted sooner, I was having
trouble with the download *oops*. Some days Dear Miss Mermaid is
techno-challenged or brain challenged or both...
That's either the proverbial black sheep (or a large dog)
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- Holiday in the BVI and Full Moon and a Richard
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- By da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at gmail.com>
- Date: Fri, 22 Oct 2010 10:29:21 -0400
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Today it is a national holiday in the BVI, St. Ursula. I have only met a couple of "belongers" who knew what holiday it was and none could tell me what it was about... except it is a day off. I would dig in but think someone else is going to do that! It is also Full Moon tonight. I don't think it will be the big deal we typically see during the tourist season with major activities at Trellis Bay and Bomba Shack. Not even sure Bomba Shack has rebuilt yet from the damage from the last two hurricanes that passed through or near us this year. Sure all will be in full swing by November when the activity will be back to normal.
Last night was great for several reasons, the cooling winds did kick in and were East and South East which were a bit better for preventing assisting the mosquitoes from reaching da boat!!!!!! We also had a nice rocking motion from the small swells and probably a few small boats.
This AM it was pleasantly cool with a nice breeze of about 8 knots. Looks like we will see an increase in winds over the next 5 days and they are expected to be between 10 and 15 knots in the open areas, I expect 8 to 12 here in the bay and maybe a bit more roll from the wind blown waves if we get much of a South element to them. Some minor increase in rain probabilities but no significant accumulations are anticipated. A few more clouds the the sun will find opportunities to pop out. Most are now small and seem to be low and fast moving so shadows from them do not last long.
Tropical Depression 19 is now Tropical Storm Richard as most have expected. It is still erratic and between Grand Cayman and Central America. Chances are good that Richard could develop into a hurricane in the next few days... possibly up to a cat 3. Problem is we still have no idea where it will go. This AM's best guess from the computer models it it will go South West for a while more and then go North West.... but North East is also a possiblitiy but not considered as likely this AM.
Another disturbance off Africa is showing signs of circulation but should hit wind shears of 20 to 40 MPH and the system is not expected to be any potential threat to the Caribbean. Wrong time of year for a problem from that direction but as we all know... anything can happen so we need to keep an eye on it for a while until it goes away.
Sun is now out in full force and it looks to be a great day to get wet or at least take a walk on the beach.
--
later
da Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid.
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- Good input on what Boxing Day is
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- By da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at gmail.com>
- Date: Thu, 21 Oct 2010 13:21:16 -0400
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One viewer supplied this great input on what Boxing Day actually is. I'm learning more each year. Sure DMM told me much of this but she had so much information I didn't have it all sink in!
26th December - Boxing Day here in the UK was when your local tradesmen ( milkman, dustman, postman, coalman, grocer etc...)
came round calling on their customers to collect their "boxes" usually a small sum of money or a gift to say "thank you" for a year's good service.
Not very long ago before the days of fridges all Christmas shopping was done on Christmas Eve
as the goose would not keep very long before cooking and mild Christmas weather was a real problem for the housewife.
Even shopping for presents ( a toy, an orange and a shiny new coin for putting in the stocking ) was done on Christmas Eve.
This was when the Christmas period was very short.
Now Christmas holidays are longer
it is still customary to give the public workers something at the time you see them near to Christmas.
Brr, last night near London was down to 28'F !
You are very lucky.
Kind regards,
Martin.
Mmmm Marin, even 28C is cool to me!
--
later
da Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid.
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- A Few Showers
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- By da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at gmail.com>
- Date: Thu, 21 Oct 2010 09:13:47 -0400
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We did have a few showers over Tortola yesterday. None on me while I was in Road Town but I have learned from others that a shower did hit the Western Edge of Road Town and when I got back to East End, I had about 2 gals of rain water in da dink and the streets were just drying out. Later I had a very light mist go over and just about dark a short rain shower cooled things down for about 5 seconds then the wind stopped for a while and it was hot again.
This AM it is partly cloudy and what looks like a few shower opportunities looming off to the East Southeast and moving this way. No heavy stuff probably only trace amounts if any. Friday.... a Holiday here in the Islands.... St. Ursula (sp?) is forecast to be a sunny day but by the night the rain chance goes into the 30% range and nominal amounts can be expected scattered about. Saturday and Sunday look to be similar if not a bit higher in probability but again these are scattered and you can get none or a quick wetting down.
Tropical Depression 19... has obviously been named....(or how would I know what to call it)... Still in the same general location below Grand Cayman and Central America. Presently headed Southeast very slowly under a weak steering wind. Forecasters think this will continue for a day or two but will then turn back to the Northwest.... 180 degree! Forecast models continue to be rather scattered but more agree now. Most indicate TD 19 will head North NorthWest into the Gulf by early next week or possibly sooner. From that point the models again vary a great deal.... This storm could develop into a Hurricane by that time and all interest in the Gulf should keep an eye and ear to reports and stay prepared.
Had several questions this AM, e-mailed from viewers and one struck me as being rather important to those planning on spending Christmas here in the BVI. The question was about "are stores open on Christmas Eve and when do they re-open". Being down for a vacation and having no food or even WORST no RUM!!! could be reaLLLlllly Bad!!!! My reply was basically that Tortola and Virgin Gorda have a few local chain super markets and mini markets and lots of independent smaller ones. The major Cruiser ports also generally have at least one. Over the past few years I have spent Christmas here on Tortola, West End or East End. It appears some stores are open until about mid afternoon, say 3 O'clock on Christmas Eve. Few if any are open on Christmas or the day after Christmas which is a holiday in British areas and it is Boxing Day. Being an American, I though they went to Boxing Matches to see the fights... WRONG.... apparently it is a day that historically some of the British, particularly the English placed boxes of unneeded stuff from last year on the curbs in boxes for the lesser fortunate to go through and take what they needed/ wanted. They don't seem to actually Do that here but they Do take Holidays Off. If you are going to be here over Christmas and know you will need "stuff" best have it prior to mid day Christmas Eve as you will probably have very limited ability to get anything until two days after Christmas! NOTE: Consider gettng your copies of Dear Miss Mermaid's book on order for a good read on your Vacation and as Holiday Gifts to your Better Friends. Hurricane's and Hang Overs and Other Tall Tells and Lies from the Coconut Telegraph is a great gift... especially for yourself!
A few of the primarily Tourist locations may have some limited food store, and some gift hours on Boxing day... but do not expect much in the way of selection! If we are lucky the sage Dear Miss Mermaid will give an input. I've had the opportunity to do food shopping with her in her old red heap o' Jeep, and I can assure you she knows where what can be had and often when at the best price. Not much has changed except for the New RiteWay Store which in adjacent to the former store and is probably the most American type Super Market in the BVI. Restaurant hours are something I have never figured out. Except for a few of the larger Tourist destinations, most seem to close and open when they want.
Well I be making up me costume for da Halloween Party. I'll be.... guess what.... a Pirate! Yeah that is hard to believe I can pull it off. Picked up a pair of paints from the Red Cross Store but was told I have to put darts in them because they are way toooOoo big. A rope belt isn't enough MMmmmmMMm may have to have a few more Rums if I have to stick darts through them into me just to keep them up. Seems like it would not feel to great but heck... it is going to be a great party and sacrifices sometime have to be made.
--
later
da Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid.
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- Tropical Sunrise
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Thu, 21 Oct 2010 04:30:19 -0700 (PDT)
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Good Morning,
The sun has risen, we have just a few clouds off in the distance. Last night we had a couple of passing showers but not a wash out by any means. Looks as if Tropical storm 19 right now is not a threat to us, however we always must be diligent until the season passes.
Temperature is 77 degrees, and again winds are gentle around 7mph.
Yesterday morning right about at this same time I was in the middle of trying to find either a roof rat, bird or a possible snake in a crevice near my small refrigerator in the Master Bedroom. I had been catching up on emails when I heard this sound that I thought was coming from the office or the bar area. I listened for a while and thought "Roof Rat!!" I sprung up out of bed and checked out my hurricane food supplies that I keep in the office, but what I
really checked on was my Halloween Candy that I brought down with me. (That's another story) Whew! My important goodies were safe, no holes in the trick or treat bag of candy. I then thought okay maybe I'm just hearing things.
Nope the sound came back again but I figured it out that it was over in the bar area. I ended up gently putting a stick behind the small sink that I have and feeling something back there. "Oh my gosh it has to be a Roof rat!" Picked up a sandal as my only defensive weapon that I had close to me and proceeded to try to eradicate what ever was back there. I kept thinking that I was going to accidentally squeeze the critter and kill him then have a dead corpse rotting back there....so I ended up pulling out the small refrigerator there was nothing there but when I started to remove the small section board that goes between the refrigerator and sink I thought I saw
something.
Immediately ran for the Baygon thinking it was a huge centipede back there.
Doused the area knowing that what ever was back there in the crevice would probably not like the Baygon either but I had no choice. So I gave it a big psssstttt and out staggers a large lizard instead of a centipede. I'm still having to deal with whatever is back there stuck in the crevice, but I haven't heard any noise or scurrying around. Figured that maybe the Baygon mellowed out the invader and that I wouldn't have whatever critter was back there spring out at me. I'm saying to myself "only here in paradise would I have this much action first thing in the morning." I bent down with a flashlight, peered in to the crevice and was on my guard with sandal in hand.....there staring back at me was a sponge and sink stopper!! No rat no bird or snake. I was laughing so hard at myself! Maybe what I
heard was a jumbie or just that now drunk and high Baygon sprayed lizard. But hey no more sounds so I have successfully gotten rid of what ever was back there. I'm still keeping my eye on my Halloween Candy though!!
Cheers from your sandal in hand Mermaid Gardener
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- Just havin fun!
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Wed, 20 Oct 2010 13:54:22 -0700 (PDT)
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Good Afternoon,
450pm
Winds have picked up a bit and they feel really good even if they are just a 9mph. They are out of east southeast but are not strong enough to keep the mosquito's and no see um's away. I've made sure that I have plenty of Off, even carry a bottle in my purse.
Had fun this morning met up with friends and did some artwork. I am working on botanical watercolor of a lobster claw plant. Unlike many people who watercolor they use paint brushes that are huge almost like mops, I on the other hand use a brush with maybe 2 or 3 hairs on it. My watercolor painting is so detailed. At times my botanical art feel like I'm pulling teeth...so time consuming but so rewarding. I loose track of time and my mind is free of things like when is my pool going to be completed...soon I hope! I'm
dying for a dip in the pool.
Ran out to Trellis Bay on an errand and happened to catch this picture of a rainbow right over the airport. Just like the wayward sailor I'm unable to put the picture in the body of the blog but did attach it for you to see.
Cheers!
the Mermaid Gardener
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- Cool Night for sleeping
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- By da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at gmail.com>
- Date: Wed, 20 Oct 2010 07:09:03 -0400
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We had a nice night for sleeping on a boat last night! Nice winds of about 8 knots and it cooled down to about 74 with just a nice rock and roll from the minimal seas. Winds swung around a bit but were mostly East and Southeast but we did swing Northeast for a short time. Northeast gives me mosquitoes but more South is almost always free of bugs.
Temp now is about 80 with the sun up just enough to start feeding the solar panels. Should be a nice day with a small increase in chance of showers this evening. Still the forecast show the biggest chance always out about 3 days. We may see an increase in clouds as the week goes on.
The disturbance that is now between Grand Cayman and Nicaragua continues to baffle the computer models as did Paula. This one is looking to probably repeat the same loop back to Central America with out the excursion over Cuba. However some of the models do continue to show possible paths that go over Cuba and into the Bahamas and some show movement possible into the Gulf. The disturbance has gained and lost and regained some nominal strength over the past couple of days. It is now expected to reach Tropical Storm strength very soon. Most forecast show it moving more West today and thru the end of the week where it should run itself out over Nicaragua's mountains. Wonder if remnants will stay in the area to create another edition? This is the area we need to watch.
Here are a couple of photos the Mermaid Gardner sent that didn't get into the post on Tuesday!
--
later
da Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid.
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- East End Dawn
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Tue, 19 Oct 2010 03:52:25 -0700 (PDT)
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Good Morning......6:37am
Dawn has just peeked above the horizon. From the looks of it with all it's golds and yellows we will be having another fabulous day here in the BVI. There are small puffy clouds dotting the horizon as the sun starts to become brighter and brighter.
Winds are 5mph out of the east and feel quite gentle. Seas 3-5 feet. Temperature this early in the morning is a lovely 77 degrees. No storms or dark angry clouds over head. Don't see any sailboats out this early but I'm sure that today will be another fantastic day for sailing here in the BVI. Oh I take that back I see one lone sailboat out sailing towards Roadtown with jib only. Looks like a nice slow paced down wind sail to return his boat back to the charter company.
Last night I looked over to Marina Cay and it was
packed with sailboats. I'm thinking that with just over a month to go in the hurricane season that more sailors will be down here enjoying the Caribbean tradewinds. Restaurants will be starting to ramp up and open here on the island during the month of November. Another new sailing season will soon be upon us.
From the Mermaid Gardener
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- Great looking Day in Paradise!!!
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- By da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at gmail.com>
- Date: Tue, 19 Oct 2010 08:31:46 -0400
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Awoke to a rather nice roll to da boat and cooler air... well it was still about 82 but the about 5 knot breeze made it feel nice. Sun is out bright with little competition for sky space so far this AM and we do not expect any rain except for possible pop up showers with only trace amounts. Seas appear to be about 3 to 5 in the Sir Francis Drake Channel and East to North East winds under 10 knots. Not any significant shower activity showing until weekend and then only marginally above the trace amounts, with clear days and most of the chance for showers at night.
While I did see a number of boats out Sunday, many appeared to be in a regatta out of Road Town, today at this early hour not much is going on. Probably still asleep or having a nice breakfast as I'm having or rather just finished.... except for the last half cup of coffee..MMmmmMMmmmm Actually out of real milk and had to settle for the instant creamer but it is still nice.
It was very pleasant setting in the cockpit having my English Muffins and coffee. Only distraction was when just up wind someone cranked up a chain saw and started cutting logs for about 20 min and then someone off to my Port side used an electric saw to cut what sounded like a concrete blocks.... now that was noisy. You can tell this was an Off- Islander.... islanders only use machetee to cut... well anything. Now it is back to just the water sounds and a bit of traffic of the large trucks when they pass through the area. Some of these trucks seem to still be part of the on going clean up from Otto's visit.
The disturbance just North of the Nicaragua/ Honduras boarder is only about 29 MPH but it does not look to me as though it is going to go inland as most models previously indicated. It was heading more West now it appears to be more North West and may miss the land mass of Central America that sticks out into the Carib. Very similar to Paula, the models show a huge range of estimates of where this disturbance will go and what it will be. One thing for sure is that if it stays over water it will stand a better chance of being a bigger problem. Some models show this disturbance moving back to the North and some show an Eastern dominate pattern and one shows an Eastern direction Under Cuba. Anything moving off North America in the next few days could have a significant impact on what occurs. It appears the wind shear is in the moderate range which is good, but if this thing keeps over the warm Caribbean waters for 4 or 5 days in an Eastern drift we may see some effects.
This time of the year, this is the direction that will be the most probable origination point for storms to develop that could effect us. The disturbance between Cape Verde and the Windward Islands a few days ago has dissipated as one would expect. While we do not need to have a blind eye to our East, it is probably the West where any problems will develop for the next 6 weeks.
Have a few boat projects to do today.... making a run at doing the mosquito netting for the overhead hatches. Wish me luck... da Wayward Sailor is not much of a seamstress!
--
later
da Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid.
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- Great Sunday and Good Looking Monday
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- By da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at gmail.com>
- Date: Mon, 18 Oct 2010 09:47:40 -0400
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Sunday was a great day to be out and about on Tortola. Roads are not very busy on Tortola and almost deserted in Road Town on Sundays. Winds were light and it appears much of the island and a few out out islands and the Sir Francis Drake channel had some rain showers but they were light and the sun was shining much of the time. Today it mostly sunny and forecast calls for only a small chance of rain with just trace amounts..... same through the week until possibly Friday when the chance may be higher. Seas are about 3 to 5 in the Channel but lower in the more protected areas.
East End Tortola power was "mashed up" early in the AM but seems to have been restored by about 7:30. Just enough to give everyone an excuse for being late to work... as though anyone needed an excuse. Roads seem to be drying out but wet spots where a bit of runoff still trickles down across the roads need to be watches as they often hide large pot holes. Lots of really good road patches have occurred with the newer type patch material that is a mix that contains fiberglass chop and sets quickly and seem to last much better than the previous forms that were used on the island.
I'm attaching some photos I have taken over the past few days and now have on this new computer. I'm also adding some I received from da Mermaid Gardner of her hike on Sage Mountain, looks like fun!
--
later
da Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid.
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- Beautiful in the BVI
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2010 10:40:55 EDT
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Sunday, 1-3 seas, wind 7 knots, crystal clear sky and seas. Good day
to hit The beach! 
Two more systems to watch, but it's mid October, time for this poop to go away and give way to a
wonderful warm winter in the BVI. |
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- Sunny Sunday
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2010 05:03:58 -0700 (PDT)
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Good Morning from a sunny cloudless Tortola
Yesterday a good friend and I did a slippery muddy hike up to Sage Mountain. Had a bit of trouble at first making our way to Sage Mountain. I tend to be a wuss when it comes to some of these roads when I'm driving. At times the unknown is a bit scary for me. But with the calming nature of my friend I was able to get turned around and made it via Ridge Road to Sage Mountain. We were both prepared with good hiking shoes, hats, mosquito repellent. The information booth was closed and so was the souvenir shop. With it being off season that didn't surprise me. We started up the rutty rocky road that turned into a greasy muddy filled road. It was like ice skating....by the way back in the midwest it was 46 degrees yesterday morning.....glad I'm
here!!!! So we both were like tight rope walkers through the slippery mud. Mind you we have not even gotten to the entrance of the park.... almost fell a couple times and my dear friend was going to take a great picture of this mermaid gardener falling flat on her butt. Thankfully my tight rope expertise gave me an edge. Maybe it was the sailing that I've done too that helped me through that mud slide. Once we made it inside the park the trails were a bit rough and washed out. So footing was important. We saw some bromeliads and philodendrons, gigantic ones in fact. Their leaves were probably 3' in length and a good 2' across. Heard a few birds and saw some lizards. This rain forest is more filled with vegetation than with things like orchids or tropical flowers. We walked up to the end of trail at the Fig tree thinking that was the highest point in the BVI but that was a short distance
further down. At the observation platform we looked over the islands and it was stunning!!! Saw rain was on it's way as we looked at it down by Sea Cows Bay. Sure enough not more that 15minutes after we started to head back we had a lovely soft rain shower in the forest.
Nice day to be hiking and not falling in the mud.
From your still mud free Mermaid Gardener
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- No Named Storms!!
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- By da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at gmail.com>
- Date: Sat, 16 Oct 2010 09:28:29 -0400
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We have no named Storms at this time!!!! That is a good feeling BUT, well isn't there always a But??? We do have a low level disturbance just North of Panama that could be the start of what the models have predicted will be a probably storm originating in that area in about 3 to 4 days. Far too early for any plots but good chance it will again be one of those systems like the last where the initial plots go in all directions, West and East and all points inbetween. I'll be interested to see what the wind shear situation is in a couple of days. At this time the entire area is covered in clouds but not much wind or rain yet.
At the East End of Tortola, it was a nice night last night with a great cool breeze of about 10 knots from the South and no significant seas. This AM the winds seem to be moving to South East and not much cool left in them. Mostly Sunny and already 86 at 9ish with South Southeast winds at about 5 knots. Seas are near calm, 1 to 3 feet and will probably stay in that range for the reminder of the weekend but come Monday things will pick up a bit with higher seas and some added winds. Lower chance of rain for the weekend and first part of the week. The showers I was looking forward to on Monday, seem to have gone away from the forecast. Was looking forward to getting a free boat wash, shower and then maybe collecting water for the tanks. I'll be lucky if I can get enough to wash the boat.
Going for a walk about today. Have not had a good walk in some time. Love the hike the trails on Norman Island BVI and St. John USVI. Keeps me from getting old too fast.
Thanks to several of you who have sent in suggestions for a good e-mail client that will allow me to directly post photos here rather than downloads links.
Also thanks to those who have sent in photos of your areas! Love seeing the color of changing leaves, and may spend some time doing that next year, who knows! Just wondering how to get the boat and me in the same location! I'm not sure how she will handle in the mountains.
--
later
da Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid.
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- Tis the Season to Sail
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Fri, 15 Oct 2010 17:23:19 EDT
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Off in the distance you can see the horizon dotted with sailboats!  October is here and season is starting in the BVI.
Hurricane Paula has been laid to rest, Bye bye Paula!
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- Clean Up from Otto flooding continues
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Fri, 15 Oct 2010 17:15:35 EDT
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I Feel sorry for folks like this they are still dealing with flooded cars
and home.  |
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- 30 MPH Wind Shear killing Paula
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- By da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at gmail.com>
- Date: Fri, 15 Oct 2010 08:02:24 -0400
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Very high wind sheer has knocked Paula from Cat 2 Hurricane to Cat 1 then Tropical Storm and now just a Depression. Paula has been ripped into and the majority of the rain and wind is going North West and has dumped 5 inches of rain in the Gulf just off Key West but Key West received just over one inch Yesterday. Looks like the other part of Paula will do a right hook and probably head back over Cuba and die in the mountains. Cuba has received little rain and not much wind from Paula. Forecasters are not saying much about the after-Paula remnants any more. Not sure why but disturbed weather is expected to pop back up in the same area off Central America with in 5 days.
We will need to keep an eye out to our West for the next 6 or so weeks. This will probably be the primary directions "problems" may occur for us. I do see more sail boats out and about with sails re-installed. Most of these appear to be charter boats and us "locals" still have them in storage. I hope to feel safe enough to re-install my headsail next week but will probably hold off on the main until bit later... it is more trouble to put up and de- rig if I had to. Could most probably handle yanking down the headsail system if bad weather appeared.
Going to play with my computer over the weekend to see if I can't come up with a better way to post photos. If nothing else I'll install the ol Kodak program and post links to download for those that care to view photos with a bit more effort. I know sometimes I just don't do it because of limited speed on my dial up IPS and when I'm away from Wifi coverage. Any suggestions on a good e-mail client with photo insert ability would be welcome. I've tried Gmail, Yahoo and Hot Mail with little or no success and I just have this thing about AOL from years past, and would rather not go that way if possible. My IPS has no xxxx.com email ability.... wish I could use Outlook Express with full ability on some on-line system.
-- later da Wayward Sailor da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid.
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- Josiahs Bay Parking Lot on Tortola
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 14 Oct 2010 16:08:25 EDT
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Wiped out by Otto or Earl or both
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- Keep an eye on Tropical Storm Paula
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 14 Oct 2010 13:59:05 EDT
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Tropical Storm Paul is totally unpredictable! Look at these
predictions, the pros can't agree on a track at all.
According to this Paula is going to head north, south, east or west and
possibly a few other points in between.
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- Study in Contrasts
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 14 Oct 2010 13:21:22 EDT
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This used to be the way into Josiah's bay beach. Naomi's is shut down
due to the damage. Don't know if it was due to Earl or Otto or both.
No access to the beach at all. 
BELOW
A friend and I were limin on the beach this morning. This is Long Bay
beach Beef island. Even though there damage yet on the island you can go
right down the beach and the beauty jumps out at you!!!
A limin Mermaid
Gardener
WOW you are limin upside down???
Let me fix this...
Ahhhhhhhhhhhh...Why we love the beautiful British Virgin Islands
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- Cruise Ship Arrival At Dawn in the BVI
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 14 Oct 2010 12:23:52 EDT
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- Thursday at Dawn, Sir Francis Drake Channel, BVI
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 14 Oct 2010 12:21:41 EDT
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- Reminder to self close the screens at dusk!!
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Thu, 14 Oct 2010 05:53:22 -0700 (PDT)
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Thursday Morning 930am
Last night was a bit warm here in Tortola, very little breeze and a high count of mosquito's. I ended up using 3 Vape machines in my main house. Like many Caribbean homes mine is open to allow the tropical breezes to flow through the house, but watch out at dusk because that must be the sweet time for mosquito's. Last night they came out in force!! Hovered around me outside and before I could get the screens and a couple of doors closed they had found their way into the house. So plugged in the Vape machines with new bug killing pads in them. Whether or not they kill the mosquito's instantly I'm not sure, frankly I didn't see any of those buggers falling dead while in mid air but I figure that they will run away from the smell and not bother
me. This morning the main house was bug free. My plan tonight is to start closing the screens and doors earlier than last night...another day another mosquito to kill.
Yesterday had a lovely day at the Pub chatting with a couple of friends. Lunch was good had the chicken sandwich. The Pub opened up for business I think last week and is getting a face lift (paint) on the front face along the roadway. I've heard the Last Resort will be opening at the end of the month. So it seems that the restaurants are soon to be opening for the winter season. Tuesday night I looked over at Cooper and it was packed with sailboats. I don't know if they are open yet for business but will do some checking.
From the Mermaid Gardener
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- Pictures from Otto
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 14 Oct 2010 08:20:15 EDT
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Otto off in the distance
Murky waters last Friday
Flying into Otto last Tuesday
Frankly things really have settled down now and are getting cleaned
up. I see dry caked mud just about everywhere on the roads but everyone is
getting around stores are stocked plenty of rum to be had by all.
LOL
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- Visit from Paula????
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- By da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at gmail.com>
- Date: Thu, 14 Oct 2010 07:50:53 -0400
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Well as I have expected, where Paula is going to go has become more complex. She has decreased to a Cat 1 Hurricane over night due to wind shear and is bound for Cuba. The big question then is What Then.... Looks like she will be cut in two, however as several storms have done recently the remnants often have a 2nd life. A good chance exist that when Paula exits Cuba part of the storm will become a disturbance of storm clouds continuing on an East Northeast direction bringing rains possibly to the Florida Keys and the Bahama's. The other, probably the stronger remnant could head more East Southeast..... Yep... in our direction.
Most forecast "think" it will not become a Major Hurricane again but it could. Our waters are still very warm and how much wind shear exist will be a large factor as no significant dust or other factors appear obvious at this time. What happens in the next few days can be significant for us here in the Virgin Islands. Be Prepared and Stay Aware.... this storm season is Not over yet.
Last night at East End Tortola, it was very calm, seas and wind. Only thing that was not calm was the mosquitoes! After being under attack for a
bit I finally bombed da boat bug spray, started up two mosquito coils when I felt the boat would not still explode if I struck a match to light them. Finished up all I had to do and climbed under the mosquito net and played ITunes and scanned the internet for a bit. With No Wind or jut the small breeze from the direction of Land..... that is when I get the most mosquitoes and I do expect the problem to get even worst due to the rains we had last week. New crops are already out looking for blood and they seem to love my vintage. I think I need to eat more Garlic or hot peppers. Until then I'll be using the perfume of da islands... OFF. I have been trying again that old fav.... Avon Skin so Soft.... Yes da Wayward Sailor may get all soft and even smell good. I wonder of I soak a rag in Rum and use it as a neckerchief .... would that help cover the nice smell of Skin so Soft and allow me to retain my more manly Rum flavor??? LOL
Today looks to be sunny and HOT with very light winds if any. Standard 20% chance of rain and light seas. Good Beach day.... or day to defrost da freezer if you really want some excitement... which is what I'm doing now ARRRrrrgh.
--
later
da Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid.
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- Paula does the Westward Turn
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- By da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at gmail.com>
- Date: Wed, 13 Oct 2010 12:07:31 -0400
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Paula's forecast was always odd and different tracks were produced by all systems and they varied by 180 Degrees! While most forecast were initially for Paula to head into the Central American coast, it is now forecast to cross Cuba and then head East.... Possibly East Southeast which we DO NOT want to see! Tacks still are well North of the Virgin Islands but this storm has fooled most of the forecast formulas. We need to keep an eye open on her. Problem is my First Babysitter was Paula and she was really nice to me, she would let me splash and play in the tub with my little rubber duck and boats.
Last night it was about Dead Calm. Fat Hog Bay was like a mirror and the boats were pointing in all directions drifting about the mooring balls. Thankfully most of the mosquitoes seem to have found dinner ashore and I didn't have any major problem that a burning coil could not fix. Making the mosquito nets for my upper hatches is a larger task than I had thought. Now have some thin 30# test fishing line I'll try to use as thread. Expecting a bumper crop of the flying vampires after all the rain we had last week!
Winds are not expected to get much over 10 knots all week with the typical being about 5 knots. Sears are presently under 3 feet with a bit of a Southern rolling swell between the islands. Mostly Sunny with a few larger clouds moving around. Did appear to have a few small rain showers pop up over Eastern Tortola and Beef island as I left this AM. Now in Road Town at Village Cay and it is Hot with a small breeze helping keep it nicer under the shade of the covered deck at the restaurant. Having my standard BLT Club with a Savanna Light... an English type Hard Cider drink.
Will do a bit more shopping and head back to to boat later this afternoon..... hopefully Dry. Looks like we will just have a few showers on and off as typical. Things will change if Paula dipps down toward us to say Hello.
--
later
da Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid.
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- WOW , time to clean up the mess!
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 13 Oct 2010 10:46:58 EDT
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What mess to clean up now. 
Hurricane Paula is moving over the Yukatan Channel and not a threat to the
BVI. Thank goodness!
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- Warming up
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Tue, 12 Oct 2010 10:08:06 -0700 (PDT)
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Tuesday 12:45pm
Today looks as if it could be a hot one. We have slight tropical breezes out of the west. Currently it is 86 degrees, 70% humidity and wind is 8 mph out of the south. chance of rain is 20% (that's a pretty normal for here), Saturday is suppose to be clear and hot!!! We still have the inversion layer of haze going on. Paradise is still quite stunning through the haze.
After writing yesterday I was on the look out for a sprinkler here at the house thinking how can I keep cool with out going to beach and taking cold showers constantly. Came up with one alternative sprinkler option. My contractor hooked up a hose to feed up to the driveway from my pool in order to fill those lovely black cisterns in my driveway. While he was making sure that the end of the hose was in the empty cistern
the hose flexed and I started hearing raindrops...lots of them. Now you need to know that the hose had to be ran right through my living and dining room up steps to the driveway. I start looking around telling myself that there is no dark and stormy cloud overhead...so what is that noise....the hose had strung a leak out under my pergola and another small squirting leak in the dining room. I'm thinking oh my goodness get towels to cover the spray in the dining room!! Got that covered then looked at the larger spray out under the pergola and yes a thought ran through my head...hey there's your sprinkler....but shocked pool water is not necessarily the thing that I should be using to cool off.
Alas, it was not an option for me to use to cool off. Did have to have an additional 2 lovely cisterns brought up this morning but even that won't hold all the pool water. Had to let some of it run down the driveway
and into the jungle.
My gardener was here this morning as well. He does such a great job on all my plants. Today was weed wacking and blowing of dead leaves. I could not believe how tall the grass got in just one week after last weeks blowout rainfall. Need to run to Fort Garden Center and purchase some clay pots that were broken in the last weeks storm and Hurricane Earl.
My rake seems to be missing so that's on the to buy list as well, not sure maybe Earl or Otto took it by accident!
Geeze the wind must have just died because I'm getting bit up by mosquito's as I type. I suspect that we will have a bad crop of mosquito's hatching now. My preferred fragrance will again be "Off" and I'm going to start to use Skin so soft....seems like that stuff works really good and smells great.
Catch ya later I'm off to spray some more of my favorite perfume before I get carried away by
mosquito's.
Love from paradise....your now itchy sweaty Mermaid Gardener!!
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- Tuesday
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Tue, 12 Oct 2010 11:34:57 EDT
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Washed up in a bottle at sea:
Dear Miss Mermaid
We are visiting Virgin Gorda next week. I have been reading your
posts about the rain and am wondering if you think it will be clear next week
when we arrive. On the weather channel it looks like there is a 60% chance
next Wednesday and Thursday. Are you expecting more rain from
Paula?
Thank you!
Hurricane Paula is in central America at this time. She shouldn't be a
threat to the beautiful Virgin Islands at all.
The weather channel always shows rain. That is because the islands have
scattered rains almost every day. Now recently we had torrential rains from the
storm ut-oh Otto, that went north of here. Most unusual, but it happens once in
a while. Otto is now around the Azores.
The BVI was built up so rapidly will little to no regard for
erosion, so we have more than our share of troubles when heavy rains fall.
Scattered rains are typically 1-5 minutes, it goes from sunny to rainy
then sunny again. Just enough time if you are at the beach, to pack up all your
stuff, run for the car, get inside and steam up the windows. About the time you
start to drive away, the sun is back out and the sky is clear.
Islanders don't like to go anywhere in the rain, except to the nearest
bar. So the bars tend to love the rain, because it brings in business.
A note from the Mermaid Gardener about the above pic:
Yep here are those 1,000 gallon tanks which will house my pool
water, could go swimming in them but might be mighty hot!! They need flower
power stickers all over them!
From your still looking for a sprinkler Mermaid Gardener
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- Calm Day
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- By da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at gmail.com>
- Date: Tue, 12 Oct 2010 09:31:22 -0400
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Appears we are in for a very calm day, but it could get Hot! Seas are under 4 feet, actually looks to me to be about 2 to 3 in the Sir Francis Drake Channel off Beef Island, think I could shave using the Fat Hog Bays waters as my mirror... a bit of a green mirror..... No I'm not sick, it is just the green bloom we have from all the fresh water from last weeks rains, which are still affecting the bays color. Winds are near calm to I would say a max of about 5 knots when we get a cooling breeze for a few minutes.
Mostly Sunny but I did see one huge cloud to our South East at about 7AM with a dark flat bottom which would have been just South East of Virgin Gorda. I was expecting a "for sure downpour" and was considering prepping my water recovery system so I could collect rain water after it had washed out the system a few minutes...... It never happened! Apparently a wind shear cut the thing in half and the top went a different direction than the bottom and the bottom dissipated almost entirely before reaching the boat and very little rain was noted over the channel and none on da boat.
It is really something to see such a large cloud get cut in half and just go away in such a short time frame. Guess it was just a good move to just be lim'in in the cockpit having coffee rather than spending time getting the rain water recovery pre set. No point in wasting energy! I may need it for something important.... like taking a nap!
NOTE TO SELF: Do not stay up late entering and reviewing iTune files in your new computer. After doing that, even when you turn the darn computer off, you still have ROCK n' ROLL tunes playing in your head ALL NIGHT!!!!!! Mmmm wonder how the computer does that??????
--
later
da Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid.
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- TS Paula in Western Carib
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- By da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at gmail.com>
- Date: Mon, 11 Oct 2010 19:17:46 -0400
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The mess in the Western Carib is now know as Paula. Presently this multi forecast path storm appears to be most likely heading West North West and away from us. Was a hot day and had lots of sun. Now that the sun has gone down we still have near calm winds but what exist here in the bay is from the South Southeast. That is OK since it Will bring in fewer of those mosquitoes! Didn't get my mosquito nets made up today... need a few more supplies but will have them finished soon... I hope and until then I'll make use of the coils and the netting over the bunk in the master cabin. Hope the temps drop a bit and no rain! It would get really warm if I had to close up for a shower. We do need a bit more drying out before any more rain!
All other areas around us look reasonably clear of potential storms for the next couple of days... still it ain't over til it is over! Truth is I'll feel lots better as we pass the end of October.
--
later
da Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid.
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- Nice Sunday and Sunny Monday
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- By da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at gmail.com>
- Date: Mon, 11 Oct 2010 10:47:51 -0400
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Eastern Tortola did have a few showers about mid afternoon and some drainage from the upper levels of the island continue to make roads wet and tends to hide those big pot holes. Things look to be drying out over most of the early part of this week. We have our standard 20 to 30% chance of some light rain and it is mostly sunny now at 10:30 and seems to be getting warmer. Presently about 90 with humidity in the 70's. Very light winds from calm to about 6 knots.. a slow sail day but probably most boats will just motor around. For those of us working on small jobs on the boat it will be HOT!!!! Most Schools re-opened today after the hard week of rain and winds we have had. Think most kids and even some of the teachers are looking forward to getting back.
Invest 98L still seems to have most forecasters wondering where it will go. The models change several times a day with most going North East then most going West or South West. Appears it will either go North East over Cuba and possibly the tip of Florida or it will head West and South over Central America. The people in the Western Carib need to really watch this one, if they turn their heads it could sneak up on them with little notice. Us in the Eastern Carib do not seem to have much chance of being directly effected unless it decides to do something different which we all know just may be what happens... Stay Alert or Be A Lert.... I've often wondered what a "Lert" looks like....
After a nice Beach Walk I had a nice dinner at da Loose Mongoose last evening. A local Fav Son and his wife did the cooking island style and it was great! Foil wrapped fish and potatoes, a lobster dish, a "sunfish" dish and some Potato Salad that would even have made my Mom take notice! Several other dishes including one broccoli and grape salad that was a knock out. All with friends who are frequent patrons and many who live at Trellis Bay. The restaurant is not yet open but will open on the 14th. These Sunday get togethers are really nice and a bit of football watching on the large screen TV's was also nice on the expanded deck around the outside bar on the beach.... heck I even got a really good hair cut! Boy did I need it! No that is not part of the standard fair but if you have special friends many things are possible. Great people and places here on the East End of the Island!
--
later
da Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid.
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- Sprinkler hunting!
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Mon, 11 Oct 2010 07:29:45 -0700 (PDT)
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Good Morning 11:30am
Warming up very nice. Slight breeze out of the Southeast, puffy Caribbean clouds, no rain on the horizon.
Am having pool work done here at my house and have two lovely 1,000 water tanks in my driveway to hold the pool water. You may ask why rent empty cisterns when my cisterns are full of water.....well here on the island even thought I may have lots of water right now we will be going into the dry season. I love the idea of having extra water during this time of year & so do my plants and flowers.
The other consideration is that it is by far cheaper to rent these tanks and hold the water then it is to purchase a couple of tanker trucks to fill the pool. Water is very expensive here on the island. It is desalinated water which also means that my pool company would
have to work on getting that ph correct for the pool once we fill it.
You will probably hear me complaining about no pool for the next couple of weeks but I look at it this way. I have the ocean to go take a dip in when ever I need to. I suspect that the ocean has cooled off a bit since we had so much rain last week and the amount of wave action that was going on that too will have a big effect on ocean temperature. It won't be as cold as the lakes up north though! LOL!!
Happy Monday going to get to work on a few small projects and try to stay cool...anyone got a sprinkler that I can run through to cool off maybe even a slippery slide ????
Your sprinkler seeking Mermaid Gardener
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- Alls well in paradise
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Sun, 10 Oct 2010 11:50:45 -0700 (PDT)
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2:46pm Sunday
Good afternoon,
Well now that we are drying out the perfume of preference is "Off" and oh what a lovely smell it is......just love dousing myself with that perfume but now with the new crop of mosquito's we have to be very careful and ever mindful that dengue fever is always lurking out there.
Had a lovely day here in Tortola, no rain, no storms, pleasant sunny day. We have an inversion layer happening so it's a bit hazy but otherwise paradise was lovely. Noticed that I have very small baby zinnia's popping up in the garden. Hurricane Earl must have really shook loose all the seeds from the old flower heads. My periwinkle is doing great, so cute and loves the harsh weather here.
Hung out at the pool most of the day, had to work on one project that was the remnants of the damage from Earl
and got that completed. Had an interesting "watch the world go by day day"...got to see one sailboat hung up on the reef coming into Maya Cove, they kedged the sailboat off the reef and everyone on board seemed to be happy to have been rescued. Got to see a small praying mantis fly around.....and here I thought they just walked...nope they fly!!! You learn something new every day.
That is the latest here from sunny Tortola.
The Mermaid Gardener
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- 10-10-10
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sun, 10 Oct 2010 10:21:01 EDT
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Note from Tortola..
| Hi there,
seaward side of bombas still has no floor after Earl. Other side
only open in the evenings. This week has been so bad with the island hit
very hard by the rains. The govenor declared a state of emergency. So many
roads affected. Mud slides, flash floods..just amazing
stuff. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today is the 10th day of the 10th month of the 10th year of the 21st
century.
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- A Sunny Sunday?
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- By da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at gmail.com>
- Date: Sun, 10 Oct 2010 05:58:23 -0700
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Looks to be a nice sunny Sunday for Tortola!!!!! Some high overcast and a few clouds which are moving to the North East and we have a low haze over the cooler water and very high feeling humidity... or that could be the great cup of coffee I have and the fantastic views of a girl in swim a small suit that I have! These are thing that cause weather awareness to wonder at times. Local forecast is for 30% chance of showers.... about the typical days chance but low accumulations to just a trace. Things are drying out and that is good. Mosquitoes were not bad last night on the Eastern End of Tortola and at da Loose Mongoose where friends had a few drinks while talking and watching football. They will open the restaurant on the 14th which will be about the same time other establishments will start opening for the season. Many of these have been closed for a month or more and they probably did not loose much in the way of business due to the weather something they have learned from observing things for years and it gives them all time to do their upgrades and repairs while allowing for the European style one month vacation for employees who typically head off island.
Seas are much calmer and smooth with no white caps being observed in the area of the Sir Francis Drake Channel I'm looking at....over da girl in the swimsuit.... errRRrrr Oh yes the seas... well they do have a roll to them which is something my football team didn't seem to have last evening as they lost their first game in more than a year.
Coloration of the water is getting back to more normal. The water along the edge of Trellis Bay was crystal clear yesterday afternoon but in a walk along the Southern beach area, we did see many areas where significant runoff had occurred leaving more than a foot deep gullies in the beach sand where small fish seem to be having a great time in the pools they formed. Shelling was also good, we were probably one of the few people who had walked some areas of the beach in some time. After Hurricane Earl I found a very large Sea Urchin "shell"... the inter skeleton of the long needle urchins we all hate to get near. This one is almost 6 inches at the base which is the largest one I've found on a rock beach all in one piece. I'll try to get photos later... still not found a way I can best get them uploaded... guess it take a real mermaid to do that! and not just an ol' sailor.
Think I'll head back to Trellis Bay this afternoon for a cook out.... hopefully with out mosquitoes being the side dish.
--
later
da Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid.
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- hurricane OTTO not a threat to the BVI at this time PHEW!
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sat, 9 Oct 2010 17:32:18 EDT
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Hurricane Otto is packing 75mph winds, about 700 miles east of Bermuda, out
in the Atlantic.
I just checked and the Cruising 1500
Rally isn't scheduled to leave from Annapolis, until November 1st, so
you can still join in the fun. They sail to the BVI and all participants get a
trophy. How cool is that?
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- Another BVI picture
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sat, 9 Oct 2010 17:27:21 EDT
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- Looking Towards Beef Island and beyond BVI
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sat, 9 Oct 2010 15:25:17 EDT
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- Dark and Stormy
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sat, 9 Oct 2010 14:57:55 EDT
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- Odd things to see
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- By da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at gmail.com>
- Date: Sat, 9 Oct 2010 10:11:36 -0700
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Posted 1;10PM
Today the winds seem to finally be shifting to the South and a little Southeast. Winds still up in the mid to upper teens. Mostly Sunny now but a few groups of fast moving clouds are around and we often have a very high overcast but the sun seems ot find a way through and it can get really muggy when the wind drops or you get into an area that is protected from the wind. No idea why anyone would WANT to be in a wind protected area today... that is where the mosquitoes are having lunch and that is YOU if you are there.
Seas were almost flat with a nominal swell earlier but the wind seems to have kicked them up a bit and I can see that they are 4 to 5 in the Sir Francis Drake Channel now. Very few white caps but I do see breakers along the Southern facing shore. Temps in mid to upper 80's though this AM it was a cool 78 which was nice for a change. Water color is still a bit turbid but getting back to a more normal color with out indications of the massive Brown run off we were having.
Have observed several boats leaving the hurricane shelter of Paraquita Bay, both mono's and cats even today I've seen 3 cats and two mono's leave. Makes me feel better about considering putting on my head sail. I hate to move around in a sail boat with No sails! In this area, having fuel problems is a not infrequent occurrence....
One really odd thing I did see on the Sir Francis Drake Channel this AM was a 30 foot or so power boat pulling a sail boat, appeared to be a hobie cat type boat about 16 to 18 feet at the end of a 40 foot line and going a good 18 to 20 MPH. Two people were actually on the hobie!!!! I was wondering why the thing didn't pitch pole as it rose and fell off the swells at such a fast clip and in the wake of the power boat. Mast appeared to be acquiring an additional swept back look and I'm sure the frame was getting a heck of a work out.
Great to actually see some sail boats out with sails up and doing what they are suppose to do down here. I see more than a dozen out today which is more that we have seen all week total! On the island, people are getting out more, although the streets still show the signs of excess rain and pot holes all around. By early next week things will be back to normal hopefully as we see no significant storms forecast to be in our immediate future although we do need to watch the newest disturbance in the Western Carib that is forecast to move over Cuba and pass well North of us.
--
later
da Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid.
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- Saturday in the BVI
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sat, 9 Oct 2010 12:24:45 EDT
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- What a difference a day makes!
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Sat, 9 Oct 2010 07:47:14 -0700 (PDT)
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11:43am Tortola British Virgin Islands...dateline...it's sunny out!
Yes, what a difference a day makes! We are drying out and everyone seems to be in a happier mood. Even the birds seem to be happier. They are now out in force and flying. The seas are flat, not the 6-8 foot waves of yesterday, the wind is still out of the southwest. Not near the velocity we have seen over the past week. Sailboats are out, sailors are happy and life is now getting back to normal here in Tortola.
Last night had a friend join me for Lemon cello martini's and made a fantastic dinner together. Sometimes rum takes a back seat to girly drinks. We made Zucchini with Ziti pasta, shallots, garlic with Romano cheese. Accompanied it with a roman salad with homemade dressing and croutons with a nice white dry wine. The plan
is to use the extra Ziti to make 3 cheese Mac and sausage later this weekend. Love trying new recipes. This time of year there are so few restaurants open so it's a great excuse to pull recipes out of magazines and try my hand at something new. Didn't have dessert just a butterfinger candy bar.
All is well here in Tortola, enjoying the sun. Pool time this afternoon got to work on my tan!!
From your happier Mermaid Gardener
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- Wet and double Dark and Stormy
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- By da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at gmail.com>
- Date: Fri, 8 Oct 2010 13:47:19 -0700
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We have had a couple of breaks in the heavy rain fall, enough for me to make a run into Road Town or near it to the New RiteWay Supermarket to resupply. One of the elements I resupplied on was the makings of a Dark and Stormy which goes very well with Dark and Stormy Weather... at least that that isn't expected to become really bad and dangerous!
Roads into Road Town appear to be mostly clear but many very wet spots exist with holes in the road full of water. Mud everywhere but not as much flowing into the bays now. The heavy brown ring that was surrounding Tortola is now just an off colored green gray color. With the few specks of actual sun light we did get, things started to dry out with the continued higher than typical winds. Humidity being so high when the sun came out it also became very Very muggy.
One thing I can report is my rain water recovery system has proven to be a winner, but to be honest just a few buckets would have done the trick in this past few days. I had to bail out the dink 2 or 3 times each day. If it were clean, I could have collected more than 50 gallons of water over the past week. I'm sure few of any cisterns on Tortola are not overfull now. Problem is that as we dry out the standing water all over the place will grow those darn vampire mosquitoes.... I've had a few encounters with the already.... How did they survive the winds over the past week or are these actually South American mosquitoes and not our normal island type? I did see a gray and white mosquitoes today... the type said to carry dengue fever. Guess it is time to spray down the boat and keep the netting up at night. I have screens on all side hatches now and just received some netting to build (sounds better than sew) up some screens for the large top of cabin hatches that let in the most air. I'm also building up a companion way screen system so I don't have to burn those coils so often in the evening and even in the early AM hours. Will try to shoot some photos of those when I get them installed.
--
later
da Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid.
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- Hurricane Otto
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Fri, 8 Oct 2010 12:18:53 EDT
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- Hurricane Otto
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Fri, 8 Oct 2010 12:09:38 EDT
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The eighth hurricane of the season is born and his name is Otto. He rained
all over the Virgin Islands making a huge mess of things.
I shall call him Himmacane Ut-Oh-Otto. How I wish the weather service
had a sense of humor when they named these things.
If they had asked me, I would have thought up something bad for the letter
O. Like Hurricane OhDear or hurricane OhMyGodda.
Otto sounds like something I should have named my strange little puppy dog.
Wasn't there a cartoon with a dog named Otto?
I am SO glad the Wayward Sailor got himself a new laptop. Lucky dog!
Um, sailor!
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- Stormy Weather but new computer!
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- By da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at gmail.com>
- Date: Fri, 8 Oct 2010 06:44:59 -0700
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Just a quick post to let everyone know I how have a New Computer and will be back to posting when possible. The last one died from a probably virus.... don't you just think nice thought of those that spend time making the internet such a problem at times! Would really appreciate the opportunity to let them know what I think about them.
Since I've last posted, we have had almost a continuous rain, often very heavy and frequently with high winds and gust. On the boat a few days ago I had gust at 43 MPH and seas IN the BAY of 3 to 4 feet from multiple directions. Not a bit of sun for the solar panels and had to run the engine and gen set for power. Thanks for a great friend that brought me my new computer, who flew through the worst weather I've seen a plane land in.... one of very few that landed that day. I've spent the last couple of days attempting to stay dry... an impossibility and learn a bit about how to operate the new computer.
Tortola has had many mud slides and roads have frequently been blocked with runoffs and rocks. Due to the very tall hills/ mountains what rains at the top, soon runs down hill collecting with other water resulting in mini rivers which are often drive ways. Lots of homes get flooded and many businesses closed due to weather and lack of ability for anyone to get around. I would not be surprised if more than 15 inches of rain fell in the East End area in the past week. All the bays are a dark brown from the run offs and this discoloration extends out more than 3/4 mile or more before it starts to be overcome with the massive amounts of sea water. Still the sea water is discolored but seems to clear a bit between the larger rain showers. This is Much more than what we had here on Tortola after and during Hurricane Earl.
We now have some Sun popping through occasionally and the constant rain has ended. We still expect some showers for the next few days but should be getting back to a more normal pattern.
--
later
da Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid.
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- Let's make a break for it!
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Fri, 8 Oct 2010 05:55:07 -0700 (PDT)
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Good Morning from soggy Tortola!
Torrential rains continued to hit us throughout the day yesterday. Winds coming out of the southwest and west. Gusts probably were in the 30 mph range. I'm sure that Tortola received another 2" of rain over night at least that's my guess. Woke up to breaking skies which means a bit of sunshine is out there on the Sir Frances Drake Channel.
Things will be starting to dry out with this sun. I can even feel the humidity as I sit here and type. I've not ventured out since Wednesday when I needed to pick up grocery's. After hurricane Earl my power was out for a week which meant that pretty much everything in the refrigerator had to be tossed. My grocery cart was filled with things like ketchup, mustard, mayo, miracle whip, capers, pickles, grey poupon, salad dressing and
many other small condiments. Still ended up forgetting to get several things, so with the break in the weather I'm going to make a break for it to run errands.
I've done a quick survey of my gardens and have found that the clean up crew I hired right after Earl, did an excellent job of trimming away broken and downed limbs. It seems like any trees and scrubs of any height mother nature pruned for me. All the small flowers and plants did exceptionally well in the hurricane.
Will attempt to send pictures, sometimes I'm just not a computer guru so I have to back door it, so hope you are patient with me.
Your soggy but drying out Mermaid Gardener
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- Otto left a mess
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Fri, 8 Oct 2010 08:14:30 EDT
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- Skies are crying
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2010 19:09:53 EDT
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Good Evening from the back lash of subtropical storm Otto. What a
day! Both yesterday and today it has been pouring rain. The wind was
clocked at 43mph down at Penn's Landing when I landed on Tuesday and quite
frankly it has not stopped being gusty. Today I was without power hence no
report until now. I would have to say that over night I received at least
5" of rain in my pool. It is now running over. I'm not about to go out in
the pouring rain to empty it. Plus during a storm like this with no power
I use the pool water for washing dishes and flushing toilets. You forget
when you are up in the states just how simple things like loosing your power can
effect you. Had one bit of sunshine today and tried to get a quick
tan....ha ha!! The run off has been incredible along the mountain
sides. Tola Motors has been flooding with mud over the road they had a
backhoe out there yesterday scoping up the mud and moving off the roadway.
I've not ventured out today since it's rained constantly other than the one ray
of sunshine. I've heard from locals that this weather is worse than
hurricane Earl. There was not near the rainfall. I'm hoping that my
cisterns to not overflow they are suppose to have overflows built into
them. I guess I will just have to take many hollywood showers over the
next few days. Here are a couple of pictures of Maya Cove one is at the
time of a huge rainfall this morning and then the second one is when it cleared
up enough to see what was out there. From your soggy wet Mermaid
Gardener Pictures on the way!
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- Murky Waters in the BVI
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 6 Oct 2010 08:54:42 EDT
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Dear Miss Mermaid, I have not figured out yet pictures.... Working on
that but thought maybe you could post them for me until I get it figured
out. Good morning from invest 97. Could not believe that I made it
in last night to the BVI. Flew through torrential rain squalls and gusty
winds. Driving home hit sheets of rain with East End roads being
flooded. Temperature was balmy. Winds out of West. Didn't get
to see how my house looked after hurricane Earl due to the squalls still were
pounding us. Slept okay but could hear the rain squall bands along
with high winds still. Looked put over my balcony and saw this sight the
ocean has turned murky brown from the run off. We in states especially in
the urban areas don't think about our run off because or usually just goes down
the gutter. But here you get to actually see where it goes. Don't
think I'll be swimming today!!!! From the Mermaid Gardener  |
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- TD 17 forming already
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 6 Oct 2010 08:32:15 EDT
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Depression 17 is located 270 miles north-northeast of San Juan, Puerto
Rico, moving northwest at 10mph. Heavy rains and gusty winds for the Virgin
Islands. Watch this puppy, he might become somebody soon.
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- Tortola here I come
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- By <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Tue, 5 Oct 2010 12:18:03 -0700 (PDT)
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Very early this morning started to make the long trek from the frosty midwest down to Tortola.
Landed just a bit ago.
From the air north of San Juan skies were mostly clear but as we approached San Juan you could see the back side of the invest that is hovering over the area. Looks like I will probably hit rain enroute to Beef Island. I just bet my cisterns are full. Temp here in San Juan was 82 degrees at 2:30pm.
From your long lost Mermaid Gardener |
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- Another system headed to the BVI
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Fri, 1 Oct 2010 11:24:56 EDT
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Invest 97L gives us all something to look at 900 miles east of the Lesser
Antilles. He is moving at 15-20mph and looks good (or bad) for development.
Time to restock your hurricane supplies. They double as earthquake
supplies, so it's not a bad investment to do now.
You should go get your batteries NOW, even if you refuse to buy anything
else. Batteries always sell out rapidly on the islands before a storm. So don't
be caught with dead batteries. Ditto for candles.
Top up your gasoline in your cars and cans for your generator, if you have
one. During hurricane season you should never let your fuel stores get below
half. You sure don't want to be in a long line to buy fuel before a storm, only
to have the station run out completely before your turn. Many petrol stations
still do not have generators, so even during common power outages we experience
so often in the BVI, you can't buy gas without the pumps working.
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- Windy with Rock and Roll
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- By da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at gmail.com>
- Date: Wed, 29 Sep 2010 19:10:24 -0400
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Day started windy with lots of SouthEast driven Swells making their way into Fat Hog Bay at East End Tortola. Twas a rock and roll night…. With out the music. Actually I didn’t mind it much, I read a book and watched a DVD and had several glasses of Iced Tea then went to sleep very fast.
Attempted to get a post in about 7 AM… no luck, 9 AM no luck and from 11 to 1 still no meeting of minds between my computer and the internet! After doing a couple of dozen scans for this and that and updating about everything I could with the few seconds of internet I had I think/ Hope the majority it of the computer problems are now fixed. Actually this it the first attempt after the last repairs attemptsssssss.
Looks like we stand a good chance for some rain over the next few days but no major storms! Hopefull I'll be able to get on line early in the AM and can provide a better update.
Do want to sent a special thanks out to Bill and Judy for the nice supprise they left me at the Red Rock! YuMmmm! And a the other great friends of the post who send in, drop a note in a bottle or otherwise contact us to let us know how much you enjoy all of us on the blogs. Thanks!
--
later
da Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid.
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- old/New Depression
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- By da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at gmail.com>
- Date: Tue, 28 Sep 2010 15:49:07 -0400
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The bad weather left over in the Western Caribbean that was expected to become a problem..Has. Tropical Depression 16 and the probably future Nicole will pass over Cuba and most probably tour the Atlantic Coast of Florida. Another area of disturbance about half way between the Lesser Antilles and the Cape Verde Islands could develop in a few more days. Now going West Northwest... a bit early to say where it will go and what it will do... but something we need to keep an eye on for the weekend or more probably next week.
We had a short rain shower while I was in Road Town this AM that did cool things off a bit but not for long. Looks like I'll post phone my trip down island for a bit. As I don't have my sails up yet, that is actually good news but would have liked going out in the channel for a motor run... guess I'll just do a walk over to Beef Island over the weekend. Will be glad when the Storm season is over and will feel better about getting out and about. Takes a lot of work putting on sails and removing them from the mast for storm protection as most of our insurance companies require during this time of the year.
--
later
da Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid.
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- First Lefty of the Season
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Tue, 28 Sep 2010 13:48:52 EDT
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Tropical Depression 16 is headed from west to east, a lefty. Currently,
it's not a threat to the Virgin Islands.
Remnants of Julia hover SSE of Bermuda.
Smile! You are on Candid Camera! Even though it's a tad
overcast, the beach is busy in September at 145pm today at White Bay, Jost Van
Dyke. That is Tortola (left) and St John (right) in the background.
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- First no Storm day in 5 weeks!!
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- By da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at gmail.com>
- Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2010 11:25:44 -0400
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Yes! This it the first day in about 5 weeks that we have not had at least one and often more Depressions, Storms or Hurricanes noted on the US Weather service for the Atlantic! Nice but don't get too comfortable, we still have a LONG way to the end of November!
The mess still in the Western Caribbean left over from Matthew is doing what was expected. Drifting North slowly which is not good as it will give it time to grow into something the Gulf of Mexico does not want. It could even possibly come back this way after a tour of the Gulf which is something we do not want!
One other disturbance noted in some of the reports about 750 miles West of the Cape Verde Islands could develop into a problem but on the latest Sat Photos, it appears to have run into some trouble and is not a massive of a blob as it was 6 hours ago. Hope a bit of dry air and dust damp the desires to grow.
This AM here in East End we had partly sunny skies with some large flat bottomed clouds passing over head but No Rain that we could see. Looking down the Sir Francis Drake Channel, the area West of Road Town may have had some but we may have just been looking at the haze again... can't tell from this view point. Winds are mostly from the East at 9 knots but the forecast is for possibly 15 knots over then next 5 days...If this occurs, it will probably be just as I head out on my trip down to the West End! Or possibly Not... Would not mind a bit of following seas with my jib up but higher winds always make mooring in Sopers Hole a bit of a challenge. I'll probably be around the West End of Tortola and possible St. John for a bit while I get my paperwork ready to have an extended stay in the BVI with out the need to process in and out just for visa sake. Seems when I do that... it is always on the worst weather days for a single hander on a sail boat!
The good news it the Mermaid Gardner will be soon returning to Tortola from the cold frozen North.... OK the leaf covered yards of the north and soon to be frozen. I'm sure she will keep us all updated on East End action while I provide some from the West End and possible Jost Van Dyke... when Foxies reopens? When I return to Eastern End I'll probably head up to North Sound for a few Days and pass along what I see going on there.
For all those asking about our Dear Miss Mermaid, she is still trying to get to feeling better and will post when she has internet access while she is on her walk about. I'm sure your thought and best wishes help. Keep them up!
--
later
da Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid.
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- Sunny Sunday
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- By da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at gmail.com>
- Date: Sun, 26 Sep 2010 09:10:09 -0400
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Looks to be a nice sunny day with only a few powder puff clouds in the sky.... well off to the West Southwest, maybe over St. John one larger flat bottomed large cloud seem to be hiding behind the mountain. Low chance 20% for rain today, winds between 10 and 15 knots most of the week is the forecast. I'm having them about 8 to 9 knots here in the more protected bay and same at the Airport on Beef Island. Presently it is 86 with winds from the East Southeast and the seas are 3 to 5 feet but I think lower than that in the Sir Francis Drake Channel at this time. No much boat traffic of any kind... few charter boats about as we are still in the "off-season" and many of the resort type facilities have their yearly shut downs for vacation and maintenance about this time. September and October seem to be where the majority Close and typically for at least a month and often more.
Had a nice snack and one or two beers at the Red Rock, Penn's Landing last night while viewing the great football games. Red Rock will be closing for October and like most people they are heading off island for vacation and such.
This AM I did notice on Sat Photos, what appears to be a small disturbance just East of the Windward Islands and it appeared to be heading in a West North West direction. If it hangs together for a couple of days.... we may get an increased chance for rain and possibly disturbed weather. One large blob off Africa seems to have some circulation and is located South of Cape Verde Islands and heading West. Will want to keep an eye on this one. Still forecast for disturbed weather formation in the Central Caribbean continue to be made, and we may see something in the next few days... hopefully only rain and clouds.
We could also see what would be the left overs from Matthew form a new disturbance in the Western Caribbean and cause more problems with rain and flooding. We still have about two more months to intently worry about large Tropical Systems.... then we can just worry about small ones! Sometimes the Christmas Winds we get can cause small squalls and they feel like something much larger. Nice thing is they typically do not last very long.
--
later
da Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid.
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- Saturday already!
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sat, 25 Sep 2010 12:36:47 EDT
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A lovely but overcast day at the beach in the Beautiful British Virgin
Islands. Tropical Storm Lisa is way out to sea, and thinking of heading
North, thus bypassing the Caribbean all together. A few bowling balls have rolled off Africa, but nothing noteworthy.
Yet...
Phew!
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- Rain Coats for football?
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- By da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at gmail.com>
- Date: Sat, 25 Sep 2010 09:42:05 -0400
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Just a few very short and light showers over da boat here in East End Tortola last evening. This AM it is 86 and partly Sunny but several large clouds with FLAT bottoms are sliding by to each side going North West. While the forecast has indicated for the past few days we should be having North East Winds we have had a rather stable East to Southeast set of winds generally 5 to 10 knots. Looks like we will see winds up to 14 knots and possibly higher in Thunderstorms today and maybe Thursday?
We have a 60% chance of rain today and tonight.... I'm going to be watching College Football if at all possible... maybe in a rain coat! Hope my beer does not get toooo diluted! I'll be saying Roll Tide for those of you who may have an idea of which team I'll be supporting.... who else would a sailor support!
I'll probably have to remember to take my bailing pump with me as we are forecast to have up to .37 inches which means in my 12 foot Rib, I'll have several inches to remove as I get my feet wet in the process... not that that bothers me... with flip flops on or my new fantastic clogs by Shimano and shorts with a Bama T-shirt and Cap.. a bit of rain will not bother me... as long as the game is good! Hopefully those non boat type people will be aware that rain WILL come down hill when it hits rock which is what most of this island is made of. Some flooding threat is always the case with any substantial rain occurs and half an inch is substantial enough! It just makes my boat cleaner looking and maybe floats a bit higher!
BTW, I figured it would improve the chance of rain if I started sanding my wood cockpit table and the Companion Way wooden Covers, preparing them for a new coat of varnish...... Of course if I close all my boat hatches prior to the game it will not rain at all unless my seat has no head cover near the Sat TV monitors as I watch the games.
--
later
da Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid.
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- Tropical Storm Matthew
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Fri, 24 Sep 2010 14:38:23 EDT
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Tropical Storm Matthew is headed towards central America, so not a threat
to the Virgin Islands.
Nicole is our next concern, as she debates where
to give birth.
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- Light Rain, Heavy Rain then Sunny
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- By da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at gmail.com>
- Date: Fri, 24 Sep 2010 12:44:06 -0400
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Overnight we had several light and a couple of harder rains with a bit of wind action thrown in. Probably amounted to less than a quarter of an inch on the boat but the winds were a factor for a while this AM gusting to about 20 knots from the 8 knots we were seeing. We continue to have South East winds here in East End although the forecast calls for North East winds. At 7 AM when I started this post it was 87 with winds from the East at 10 knots and we just had a heavy shower. After fighting with the computer and internet for FIVE AND A HALF HOURS!!!! it is now 90 with a RH of about 68% with winds from the South East at about 8 knots and seas a bit mixed. In the Sir Francis Drake Channel they appear to be under 4 with an occasional white cap. Here in Fat Hog Bay we have a mild rock and under 2 foot swells passing over the Red Rock reef.
As expected Matthew made his appearance and it appears we are tracking another disturbance just behind him according to Weather Underground. This is in line with the anticipated formation of several similar disturbances forming in the Central Caribbean over the next couple of weeks.. With the Lows n the Pacific and another coming down from the US.... some of these could be sent our way!
Looking forward to Football (US College Football) on Saturday and hope the weather is really nice so no rain will spoil the beer and make the popcorn soggy.
--
later
da Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid.
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- Nice and Calm
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2010 10:53:22 EDT
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Lisa weakens to a tropical depression. Let's hope she chills out.
Julia has fizzled out.
Showers and thunderstorms activity has increased in an area of Low Pressure
in the south central Caribbean Sea.
Something new to watch.
The good news, is it is moving west! And not a threat to the
Virgin Islands.
15%
Off At Amazon, Ships
Worldwide
Hurricanes
& Hangovers by Dear Miss Mermaid
Warm and Sunny
Regards,
DearMissMermaid.com
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- Full but Hazy Moon
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- By da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at gmail.com>
- Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2010 09:01:20 -0400
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For the past few nights the moon has appeared Full but today it officially is full moon. Probably a bit more subdued due to the heavy haze we have been observing for several days if not weeks with a few breaks. Forecast call for North East up to 20 knots but our winds at East End and those reported at the Airport are East Southeast and are between 14 and 18 knots with a wind driven swell from the East creating a nice rocking of the boat great for sleeping but not very good for doing much else so I'm up at my "office" at Red Rock doing some catching up on computer stuff.
The future Mathew is about 350 miles South of Kingston and getting mean it appears. Still not clear where it will go but the two most probable paths is for it to go North West and back into Central America or Mexico but a chance still remains that the low over the Southern US could pull it up across Cuba and into the Gulf and to Florida. This last path is looking less probable but Florida should and I'm sure is keeping an eye on it. We will see more of these Central Caribbean disturbances over the next several weeks and these give us far less reaction time than those that come from the African Coast. Time to keep on your toes! and an eye and ear to the weather.
--
later
da Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid.
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- Haze Remains
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- By da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at gmail.com>
- Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2010 21:10:46 -0400
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Has been a deep haze over everything for more than 48 hours... That Near Full Moon sure looks spookie! It is very think and you can see it actually just sit on the water. Only stars I could see last night were in the South East and only a few, all else was just gray to black. Temps remain in upper 80's to lower 90"s with only a drop or two of rain. Forecast don't hold much chance for any amounts in the near term.
Igor continued to cause trouble up North and we appear to have a few days of reduced chance of storms but one coming off Africa early next week and more anticipated problems in the central Caribbean with what we have now and new stuff appears to make the end of the month a time to be careful!
--
later
da Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid.
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- Full Moon Equinox tonight
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2010 19:29:24 EDT
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Tonight at around sunset there will be quite a nice light show. The
autumnal equinox 2010 will happen tonight. At 11:09 pm EST to be exactly. This
will be marking the beginning of autumn in the Northern Hemisphere. In the
Southern Hemisphere this is the beginning of spring.
In addition to the equinox, we will also see a full moon tonight. The
moon, which rises at about 6:43 pm EST and the setting of the sun at 7:17 pm EST
will coincide. On top of that Jupiter will be appearing next to the moon. This
whole show will be enough for an extremely bright “super harvest
moon.”
This is not very usual and you should go out an watch the show if at
all possible. The moon light and the light of sun set will be mixing together
and will create a beautiful twilight glow that you can not see very
often.
To find Jupiter you do not need binoculars. Just look for the brightest
light near the moon and that will most likely be Jupiter. The planet Jupiter is
much brighter then any star in the sky tonight.
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- Very hazy
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- By da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at gmail.com>
- Date: Tue, 21 Sep 2010 15:50:33 -0400
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Sunrise was rather pink this AM... more of a pastel pink from North East to South East.... probably a mix of Sharia Dust, Volcano ash and a Temp inversion we seem to be having. Difficult to see more than just the outline of the islands on the other side of the Sir Francis Drake Channel. Combined with a 90 F temp and winds that seem to occasionally just stop.. it feels even hotter!
While Igor and Julia are about out of everyones picture we do have a couple of new players. One Invest 94 near the Cape Verde Islands and appears to be about to follow Julia and cause no problem for land masses... we do have a disturbance in the central Caribbean over the Windward Islands that could develop into a real problem down the road. It could be a named storm by end of week and possibly heading to Central America or Mexico again or it could do a turn and cross over Cuba into the Gulf of Mexico. several models show different things possibly to occur. Still early in the game but for now it does not appear to be a significant impact to the Virgin Island over the next few days.
Several models seem to indicate that we have a good chance of seeing 2 or 3 major depressions form over the Central Caribbean in the next two weeks. No indication of where or where they would go but just indications that conditions are now good for such events to occur.
At noon is was 89 degrees here in East End and the winds were from the South East at about 8 knots. Forecast show we should be seeing winds from 14 to 20 knots between now and the weekend with some Thunder Storms and accumulations of rain generally less than a half inch each day. Since we are a rather mountainous island that can be miss leading. When a half inch falls on the upper levels by the way they find their way to the ocean, locally it can be a problem. I have several friends that have their homes end up with wet floors almost everytime we have a good rain. As building increases, new water paths are created often to someones distress. Drainage from the major roads appears to be the only area most efforts are directed but that is what impacts most people. Like most places different things happen on different area of the island and the passing of Hurricane Earl and the recent Northern Swells show what is real and now in one place is something else in another... all depends on where you are and how far you can see.
Last night the mosquito problem was of a lesser degree here on da boat, probably due to the Southern winds which only have a few small islands to blow the small beast off of and into my boat cabin.
Did make a trip into Road Town this AM and had an interesting talk with the Bus Driver. He indicated he was at a meeting last week where the discussion was to expand the Bus service to West End with one bus making the full trip from Beef Island to West end and back... of course they would pick up at all the bus stops including in Road Town. Not sure if or when this will ever occur, but it would be a really nice thing for those of us with out cars on the island and most people on Tortola do not have cars. Road Town is still quiet with the slow season evident by the lack of tourist in the shops. I did make it to the New RiteWay store East of the main area of town. Wow, it is just like a large US Supermarket.. wide isles, good display of foods and a sufficient number of check out people when you finish. Prices seem to be about the same... that being about 20% higher than most items in the US but some items like wine and liquor are generally cheaper. A large percent of items here in the BVI come from Florida by ship, but some fresh local items are available in season.
Need to get a few things done on the boat.. putting up mosquito screens being one of them!
--
later
da Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid.
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- Rain and Sun
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- By da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at gmail.com>
- Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2010 12:39:43 -0400
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Sunday afternoon, we had a nice long slow shower at Trellis Bay which moved in from the South West. We could see that East End also was under this rather nice shower. This pas particularly nice since it allowed me to check out a couple of water recovery systems I've been playing around with. The nice long rain allowed me to make adjustments and I did collect about 5 gallons of rain water after I allowed a while for the rain to wash down the salt from the decks. It will go to washing some overdue shirts and shorts and maybe sheets! While the water was being collected I did take the opportunity to take a rain shower in the cockpit and that was very refreshing and had a really nice clean feel.... until I had to use the darn bug spray!
After the rain the sun attempted to make a come back about sunset but overall the evening was nice except for the mosquitoes being blown out into the bay from the West.
This AM I motored (sails are still down from Earl), from Trellis Bay, around Beef Island and back into my home port at Penn's Landing. Made a fast run to the showers and dumped a bag of trash in the near by dumpster then came back to get this post out... BUT no internet on my Wireless Dial Up so I had to use the WIFI at Penn's.
At noon it is very sunny but only a very light wind from the South about 6 knots. In the Sir Francis Drake Channel the seas were under two feet but did have a 2 to 3 foot swell also from the South. This made the boat more or less wallow its way home!
No immediate storm problems but several forecast models predict a Central Caribbean Storm to form in the next 6 to 9 days. This would probably be something like we had come up from South America and after being a blob then a depression, finally became a hurricane as it hit Mexico yesterday. We will have to keep an eye out for that! Seems the winds should be shifting back East early this week and we will have increased chances of thundershowers from locally produced disturbances. Should be another good test of my water recovery system... I could always pass on the lightning part if you do not mind!
Well, better get to work and clean up the boat!
--
later
da Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid.
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- Mosquitoes anyone?
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- By da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at gmail.com>
- Date: Sun, 19 Sep 2010 10:53:05 -0400
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Very light winds from the West and South West continued last night and this AM. Perfect for those mosquitoes hiding in the vegetation around the bay. Even with multi layers and types of bug repellant…. They still love me!!!
Temp at 9AM is 90F with RH of 70%... think that means the other 30% is mosquitoes! Winds under 5 knots in Trellis Bay and South West and not a ripple notices on the bay until a fish jumps to make a splash or some dink motors by. Should be another hot one today.
Hope Igor continues to loose power as he moves over Bermuda, Last reports were it was about 85 MPH winds and an H1 classification. We seem to be free of immediate storm threats but we know it is just a matter of time before we have to keep a closer watch on what is coming off Africa. Ever think what the people on the Cape Verde Islands do this time of year with all the storms constantly overhead?
I did notice a group of young families camping out on the beach at the point on Trellis Bay last night. Must have been at least 4 or 5 families with young kids. Normally this point would have good exposure to the Eastern Breeze at night but not last night…. Was beginning to wonder if I had stumbled upon some new version of sacrificial rites!!!! About dawn this AM I noticed what appeared to be a Large group of them in the water with only part of their heads above water… apparently attempting to escape the mosquitoes. By 8 AM all tents and cars were gone… probably to the store to buy bug itch cream?
While at the Bar having my usually room temp water, choke choke… I was talking to a young couple who were fans of DearMissMermaid! In reading the post they were attempting to figure out who she was (huge island secret) and from our talks, though I may be her!!! Nope… She not be me! Last I checked I was still not a she AND not even a Merman, only a lowly mermaid helper of the human type. Just doing my bit to help while she is on da walkabout. It was fun to meet more friends of the blogs and post that DearMissMermaid has from all over the world.
--
later
da Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid.
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- Igor, Julia and Invest 94L off Africa
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sat, 18 Sep 2010 11:37:15 EDT
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Looks like powerful hurricane Igor is headed to Bermuda, huffing and
puffing with 110 mile per hour winds. He is huge and Bermuda is so teeny
tiny. Julia is out in the Atlantic with 60mph winds and no threat to
land, just the hapless sailors out there.
Another disturbance, Invest 94L, is off Africa, about 2400 miles away,
but should be watched.
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- Hot and Overcast
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- By da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at gmail.com>
- Date: Sat, 18 Sep 2010 09:48:22 -0400
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Saturday is going to be a hot one! High overcast but with lots of sun light coming through… the kind many visitors allow to burn themselves with out knowing. Already 88 F with light and variable winds basically from the South West at under 5 knots max here in the bay. Often nothing for a while then a cooling whiff of air. We have not had any real rain from the passing of Igor, just a mist on a couple of occasions, usually not enough to close the hatches. The West and South West winds that we do have did cause the mosquitoes and no-seeums to appear in masses as we hung around the beach bar at da Loose Mongoose last evening with friends. Da Loose Mongoose has/ is expanding the decks and it is a very nice place to have a drink with friends and look out over the bay.
This AM, as I look out from da boat, I can see large breakers in the passage between Scrub Island and Great Camanoe. This is more than two miles away and they look big from here! This is normally a navigable channel to the Atlantic… don’t think I will be attempting it in my small boat today!
Did get some surf reports from Tortola’s North shore, specifically Josiahs Bay which is East of Cain Garden Bay. Several intermediate surfers went out to have a look and surf… but after seeing it.. they just looked as it was pounding in well above their expertise level…. Smart people! I’m sure Cain Garden Bay has many surfers as it is normally a marginally safer place when the big Northern swells come to visit in the winter and now due to Igor’s passing by.
Igor is now about 500 miles almost due North of us, accounting for the South West wind and large Northern shore swells. The swells will probably last a few days but we expect the winds to move back to their normal Easterly direction possibly by the end of the weekend, but we do have forecast for the winds to still be in the 17 knot area so small craft need to act with caution.
I’ll probably head back to Penn’s Landing early next week after my visit here in Trellis Bay. Football and friends has been fun but I need to get “Home” as I really miss the warm showers and ease of shopping and access to public transportation. I may walk over to the Beef Island Airport Sunday AM for a nice Bacon and Egg breakfast… in this case Airport food is actually very good! And … it is just a few hundred yards to walk from Trellis Bay.
--
later
da Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid.
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- More to watch rolling off Africa
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Fri, 17 Sep 2010 12:00:29 EDT
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More stuff rolling off Africa...
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- Big Clouds and some sun
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- By da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at gmail.com>
- Date: Fri, 17 Sep 2010 10:24:43 -0400
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Today we have BIG clouds all around us with some sun still getting through. Seems most of the clouds are off on the horizon and not yet over head and they all seem to be dancing around like they are not sure of where to go!
Our winds are from the North West at this time about 10 knots. Have had a few sprinkles but no significant rain here in Trellis Bay off Beef Island. Seas are kicked up in the Channel but here in the bay we just have a nice rocking that makes me want to take a nap. Probably a good thing since the internet and my computer don't seem to want to be friends.
88 degrees and 69% RH but it feels hotter and wetter!!! We should see some wind shift more to the West over the next day and possibly the South West by the Weekend then probably back to the East.
We look to be clear of major storms for a few days but still keeping an eye on those around us. Igor has dropped to H3 status and we hope he drops more before he visits Bermuda.
I did get a message in a bottle bang up against my boat, intended for Dear Miss Mermaid who is on a walk about and with almost as poor internet service as I've had recently! Since she is not available today I'll post the message for everyone....
Hello Miss Mermaid – I hope you are well?
I am watching these hurricanes with fascination and notice that somewhere between 8PM Mon and 8PM Tues these 2 systems might merge and give the UK one heck of a headache!! Do you think that is likely!!! What would they call the offspring of these 2 - IGORLIA
Best regards,
Mike
Mike, I'm sure Dear Miss Mermaid and I, both hope no Igorlia visits the UK! I have good friends in Wales and I know they often speak of storms along its shores. I'll send them a note and see if they can toss a bottle of Rum into the seas to off set the effects of the storm.... or is it Drink the Rum to off set the effects??? Mmmm I forget but think both may be in order just to cover all situations!
--
later
da Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid.
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- 102 F Heat Index
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- By da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at gmail.com>
- Date: Thu, 16 Sep 2010 11:14:24 -0400
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Glad Igor has passed us by but we are getting effects of that pass with changes in wind direction, now from the North Northwest at about 9 knots but should increase over the day. Did have a couple of short showers last night but didn't amount to much. Through today and Friday we should expect more of Igor's Southern winds bands to cross over us and have the local winds from the West and possibly South West by Friday. With these winds our humidity has gone up a bit and with temps near 90 F our heat index is expected to be about 102 F today.... think I'll make some ice tea.....
One thing that continues to amaze me is the mosquitoes that can survive the winds we have had since Earl passed through with it's 100 MPH + winds. I would have though that would have blown all the flying bugs away but I think it only killed off the weak ones and now we only have the Super Mosquitoes.... think a couple ate through my mosquito netting last night to bite me on my... err well we don't need to get that specific!
Sun is out bright with a few fluffy clouds about. Expect to see more and larger ones as the outer bands of Igor pass over us with some rain which will be welcomed as long as it is isn't all in one downpour!
Heart goes out to Bermuda and hope everyone is taking the necessary precautions for Igor. Hopefully he will inhale some dry air and get more shear than the forecast now predict.
One storm over Africa may be the next thing we will need to be watching out for in about 5 or 6 days. I saw a sat TV weather program a day or two ago that said we were already ahead of the typical number of storms in a year..... think that should mean that the remainder of the Hurricane Season is to be Suspended????? Well we can only hope!.... and stay alert.... ever seen a Lert?? I've often told to be a Lert wonder what one looks like? If you have a photo of one please send it!!!!!
--
later
da Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid.
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- Near Record Number of H4's !!!!!
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- By da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at gmail.com>
- Date: Wed, 15 Sep 2010 13:50:11 -0400
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With Julia jumping up to an H4 much faster than anticipated, we now have two H4's at the same time and one TS, that has been a problem maker for a while. According to Dr. Jeff Masters, this was the first time since 1926 that we have had this many H'4s in the same time frame.
The Good News for us here in the Virgin Islands is that it appears we will miss most of the effects of these really bad storms. We are feeling the effects of Igor's outer winds as we are getting basically Norther Winds now.... but at about 8 to 14 knots. These will increase as Igor continues its West NorthWest run. Our winds will swing to the North West then West then South West over the next 4 to 5 days and we will have winds up to about 20 knots later in the week or weekend. Our chance of rain with possible Thunder Storms will also increase to about 40% by the end of the week as we get the wind changes and some of the effects of the most outer winds of Igor pass over us from the South and West.
Looks as if we have no reason to fear the "other" two are moving well away from us.
We had no rain over night here in Trellis Bay near the Airport at Beef Island. At mid Day the temps were near 90 but the RH was a low 66% under a bright Sun with only a few lost clouds running about. I expect these clouds will grow over the next few days and I'll be able to check out my "in-process" modifications for a rain recovery system to collect water for da ship.
--
later
da Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid.
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- Two Category Four Hurricanes
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 15 Sep 2010 11:20:44 EDT
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Hurricane Julia is a category four hurricane with winds of 135mph, and
Hurricane Igor is a LARGE and powerful hurricane with winds of 135mph also.
Hurricane Igor's eye is about 540 miles East Northeast of the Northern
Leeward Islands. Tropical storm force winds extend 215 miles from the eye.
Large swells should hit the Virgin Islands starting today.
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- 155mph winds can do lots of strange stuff
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 15 Sep 2010 01:22:51 EDT
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Igor reaches 155 mph winds, not a fellow to be taken lightly. Let's hope he
does go north and avoids the islands, but he could do anything, he is huge and
the islands are so tiny. Julia is right on his heels. Busy month
already!
Let's just hope he doesn't wobble off his forecasted course and catch the
BVI unawares. 155 mph winds is nothing to sneeze at.
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- Sunny Tuesday
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- By da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at gmail.com>
- Date: Tue, 14 Sep 2010 12:35:34 -0400
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Short Shower last night and a few clouds this AM but all in all it looks like another great day. Winds are about 9 knots here in Trellis Bay and I see no white caps in the distance.
Looks like Igor and the other bad guys are keeping to the script and moving away from us. Igor was at 18.3N about even with me but well East at 52.3 at 11AM moving WNW at 7 MPH... that is slow but love seeing the move more to the North. At 135 MPH we will still keep an eye until he is Well past and hopefully has started his self destruction to a lower grade event.
I'm still working on a better Photo program... hope to have more for ya soon.
--
later
da Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid.
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- Monday is a Sun Day
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- By da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at gmail.com>
- Date: Mon, 13 Sep 2010 09:12:21 -0400
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While we did have several rain showers last evening and night, the AM started off very bright and just a mild wind of about 10 knots or less. Seas are back to more normal after the effects of the Disturbance that is now to our South West. Temps look like they will be moving back into the near 90's and the humidity seems to be also moving up but my instruments say 69% RH... seems more!
Igor seems to be keeping with the forecast track which will keep it East of us... hopefully far enough East as to not cause too much wind and sea problems. The New one Julia seems to be forecast to stay well East of Igor, which would be great news for us in the BVI and West of us.
Could actually use some nice rain... to check out the water collection system I'm "Attempting" to set up on one of my fresh water tanks. Seems most of the people here at Trellis Bay are using one of some type or another and most claim to have not purchased fresh water for a year or more for the tanks.... many do still buy bottled water to drink as I generally do myself. I'll probably still keep one tank (40gal) for fully potable water. I use the other for clean up and showers or if I'm going to boil the water in its use... such as making coffee.
Well off for a walk and probable swim then back to do some unpacking... I'm still about half packed from the Earl adventure.
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- Trellis Bay, Beef Island
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- By da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at gmail.com>
- Date: Sun, 12 Sep 2010 10:46:04 -0400
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Saturday I motored over to Trellis Bay from Fat Hog Bay which are on more or less opposite sides of Beef Island where the Airport is located on Tortola. The passage was a bit rougher than I had expected during the channel passage around the tip of Beef Island. While it is almost always more confused seas Saturday the difference was between 1 to 2 foot seas and 4 to 6 foot seas and winds near 18 knots with a few gusts. Seas were from the East Southeast which put them on the beam for a bit and made for an uncomfortable motor and I had no sails attached due to the recent and anticipated storms. Since it was only an hour or so motor went ahead and did it and made it but had a few worries when I hit the larger than expected beam seas.
Last evening we had a couple of rain showers, some were heavy but for only a short time. Then the wind died and the mosquitoes came out really mad! I was up at my fav place in Trellis, da Loose Mongoose’s beach bar watching College Football. Used half a bottle of bug spray before the winds picked up again… about 12 knots and blew them away. Later in the night and this AM, we had several showers and winds in the 18 to possibly 20 knots for a while. A couple of towels I had out to dry were making quite a noise through the night during some of the squalls passing through and one boat’s wind generator sounded like a turbo jet about to take off.
Trellis escaped most of the damage that other parts of the island did but the Last Resort Restaurant had about 30 feet of its dock knocked down. The Last Resort is on the island in the middle of Trellis Bay.
I’m trying a new posting method to attempt to get the photos to post to the report rather than for the readers to have to take the time to download files… hope this works!
We still look to be reasonable free of Igor... but we will keep an eye on him... we all are attempting to "think/hope" him Way North into cool waters. The blob South of us seems to be making the Westward move as expected and should miss us. Tropical Depression #12 is just off Africa and looks to be heading well North and should miss us but that is a long long long way off so we will also keep eyes open for it!
Great sunny day here at Trellis Bay at this time! Nice fresh breezes and mostly sunny. After a great night of football... thing today is a recovery day!
Attachment:
30ftdockdamage e.jpg
Description: JPEG image
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- Wet AM
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- By da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at gmail.com>
- Date: Fri, 10 Sep 2010 09:22:39 -0400
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Had several nice showers last nigh and this AM. Everything looks fresh and clean. Not a lot of rain but enough to give things a nice fresh washed look.... it probably helped with the towels I had hanging on the life lines to get an additional rain water rinse!
Igor still appears to be on a course that will allow him to miss us as long as he keeps going more North and Less West. It could still be close and we know that until it is only a day or so out.... everything is a guess.
The Invest off South America on now over some of the Windward Islands does look like potential trouble if it keeps a Northern Track, but most forecast say it Will move more Westward well under us. Still something to keep an eye on as if Igor was not enough!
Heading over to Trellis Bay later today if weather permits and I feel like motoring with out sails... really don't like doing that but it is a short trip less than an hour. Want to see a Football game or two this weekend and maybe do some horseshoe tossing.
later
da Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid.
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- Egads, it's Igor headed for our door!
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 9 Sep 2010 09:38:31 EDT
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I hope Igor doesn't come ashore,
that we would abhor,
we've seen the likes of him before,
and that we don't adore,
Igor is not my amour,
but Igor we must explore,
by sending out a big C-4,
this year is storms galore,
but should we ignore Igor,
he could force us to restore,
we pray he doesn't come inshore,
we don't want Igor no more
FINALLY a storm name we can have fun with!
Notice the predictions, he could come hit us, or miss us. So stay
tuned! Winds are only 40mph, but he's got plenty of time and spade to
build up or fizzle out.
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- Wonderful AM
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- By da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at gmail.com>
- Date: Thu, 9 Sep 2010 08:05:37 -0400
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Great looking day in Tortola this AM! Sunny sky, seas 1 to 3 feet, temp is a mild 83 and winds are under 8 knots from the SouthEast. Seem to be more boats out and about this AM than we have seen in several weeks. With only a minimal 20% chance for rain, probably a great Beach Day.
Last night had a single short shower and weather looks to be worn out from making all the winds we had been seeing. Still Igor is out there and some models have him doing odd loops West of us but most still keep him passing to our East. These advanced forecast always get lots of adjustments as the storm get near. Hopefully they will "adjust" away from us. Another trouble stop is well South of us, just off South America. This one seems to be drifting West and is no immediate problem for us unless it thinks it is late in the season and does one of those loop backs 
Well off to town to see if I can get some info on why my computer connection has been so poor recently... yea... lots of luck with that!
later
da Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean and our Dear Miss Mermaid.
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- Tortola Mostly Sunny
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- By da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at gmail.com>
- Date: Wed, 8 Sep 2010 15:06:39 -0400
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Winds were high, probably 22 to 25 knots most of yesterday afternoon with gusts up to possibly 29 or 30 with sloppy seas but all in all not too bad. Things started easing off by late afternoon and slowly through the night and this AM is was just a little higher roll than typical. Humidity was still not too bad with an RH at 73% and early AM temps at about 84. Winds down to about 10 knots and seas easing off in bay to just a mild roll and 3 to 5 in the Channel.
Saw a good number of boats move out to the Hurricane Hole at the Western end of Fat Hog Bay. People starting to make repairs to the cosmetic and other damage boats received locally.
Very dry storm... both Earl and the Rem of Gaston didn't produce much in the way of rain... just wind and higher seas. Bee's I saw working yesterday seem to be taking the day off or they may have moved to better locations to the West?
Next Bad Boy is Igor... looks to be going North Early and that isn't a bad thing!... BUT we will keep an eye on him!
Later
da Wayward Sailor
da Wayward Sailor recommends the hilarious book: "Hurricanes and Hangovers" as a must-read for anyone who loves the Caribbean.
Attachment:
catsleavingHhole.jpg
Description: JPEG image
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- Lots more pictures from the BVI
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Tue, 7 Sep 2010 14:38:18 EDT
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AM started out rather calm but cloudy with a few spits of rain... then
sun. What was Gaston has moved West Below us and is clearly visible
on the TropNet Radar. We are getting bands of rain and wind... some under
cloud cover and some in bright Sun which is odd. Gust appear to be near
25knots but most wind is between 15 and 20 knots with a bit of light rain added
in.
Seas are getting more active. 5 to 7 is forecast in the Channel and
higher outside. In Fat Hog Bay we are getting North East winds and swells
that come in with the rain and wind gust, basically a squall. These are
uncomfortable but no significant problem. It would not be a dry dink ride
to the docks! Glad I got my AM shower and made a stop by the store before
the higher swells started up.
We mentioned in an earlier post about the damage to the vegetation on the
island by Earl. Pulled up a photo of a few weeks back and one from today
of the same area... what I call "My Office" it is actually in the Penn's
Landing complex and at the Red Rock Cafes bar. Look at the huge change
that occurred 2 days after the storm from the wind burn and salt spray.
Also a photo from this AM of Bee's hard at work on a palm flower.... hope
they made it home before the gust started in or they may be found several miles
away in a friends home! Like most marinas the docks were about cleared in
prep for the potential higher conditions we though could occur from yesterdays
reports. Still at the docks with the squalls moving through.. it is
uncomfortable.
Internet has been out most of the AM but I've been able to get a few views
of the weather sites and radars and it looks like we may be out of most of this
wind by late tonight. Tomorrow appears to have the potential to be a
really nice day!
later
da Wayward Sailor
Started this at 8AM and it is now after 1 PM.... internet is having
problems today!!! Think I could have put the message in a Rum bottle and
tossed it into the sea and it would be located faster! AND I could have
had a Dark and Stormy... and still considering it!! Even of it is Bright
and Stormy....
Bee's at work
cloudy day
Docks mostly cleared.
Most Leaves Gone?
Wayward Sailor's Office Wind and salt burn from Hurricane EARL
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From Dear Miss Mermaid:
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- drip drop
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Tue, 7 Sep 2010 08:29:59 EDT
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Waves in Nova Scotia from hurricane Earl, sent in by a gentle reader from
Nova Scotia.
Remnants of Gaston are dumping rains in the islands.
Two more waves rolling off Africa to keep us all entertained.
Comparing sunsets from Patrick: This is a sunset at the Lakewhere
we were staying in August. It is in North Eastern Ontario and it is called Rice
Lake. Just thought I would send it to you so you could compare the
sunsets
Waiting on dat Wayward Sailor to wake up and send in a report, but I know
he is having loads of internet trouble.
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- Hermine to the left, Gaston to the right, lefty Hermine doesn't rhyme
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Mon, 6 Sep 2010 08:43:03 EDT
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Ooops! I was wrong! Hermine has been named
but she is in the Gulf of Mexico! Thus far she is not a
threat to the BVI.
Signed an embarrassed Mermaid
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Early this AM it was Bright and Sunny with very few clouds and winds about
10 knots from the East. Winds seem to be picking up a bit and a few more
clouds and a few short sprinkles and occasionally a heaver shower are
now occurring... the type where you ware out your hatches opening and closing
them....  Here is the latest from the National
Weather Guessing Service....
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS HAVE BECOME LESS ORGANIZED DURING THE PAST
FEW
HOURS IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE REMNANT LOW OF GASTON...LOCATED
ABOUT 400 MILES
EAST OF THE NORTHERN LEEWARD ISLANDS. ENVIRONMENTAL
CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED
TO BECOME MORE CONDUCIVE FOR DEVELOPMENT
OVER THE NEXT DAY OR SO AS THE
SYSTEM MOVES WESTWARD AT ABOUT 15
MPH. THERE IS A HIGH CHANCE...70
PERCENT...OF THIS SYSTEM BECOMING
A TROPICAL CYCLONE AGAIN DURING THE NEXT 48
HOURS. HEAVY RAINS AND
GUSTY WINDS SHOULD BEGIN TO AFFECT PORTIONS OF THE
LEEWARD ISLANDS
LATER TODAY AND TONIGHT...AND INTERESTS IN THOSE ISLANDS
SHOULD
MONITOR THE PROGRESS OF THIS SYSTEM.
Most area specific forecast indicate we will have increasing winds over the
next couple of days with the Tuesday and Wednesday winds being in the 22 to 29
MPH, however these keep being adjusted as where the remnant of Gaston will
actually go. Hopefully he will not get any stronger and only give us a bit
of rain and a comfortable level of wind and seas. I expect the next
updates will be a bit closer to letting us know what to expect.
Later
da Wayward Sailor 
dat de da future Gaston coming our way...
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- Pay Attention to the future Gaston and Hermine
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sun, 5 Sep 2010 16:41:09 EDT
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Gaston could rejuvenate into a tropical depression or storm, possibly
building up strength. He is about 700 miles east of the Leeward Islands , moving
at 15mph, on that track, he's only 46 hours away. He
could be a storm or hurricane by then.
Leeward Islands: The northern group of the Lesser Antilles in the West
Indies, extending from the Virgin Islands southeast to Dominica.
Hurricane Earl has been put to bed. Good bye Earl!
A tropical wave remains inland over West Africa, but should enter the
Atlantic soon, and should be closely monitored, as the future Hermine looks like
she could develop.
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- Partially Sunday in the BVI
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sun, 5 Sep 2010 09:20:15 EDT
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Nice start of the day! Dry and cooler.... if you can call 83 deg
cool!! But with the RH at 74 and a Sourthly breeze of about 10 knots, it isn't
at all bad. Seas are 3 to 5 outside but in the bay we have just a mild
roll and partly cloudy sky. Clouds seem to be split into two groups... One
having the white fluffy look and the other a darker Gray with flat
bottoms. So far those with flat bottoms have only supplied a drop or two
of the wet stuff but it could change as the day heats up. Still the
forecast is only for a 20% chance today.
Last evening the Remnilant Gastons appeared to fall apart once again.
but this AM he seems to have been up with the sun and is looking more solid but
still creaping west at about 10MPH and about 900 miles from us here in da Virgin
Islands. No one I've seen is supplying an estimated track except NOAA's
Exp Grid Map Forecast which shows the front moving near the area by
Wednesday. We are all hoping we just get a bit of rain and light breeze
but are keeping an eye on the possibly Bad Boy.
MMmmmmm as I type we have had an increase in winds and the swells are
kicking up a bit...probably just a side effect of one of the larger Gray clouds
passing over head and saying Hello to us under it.... kinda like a Bully
maybe???
Being a weekend... my normal internet connection is once again down and I'm
working off the Penn's Landing WIFI. Without that signal da Wayward Sailor
would not be able to see or say much of anything. Have an appointment for
my In Water Boat Survey on Monday... insurance is due about mid month....
one heck of a time for insurance to become due... the middle of hurricane
season!!!! but that is when I bought the boat a few years ago and that continues
to be the renewal date. With the number of boats damaged by Earl as he
passed through, most surveyors are in no big rush to do a small job like
mine. Takes about the same time to do a small boat as a much larger one
and they charge by the foot so the big ones cost much more if you look at the
time actually spent doing them.
Well, off to plop down in the cockpit and finish my coffee and pounder what
I'll consider doing today and how I'll find a way to put doing it off until
later.... this is a HARD Job!
Later
da Wayward Sailor
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- Gaston and the future Hermine?
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sat, 4 Sep 2010 14:12:16 EDT
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Tropical Storm Earl is at Prince Edward Island. Gosh, I sure hope it
doesn't affect the wonderful shellfish population.
Off Africa is another system, that doesn't look good at all.
Bill From Nova Scotia, Canada writes:
I feel like a piece of the Virgin Islands has come to visit! Earl is a
weak Cat 1 / Strong Tropical storm now. A few trees down.
I do prefer to
visit the Virgin Islands rather then having them visit us!
Watch out for
Gaston. We really hope that he passes by without incident. =
Pretty boats all in a row, no idea when this was taken? but it's
Paraquita Bay on Tortola
Since the sail covers are still up, this must have been before the storm,
but no idea, the sender didn't say when they were taken.
Look at GASTON, he is definitely forming into a storm. He is creeping along at
10mph (he's male, so does that mean he's lost? LOL!)
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- Gaston stopped for Gas...
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sat, 4 Sep 2010 13:47:28 EDT
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Well looks like Gaston stopped for a while and found a Gas Station and got
a fill up and is ready to be a BAD Boy again by mid week here in da
Islands. Question is WHERE will he go. No forecast yet... some
weather reports say it will probably pass South of the Virgin Islands but how
far South is a HUGE Factor. If only a little way... that would place us in
the worst position for storm effects. Some reports say Gaston will be
slower and could move in other directions. At present it does not appear
to be doing much movement at all... just a tad to the West.
Sure hope it picks up its movement speed... we do not need him to get too
much new found energy over our warm waters.
Was thinking about placing my furling headsail up again today but will
delay that. I did get both Solar panels up yesterday and am getting a nice
charge going to the house batteries. Thought up a possible way to make the
connections easier if I can find the terminal strips I need. May run into
Road Town today to look for some.... may need them a lot sooner than I had
planned!!
This AM was very nice, with a light breeze from the East North East at
about 8 knots. Last night we had about 10 knots and nice seas, just enough
to rock me to sleep after a very nice meal aboard. Expecting winds between
8 and 12 knots and was 3 to 5 in the Channel but only 2 foot or so in the
bays. Low chance of rain which means If I leave the hatches open on the
boat while I run to town... it will rain HARD and if I close them it will not
rain and it will be ReallllYYyy Hot when I get back.
Well just had a nice warm shower followed by a cool rinse here at Penn's
Landing... Feeling great but worried about Gaston again... Guess I need to get
moving if I'm to get anything done today!
later
da Wayward Sailor
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- Gaston thinking of a comeback as a storm
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sat, 4 Sep 2010 09:10:54 EDT
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Gaston is starting to rebirth! He could be re-christened as a
tropical storm in the short future. Keep your eyes on this bad boy, he is only
moving at 10pmh, which gives him plenty of time to build up strength.
Off Africa is another mess, worth watching, it's not doing much now, but
it's got time to think about it...
Hurricane Earl is off to Nova Scotia with 70 mile an hour winds. Fiona
fizzled to 25-35mph winds, nothing but a stiff breeze for hearty sailors.
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- Cleanup after Earl
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Fri, 3 Sep 2010 20:26:18 EDT
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ooops
This picture was lost in my email, but found! It
is Sopers Hole, West End Tortola, Before the storm. Other reports from
earlier this week (scroll down) show the After...
Before earl...
Aug 29 2010 before Earl hit (see afters
below)
i took this before
leaving sandspit at 5.15....wish i had taken another photo as the boat on the
left has a rope ...on the end of the rope is a suv about 8 ft from the
water!!!sneed has had canvas removed and the cat has moved away from the suv
boat!!
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- More pictures from Hurricane Earl damages on Tortola and Anegada,
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Fri, 3 Sep 2010 18:35:30 EDT
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Jolly Roger's dock in West End, Tortola took a beating from hurricane
Earl.
P1060018.JPG
P1060019.JPG
P1060020.JPG
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- Wonderful day!
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Fri, 3 Sep 2010 10:10:20 EDT
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What a great day! Cool 84 deg this AM, mild winds about 8 knots from
almost due east and mostly sunny sky! AND TS Gaston is NO More!... Gaston has
degenerated in to a remnlient Low with some possibility of regenerating since it
is going so slow but less than 10% chance of becoming a Tropical Cyclone in the
next 48 hours according to the US National Weather guessing service. But
I'll take all the good news I can get on things that seem to want to make things
difficult here on da Boat! We do have two areas of disturbance we are
closely watching between here and Africa. Seems like the storm chain is
still moving along.... maybe just taking a minor slow down in the energy of
those coming off the coast.
I'll probably make the effort to put the Solar Panels back on today.
Not an easy job to put us single handed, much more difficult than taking them
down. Need the solar power for my frige as it is a power hog.... well it
does have what is called a freezer but is only almost a freezer but it works
fine at keeping stuff much longer than the frige alone would.
Took a bus into Road Town yesterday, except for a number of trees and bits
of metal roofs in piles waiting for pick up and the more closed businesses than
typical ... you may never believe that we just had a Major Hurricane pass
thru! Really is nice to see how fast the Government jumped to the clean
up. The Power people also worked through the night again last night to fix
downed power lines in the interior. I can still see sections with out
power and one of the Aero Beacons is still not operating on the hill above the
East End Pussers.
Well need to get to work on those Solar Panels... it isn't going to get any
cooler this AM!
later
da Wayward Sailor
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- Gaston might be fizzling
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 2 Sep 2010 18:54:15 EDT
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Currently Gaston is pushing 30mph winds and creeping along at 5mph.
Another vigorous tropical wave is rolling off Africa.
Plenty to watch!
Hurricane Earl is set to slam the outer banks of North Carolina with 125
mph winds.
Dear Miss Mermaid,
Thank you for what you did & do to help keep contact for those of
us who are worrying about loved ones. Don't let one bad apple make you
stop, you are appreciated by me and I'm sure lots of other people. I would
love to buy your book and help support you. Thank you for replying to me
in a crazy time! My husband is fine by the way and found a hurricane party
on a 50ft power cat with a generator. He was up at 5am helping everyone he
could until he departed for his delivery.
All the best,
Natalie
Awwww *blush* thank you! Hurricanes and
Hangovers... glad he found a good party... it's about all you can do during the
hurricane is sleep or party and pray lots. Angels spared the BVI, no deaths or
injuries, that have been reported.
Thanks for buying my book
Earl
pounds the VIBVI Beacon
Governor Boyd McCleary said early measurements suggest
that Tortola sustained wind gusts from 60 to 90 mph, while Anegada felt
winds close to 125 mph. ...
Insurers
busy after the stormBVI Beacon
Like many VI residents, Maria Vieira was driving
around Tortola on Tuesday afternoon assessing damage from Hurricane Earl.
But unlike those gaping at felled ...
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- BVI
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- By Belmont <belmont at surfbvi.com>
- Date: Thu, 2 Sep 2010 17:06:47 -0400
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Will send more photos as available.
Nadine
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- BVI
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- By Belmont <belmont at surfbvi.com>
- Date: Thu, 2 Sep 2010 13:46:32 -0400
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Will send more photos as available.
Nadine
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- Earl, Fiona, Gaston... keep a good eye out in the BVI!
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 2 Sep 2010 12:32:32 EDT
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Hurricane Earl seem to want to take his Virgin Island spirit to the outer
banks of North Carolina, then on to perhaps Massachusetts. With 140mph
winds, I feel sorry for the folks making a hasty evacuation. Labor Day weekend,
coming up is usually their last big vacation and holiday weekend before summer
is stashed away for another year.
Tropical Storm Fiona has decided to perhaps go visit Bermuda.
And Tropical Storm Gaston... he is totally undecided about his fate!
Has anyone heard or seen reports or pictures about Bitter End and
Biras Creek on Virgin Gorda?
Personally, I think he should have welcomed any
offers of outside help with open arms. My gosh, they still have roads torn up
from the floods of 7 years ago! That old derelict wrecked boat at the
Sandspit has been there more than a decade, since another hurricane long past. I
know islanders are resilient and have a can-do attitude, but why not clean it
all up with a real thoroughness and graciously accept outside help.
One major problem after a hurricane or storm or
flood, is the displaced garbage that turns up every where, on the shores, in the
mangroves, on the beaches and so on. Some boat owners will simply abandon
their wrecks where they are, leaving it up to whoever to do something or in many
cases, nothing about it. Let's bring the beauty back to the BVI as quickly as
possible.
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- Hurricane Fiona was a non event GOOD!!!!
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 2 Sep 2010 09:50:58 EDT
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Fiona passed with out making herself known to us. We had a sunny day
with no rain and the evening was a bit cloudy but no more than we would
occasionally see. As I have been living on Snack food and fruits and warm
beer for several days and was WAYYYey tooooo tired ( I was pooped), to cook for
myself the first night back on da good ship... I went to the Red Rock Cafe at
Penn's Landing and had a nice dinner. Had a great Mushroom Soup.... (no
these were not the same mushrooms from Bamba Shack!!!)...and Caribbean Chicken
Breast. Had a large bottle of sparkling Water... nope did not even have a
hard drink. I was so tired and probably a bit dehydrated from getting the
dink back in the water and putting the outboard back on I was too thirsty to
even consider a hard drink. Well I will have to admit I did have a
Sundowner a couple of hours before on da boat.
The night was very calm with just a little breeze and winds continued to
shift from North to North West to South West to South and back around. We
are now a bit South East at about 6 to 8 knots with a little roll in the bay
from the South West. Seas are 2 to 3 feet may get higher in the Sir
Francis Drake Channel later.
One thing that is very obvious with our recent brush with Earl... the
mountains have changed color or colour is you wish. They are now showing a
brown tone. This is from both Wind Burn (100 MPH winds do that!), and
damage from the salty sea spray and rain. While we had lots of foliage
stripped off, more will soon drop from the wind burn and salt spray and not just
near the water but well up the mountains... all the way to the ridge tops here
in East End. They do not show up on Photos yet but in a day or two I'll
bet I can get one that shows what the eye can already see.
Gaston looks dangerous. Everyone is holding their breath wishing him
away. On present track he could hit us directly or possibly worst pass to
our West, giving us the worst of the storm force. Still too early to know
but no one is undoing the storm prep we did for Earl. I did put my Cockpit
cover back up for shade but with out the solar cells. Later today I may
attempt to rig one on the rail or deck to give the batteries some power and ease
up on the Honda 2000i that is pumping its little heart out to allow me some
charge time and a few electrical appliances I have aboard including da
computer!
more later
da Wayward Sailor
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- Wow
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 2 Sep 2010 07:19:38 EDT
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WOW, you can see the bowling balls rolling off Africa, coming down
hurricane alley...
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- Keep an eye out for Gaston and Hermine
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 2 Sep 2010 06:50:48 EDT
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The Tropical Storm spaghetti projections for Gaston is all over the place.
The bad news is he has slowed down movement to 9 miles per hour. This is not
good. It gives him time to stew and possibly build up into a hurricane. Winds are currently at
about 40mph, location 13.5 N 38.2 W, 1550 miles east of the Lesser Antilles.
Right on his heals is the future Hermine? This looks like a cozy foursome golf game coming off of Africa, FORE!
On a sad note, a friend called from Ecuador to say her boat was among one
of the heavily damaged, in pictures from West End. She thought someone else was
taking care of it, and was a bit shocked to see it wrecked. 
My phones, both cell and Skype.com has been so busy, as has my email.
A few times my email program crashed and the laptop screamed "STOP! My
memory is overloaded!" as I tried to look at webcams, satellites, instant
messages, weather news, pictures, videos and so on.
My puppy, Houdini
Harley, was super patient while he was being totally ignored. I put him out
on his tether and thought he was being very quiet, as usually I hear the squeak
of his toys, or him romping around with his soccer ball. Then I realized he had
somehow opened up the carabineer on the tether and run off to play at the
neighbor's!
Finally I took him out for a really nice long walk, then another
friend of his came back from a 3 day trip, with a treasured tennis ball for him
to play with, so he was able to slip back into his spoiled-rotten mode. Mostly he likes to lay
right beside me as I type, but sometimes he crawls up on the desk to say
"Hello? Puppy here! Play with me!" |
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- OhMyGadda, Watch out Anegada!
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 2 Sep 2010 00:27:03 EDT
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Another one coming off Africa, chasing after Tropical storm Gaston (could
that be the future Hermine?) .... tis the season! Fa la la la la la!
Earl is looking at North Carolina as a possibility...
Fiona is moving quickly Northwestward, passing the BVI, while
peeing along the way...
Gaston is setting his sights like a bowling ball, undecided which pins
(islands) he's knocking around in his path...
Stick around folks, this could get interesting...
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- 27 pictures from HURRICANE EARL in the BVI
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 1 Sep 2010 18:27:49 EDT
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A
BIG thank you to the fabulous photographer who so generously supplied these
photos of West End, Tortola, Frenchmens Cay and Sopers Hole.
yn 
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- Earl, Fiona and Gaston, busy week of storms in the BVI
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 1 Sep 2010 17:50:55 EDT
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Keep your eyes on Tropical Storm Gaston, I don't trust this boy one bit,
and my crystal ball doesn't like him either!
Looks stormy from Jost to Tortola, as FIONA passes by.
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- Back on Board
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 1 Sep 2010 17:34:51 EDT
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Older reports from the BVI have been moved to another page.
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![IMG_7754[1]](jpgEQQSKv3rJn.jpg "IMG_7754[1]")
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![IMG_7751[1]](jpgvFQdKnrXCZ.jpg "IMG_7751[1]")
