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For the most recent reports from the BVI see this page.
- - - 2011 Hurricane Season - - -
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- Christmas Eve, Christmas Day with Snow, Boxing Day .... need to rest!!!
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- By Da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at aol.com>
- Date: Wed, 28 Dec 2011 09:00:19 -0500 (EST)
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Small craft should exercise caution
Small Craft Advisory in effect from this evening through Sunday morning
Winds are to be 12 to 16 knots today but growing back into the Christmas Winds of 16 to 21 as the weekend draws near. The big difference is these should be from almost due East with little or no Northern factor. Seas will run 4 to 7 growing as the day passes then 6 to 8 until sometime Friday when they should head back to the 5 to 7 range. Northern Swells will accompany the larger Seas. Water temps still about 81 F, nice but still cool for a warm blooded guy . We started the day out with mostly a mostly cloudy sky and a few light and short sprinkles. It should clear as the day go on and overall we should have a mostly Sunny day today and only a 20% chance of rain. Thursday has a 50% chance and a probability exist for .2 inches of the liquid snow. I actually has some Snow on Christmas Day here in Tortola, I personally know of at least one other boat that had the same thing!!!!... Picture to follow later in post Our forecast temps for the next week run between highs of 84 and lows of about 75 F.
You can see another cold front that has moved off the US East coast and it looks like that tail may be one of the things that will cause us some clouds and rain in a few days. For now a high overcast and a few clouds are all that is showing.
I did see a number of boats out yesterday sailing in the Sir Francis Drake Channel. Winds were probably about 16 knots and the sun was out from late morning to late afternoon. Did see a few white caps in the Channel but the boats with sails up did look to be having a great sail. Also have seen a marked increase of ReaLLLlllllyy big Sailboats in the area. One came into Fat Hog Bay last night that I didn't notice until about 3AM when I saw the huge mast which was totally illuminated and topped with a big Red Anchor light.... yep... I know that is not the "standard" and "proper" arrangement but many European boats have that configuration recently. I'm personally OK with it as you can not miss the fact that something BIG is under all that What I hate is some boats have changed to a Strobe light as an Anchor light.... that is just totally wrong and should be band. It is also irritating to have a bright flashing light all night 50 to 100 feet high.
 Well.... I told you I got Snow for Christmas!!!!
 Along with a gaggle of other folks, on Boxing Day I went to the Sports Complex for the Horses....  I was wondering how on earth can Horses Box each other. Would have to have really strange boxing gloves... I was wondering if they used two or four gloves in horse Boxing  I'm not a boxing fan but friends of mine love it .. reminder to self do not get in fight with them As you can see from the photo... they didn't use gloves at all it was just a race. It was fun to shout for your favorite horse.... LOL we did it by colors they wore  While I told some betting does occur... it is not a paramutual type but individuals and you seem to have to know who they are as they were not conspicuous.... I didn't notice any but the business was probably not in front of everyone but under the stands I guess. One thing I did really love was the local food stands, They had about anything you could want, Sheep's Head Soup, Cow Foot Soup, Turtle Stew, Jerk Chicken and goat, BBQ Chicken, Macaroni Pie, Provisions, Corn on da Cob, Potato Salad, Rice and Peas, Drinks of all types, Snow Cones, pop corn and even pizza and hot dogs, about the only thing I didn't see but wanted with my BBQ Chicken was Plantains
Not sure this following guy had the Full Holiday sprit with his placement of mistletoe
 Personally thing a Kick Me sign would be better
Since we did have "snow" on Christmas, I though I would answer a question I've been often asked about what island people do when it actually gets cold here. Well it does not occur very often and most homes do not have heating or even Air Conditioning the locals... well all of us have inventive ways to stay warm..... I think the most often method is a good strong rum drink and getting close to that "special" person, Others have small space heaters for places like the bath or bedroom and I know of a few people, including a Dear Miss Mermaid that says she loves her Electric blanket for winter nights, some other inventive ways to keep warm are used. I recently saw this set up.
reminds me of an Electric Chair!!!
Some people tell me they just "spoon"
I've tried this on a few cold mornings but just must not know how to arrange the darn spoons  I've asked locals but it seems to be a secret and they don't want to share how they do it. Guess it is a family recipe
I actually just put on clothing
Well, off to do something constructive..... a nice snack seems appropriate
Later, Wayward
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- Old Years Night Coming Soon
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Tue, 27 Dec 2011 08:44:07 -0500 (EST)
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Picture perfect in the BVI for the holidays. Wonderful
weather, just perfect.
Old Years night at world famous Foxys is coming up
Saturday! 
Everyone should go there at least once. It's a grand party that made Foxy
famous.
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- Christmas Dawn
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Mon, 26 Dec 2011 07:30:48 -0800 (PST)
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Merry Christmas from the BVI!
Arrived Christmas Eve on American Eagle, the last flight of the day! It's always so great to feel the warm trade winds and smell the
sea air as you walk down the steps from the plane.
Yesterday was filled with fabulous food, special friends, laughs, cheers and above all thinking of those that are dear to our hearts but are not with us in Tortola. I had 2 just wonderful dinners to go to, presents were exchanged and then came the grazing around the food. My one "art" friend out did herself this year with a huge Christmas spread. She had turkey, ham, roasted pork and the dessert was a fruit tart that was soaked with rum!! The other dinner was smaller but just as fantastic! This dinner was on my friends boat down in Nanny Cay they made a ham that was juicy and so flavorful. Her Husband made 2 pies on their boat and 1 fruit tart. Those were to die for!! I was filled up with great food and some Christmas cheer. On the way back to East End I got to see all the Christmas lights, it was really nice to so
much decorating going on around the island. Most of the roundabouts were lit up with cute displays, light more light and even more lights!!
This picture was Christmas morning sunrise, it was sort of an eerie sunrise. We had some rain showers with a smattering of sun, the winds were steady and today have picked up a bit. Today is more overcast than yesterday but still a good day for Boxing Day. Back up north I usually would run food gifts over to friends, like home made Cranberry Chutney. This year I'm going to go do something that I've never done....go to Boxing day horse races! I think there may be a few of us going to check out the racing scene and it should be a fun day!
I wish each and every one of you a Happy Holidays, and a good New Year!
Cheers!
the Mermaid Gardener
Merry Christmas from the BVI!
Arrived Christmas Eve on American Eagle, the last flight of the day! It's always so great to feel the warm trade winds and smell the sea air as you walk down the steps from the plane.
Yesterday was filled with fabulous food, special friends, laughs, cheers and above all thinking of those that are dear to our hearts but are not with us in Tortola. I had 2 just wonderful dinners to go to, presents were exchanged and then came the grazing around the food. My one "art" friend out did herself this year with a huge Christmas spread. She had turkey, ham, roasted pork and the dessert was a fruit tart that was soaked with rum!! The other dinner was smaller but just as fantastic! This dinner was on my friends boat down in Nanny Cay they made a ham that was juicy and so flavorful. Her Husband made 2 pies on their boat and 1 fruit tart. Those were to die for!! I was filled up with great food and some Christmas
cheer. On the way back to East End I got to see all the Christmas lights, it was really nice to so much decorating going on around the island. Most of the roundabouts were lit up with cute displays, light more light and even more lights!!
This picture was Christmas morning sunrise, it was sort of an eerie sunrise. We had some rain showers with a smattering of sun, the winds were steady and today have picked up a bit. Today is more overcast than yesterday but still a good day for Boxing Day. Back up north I usually would run food gifts over to friends, like home made Cranberry Chutney. This year I'm going to go do something that I've never done....go to Boxing day horse races! I think there may be a few of us going to check out the racing scene and it should be a fun day!
I wish each and every one of you a Happy Holidays, and a good New Year!
Cheers!
the Mermaid Gardener
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- Ho ho ho!
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sun, 25 Dec 2011 14:14:15 -0500 (EST)
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Another gorgeous Christmas in paradise!
Happy Holidays from the BVI and Dear Miss Mermaid
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- More Sun today
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- By Da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at aol.com>
- Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2011 09:21:06 -0500 (EST)
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Small Craft Advisory in effect through Sunday afternoon
We should also note that the USVI also has extended the High Surf Warning... something not used very often here for some reason... da surf is high on the beaches particularly those with Northeast facing areas.
Winds will drop just a bit, 18 to 22 knots today and could be down to 13 to 18 by Monday. Seas continue to run 8 to 10 feet with Northeast Swells. Had some friends off St. John who reported what looked to them like 10 foot seas with the swell action and the high winds were making it WET. Even the Sir Francis Drake Channel had lots of windblown white caps yesterday and seems I can see some now but it is hard to tell since I have to look almost directly into the Sun and the glare from the surface is REALLY bright Temps will be a very nice and moderate low 80's and evenings will get to the mid 70's. Water temp is still hanging about the 81 degree mark in the bays and probably 80 out a bit.
We look to have more Sun today I know my solar panels will be happy with the chance to get a good work out.
We have a 20% chance of rain today and it goes up to 40% got Saturday. Hoping for a good weather window about 10 to 11 PM when Santa is scheduled to make his rounds in the Caribbean.... I can not wait to get my special package, all wrapped up, in my hands
I did not notice until after I posted yesterdays update, that I had forgot to include info from one reader. I had planned on segwaying my planned trip to St. Croix but some how got off track and went into it off another subject
If you recall, one reader asked about mistletoe being available in the Caribbean. I indicated I had yet to see any on my hikes about the various islands.
Jim B. of St Croix informed us a Caribbean version of mistletoe grows in the rain forest on that island. Not a lot of it but that is good since it seems to be bad for the trees it is on. Sorry Jim for almost missing the update you provided.
Had a couple of people ask about Christmas in the Caribbean.... No not the Jimmy Buffet song... which I have and like. Christmas seems a bit more low key here. You do not see nearly as much decor down town and much less on private homes or even Churches, where in the states many have Manger Scenes. The two larger Supermarkets do offer Christmas trees and they deliver them from the chill rooms as their life time in this heat isn't long. I know of several Christmas Dinner Parties that individuals have, I'm lucky enough to have been invited to attend one again I made last year. Guess I didn't have toooo much to drink.Many of the resort type places have Christmas menus / dinners available... some you need to make reservations for!!!!!!!!! Boxing Day which follows Christmas, seems to get as much attention as Christmas itself as more public things seem to occur. I think a horse race and soccer are being held again but I have not picked up a newspaper in a week or so,,, sorry! To wet to try to get out and when I did, a newspaper was not on my mind. Yes Newspapers are still important here as we have no local TV stations only cable and most of those are US or British channels and do not carry BVI news items. Well.... off to more clean up and making da boat ready for Santa's visit.... have my small Christmas tree, 5" and my oversized Christmas Stocking and a Christmas hat and a few gifts to place under the tree... well what I do is place the "tree" on top of them.
Hope all have a Great Christmas and we will try to get an up date or two in when ever we can since the next few days will be very busy and I may not have internet access for part of the time.
Merry Christmas, Wayward
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- Some SUN
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- By Da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at aol.com>
- Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2011 09:31:23 -0500 (EST)
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Small Craft Advisory in effect through Sunday afternoon
It is a very nice 79F here at East End Tortola this AM Mostly cloudy but with some good breaks occasionally. Winds are still up at 21 knots at airport from the East Northeast which is good for the landing pattern at least Winds are forecast for the 20 to 24 knot range today and about the same with minor ups and downs each day and night for a while. Christmas Winds are certainty here as expected.
Seas will still be running around 8 to 10 feet and probably around 5 to 7 in the more protected areas of Sir Francis Drake but don't be surprised if you run into a few larger ones while you are out Some will sneak through the cuts and surprise you if you are not careful and have a good look out. Not seeing many boats with sails up going into or even with the winds. They are tending to be a bit gusty which makes them harder to control. Most seem to by motoring around for the past few days and most also seem to be finding a nice spot and dropping a hook or picking up a mooring for longer than typical for charter boats..... probably not a bad idea
Yesterday about mid day the Sun came out for the day and it was nice . Well their was some high overcast that tamed it a bit but it did a nice job with my solar panels all considering. Did not have to burn a Dinosaur's hind quarter to charge up the boats House Bank I did see a 5 masted sail boat running bare poles up the Sir Francis Drake in the mid Afternoon and attempted to get a shot but had to use camera with binoculars and this was the best I got.
Still an impressive ship and she was probably doing close to 10 knots motoring into the wind and looked to have 3 decks. She is not worried at ALL with the little 10 foot seas
I can actually see shadows of clouds and areas of sunshine on the island... still have a high cloud cover/ haze and a couple of layer of lower clouds but it feeds da solar panels
This is looking at Long Look. Long look is up in da hills and when you are that far up you can see a long way.... guess Long Look was a better name than Long Way or Long View.... although I think I would have selected Long View... but then people would not be able to tell the taxi drivers where to drop them off
This view is back toward Penn's Landing, most often my base of operations Well when I'm not operating some place else
Speaking of... I'm laying plans for a possible trip to St Croix in mid January if things work out. Have friends who have a duplicate type boat who are considering it and we will probably go in tandem as we tend to hang together when we get ashore at places and my crewmate isn't yet comfortable the what she terms LONG trips. She wants to see near by land.... all the time  Maybe I can get her some glasses with a painted picture of a large island just about where she is looking.... anywhere she looks???
In getting set up for this, on my recent trip back from the USVI on Monday, as I left West End after C&I and the all important laundry, I turned on the AutoPilot just as I cleared the cut and set a course directly toward Dead Mans Chest. Then when well clear of Tortola I did a correction of 10 degrees putting her toward Cooper Island and when passed Nanny Cay did another correction... a couple of button pushes and had a track of about the middle of Beef Island which brings me passed and clear of Buck Island and then into Fat Hogs Bay and home. While I've had da boat for years now... I've only use the autopilot a few times, generally for an hour or less and when I got to where I wanted to use it.... example on my trip to St. Maarten, I discovered the control head's LCD was discolored and could not see though it . Got that fixed on my trip to the states over the summer and it is now installed and I'll done the circle correction bit but may need to run that again as I seem to not be as accurate in Autopilot when I'm running between 60 degrees and 0 then on to 300 then it seems to be good again. I just don't like doing the loops as it takes at least a half hour or more and people look at you really strange for motoring in a sailboat in a rather small 5 min circle... again and again. I have to do about 5 before the unit says what the correction is Well I have lots of time... sure can't do it in these winds!!! Have to stay under 2 knots headway and in these winds unless I put her in reverse when going with the wind, I would be doing at least 4 knots under bare poles
Hope everyone has their Christmas shopping done..... that is something that is very difficult to do in some places in da islands. Selection is not what one would call wide and quantity is also often limited. I did note that if anyone is looking for a bike for kids... Bolo's seems to have a large number available and still putting them together. MMMMmmm not sure I would want to get my kid a first bike if I lived on some of these hills.... da road often have slopes of near 30+ degrees Going down would be.... wild but getting back up would by a walk and push job
later Wayward
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- Red Sky in AM????
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- By Da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at aol.com>
- Date: Wed, 21 Dec 2011 08:01:33 -0500 (EST)
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Small Craft Advisory in effect through late Saturday night
Winds are forecast for 17 to 23 knots today but again an increase to 25+ is in the picture and all out of the Northeast. Seas are running 8 to 10 feet with swells from the Northeast. Sir Francis Drake in keeping his waters down a bit but it looks a bit choppy with some whitecaps here and there, Today should be another Overcast day but I'm actually seeing a bit of Sun attempting to pry through the clouds just to the East
Photo does not show the rather pink colors, but I think I'll take warning anyway
Rain chances run between 20% today and 40% tonight to over 50% for the weekend....MMMMMmmmmm?????
Could it be snow????
Me thinks NOT
Temp at Airport on Beef Island is 74F and today's high will be around 81. As the water temp in the bay is about 81F that is about where da boat stays when I cut back a bit on ventilation... still a cooling whiff of wind but no 20 knot gust roaring through
Overnight we had what I though was a good rain, but looking into the dink this AM it was just a hard wind driven dusting, which was probably less than a tenth of an inch. I don't even have to worry about pumping out the dink... it will probably blow dry itself before I need to go ashore and pick up my LP tanks
Had an email from a Very Observant reader/ looker??? Fred T noted the flag, on yesterdays photo, was at 90 degrees from the direction of the bow of the boat. Very good question. All boats do swing at anchor and when on moorings. The amount of swing and quickness of the move depends on several factors such Scope of the line in use and the wind strength. It also has lots to do with the boat design / type. Even sailboats swing differently depending on keel type and amount of windage the boat presents to the winds even with all sails down. Full keeled boats swing slower and generally less than wing keeled boats and half keeled boats. Similarly the wing and half keeled will turn faster underway with less force required... but they are a bit harder to keep on a track in heavy seas. Most boats in the 32 to 50 foot range tend to have a wing or partial keeled setup and will often swing 90 degrees in heavy winds when on a mooring and about the same on a anchor. The real adventure comes when the boat sails itself out at 90 degrees and the mooring / anchor line holds it in place... it will stall out and the head will pitch back across the wind and you often race quickly to the opposite 90 degree position. This takes getting use to but when you do, you can almost tell the wind speed from your bunk with your eyes closed, depending on how fast and how violent the swing back is. That is also one reason for mooring to be spaced so that the probability of two boats kissing in the night are reduced and one reason when in an anchorage, some boaters are a bit miffed if another boat tries to get to up close and personal when changes in winds and seas are expected.
This also makes getting into and out of a dink from the boat an adventure at times Try it with a couple of LP tanks!!!! That is one reason I didn't pick them up last night.... that and the wind and rain were not worth the effort. Settled for a Grilled Cheese and Turkey sandwich with a nice warm cup of coffee. Not I did have to go out in the rain and turn off my little Honda 2000i when I was finished cooking, playing on da computer and charging the poor batteries that were neglected by the sun all day..... damn.... even a mist being blown at 20 knots is an adventure in the world of Cold!!!!!! Glad I had a warm drink ready when I got back in.
Later, Wayward
PS. Maryann K, I've never notices Mistletoe here in da islands. Not sure it could live through the summer heat. I've seen some "dry" material that I think the Customs people may allow in but most likely not the real live stuff. Think if you did they may Hang something else. But not to worry, I've never noted a missed opportunity to take a kiss among most of the people I know around here... heck.. most are sailors Just be sure we don't get the chance to bite!!
This actually reminds me of the time I was bringing Dear Miss Mermaid some catnip for her boys. Got the really good stuff at a pet supermarket in a plastic tube about a foot long and 2 inches round. It was freeze dried so OK with da Customs boys. Problem was, the top broke off and all the stuff went all over may bag...... this was one of the few times my incoming bags had ever been opened at Customs!!!! The Customs guy looked at me as said gunga?? Not knowing what the heck that was I just looked dumb.... easy for me I guess... then I guessed he was asking if it were Marijuana. I got a bit nervous and started going through the bag looking for the container so I could show him it was Not MJ. That was before I knew that you were not suppose to touch the bag when it was being inspected. The Customs Guy knew it was not MJ but since he saw I was getting a bit flustered he retained his game face.... in my Rambling explanation I said the land name DMM goes by and since almost everyone seem to know her he played it up until he could no longer control himself and started laughing loudly and with a smile waved me through
PPS Was away for a bit moving da boat.... While I was outside the SUN actually popped out very nicely..... but as I went back inside, it ducked behind a set of clouds. Well maybe I need to stay outside so it will sunshine??? rather than clean up and repack all the stuff I have laying all over da place???? Wayward, wonders if THAT excuse will hold water with special guest that will be visiting???? Question is will Santa (and others) object to the disarray?
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- A Whale of a Christmas Tale
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 21 Dec 2011 07:56:29 -0500 (EST)
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I wrote this sometime in the early 90's
while I was living in the Caribbean, aboard my little sailboat at sea. I hope
you enjoy it!
A Whale of a Christmas
Tale
Twas the Night Before Christmas, and all
through the Caribbean
Not a creature was stirring, but many fans
were purring
I was asleep on my boat, when suddenly I
awoke
I heard a bang, and then a
clang!
I sprang out of my bunk, colliding with a
furry hunk
Rudolf! The Red Nose Reindeer! How are you,
my dear?
Need some sunscreen? Or would you like ice
cream?
Oh, dear, he sighed, listen here, he
cried!
Santa was sloshing in eggnog, his mind was
off and in a fog
Since it still wasn't day, he leaned over
the sleigh
To take a quick leak, since his bladder was
weak
His eyes were a little blurry, but he
spotted something furry
With a wink in his eye, he exclaimed in the
sky
From way up in the air, I can see her
hair!
Why, I've never been laid, by a Caribbean
Mermaid!
But oh dear me! Santa jumped, in the sea!
But that's not all, this is why I
call
Santa was swallowed by a great big fish,
who thought he was a Christmas
dish!
I don't know what happened to the mermaid,
but I don't think Santa's gonna get
laid!
We need him back at the North Pole, not in a
fish, swallowed whole!
Rudolf, I said, don't despair, at least it
wasn't a big black bear
Let me take you fishing, I know that you
been wishing
For a Caribbean holiday, to come your
way!
We went out in my boat, where on the sea we
did float
We baited our hook, we wanted that
crook
That big nasty old fish, who thought Santa
was a dish
Finally we caught him with our bait,
With Santa inside, he was a great
weight!
We made that hideous fish, grant us our
wish
And with a great heave, out popped Santa's
sleeve
He came out of that great fish body, only
just a little wobbly
He had this awful smell, it turned the
reindeer almost pale!
We dried off old St Nick, and we did it
quick
We didn't want him to say Achoo! As if he
may of caught the flue!
We got back into port, cooking up the fish
for sport
That one big fish, made a fine Christmas
dish
Off the reindeer, they did fly, with Santa
Claus way up high
Back in my bunk where I was laying, I could
still hear Santa saying
Merry Christmas to all, I'm having a ball,
that big old fish, made one fine dish
But listen here, when I come back next year,
I hope I get laid, by that Caribbean
Mermaid!
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- Heavy Gray Overcast and I do not think it has any Snow in it....
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- By Da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at aol.com>
- Date: Tue, 20 Dec 2011 15:19:51 -0500 (EST)
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Small Craft Advisory in effect through Thursday afternoon
East Northeast winds of 17 to 25+ knots will be with us the remainder of the week. Seas will run 7 to 10 feet in North then Northeast Swells until the weekend and possibly longer. As normal it is less inside the Sir Francis Drake Channel due to the protection of the major islands until the winds are more East. Water temp is about 81 deg F which is still OK but chilly for us warm blooded sailors Highs will run about 82 and lows at sea level about 75 at night Where did I put those long PJ's with the flap in back and bunny feet?????
Looks like da ol solar panels will be taking an extended break as our outlook is for Mostly Cloudy to Partly Cloudy sky's with a 20 to 40% chance of rain each day. We are having one of those now with winds whipping me around at about 18 knots but looks to be heading up more as the day passes. This is all due to a cold front that moved off the Eastern Coast of the US last week.
Harder to see than it was last night but the bit that is over the BVI now is rather strong considering how light it looks on the Sat Photo
Looks like a lot of high and low clouds will stay with us thru Christmas.
Here is how it looked out side just a bit ago before the rain started.
Last week when I was over in the USVI at Christmas Cove I noted this "red" boat from the USCG.... errr I don't think that large black thing on front is a water spout for fires
As you can see, we did have some very nice weather last week with mostly sunny sky's, and only short showers that did not last long to do my water recovery system any good.
Really, even with the increased showers we are having now, not much water is falling. We are just in a mist then it is gone. Only thing is this week, we are not having it followed by Sun which makes it all good again
Was doing some small jobs on the boat as the wind picked up and was looking for a small screwdriver. I have a good assortment but not one good for the job at hand... I was thinking I needed a really good screwdriver for this job and I just did not have one.... Then I though of the OJ I had just picked up at the store and........ just Made Myself a Screwdriver . Well it actually isn't getting the job I intended done... but as the boat rocks and rolls I'll just turn on my ITunes on the Ipod and lay back with my Screwdriver and not worry about it for now
Had a couple of e-mails on the Norman Island Treasure subject that were interesting. One from David D regarding a new book on the subject and one from Frank P on some things he had heard on the subject. All very interesting stuff.... Treasure and Sailors seem to just be tied together here in da islands Of course, tall tells/tails are a large part of it
Had one e-mail from Pam T and asked what I will be doing for Christmas. Well, I've had word from an elf that Santa is sending a tall package down just for me and it will arrive on Christmas Eve. I really hope is it what I asked Santa for and will enjoy unwrapping it when it arrives. While I do have some limited Christmas decor on da boat, it is mostly the spirit of Christmas I enjoy... the music, people, happy times, food and the Spirits....... ye know.....like RUM!!!!!
Later, Wayward
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- Back with da Sun in BVI
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- By Da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at aol.com>
- Date: Mon, 19 Dec 2011 07:38:07 -0500 (EST)
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Small craft should exercise caution until Tuesday afternoon
Small Craft Advisory in effect from Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday afternoon
More sun this AM than we have had for some time but we expect mostly Cloudy Sky's for all of this week.... still we have good hopes of a few hours each day of really great sun breaking through the high clouds. While rain chance for Tuesday and later this week are 40 to 50% it does not appear at this time to be a heavy type rain... just more showers.
Now the Winds WILL be picking up today we will have 14 to 19 knots from the North East building to 20 to 25+ by Thursday.... can we say Christmas Winds Seas will be building over the week and while today we expect 4 to 6 feet, we will have 8 to 10 in North Northeast Swells later in the week. Those Charter boats may want to hang in da old Sir Francis Drake Channel .
Had a bucket full of e-mails when I got back to where my Mermaid Internet would work. Have been down to Christmas Cove on Greater St. James and on St. John for past couple of weeks. Had some winds then also but not much in the way of rain accumulations. All in all had a great sail and enjoyed just hanging on da boat having a cold Red Stripe and occasionally a Red Eye which is a form of a Bloody Mary with Red Stripe and Spicy V8 juice with a few other kickers in for a great wake me up at mid morning. Heading back into BVI in a bit... gotta do laundry  and ran out of LP gas so I've had to use nuke and toaster for warm food for past two days .. but it really has not been bad, kicked up a great Chili Pie and always have some canned stuff for such occasions.
Sorry, no time today for photos but will post more soon.
I do want to let you know I had an E-Mail from Joanie from Angulla who said that when she lived on Tortola in the early 50's, some treasure was found on Norman Island. She also indicate the main method of transportation then was by horse or boat..... MMmmmm that was a treasure in its own way... no car traffic!
Geoff and Lisa from Wales were concerned about the lack of post while I was away on my sail about. Well, da Mermaids and Guest Mermaids have also been off island but I know two that will be returning this week . While I have lots of running around to do to get da boat back in ship shape and re provisioned I'll do my best to get an update on what is going on and post some of those photos most seem to love. Geoff spent some time in Nanny Cay some time back and also likes cold beer . I have a good friend who also works out of Nanny Cay and is from Wales. Seems lots of Scott's and Welch like Nanny Cay as a base of operations. I use it when I haul my boat for what ever...
Well later and it is good to get back to da BVI
Wayward
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- Another Not so Sun Day
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- By Da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at aol.com>
- Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2011 09:03:14 -0500 (EST)
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The SCA has been lifted as of 6AM.
Saturday had lots of mist showers but had a few strings of time when the sun peaked about but seemed not to find anything of interest... went back to sleep behind the clouds In the mid afternoon, I did get this shot of a rainbow probably indicating where the pot of gold..IE Treasure Chest is located.... of course on Treasure Island..AKA Norman Island.
Well, it appears to be over The Caves.... Some surprise???? That is where lots of people have been hunting for Pirate Treasure for more than a hundred years. Never known of a item of any value being located
Still raining on and off all day today NoSunday.... Actually had a fairly dry night which was nice as I didn't have to get up and close the hatches every few minutes then reopen then again as the rain passes so the boat would not be too hot. Todays High is suppose to be about 82 but the Heat index is about 88 and when I have to close up da boat it goes up .
Have been making a dent in the world supply of fuel this week due to lack of sun. Having to make due with a minimal amount of free sun power each day and having to back up the batteries with the generator and every 3 days or so the boat engine to top up all battery banks.
Clouds are very low and at times I can not see Tortola across the Sir Francis Drake Channel which was kicking up some white caps much of Saturday. Today we should see winds of 7 to 12 knots from the Northeast and seas of 4 to 7 feet. By Wed/ Thur that will be winds of 14 to 20 and seas 4 to 6 feet with a little less chance for Rain during the days but at least 50% over night. Forecast not showing much in way of accumulations but I've had well over 2 inches in the past 48 hours. Looks to be suppose to drop off soon.
I'll most likely head down to West End Tortola sometime in the next few days to check out of BVI then head to St. John in the USVI for a bit. May take a few days at Christmas Cove...MMMmmm maybe it is that time of year . One of my special tasks is to locate that special gift for a special friend which is difficult to do on Tortola and even in the USVI. This is particularly true since I have No Idea what it is yet but I'm sure that when I see IT, it will jump out at me.
OMG is it raining hard out side.... wonder if my poor Internet connection can make it through???
Well back to doing what ever in my sealed off boat! Mmmm Steamed Sailor anyone???
later Wayward
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- Wet looking Forecast... but I have a few Red Stripe's
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- By Da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at aol.com>
- Date: Fri, 9 Dec 2011 09:49:59 -0500 (EST)
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Small Craft Advisory in effect through Saturday evening
Gusty here in my " Secret Location" N18 deg 19.275' West 064 deg 36.346'... Winds are forecast to be 14 to 20 knots today with seas running 5 to 7 feet today and tonight going 7 to 9 feet. Over the Weekend it should be winds of 15 to 20 knots and seas 6 to 8 feet. All this time we should expect numerous Showers and isolated Thunder Storms with rain chance between 50% and 80% through most of this next week. Rain accumulations are forecast to be near an inch a day with Monday having a probability of 1.5 inches. Can we say Christmas Winds and Rainy Season????
We may see some local flooding warnings go up later today as the ground is already about waterlogged. Took a short hike on Norman Island yesterday while I was allowing a dink repair patch dry. Very wet footing up the hills and should only be attempted by people who can go down steps while chewing gum at the same time
The Sun has popped out about 3 no 4.35 times, but it is nice when you get some. Think the Solar Panels have already called in sick today Running the boat engine to keep the starter and house banks both charged up... will need some for the frig/freezer to stay up to speed.
Off across the Sir Francis Drake Channel from my "Secret" location is Nanny Cay in one of several showers it has had earlier today...MMMMmmm would it not be neat if I could give a photo of a shower that would take place later today??? AOL just is not up to it.... Took over an hour to get this to upload!!
By the by.... that is Ole Sailor talk . Da Wayward Sailor has noted that one of those absent mermaids has been teasing Wayward about not having Red Stripe.... Wayward only has one thing to say.... IT IS 5 degrees F where you are ... and I'm not sure but cooling Red Stripe with Snow may be considered un Caribbean and ye may not be allowed back in da country But not to worry... I may could be persuaded to put in a good word for ya with the Customs and Immigrations officers .... for a price.... perhaps a case of Red Stripe
Later Wayward
PS Actual Sun is now shining, most of the rain is from very low clouds that pass rather fast and the hit and miss sun is always welcome but we do note the seas, even in the Sir Francis Drake Channel are getting up a bit. Lost of white caps but small ones so far. Think most of the non-Charter boats are securing in fav spots to allow the weather to do its thing. Some of the Charter people feel they are on too much of a preplanned schedule to just hold up and enjoy a nice spot and put up with the wet and hard ride up and down the Channel. Those on the outside also have a moderate Swell working on them.
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- Red Strip Holiday wishes!
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Tue, 6 Dec 2011 19:24:55 -0800 (PST)
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Good Evening!
OMG I read the latest Storm Carib, found that da Wayward Sailor was out of Red Strip and the cry in your bear shame is that the local stores near him were out as well! "All finish!!!" is what the locals say when they are OUT! What is a sailor to do??? Sail to Jamaica??? Pick up a boat full, sail it back and bury in Trellis Bay as hidden treasure?!!?? 
Well this Mermaid Gardener is off island for a short time, staying in flyover country that has many frozen lakes,
snow, freezing temperatures, flip flops and you guessed it Red Stripe!!! Sure wish that I could mail him a 6 pack but know that it wouldn't pass customs!! That and I figure if I mailed it, it would take 6 months to get there!!
Anyways Wayward here's my Christmas wish for you! May Santa come early to Riteway or Bobby's and bring a sleigh full of Red Stripe! I'll keep sending good vibes down to the BVI in hopes that St. Nick comes through for you!!!
Cheers!!
the frozen Mermaid Gardener
Good Evening! OMG I read the latest Storm Carib and found that da Wayward Sailor was out of Red Strip and that the local stores were out! All I have to say is that this Mermaid Gardener is off island where it's cold Cheers!! the frozen Mermaid Gardener 
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- Wet Sunday and looks to be similar for Monday
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- By Da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at aol.com>
- Date: Mon, 5 Dec 2011 08:14:05 -0500 (EST)
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Small craft should exercise caution
Small Craft Advisory in effect from this evening through late Thursday night
We had a near sunless Sunday with many showers and one long hard one passed over early this AM. Probably more then the .5 inch forecast. Da dink has lots of rain water in her and will need to be bailed out before too much longer . Gas tank is already floating around. Sky is mostly cloudy but we have hopes of some sun breaking through. I actually have a small break through now, only the angle is not the best for the solar panels but they at least "woke up"... they had a nap all day Sunday
Winds look to be 10 to 16 knots from the Northeast most of the week, with seas running 4 to 6 now but quickly building to 6 to 8 by mid week with Northern Swells until later in the week. Sir Francis Drake a bit less of a problem in the protected areas. At the moment in Fat Hogs Bay the wind is less than 5 knots and from the West???? Think this is probably due to the heavy shower taking all the air out of the area for a bit. We will be swinging back North East any time I suspect.
Made my 2nd run to the food store Sunday afternoon between showers. Got all I needed except Red Stripe!!!!!!!! They did not even have a 6 pack of Red Stripe in da house. Had a talk with a friend of mine who is now manager and she is going to make sure I always have a case of Red Stripe available when needed. Good to have friends in high places
Still hope to pull off the ball in a day or so. Need to change views for a while and get away from the heaver traffic for some piece and quite for a week or so.... maybe head over to St. John for a while... who knows which way the wind will blow me.
later Wayward
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- Not so Sun day
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- By Da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at aol.com>
- Date: Sun, 4 Dec 2011 09:30:23 -0500 (EST)
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Small craft should exercise caution
Only a bit is sunshine about sun up then the clouds took over. Now Mostly Cloudy with winds 11 to 16 Knots and Seas 4 to 6 feet. By Wednesday it should be winds 13 to 18 knots with Seas 5 to 7 feet in the open waters around the islands. In the more protected areas of Sir Francis Drake Channel the seas should be a bit less but the winds appear to be gusty and probably will hit the forecast ranges. In the most protected bays with the North Northeast winds we are getting an occasional hard gust of about 15 knots then it backs down to around 8 knots.
Temps will remain in the lower 80's for most of the week and we have an 80% chance of rain today with an accumulation of about a half inch. That should be fine in most areas and I could use a bit myself. I now see a heavy rain out in the Sir Francis Drake Channel moving South West and hitting the outer islands, Ginger, Cooper, Salt and heading for Peter. Virgin Gorda looks to have had a nice shower earlier. Tortola seems to be missing it so far as I can see but Radar indicates we have some on the way.
As you can see, it is a Not So Sun Day in da islands this AM. Forecast indicate higher chances of rain in the afternoon and evening with possibility of Thunder Storms.
Glad I did most of my shopping on Saturday Can you identify this item????
 Saw this item in the RiteWay Food Store while I was in. Don't think I've seen it outside Jamaica before. It is part of their National Dish.... Ackee and Salt Fish...No this IS NOT the Salt Fish part I've always been a bit afraid to try the stuff since so many parts of it are toxic and the whole thing is until it is properly ripe. Since I've NEVER had any form of Salt Fish that I cared to eat more than a sample fork full .... I think I'll probable continue to pass the opportunity
If the seas do not kick up later today, I'm fixin a meat loaf and 3 cheese Potato dish to go with it. Problem is,..... well I'm alone and when I cook this stuff I tend to over eat. It is a See Food problem and when you add the Smell Food to it and they are both GOOD.... well I'm often helpless and not much is left over..... and never left over for long!!!!
I do have to make a dink run to the smaller local store to pick up some stuff. Actually had a friend stop by for a beer last evening and I didn't have a single beer on da boat Not sure if that is illegal or not but probably should be. I'll fix that problem and get a few bulky items I try not to bring back from the main store. My taxi/bus ride was a real trip on the return from the store on Saturday..... As most of you may know the taxi/bus cost $3.00 and they typically hold 9 to 12 people depending on type. The one that stopped for me was really small. It could only hold 7 normally sized people... it was a mini van type. I noted 5 others already in but when the door opened I observed everyone had been doing some major shopping.. every one had at least 3 large bags of "stuff"..... as I did also.... Heavy stuff... cold stuff.... and I had to "attempt" to make my way to the only seat semi available in the very back of the mini van.... crawling over two very large ladies and loads of "stuff" with my three bags. It was not possible and I attempted to let the driver to go ahead and I would catch the next ride.... they do not like that Since everyone only pays $3 he wanted as many as he could jam in the mini van. Ended up with two people holding one of my bags toward the front of the taxi and me and the largest back pack in the rear seat with no place to put me feet since other peoples "stuff" was already occupying that space. Like most of these taxi/busses, it had no shock absorbers. Tortola roads are.... well let us just say in some areas the term "road" is a very generous description of the "path" we took. Add to that the incessant use of speed bumps and the location just behind the rear axial.... my ride back to Penn's Landing was an Adventure.
Hope my dink trip is less of a problem later today... But it will probably storm on me on the way back.... well... I've been wet before
I just have to think about what a friend told me on Skype last night. They were at 17 degrees F and expecting 3 inches of snow....
GEEZZ it is nice just to be wet by some warm rain drops!
later da Wayward Sailor
PS Walter T... thanks for the note and I'll pass on your suggestion. Walter T wanted me to let all know that to reach me now ... and for the last year or so is to use the AOL address indicated in the tag... not the OLD Gmail or Hotmail addresses... I no longer use them except for other specific tasks and no not normally check them on any basis at all. So if ya want/ need to yack send to the address I check most often
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- December is Finally Here!!!
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- By Da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at aol.com>
- Date: Fri, 2 Dec 2011 10:51:39 -0500 (EST)
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Well, the Carib made it through another Hurricane season with out a great deal of problems from the 19 storms that developed. Hope we do as well or better at missing them next year
Even with out hurricanes we still have Weather.... and even "Normal" weather can be a problem if your not properly aware of what is around the next cloud.
It is in the mid 80's today and will be in lower 80's most of next week. Today it is partly Sunny so the solar panels appear to be getting their jobs done. It should be clear Saturday but we will return to high possibilities of Thunder Storms Sunday and through most of next week.... again... this IS the Wet Season and my water tanks love it... so does my back since I do not have to lug those heavy Jerry Cans around full of water.
Winds are 8 to 11 knots and seas are running 3 to 5 today but will increase to winds of 14 to 19 knots with seas 5 to 7 feet by early next week. Winds will be Northeast with some days where it is more North Northeast. The Sir Fransis Drake Channel appears to be running 2 to 4 and does not look to be in heavy use.... but I expect more boats will be out after lunch
That glob over the Windward's is heading North East and is of no concern to us. The weak front moving down from the States, appears to be what will be our late weekend weather maker.
I'll be prepping da boat for a few weeks out, starting when ever I feel like pulling the mooring lines free. Maybe Saturday, probably not...would have to get too much done and I have several books to finish and several SUDOKU puzzles to work on. I only started doing those this year and sometimes wish I had never started They are rather addictive. I thought for a long time that only Catholics were allowed to do them.... At least I though they were Catholics since they continuously made signs of the cross with their fingers or pen while working the puzzles
For lunch I'm going to fix up some Crab Cakes I just picked up from Sailors Ketch Just have to find something for a side dish or two.
Later, Wayward
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- 2 more days of Hurricane Season left!
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Mon, 28 Nov 2011 17:51:31 -0500 (EST)
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Two more days of hurricane season then we can party party
party and say good bye we were spared again!
Yippie!
Ooops! What is that BIG thing headed our way???
Get ready to batten down the hatches and enjoy the wet
sunshine!
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- Another Wet night and AM
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- By Da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at aol.com>
- Date: Mon, 28 Nov 2011 12:37:46 -0500 (EST)
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Small craft should exercise caution
Winds should be from the East northeast winds 16 to 19 knots. However, when the small rain storm cells pass, we get stuff from off directions then typically almost an hour of near dead calm... Such as I'm having now. Seas 4 to 6 feet in diminishing north northwest swells in the open waters, while in the Sir Francis Drake Channel it is variable winds with seas running less than 4 feet except within the small storm cells. Numerous showers and isolated thunderstorms will continue but diminish over the next few days.... maybe some Sun????
I'm a bit tired of having to use fuel to keep the batteries us with the solar panels on strike due to lack of sun.
Not a lot of activity out on the water this AM. Seems most boats are holed up waiting for the rain to end. We had near continuous rain or mist most of the night and AM. Hope the rain break we have will last most of the afternoon
Temps are mild in the mid 80's and it is nice when a breeze does break through. I've counted 3 full 360 degree swings of da boat since last night. Rather just have a nice steady breeze with no rain for a few hours to dry out.
Note: It is that time of year again.... yes, I mean the time of year boats and houses seem to get more than the typical number of thefts and break ins. I know of several dinks stolen, including mine... Good news for me is I was able to recover it with no significant damage noted. Was one of the very few times I did not lock it with a cable to the boat... which I was on at the time.... did not hear a thing. When located it had grown 2 additional gas tanks and a few boat parts from somewhere. Was able to locate owner of one gas tank.
Most of these thefts seem to be targeted to items like outboard motors and small computers which I'm told by the police are typically sold to a "fence" for just a few dollars. A computer only gets about $50.00 an outboard motor a bit more.
Everyone needs to chain or otherwise secure with a cable any dink to the boat or dockside area you are at. The outboard motor and gas tanks should also be secured with a steel cable to the dink. Making them appear more unique, seems to be a way to put off interest such as a loud color that is out of the norm. Make sure your id and contact number are easy to see on the motor in several locations and on the boat... and on about any other thing you want to keep. May have my SO get a tattoo with my info on it???? Well maybe not, she has a loud warning system of her own.... believe me... I know!!!!
Well back to watching those distant but not too far off rain cells dance around. Maybe some lunch.
later, Wayward
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- Dancers from Botanical Gardens
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Sun, 27 Nov 2011 18:35:51 -0800 (PST)
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Good Evening,
Here's another picture from last Sunday's 50th Anniversary of the National Parks Trust show.
All the dancers were so colorful and excited to dance in front of the crowd.
Cheers!
the Mermaid Gardener
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- Caribbean colors!
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Sun, 27 Nov 2011 05:42:05 -0800 (PST)
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Good Morning!
Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving where ever you were and that your turkey hangover is over!!! Maybe more Rum would be in order next Thanksgiving to wash down the Turkey!!
I wasn't able to post last weekend since the power done mash up for most of the day on Sunday. Nothing like wanting to get a whole bunch of internet work done and have the power be down all day.
Needless to say I made the best of it and ran into Road Town for the Opening Ceremony of the 50th Anniversary of the National Parks Trust and Flower show. It was held at the J.R. O'Neal Botanic Gardens. Several of the achievments that they have accomplised recently were the Sandy Cay National Park dedication in addition they have been able to protect the Anagada Rock Iguana from extinction and their numbers have since doubled in size since they have been working
on this project.
At the Ceremony they had the Junior Heritage Dancers as well as poets, more dancers and later in the day a Fungi Band. The entire afternoon was filled with a wonderful program and they had many local artisans selling their wares. I was able to pick up several Christmas presents to start off my holiday shopping.
In addition to the program they had a flower show earlier in the morning. I was mesmerized by the beauty of all the flowers and especially the hibiscus competition. All I have to say is wow!!!!
Temperature is 81 degrees, no wind period and we have a 50% chance of rain today! It's partly cloudy and looks like there could be a rain shower in the morning. Good for the flowers and the cisterns!!
Cheers!
the Mermaid Gardener
Good Morning!
Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving where ever you were and that your turkey hangover is over!!! Maybe more Rum would be in order next Thanksgiving to wash down the Turkey!!
I wasn't able to post last weekend since the power done mash up for most of the day on Sunday. Nothing like wanting to get a whole bunch of internet work done and have the power be down all day.
Needless to say I made the best of it and ran into Road Town for the Opening Ceremony of the 50th Anniversary of the National Parks Trust and Flower show. It was held at the J.R. O'Neal Botanic Gardens. Several of the achievments that they have accomplised recently were the Sandy Cay National Park dedication in addition they have been able to protect the Anagada Rock Iguana from extinction and their numbers have since doubled in size since they have been working
on this project.
At the Ceremony they had the Junior Heritage Dancers as well as poets, more dancers and later in the day a Fungi Band. The entire afternoon was filled with a wonderful program and they had many local artisans selling their wares. I was able to pick up several Christmas presents to start off my holiday shopping.
In addition to the program they had a flower show earlier in the morning. I was mesmerized by the beauty of all the flowers and especially the hibiscus competition. All I have to say is wow!!!!
Temperature is 81 degrees, winds out of the east at 0mph and we have a 50% chance of rain today! Good for the flowers and the cisterns!!
Cheers!
the Mermaid Gardener
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- Pink Saturday????
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- By Da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at aol.com>
- Date: Sat, 26 Nov 2011 08:47:47 -0500 (EST)
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Well if yesterday was Black Friday, today must be Pink/ Reddish Saturday???? Right????
Weather is rather calm at present. Not much wave or wind action in the Sir Francis Drake Channel this AM. Overall the winds are suppose to run 10 to 13 knots with seas 3 to 5 feet, but here in da SFD Channel it is basically clam with a wisp of winds maybe making 4 knots when they try and seas are all from those D# at $%!! Power boats. Later today on thru Monday the seas on the North side should pick up a bit with a North NorthWest Swell 4 to 7 feet.... Possibly some Surfing on the Northern Beaches Sunday/ Monday, but not much effect on the South Side of Tortola.
Chance of Rain about 50% for next several days with some accumulations if you happen to be under one . Since I put up my rain recovery system.... they seem to avoid me We do have a Thunder Storm notice for the next 3 days then a bit of clearing is forecast.... Hey, dis be da Wet Season and we do not expect whole days to be all sun!! NOTE: USVI has posted a Flash Flood Watch for the next few days. BVI has a more limited Weather Resorce and we need to take the "normal" precausions when heavy rains occur in specific areas.
Road Town will be VERY full today... saw at least two larger Cruisers go in and at least one mid size boat. The road will be full of the large taxi trucks running to West End, Cain Garden Bay and probably a few doing circles of the island all loaded with photo snapping tourist..... wish they would leave some money with people other than just taxi drivers, and a few gift shop/ stands...
Last Night had a bit of a fright. After a nice dinner of a Cornish Punka Pie and a side of green beans with the required beverage ... (OK I sprung for the Good Stuff.... Carlo Rossie Blush, LOL)
I relaxed in the cockpit with a glass. Just to my rear a sail boat... 2nd tier charter type... Burst into flames! Flames shot up higher than the Bimini and were more than three feet wide with flames lighting up the entire area.... and the continued to burn and grow including some flames dripping into the water with some continuing to burn a short time in the water... just as the dinghy was sliding around the stern of the boat, apparently to see what was going on.... they are not called dinghy's for no reason!!!
While I was fixed in place for a bit, I finally concluded this was no drill and started grabbing a couple of fire extinguishers and a couple of large buckets. About that time I observed the boat occupants who had been running around a bit finally got the lid closed to their BBQ grill (using a boathook??). In a few Seconds that killed out the flames..... but only for a few seconds and it burst out again engulfing the entire BBQ Grill for a bit. Looked like a real problem was about to occur and I was just loading my dink to go assist when it appeared they got it under some control.... until they opened to BBQ lid again and it burst into wild flames again. This time they closed the lid and allowed it to burn itself out in a more contained fashion. I sat back and made sure I was up wind and started my engine just in case... well I needed a battery charge anyway . Just about the time most of the flames died down, the occupants seemed to be finished eating .
I'm reasonable sure of two things. 1. They misunderstood that the 1 pint Charcoal Lighter was Not a SINGLE Serving size. 2. What ever they hoped to cook, had to taste like it was marinated in Lighter Fluid. Wonder how they will explain the dark spots on da bimini?????
When you do use a BBQ grill of the charcoal type.... limit the Lighter Fluid if you use any at all. If you do use some, you MUST allow it to all burn off TOTALLY before you start cooking what ever or it will taste of Lighter Fluid and be very BAD for you to eat..... even with a nice large Jug of Carlos Rossie on hand.
later da Wayward Sailor
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- Happy Thanksgiving!
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Thu, 24 Nov 2011 08:38:02 -0800 (PST)
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Happy Thanksgiving!
For those of you folks out there sailing, who have looked in your stock of food supplies finding only a Turkey bullion cube and a can
of Spam, here is an alternative for having Thanksgiving dinner on Tortola. Pusser's is offering Thanksgiving dinner for $21.99 it's a four course meal and sounds like home cookin to me!!!
It's 84 degrees out with winds out of the north at 9 mph. Puffy Caribbean clouds dot the sky! A lovely Thanksgiving day in Tortola!!
Have a Happy Turkey day!!
Cheers!
the Mermaid Gardener
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- HAPPY THANKSGIVING
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 24 Nov 2011 11:29:44 -0500 (EST)
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Happy turkey day from Tortola, and to all that don't celebrate
Thanksgiving, many blessings your way too.
It is an absolutely gorgeous
day with gentle winds, about 82 degrees
and 66 % humidity. I'm sure all
those chefs cooking turkeys today are
appreciative of the lower temps and
humidity. Phew.
Quite a few restaurants on the island are offering a
traditional
Thanksgiving dinner, and they seem to have outdone each other
with
their adverts offering up all sorts of delectable dishes and
desserts.
Some of those restaurants are the Tamarind Club, Red Rock ,
Charlies at
the Moorings, Myatts , the Jolly Roger and Foxy's on Jost , just
to
name a few. Wish I could partake in all of them but alas will be
spending time with dear friends and good food on Great Caminoe.
Gobble,
gobble.
The above was from our guest mermaid in Tortola and
Caminoe.
The following is from Dear Miss Mermaid:
Things have really changed in the BVI. I remember my first
Thanksgiving in the BVi, back in the dark ages. Back then, if you were an
American (I was) you were given a FREE Thanksgiving dinner at a handful of
restaurants. I remember feeling so honored to eat for free. Of course
drinks were extra and who can resist drinking in the BVI?
If you weren't American, you had to pay for your dinner. I
remember getting stuffed several years in a row on Thanksgiving day, courtesy of
various restaurants.
Now those days are gone, you pay for your dinner or you go to
the Pot Luck at Jolly Roger, where you bring a dish to share. I did go there
many years with a pot of food to share.
One year, I was still using a walker to get around. It's
impossible to go down a buffet with a walker and one leg working and one not. I
needed both hands to handle the walker. But I had been cooped up a long time in
my home, so I was anxious to get out and at least see some friends. I decided to
go to Jolly Roger, even though I wouldn't be able to go down the buffet line of
the pot luck specials everyone had brought to share.
It took me a half hour to just get down the hill from my
apartment to where my trusty rusty heap of a jeep was parked. I folded up the
walker, then drove to Jolly Roger. Luckily I found a spot where my little jeep
could tuck in that wasn't too awfully far from the place. I unfolded my walker,
then used it to hop on one leg, finding a bar stool to perch on.
I knew my leg would swell up, but I didn't care. It just felt
great to be out and around people for a change. I saw many friends, lots of hugs
and kissing, I ordered up a stiff drink, as I hadn't had one in a long while.
Someone came up to talk to me, noticing that everyone was
eating but me. They asked how come I wasn't eating. I pointed to the folded up
walker I had leaned against the bar and said it was impossible for me to go down
the line, and I just came down to enjoy the comradery of celebrating
Thanksgiving. It just felt wonderful to be out in public after months of
recuperation stuck at home.
Suddenly my friend vanished. I wondered if they had
misunderstood me.
A few minutes later, my friend was back again, carrying a
plate with a huge mountain of food piled up on it. He had gone down the line and
put a small spoonful of everything on my plate until it was heavily laden.
I almost burst into tears, I thought it was the nicest
gesture.
Happy Thanksgiving to all!
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- Tortola Tuesday
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2011 19:07:12 -0500 (EST)
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Our Guest Mermaid is helping out Dear Miss Mermaid who has gone on
walk-about... Here's her post and a gorgeous picture!
It's an absolutely gorgeous day here on Tortola. Bright blue skies, gentle
winds, and surprisingly warm waters for this time of year.
Took a day sail over to Cooper I sland the other day, picked up a mooring
and swam into shore for a few drinks and a roti lunch. After
a swing and a rest, took a long swim out through the mooring field to
"Cistern Rock" , a rock outcropping a tad south of the restaurant.
My companions said it was some of the best snorkeling they have had in the
past, and I have to agree as I saw fish I have never seen before
in all my snorkeling years. My friends did say this
time they were a tad dissapointed as they thought the fish population there had
diminished
somewhat and they were concerned at the sight of bleached coral. The
excitment of the snorkle had to have been the slow swim by of the BIGGEST
sting ray I have ever seen ! I'm guessing he was about 4+ ft. in width
!! They really are such gentle creatures but I gave him a wide berth just
the same.
He must have thought I was some weird creature too with my eyes as big as
saucers behind my mask.
Thanksgiving preparations are taking place throughout the island with many
restaurants offering up real traditional Thanksgiving dishes.
Me loves turkey day !
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Speaking of Turkey Day...
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- More lionfish *growl*
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2011 11:08:57 -0500 (EST)
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From our guest mermaid who is helping out Dear Miss Mermaid
tremendously (and a big thank you too!)
Happy Monday afternoon from great isle of Tortola. It's a
pleasant 84 degrees with a few passing rain showers and a slight overcast
sky. Humidity is about 72 percent and I do believe we'll see more passing
rain showers into the evening. November is our "rainy" season, and we have
certainly lived up to that.
Yesterday we had some excitement as we "captured" a little bad boy
lionfish  right in the marina waters. Lion
fish are not native to our waters and are very harmful in that they
pray on reef fish and their eggs. As delectable as they are I was
not tempted to enjoy this guy for lunch.
Dear Miss Mermaid says "Good grief! What on earth did you spear him
with? An electric weenie fork?"  Not only do they pray
for fish but they prey on them too wiping out native species. They have no known
natural enemies, (other than humans.)
There is some mighty fine eating to be had from these big bad fish...
(Not to be confused with Dear Miss Mermaid who is only a half-fish)
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- Holy Grouper!
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sun, 20 Nov 2011 16:48:52 -0500 (EST)
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From our guest mermaid on Tortola:
Good afternoon from rainy,
sunny, rainy, sunny, rainy, sunny Tortola. Hard to make plans in this
weather. This is not the liquid sunshine type of rain that we normally get
in the afternoon, this is the heavens open upon us and drench us
rain. Lasts about 15 minutes then dissipates and the sun comes out just to fool
us again in another hour.
So holy grouper !! Guess whats for dinner tonight ? This
big ole grouper was just delivered by fishing boat to the chef here at the
marina restaurant. Talk about fresh. Move over and save me a place
at the table. Yum.
What a great pic! Thanks for sharing!
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- Sunny Saturday
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Sat, 19 Nov 2011 06:01:10 -0800 (PST)
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Good Saturday Morning,
What a lovely start to the weekend! Skies are bright blue with just a few smattering of puffy Caribbean clouds. Our Temperature is 82 degrees and winds are 7 mph out of the north. We have a 20% chance of rain today
so that might just mean another beach day for me.
Yesterday I took several friends to Smugglers Cove for the afternoon. There were several sailboats anchored for lunch but I have to say that the swells were making them rock and roll a bit. This is the first time that my friends had been to Smugglers Cove and were surprised at its beauty. They were also impressed with Long Bay Resort and it's complex. Long Bay beach was a bit too rough for this Mermaid, I'd rather float and soak my ankle than get bounced around by the swells, it being more open than Smugglers. At Smugglers Cove I showed my friends the old Honor Bar and the vehicle that the Queen road in during her 1966 visit it's really seen better days and there is not much left of it.
If you want to read more about this rather famous mishap visit please go to this link:
www.stjohnbeachguide.com/Queens_Lincoln.htm
There seems to be a slight change in the weather here, it's quite subtle but it's starting to feel like Christmas is approaching. I think with the winds up earlier in the week that is what is giving me this feeling. Christmas on Main Street is scheduled for Dec 2 and 3rd.
This weekend we have the National Parks Trust of the Virgin Islands celebrating 50 years of conservation. There is a flower show at J.R. O'Neal Botanic Gardens in Road Town, on Sunday November 20th from 12:30pm to 5:30pm. That is one event that I plan on attending.
Happy Saturday!!
Cheers!
the Mermaid Gardener
Good Saturday Morning,
What a lovely start to the weekend! Skies are bright blue with just a few smattering of puffy Caribbean clouds. Our Temperature is 82 degrees and winds are 7 mph out of the north. We have a 20% chance of rain today so that might just mean another beach day for me.
Yesterday I took several friends to Smugglers Cove for the afternoon. There were several sailboats anchored for lunch but I have to say that the swells were making them rock and roll a bit. This is the first time that my friends had been to Smugglers Cove and were surprised at its beauty. They were also impressed with Long Bay Resort and it's complex. Long Bay beach was a bit too rough for this Mermaid, I'd rather float and soak my ankle than get bounced around by the swells, it being more open than Smugglers. At Smugglers Cove I showed my friends the old Honor Bar and the vehicle that the Queen road in during her 1966 visit it's really seen better days and there is not much left of it.
If you want to read more about this rather famous and mishap visit please go to this link:
www.stjohnbeachguide.com/Queens_Lincoln.htm
There seems to be a slight change in the weather here, it's quite subtle but it's starting to feel like Christmas is approaching. I think with the winds up earlier in the week that is what is giving me this feeling. Christmas on Main Street is scheduled for Dec 2 and 3rd.
This weekend we have the National Parks Trust of the Virgin Islands celebrating 50 years of conservation. There is a flower show at J.R. O'Neal Botanic Gardens in Road Town, on Sunday November 20th from 12:30pm to 5:30pm. That is one event that I plan on attending.
Happy Saturday!!
Cheers!
the Mermaid Gardener
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- Magical sparkles in the water!
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2011 17:20:52 -0800 (PST)
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Good Evening
It's currently 81 degrees tonight with winds out of the East at about 10 mph. It was rather gusty earlier today with 3-4 foot swells out on Sir Francis Drake channel.
This weekend was wonderful to get away, prop my sore ankle up and look out over a serene bay at Norman. I was in no shape to snorkel much nor take a hike but I worked on my watercolor art and read a really good book. My friends and I had a great time just limin away the weekend.
One of the
highlights of the weekend was that we were able to see the marine phosphorescence in the water late at night. My friends took the dingy out and were buzzing around the boat and we could see the glow in the dark trail following them in their dingy wake. Way too cool!!! Sort of like the dingy had jet propulsion.
The last time I saw marine phosphorescence was a couple of years ago in August over by the airport at Beef island. One friend this weekend even recalled flushing the head late at night in years past and seeing the marine phosphorescence stirred up and create this glow in the water beside the boat.
The ones we saw at Norman this weekend were bright blue and green, they just sparkled in the water. Wish I could have gotten a picture but it
was way to dark for my camera to catch anything like that.
So it will be forever etched in my memory, just another wonderful weekend here in Tortola.
For those of you who are planning to come down, it seems that the season is picking up now and there are more sail boats out. The restaurants are now open and just waiting for those of you who will be visiting our shores soon.
Cheers from this memorized by the marine phosphorescence! Mermaid Gardener
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- Warming up this afternoon!
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2011 09:19:43 -0800 (PST)
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Good Afternoon,
I can see that my computer expertise is lacking on my last posting, you got to pick from the pretty in pink mermaid
posting or the rather drab colored posting. Take your pick!!
Ran into Riteway to pick up some provisions, going to try to escape the island with friends and become a princess mermaid for the weekend, staying off my ankle while others do all the work. Hum I like that idea!
Cheers!!
the (Princess) Mermaid Gardener
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- Going at a snails pace!
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2011 05:00:30 -0800 (PST)
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Good Morning,
Glad to see Wayward is back down here sailing.
Always is nice to get a different perspective, sailing view, garden view. I've been off my ankle most of yesterday and will remain off it today. Nothing like not being able to do much but sit back and read a book, or do water colors. Ha ha no complaints from this mermaid, I'd rather be here in the BVI than up in the frozen tundra that is now I hear getting some snow!
Yesterday was hot with a fair amount of wind and the sun was out! My gardens loved the rain from earlier in the week and are now starting to pop with color plus the island is quite green and lush. I snapped a picture of one of the volunteers that has sprung up in my garden, however, I have my suspicions that my gardener planted some seeds to surprise me.
Today is going to be another hot day, winds are light and Sir Francis Drake channel is somewhat flat. Folks are out sailing but not getting anywhere too fast. But hey, when you are down here sailing you really want to kick back and have the world go at a snails pace.
A snails pace is good for everyone sailors and those of us land lovers. Right outside my office window I have a hummingbird feeder and I see that I have several Bananquet's visiting the nectar! I just love nature with it's ever changing face.
Cheers from a recovering
Mermaid Gardener
Good Morning, Glad to see Wayward is back down here and sailing. Always is nice to get a different perspective, sailing view, garden view. I've been off my ankle most of yesterday and will remain off it today. Nothing like not being able to do much but sit back and read a book, or do water colors. Ha ha no complaints from this mermaid, I'd rather be here in the BVI than up in the frozen tundra that is now I hear getting some snow!
Yesterday was hot with a fair amount of wind and the sun was out! My gardens loved the rain from earlier in the week. They are starting to pop with color and the island is quite green. I snapped a picture of one of the volunteers that has sprung up in my garden, however, I have my suspicions that my gardener planted some seeds to surprise me.
Today is going to be another hot day, winds are light and Sir Francis Drake channel is somewhat flat. Folks are out sailing but not getting anywhere too fast. But hey, when you are down here sailing you really want to kick back and have the world go at a snails pace. Right outside my office window I have a hummingbird feeder and I see that I have several Banaquett's visiting the nectar! I just love nature with it ever changing face.
Cheers from a recovering Mermaid Gardener 
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- Return of Da Wayard Sailor
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- By Da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at aol.com>
- Date: Thu, 10 Nov 2011 12:58:05 -0500 (EST)
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Small craft should exercise caution
South southeast winds 9 to 14 knots. Seas 4 to 6 feet in north northeast swells. Scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms. High of about 88 today except in da Wayward Sailors boat as he works on cleaning it up... Heat Index is over 93 and over 99 in da subject boat. Chance of rain is 70% and since we already had a heavy dose about 9am this seems to be correct. Southeast winds 10 to 14 knots but I'm sure I ran across higher on my passage from Little Harbour Peter Island to Fat Hogs Bay East End today.
Seas are stated as being 4 to 6 feet in Northeast Swells..... but in the Sir Francis Drake Channel this AM they were Southeast and ran about the same when you were between the sheltering islands. Had a few break over by Starboard side and got me wet.... on more than a few occasions on my passage up the channel this AM. Wonder what the Pillsbury Sound (between St John and St Thomas USVI) is like today??? It normally has both the, Atlantic and Caribbean conditions mixing as you pass through... was probably a real mess again!!!! I passed one poor boat from one of the major charter companies with what appears to have been a woman screaming, Get me OFF this XX#$&$## Boat, I want to go home!!! Well it probably was not the conditions shown on most of the charter ads.... but the "skipper" was close hauled running down wind.... boat was tilted about 45 degrees then as it was over powered, swung violently into the wind at more than 90 degrees of the intended forward motion...... heck... I would have probably wanted off that boat!!!!
On the way over Tuesday is was a totally different story... seas were so flat you could have shaved in the reflection!. I could see my wake for more than 2 miles almost undisturbed!! as I motored down to the western end of Peter Island to visit friends who were anchored in Little Harbour.
It has been really wet this week. I had just filled my water tanks and didn't need any... It would have been a great time to fill them and I'm sure those ashore with cisterns, really love the opportunity to fill the reserves, but as always, when we have a lot of rain, we have problems with slides and road damage and often some local flooding.
Sorry, no Photos of today's activities.... didn't have the camera in the cockpit due to the wet nature of the expected trip!
I've actually been on da island for more than a week but have been spending time getting da boat ready and ashore for major holiday activities... Halloween.... Also like to read da inputs from dem mermaids but feel like a bit of Tistrostagan may be needed every once in a while... .
I do have some photos of the latest attempt to use the Traffic Lights from the roundabout in Road Town.... but that is for another day.
Later
Wayward.
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- Rain, thunder and rock slides!
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Wed, 9 Nov 2011 15:31:09 -0800 (PST)
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Good Evening!
Last night was pretty wet, I figured that we probably received about 3-4" of rain. I had ran into Riteway around 5:00pm to pick up a few things for lunch with my art group, by the time I got out of there the sky was dark and I knew it was time to get HOME!! As I drove home the rain came down and it was starting to flood the roads. (We have had a fair amount of rain lately and it's not surprising that the ground is saturated) There were rocks and mud running down the roads. I was astonished at how much water was running down my road, and it ran fast! Got back up here and sighed "Whew"! There was plenty of rain and thunder, it sounded as if the gods were bowling throughout the night!!
This morning it continued to rain and mist, but by 9:30am the weather settled down enough for me to head to art. I did see several rock slides between east end and the college. Some rather huge rocks came rolling down the hills over night. It was a lovely day to do watercolor inside, hear the rain and not have to worry about getting wet until after lunch. I did something silly today and hope that I won't pay for it. 
I wore my flip flops out when I drove to meet up with my art friends, but when we were all finished painting I ended up flip flopping down 4 steps on some very wet and slippery wood stairs and then caught myself.
NOT good!!
Note to self: no
wearing flip flops when it's raining out, we have too many places that have slippery painted wood and ceramic tile! I think my ankle is okay, I've got a few sore muscles from catching myself and my ankle is not dramatically swollen. I ended up driving home just fine, but felt that maybe a painkiller would be in order.....hum....stopped at Charlie T's for one painkiller. I even talked the bartender into giving me a small bag of ice for my ankle as I sat there nursing my bruises, it seemed that the ice and painkiller helped brighten my spirits.
My foot is elevated while I type and I can tell that I'll probably feel a few sore muscles in the morning. Tomorrow I'm going to go through my shoes and pick out ones that are more appropriate to this rainy weather.
Sore ankle cheers! the Mermaid
Gardener
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- Soggy, Wet, Messy
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 9 Nov 2011 13:37:09 -0500 (EST)
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From our guest mermaid:
Last night:
Wowza !! Didn't see this coming. Pouring down rain like I've
never seen. Thunder and lightening and non-stop heavy rain. Should have
known something was up, it was soooo hot and still all day. At about
5 :00 then the sky turned an eerie color of hmmm, gray, purple, black and
then BLACK. Couldn't see in fromt of my face !!!
Cudos to the new government and how quicly they work, We haven't lost any
electricity in this storm !!Ah ha ha ha !!! Amazing
This monring"
It is STILL raining here with intermittent thunder and lightening and we
are under a flash flood watch until late this evening. Gosh if I'm going to be
this soggy, I'd rather be at the Soggy Dollar bar sipping on a painkiller ,
in the rain, in my bathing suit ! Oddly enough we have not lost
electricity during these past few stormy days.
!! Sometimes I like the challenge of no electricity. Gives me
a chance to fire up the ole barbie , light some scented candles and crack
open some vino. Maybe play some cards and who knows what else. You know
alot of babies have been conceived in blackouts 
Har har har!
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- Feels like August!
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Tue, 8 Nov 2011 12:16:59 -0800 (PST)
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Good afternoon,
Even though we have Tropical storm Sean out there north of us and it's November, today it feels like August. No wind the gods have sucked the wind right out of us. Seas are flat!! and the only thing that sailors are doing is swatting mosquito's, and motor sailing! OMG there was a small cool breeze that just came through my window, not enough to cool me off but enough to just momentarily having me feel cool.
Last night was quiet as far as the weather but the big hoopla was around midnight when car processionals honking their horns went all the way up to East End, to the airport and back down to West End, they were celebrating the winners of the election from yesterday. I found out that Dr. Orlando Smiths party won, and Dancia Penn did
not win her precinct. The others have not been reported in the local newspapers as of yet. I do not watch tv down here so I rely upon the internet for my news and so far they have not listed all the winners.
I was tired this morning since throughout the wee hours of the night all I could hear was the processional of cars honking.
Tonight I'll sleep well unless this heat keeps up then I'll sweat and sleep.
Cheers!!
the Mermaid Gardener |
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- Subtropical Storm Sean
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Tue, 8 Nov 2011 08:48:55 -0500 (EST)
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Unbelievable! We have the newly named Sean located
southwest of Bermuda and north of the Bahamas. The storm is staionary, with a
view towards starting some movement late tonight or tomorrow. The general
thinking is Sean will drift westward or northwestward.
That leaves a lot of leeway for what Sean may do next.
Thankfully he only has winds of 45mph.
The subtropics are the geographical and climatical zone of the
Earth immediately north and south of the tropical zone, which is bounded by the
Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, at latitudes 23.5°N and 23.5°S.
The term "subtropical" describes the climatic region found adjacent to the
tropics, usually between 23.5 and 40 degrees of latitude in both
hemispheres.
Still we have 22 days of hurricane season left. I guess Sean
wanted to sneak in at the last minute.
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- Unsettled start to voting day!
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Mon, 7 Nov 2011 12:36:51 -0800 (PST)
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Good Afternoon,
This morning some disturbed weather slowly moved in from the
south east. The clouds didn't know which way they wanted to float on by,
looked as if the lower level winds were wanting to go pretty much north west,
however the upper level winds were going straight west. Interesting to watch
how the clouds were zig zagging. East End did get a little rain, however as you
went west there was not a drop to be found. I suspect that earlier in the
morning St. John got a bit rain.
Today is also the end to this years campaigning for
office here in the BVI. For the last two evenings there has been a processional
of cars with lights flashing, honking horns, very loud music, and banners for
the individual parties that are running. As I passed one of the polling places
early this morning there was quite the line to cast your vote. I've heard that
it's generally only 6,000 out of 8,000 people whom are belongers and have the
right to vote, will cast votes even though our population is around 24,000.
Only belongers are allowed to cast their vote. Which will it be the party in
office that will win or will it be a new party that will govern Tortola?
I'll keep you posted on the political
outcome.
Cheers,
the Mermaid Gardener
Good Afternoon,
This morning some disturbed weather slowly moved in from the
south east. The clouds didn't know which way they wanted to float on by,
looked as if the lower level winds were wanting to go pretty much north west,
however the upper level winds were going straight west. Interesting to watch
how the clouds were zig zagging. East End did get a little rain, however as you
went west there was not a drop to be found. I suspect that earlier in the
morning St. John got a bit rain.
Today is also the end to this years campaigning for
office here in the BVI. For the last two evenings there has been a processional
of cars with lights flashing, honking horns, very loud music, and banners for
the individual parties that are running. As I passed one of the polling places
early this morning there was quite the line to cast your vote. I've heard that
it's generally only 6,000 out of 8,000 people whom are belongers and have the
right to vote, will cast votes even though our population is around 24,000.
Only belongers are allowed to cast their vote. Which will it be the party in
office that will win or will it be a new party that will govern Tortola?
I'll keep you posted on the political
outcome.
Cheers,
the Mermaid Gardener
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- quiet but beautiful!
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Mon, 7 Nov 2011 14:45:11 -0500 (EST)
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Good morning from calm, still ,quiet Tortola. There is not
even a ripple in the water. Looks like some serious clouds hovering over St.
Johns Island and it's a tad cloudy here on the East End, but no rain , yet.
Today is Election day here on Tortola so rain might detract voters from getting
out to vote and they NEED every single vote as it might be a close contest
between the ruling party and the 24 odd independent nominees. We had a
lovely motor sail to Cooper Island yesterday. No wind to speak of, but despite
that, there were quite a few other sailors out. Lunch and a swim at
Cooper Island is always a joy and the staff there are lovely. The attached
picture is of a very quiet East End Long Bay beach.
Of course there is that blob of gale force winds associted
with a disturbance just off of Bermuda, no threats to the BVI at this time, but
hurricane season has 23 days left in it.
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- Rain rain and more rain
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Fri, 4 Nov 2011 04:45:51 -0700 (PDT)
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Good Morning,
Yesterday was pretty much a wash out and it was not my laundry. The rain did break a little in the afternoon and it was dry enough for me to enjoy a little time out on my patio plus do some odds and ends around my house.
If you remember I had such good intentions of cleaning out my Master Suite office in the afternoon, well I had an
eye problem!!
......just couldn't see doing it!!! Ha Ha! 
I know that was bad but by not doing that I was able to enjoy unexpected company for lunch.
My visitor was a stealthy guy, at first I didn't know that he was going to come and join me for lunch. It became evident that he enjoyed the dry area out on my patio and laid out to dry after having become water logged with all the rain. He didn't ask for any of my lunch but he did stick his tongue out at me several times wondering what I was eating. He and I sat stayed out on the patio until he decided that my lunch was not what he was hungry for. Off he slithered away in to the ficus tree. I know that he will be out hunting again for some good vittles for himself obviously Asian food was not what he was hungry
for!!
Today will be another rainy day again. Checked to radar and it's quite messy south of us in St. Croix and it seems to be feeding up to us. I suspect that this rain will be here for most of the day again. Not many boat out sailing, seas are flat, so motor sailing will be the order for the day. Guess it will be another day of house chores, or maybe cleaning my office, unless I have eye problems again!!!
Cheers!
a soggy Mermaid Gardener
Good
Morning,
Yesterday was pretty much a wash out and it was not my laundry. The rain did break a little in the afternoon and it was dry enough for me to head down to Charlie T's for some take out for dinner.
If you remember I had such good intentions of cleaning out my Master Suite office in the afternoon, well I had an eye problem!!
......just couldn't see doing it!!! Ha Ha!
I know that was bad but by not doing that I was able to enjoy unexpected company for lunch. My visitor was a stealthy guy, at first I didn't know that he was going to come and join me for lunch. It became evident that he enjoyed the dry area out on my patio and laid out to dry after having become water logged with all the rain. He didn't ask for any of my lunch but he did stick his tongue out at me several times wondering what I was eating. He and I sat stayed out on the patio until he decided that my lunch was not what he was hungry for. Off he slithered away in to the ficus tree. I know that he will be out hunting again for some good vittles for himself obviously Asian food was not what he was hungry for!!
Today will be another rainy day again. Checked to radar and it's quite messy south of
us in St. Croix and it seems to be feeding up to us. I suspect that this rain will be here for most of the day again. Not many boat out sailing, seas are flat, so motor sailing will be the order for the day. Guess it will be another day of house chores, or maybe cleaning my office, unless I have eye problems again!!!
Cheers!
a soggy Mermaid Gardener
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- Soggy Daze
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 3 Nov 2011 22:45:56 -0400 (EDT)
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Good soggy morning from Tortola. It's raining, it's pouring, and this
old lady ain't snoring, she's mopping and mopping some more.These are the kind
of rains where it takes DAYS to dry out, even when it's not raining. My
handy dandy weather station says we have had over two inches of rain in
the last 24 hrs, and it's still coming down in buckets. Guess I'll tuck in
for the day and rearrange my bookshelves or something. Might even try to catch
that "mouse" I saw in my kitchen last night. And then have a talk with that
worthless cat of mine. 
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- Rain, Thunder Lightening and more!!
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Thu, 3 Nov 2011 07:15:57 -0700 (PDT)
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Good Morning,
What a night and morning! Last night there was lightening right out front near Buck island, numerous lightening bolts over by Virgin Gorda. The rain was hard and driving. Again, this morning we had rain coming down, and it was like night out. One friend of mine
called and said to her it looked like winter in New York, she is originally from St. Kitt's and has family in New York. I told her to me it almost looked like night time with fog the rain was so thick. It's still gently raining now and I've canceled a lunch date in Road Town, Just have no desire to travel on these wet roads and chance an avalanche or road wash out. Lunch can wait for another day. I'm planning on catching up on cleaning my master suite office out, time to purge and free myself of so many needless items. I donate many of my tings to the Red Cross, it really goes to a good cause.
Going to close and maybe just take a nap instead of cleaning the office....hum that might be a plan later this afternoon too...a nap that is!!
Cheers!
a Wet Mermaid Gardener
Good Morning,
What a night and morning! Last night there was lightening right out front near Buck island, numerous lightening bolts over by Virgin Gorda. The rain was hard and driving. Again, this morning we had rain coming down, and it was like night out. One friend of mine called and said to her it looked like winter in New York, she is originally from St. Kitt's and has family in New York. I told her to me it almost looked like night time with fog the rain was so thick. It's still gently raining now and I've canceled a lunch date in Road Town, Just have no desire to travel on these wet roads and chance an avalanche or road wash out. Lunch can wait for another day. I'm
planning on catching up on cleaning my master suite office out, time to purge and free myself of so many needless items. I donate many of my htings to the Red Cross, it really goes to a good cause.
Going to close and maybe just take a nap instead of cleaning the office....hum that might be a plan later this afternoon too...a nap that is!!
Cheers!
a Wet Mermaid Gardener
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- Yowza! Thunder and lightening! Oh my!
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 3 Nov 2011 06:12:23 -0400 (EDT)
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Dear Miss Mermaid,
Well what an evening it has been. We had a good ole storm blow through
at about 4 this afternoon with thunder and lightening and driving rains blowing
in from the northwest. One lightening flash and concurrent thunder clap had me
and my poor little kity cat jump about 5 ft. off my couch. Wow it
was close. Too close. Tonight I am watching beautiful
lightening displays in the distance thank goodness and possibly over
St. John. The BvI disaster management has sent out high surf warnings for
the north side of the island. Yellow flags are flying at Trunk Bay, and Brewers
Bay, to name a few. Storm conditions are expected to continue throughout tonight
and into tomorrow morning.
I personally am going to go brave the elements, sit on my
balconey for the show and enjoy a nice glas of vino. Oops wait maybe
not, storm is moving in ? I'll keep you posted. Yowza
!
From the Guest Mermaid |
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- Stormy afternoon
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Wed, 2 Nov 2011 15:08:45 -0700 (PDT)
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Thunder lightening and rain were what was in store for us this
afternoon. Several very loud claps of thunder and brilliant lightening
could be seen from my balcony right out by Buck Island. That's a bit
close for me. I skooted inside once I saw the first bolt of lightening.
Here's a couple of pictures of the late afternoon storm that rolled in.
the Mermaid Gardener
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- 28 more days of Hurricane Season
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 2 Nov 2011 12:38:10 -0400 (EDT)
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Dear Miss Mermaid.
This morning we are under cloudy skies with intermittent rain showers. We
continue to be blessed with good weather though but I have to tell you how very
surprised I was to see back to back tornado formations that dropped from
the clouds on the horizon about a mile away from where I was spotting
them. Wow !!! If I had seen that in my home state of Illinois I
would be hightailing it down to the basement. They are apparently not as
dangerous on water ( water spouts ) as they are on land but I don't think I'd
want to sail through one ?
Sorry I didn't get a picture of the water spouts but I did
get a picture of our sail around the back side of Peter Island.
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- Pumpkin colored sunrise
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Wed, 2 Nov 2011 03:32:38 -0700 (PDT)
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Here's this mornings Pumpkin colored sunrise.
The Mermaid Gardener
Here's this mornings Pumpkin colored sunrise.
The Mer
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- Pumpkin colored sunrise
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Wed, 2 Nov 2011 03:24:33 -0700 (PDT)
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Good Morning,
Halloween festivities were spooky and scary on Monday
night. We had pirates,
pirate girls, Neptune, a belly dancer, silver horned goblins, and a
queen Bee. Drinks included Voodoo punch and other adult libations.
Trick or treat bags lined the table filled with Halloween candy and
there where skeletons hanging from the ceiling. Everyone enjoyed
Halloween in Tortola.
Halloween eve gave way to a beautiful sunrise yesterday as well as today. There
were no smashed pumpkins in the street nor candy that little ghosts and
goblins may have lost in their trick or treating. Honestly the only
trick or treating that does go on here is over at Cedar School. Tortola
has not caught the Halloween bug yet. Our temperature today was in the
mid 80's, no showers were on the horizon, and winds were dying down as
well. Last evening the winds are light 5 mph out of the east southeast.
Today looks to be another stellar day here.
Cheers!
the Mermaid Gardener
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- Was that a witch I just saw?
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Mon, 31 Oct 2011 05:43:17 -0700 (PDT)
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Good morning and Happy Halloween!
Today is starting out to be windy again, those ghosts and goblins will
have a breezy night trick or treating, even the witches will have to
watch their broomstick controls and not fly into Sage Mountain or Beef island. Sir
Francis Drake Channel is choppy and not many sailboats are out. It's
currently 84 degrees and the winds are 18 mph out of the east
southeast. Looks like we are expecting a warm day near 90 degrees.
That will be a hot one for Halloween.
Last year at Halloween I was able to find a painted pumpkin at Riteway,
well there are none to be found this year, however, I saw some kids Halloween costumes at Riteway!! I brought my costume down from the
states knowing that I would not find anything here on island in a way of
a costume so I'm set for this evening. I'll be celebrating a scary
Halloween down at Peg Legs with friends, but having no carved pumpkin to
bring along.
Will keep a keen eye out for any pirates, or vampires down at Peg
Legs....they seem to come out at this time of year, gosh is it a full
moon tonight?
Cheery Halloween wishes to all,
the Mermaid Gardener
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- 32 days left of hurricane season
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sun, 30 Oct 2011 20:12:39 -0400 (EDT)
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Great weather and nothing to fear, hurricane season is almost
over!
From our guest mermaid
Happy Halloween Monday. !
Though they don't really celebrate Halloween on Tortola, there are
isolated costume parties and other events at some venues and privately .. We had
a Halloween and costume party last year and I was amazed at the creativity of
the costumes. Apparently our friends have waaaaaay too much creative
thinking time on their hands. One couple came as castaways , a la Tom Hanks
in " Castaway " . They wore torn shirts , she in a ragged grass
skirt , he in torn shorts. They bore "sunburns" and seaweed draped
around their heads. An d of course they carried a somewhat deflated soccer
ball.. Very funny !!! Me thinks everyone was into the rum a
tad before they all arrived. Another friend arrived as a "sand
dollar" Okay now YOU"LLl need a drop of rum as you try to
follow this. He wore a dollar bill glued to sand
paper on his forehead His wife came as "Queen Cocnh " She wore a crown
and a conch shell neclkace !! We had many great pirates and a
"Goldfinger" . Spray painted one finger in gold
!! Pass the rum NOW, please !
"It was a dark and stormy night " Photo attached.
Pic of Hurricane Earl as he blew through last year.
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- Penn's Landing Pain Killer throw down
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Sun, 30 Oct 2011 15:45:13 -0700 (PDT)
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Had a great weekend, starting with
a Pain Killer throw down over at Penn's Landing. All of the boats that
where either at the dock or moored on a ball were invited for a Pain Killer
throw down, there were 2 master Pain Killer sailor wench chefs, that created
their individual beverages and brought them out on the dock for the rest of us
to judge. 
The glasses were marked with a #1
or #2 on the bottom of the glass and we sipped the smooth drinks, conversing
between about 10 of us trying to figure out just why one tasted slightly
different than the other. But we were told that each sailing wench chef
had their very own secret ingredient. There was popcorn to cleanse our
pallet and one of the sailors brought out their small sailing boom box.
The chefs had requested Island music, like Jimmy Buffet and our sailor with the
mini boom box helped the entire evening with Jimmy Buffet as background music.
All of us were having a difficult
time deciding upon which of the two sailing wench chefs had the better Pain
Killer, after several freshen up's all around for the judges, we had a
raising of hands as to which one had the best Pain Killer. Wouldn't you
know it, it was a dead heat!!! They both won and neither would discuss their
secret ingredient, however one seemed to have a splash of rum right on the top
with the nutmeg. 
Here's to another fun weekend in
Tortola, where it was 88 degrees today winds East Northwest.....oops meant
Northeast 13-17 knots...(maybe I need a Pain Killer to get it right!) a
few scattered showers and no snow or nor'easter.
Hope those folks dig out and come
down here to thaw out!!!
Cheers!!!
the Mermaid Gardener
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- Nice evening here in BVI
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Sat, 29 Oct 2011 14:44:01 -0700 (PDT)
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Good Evening
It was such a pleasant day here, it
started out with several showers, one that did fill my cistern up and will help
with the dry season ahead of us. This morning drove into Road Town to pick up a
few things over at Medicure pharmacy, and then of course I hit the bakery for
one of their really good, egg muffin sandwiches with plenty of bacon on it.
Yummy!! Road Town seemed to be quite busy and bustling in and around Bobby's.
I ended up checking it out and Bolo's must have been having a huge sale. Out in
front of Bolo's in the parking lot was a huge tent erected and filled with all
sorts of goodies.
I didn't find anything that was
that spectacular, however I did see a large container of laundry detergent for
$16.00, that seemed to be good deal. For some reason laundry detergent is one
of those spendy items here on the island. Maybe there is some huge tariff or
they have just jacked up the price of the stuff. Everyone needs laundry
detergent so they can pretty much charge what they feel.
Walking back to my car I did stop
off a purchase a sugar cane candy thing....sort of like a praline with nuts in
it. If you purchased anything they were asking for a donation. I was curious
and asked what I was donating towards...they said it was for the track team.
They were collecting donations for their travel expenses on their away games. I
thought not only did the praline look yummy but the donation went to a good
cause.
The evening is starting out quite
pleasant. 84 degrees, wind is 10 miles out of the south east, and we have about
a 50% chance of showers tonight. Seas are 4-6 feet.
Enjoy your evening!!
the Mermaid Gardener
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- Flamingos
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sat, 29 Oct 2011 13:28:22 -0400 (EDT)
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WOW! our guest mermaid
really has some fantastic photos of the BVI! And yes those are real flamingos,
not lawn ornaments. I love their backward knees, they are oh so cool
birds.
Good Saturday sunny
morning. It's a lovely day here. Nice warm gentle breeze, and ideal
sailing conditions. Or for land lubbers great day for the beach, a walk on Sage
Mountain or a hike to some of the salt ponds where you will likely
encounter these fabulous flamingos.
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- Toot dem horns! Vote for Me!
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Fri, 28 Oct 2011 19:55:44 -0400 (EDT)
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Oh my gadda, Anegada! Another post from our guest
mermaid:
Tings are beginning to heat
up here on da island mon. No not the temperature but the upcoming elections.
There are a record 43 candidates running in the November 7th elections and
the joke is that that's 3 more than there are eligible voters. Just
kidding mon but you do have to be a belonger to vote. Seems
that every night there are political rally's on every feasible street
corner, with tents, balloons , bands, and horns . Cars with
party signs, blaring speeches and music, parade through the streets.
The biggest tell tale sign that elections were upon us was that
suddenly pot holes were fixed, litter picked up, overgrowth trimmed away
and beautiful landscaping is now adorning the land immediately after the Beef
Island bridge. No further comment. Lets hope the next leader can
find an answer to the still non-operating multi million dollar hospital and
other serious matters. Good planning please, unlike the unfortunate soul
who wanted to have beach front property to rent on Anegada, but didn't
plan on natural beach erosion. Photo above!
OOPS!
Meanwhile the weather is GORGEOUS!
Vote for Dear Miss Mermaid!
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- Wahoo and not the Fish!!!
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Thu, 27 Oct 2011 14:12:59 -0700 (PDT)
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Wahoo and not the fish!!
It's great to back on island have been here for a few
days trying to do clean up chores! Can't believe how good it feels here having
left fly over country now that fall is well on it's way in the Midwest. I must
say that the island is extremely green and that my gardens are looking lush! I
have some new plants that have found their way into my gardens in addition to
some volunteers a.k.a. weeds. Will be working on eradicating those weeds. This
trip down came through St. Thomas, it's been a while since I've done that route
to get to Tortola. Normally I like the quick easy shot of flying right into
Beef Island but change is good. The ferry ride over from St. Thomas was quick
and speedy on Speedy's Ferry service in addition all my luggage made it over
with me just fine, nothing lost or broken. Still amazes me that I bring down a
full suitcase full of stuff for while I'm down here. This trip had quite a bit
of Halloween candy....I'm just too reluctant to purchase the Halloween candy
here, you never know if it's from last year and they just pulled it out for this
year! Now that's scarry!!! In fact I broke open one of the bags of candy, as I
type I'm having my favorite candy typing while I'm sailing.....Twizzlers red
licorice, gosh do I love that stuff. But this mermaid needs to exercise
control or otherwise she's going to have to swim a whole bunch of laps in the
Sir Frances Drake channel. Red licorice is great while sailing, I used to purchase the largest bag possible, and pack that in with my sailing gear. It's easy to eat
and it gives you a boost of energy, not like chocolate that would leave the sailboat steering wheel quite messy!!! I say everyone should eat more
licorice no clean ups needed, and save the chocolate for a nice treat after dinner with an adult beverage or hot tea.
I’m off to a party tonight, going to catch up with some
friends. Will post again soon.
OBTW the weather is lovely, warm, small passing
showers, with puffy clouds, and winds are probably at 12-14kts. Not too bad for
the Mermaid Gardener!!
Cheers!!
The Mermaid Gardener
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- Thirst Day in the BVI
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 27 Oct 2011 12:08:18 -0400 (EDT)
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Good morning on this , another fabulous day.
Hmmm, planning out my day. I think a little beach combing is in order. Should I
go to my secret spot and collect colorful yellow, purple and and orange sea fans
that have washed ashore ? ( I use them as decorative place mats for dinner
parties ) Or should I hunt for large sea urchins that I use for
candles. Or maybe I'll just hunt for washed up finds like boat cushions, kayak
paddles, all sorts of little goodies that can be then contributed to the VISAR
fundraising sale , November 26th. While I'm at it I think I'll clean
up the beach of other debris; plastic water bottles, a shoe or two, more
plastic water bottles, wine bottles, sunscreen tubes, and on and on
Gotta watch out for those jellyfish washed ashore
!! But my aren't they beautiful ?!!
The above is from our guest Mermaid, a big THANK YOU for
your valuable time and help and pictures!
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- Winds Day in the BVI
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 26 Oct 2011 15:50:22 -0400 (EDT)
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From our guest mermaid:
Just another beautiful day here in paradise. Miles and smiles of sunshine,
warm tropical breezes , a few early morning showers to wake you gently from your
sleep. Ahh. Life is good. 
I decided I am going to call Tortola Penny
Island. . Everywhere I walk I find loose change lying about on the
streets. Nickles, dimes, quarters but mostly pennies. I think in the
past month or two I have earned over $ 4.00 . When I was young I loved finding
money which went right to the candy store with me. Well, I was telling a friend
of mine about this little phenomena and she said she also picks up lots of loose
change and when well collected takes it to the local animal shelter ! Bingo. Great plan. The shelter here relies solely on donations to keep it
going so I am more than happy to forgo the candy and hand my loot over to a
great cause. An unhappy bit of news about the shelter came out today.
Seems that they have lost their land to a developer and have until this December
to find a new spot of land, and until 2012 to move the animals ( or PUT THEM
DOWN ).
Government has not
been helpful in the past and probably won't help in this matter either, so the
call has gone out all over the island on Facebook, and BVI news, etc. etc. for a
call for help from the private sector.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oh my gosh, that is really sad about the
animal shelter!
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- Comfortable on Tortola and Anegada
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Tue, 25 Oct 2011 12:43:04 -0400 (EDT)
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Another wonderful post from a guest mermaid below.
Good mid morning from East End Tortola. We had a good
drenching rain early this morning and are now under hazy skies with a
comfortable temp. of 85 degrees. Things are picking back up around the
island. Restaurants are re-opening and the marinas are busy as the early "snow
birds" are coming back. American Eagle has cut back on some of their
flights from San Juan to Tortola making for some very long connection times
in San Juan. Rumor has it that American might try to sell off their
American Eagle operation. I don't know if that will be good or bad for all of us
traveling around the Caribbean. In the mean time Cape Air has added flights to
their San Juan - Tortola route and of course increased their fares. So the
talk around the island continues to focus on expanding the Beef Island runway .
This would allow for direct jet access from The States and Europe. I can't
imagine Beef Island turning into an "International airport" Oh the noise
!!! And how are those big ole jets going to maneuver around
the hills when they need a long straight run in for their
approach. Huh ? Huh ?
The picture is a lovely sunset on Anegada taken a few days ago.
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- Oh My Gadda, Anegada!
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Mon, 24 Oct 2011 20:11:32 -0400 (EDT)
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Dear Miss Mermaid,
Still experiencing the most beautiful
weather here in Tortola, and not a threat looming anywhere near us. Can we
possibly make it to the end of hurricane season without a blow ? Did
I just jinx us by even mentioning it?
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- Another storm but nothing to worry about yet
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Mon, 24 Oct 2011 06:35:30 -0400 (EDT)
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Tropical Storm Rina is in the Gulf of Mexico. She is more or
less headed to Honduras. A disturbance is in the southerly Windward Islands.
Nothing much to worry about for the Virgin Islands at this time.
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- Saturdaze in the BVI
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sat, 22 Oct 2011 13:43:51 -0400 (EDT)
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Just another gorgeous day in paradise. Makes you want to catch
the next boat here!
Papaya is one of my favorite fruits. I love it juiced, plain
or as soup. The soup should be made 3-4 or more hours before serving and I am
going to share with you my top secret papaya soup recipe. It's great as an
appetizer before dinner or paired with a sandwich for a delightful
treat.
Chilled Papaya Soup
Peel
papaya and remove seedsChop into chunks
Toss papaya into blender with a juice
of a lime and a sprinkling of cinnamon & nutmeg
Whiz at high speed
until completely liquefied
*If too thick, you may add a splash of water
or juice (such as orange or mango)
Chill Soup thoroughly. If possible,
chill soup bowls before serving such as a few hours in fridge or 30
minutes in freezer.
When ready to serve soup, grab a small bunch of
parsley and chop finely, ladle soup into bowls, sprinkle with parsley,
garnish with yogurt (or sour cream).
*I like to garnish my
soup with a yogurt zig zag across the middle of the soup bowl or
write someone's name with the yogurt or if serving a tropical party, write the
"S" words such as "Swim, Surf, Sail, Snorkel, Ski, Sea, Sun, Sex,
etc."
To make a fast pastry bag for writing with yogurt, take a zip
lock baggy and snip off a teeny tiny bit of the corner, place yogurt in
baggy, zip up, and your yogurt pen is ready for writing. Practice on a
plate before writing in soup.
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- More to watch, the fat lady ain't sung yet
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Fri, 21 Oct 2011 13:45:49 -0400 (EDT)
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Still something to watch... a large area of disturbed
weather, a few hundred miles southeast of the Windward Islands, still unclear of
its intentions, whether honorable or not.
My book is finally out on Kindle!
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- Life in the islands
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 19 Oct 2011 23:18:27 -0400 (EDT)
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Dear Miss Mermaid,
It continues to be absolutely beautiful
here in the BVI. Warm sunny days in the 80's , light breezes, and
wonderfully warm clear blue water for swimming and snorkeling. Had a wonderful
sail yesterday over to Norman Island where we moored outside of Pirates Byte.
Drank champagne and ate home made chili on the boat. Toasted the beautiful
weather, great food and good friends. Swam in to shore to take a 15 minute
hike to the top of Norman Island and was there greeted with the most
stunning views . Also was surprised to find a heli-pad on the top,
but it looks like it has rarely been used.
Later back to the boat for more libations and a quick snorkle. Forgot
to take my earrings out before snorkeling, so if anyone is diving off of the
Byte will you PLEASE retrieve my gold dolphin earring that I watched sink to the
bottom in 30 ft. of water. Amazing how I could see it and not be able to
get it. Testament to how CLEAR the water is.
Pictures are from atop Norman Island.
Those are awesome pics! Thank you!
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- Another Gorgeous Day in Paradise
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2011 12:11:47 -0400 (EDT)
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Disorganized cloudiness and thunderstorms are in an area 1400
miles east of the Windward Islands. Something more to watch. One more hurrah.
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- Day 138 of hurricane Season
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sun, 16 Oct 2011 17:34:38 -0400 (EDT)
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Hi, really nice Caribbean morning here....few showers earlier
but everything looks as though it's been washed down fresh for the day
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- Gorgeous end of the day
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Fri, 14 Oct 2011 18:11:30 -0400 (EDT)
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Day is done, and this concludes another wonderful beatific day
in the Virgin Islands.
No storms, and soon, hurricane season will be officially
over!
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- Spectacular weather!
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 13 Oct 2011 13:12:07 -0400 (EDT)
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Our guest mermaid reports:
Good morning from beautiful Tortola. We are having absolutely
spectacular weather, and by saying that I hope I haven't jinxed the weather
gods. It is quite warm, in the high 80's but a little dip in the tranquil
waters soothes the heat. Why even the island critters know what to do to relieve
the heat . ( attached photo )
Speaking of island critters , there have been first ever
sightings of mule deer around Sage Mountain ! The assumption is that
they swam over from St. Johns where they are quite abundant.
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- From a Guest Mermaid
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Tue, 11 Oct 2011 12:51:14 -0400 (EDT)
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Just another absolutely stunning day here in Tortola. Mid 80's
, 14 knot winds, 4 ft. seas. Perfect ! Great sailing weather but
it's quiet !!! We took a lovely sailing trip out to Norman
Island and to the Willy T. today and maybe saw a total of 8 other boats on the
water on a Sunday !! Wow . I'm assuming it's still "off season" and not a sign
of the economy. Something to monitor this coming high season.
Have you ever seen the Willy T. so lonely ? Not a boat, nor
revelers on or around her. Still we enjoyed a great lunch of " honey
stung chicken " which I pine for when I'm off island. I usually
rationalize eating fried chicken there by swimming laps around the boat in
the beautiful crystal clear waters but they have taken the swim ladder
away to discourage "jumping off the ship " ha like that's going to
happen. So now it's impossible to get back up onto the dinghy dock and
hence back onto the Willy T. on your own.
I experienced this first hand not long ago as I made my swan dive
from the bar deck, swam my laps and got ready to re board only to
find that I couldn't pull myself up onto the high platform. Swam around to the
back off the boat and yelled up to my friends who all had their backs to the
water and me and were enjoying their drinks and dancing to the
pounding music which was drowning my calls out. I
paddled water for quite some time feeling very sorry for myself that
no one missed me . Finally a dinghy pulled in and I got a boost up from
some fine gentlemen. Drinks all around and all was right with the world again.
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- Beautiful Weather
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sun, 9 Oct 2011 07:53:17 -0400 (EDT)
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From Penns Landing Guest Mermaid:
The weather has been absolutely beautiful
here in Tortola. Temps in the 80's and nothing but blue skies and NOTHING out on
the big blue horizon to worry about. There are however clouds of a different
nature forming in the distance.
On the forefront is the proposed five star
resort, golf course and marina to be developed on Beef Island and
near the very eco-fragile Hans Creek area. I'll leave it up to you
to judge, but you can imagine the "sparring" between developer and the
environmentalists.
There is the very beginning rumbles of talk
about expanding the runway at the Beef Island airport to accommodate
larger passenger jets allowing for direct access to Tortola from
international destinations.
And GASP , if Beef Island is not a feasible option,
the idea of building an international airport on Anegada has been tossed around.
Now this is strictly rumblings but bears watching.
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- Day for the beach, neutral or natural!
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 5 Oct 2011 14:39:04 -0400 (EDT)
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Philippe is still a tropical storm, but no threat to the
British Virgin Islands at this time. He is out in the Atlantic, all by his
lonesome, save for some possible sailors who didn't check the weather, or don't
have the technology to. Yes, there are still folks running around the high seas,
with just a compass and a sextant.
More sailing with the
Swede by Dear Miss Mermaid:
The man from Sweden was a charter boat
captain. His passengers spoke English only, but the Swede was well
educated, or so he thought. But the English words neutral and natural gave
him trouble. He continually confused the two with each other and nothing
seemed to straighten him out.
I used to work as crew and chef with the
Swede. He often cracked me up laughing, if not startling the
passengers!
As we anchored, late one night, in the dark,
in an already crowded anchorage, he prepared to put the anchor down from the
bow, and yelled back to me at the wheel, in his loudest voice, "Put it in
NATURAL!"
It was pitch black in the harbor, way past
sunset, no moon, no stars, lots of clouds. You could barely see the
outlines of any boats, just vague shadows that only became apparent after a few
minutes of studying the darkness.
"Put it IN natural!" he yelled again,
as the boat glided smoothly further than the Swede wanted.
Other nearby sailors, must have wondered,
"Put WHAT in natural?" in the darkened harbor and we could hear assorted
laughter around the anchorage.
The Swede yelled "Put IT IN RIGHT!" meaning
for me to put the engine in gear and creep to starboard while he chose a
spot to drop the hook.
"Put IT IN NATURAL!" he yelled again
and I slid the lever to neutral, to even louder laughter from around the dark
and crowded cove. I don't think they could see him on the bow.
To let me know that he had put the anchor
down, he screamed "It IS IN!" triumphantly. As the gentle night breeze
pushed the boat aft, the anchors set firmly as the Swede cried "Good!
Good! Good!"
Throughout the harbor we could hear "It is
IN! It is IN! It is IN!" from a chorus of giggling and no doubt rum
inebriated sailors. The Swede pronounced the place a friendly harbor with
very good folks. Boy was he ever totally clueless.
Another time, we sailed early in the
morning to Solomon Beach, with a different group of passengers. For many,
many years, it had been a clothing optional beach. It is small and
secluded, can only be reached by boat or a lengthy hiking trail. People
from all walks of life tended to use the beach in the buff. But it was
still early, and only two naked men were on the beach, laying belly up, together
on one big towel on the sand, holding hands. The only adornment on their
bodies were sunglasses some very odd placed jewelry. (I won't go into
detail here, let's keep it family friendly...)
The Swede turns to the cockpit where only
the male passengers were lazing about, as the ladies were changing into bikinis
down below, and says "At this beach, you can go NEUTRAL!"
The two male passengers, looked at the
captain, looked at each other, looked at the men on the beach sharing a towel,
holding hands. Finally one passenger said "Where we come from, we don't call
THAT neutral!"
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- Another gorgeous day in paradise with typical scattered showers now and then
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Tue, 4 Oct 2011 16:01:46 -0400 (EDT)
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Tropical Storm Philippe is 666 miles from Bermuda.
Ophelia became a post tropical cyclone yesterday and has
technically been laid to rest. For the second time. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Washed up ashore in a wine bottle:
Dear Miss Mermaid,
I read an excerpt from your book and avidly enjoy your
insight from the islands on storm.carib, so today I ordered Hurricanes and
Hangovers. I hope it will be arrive in time for our return trip to St. Maarten.
If your commentary on the "traffic light" is anything
like the rest of the ironic, but absolutely diverse existences of the lifestyles
of mainland Americana and that of the "carpe diem" embraced farther
south--I know I will fully enjoy it thoroughly!
Please help us ward off any encrouching hurricanes-our
10th anniversary was completely disrailed last year by Thomas--please not
again!
Patty L.
Smyrna, TN
Dearest Patty,
I have checked my crystal ball. It's not going to happen again! You
are safe, proceed to the islands and ENJOY!
THANK YOU for buying my book, I hope it brings you loads of laughter.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Another tale from the tropics by Dear Miss Mermaid:
Years ago, I was working on a charter boat with a Swedish Captain who
spoke very good English, but confused Turkey and Turtle. This had some
comical consequences with passengers who were not aware of this
problem.
We are out sailing one fine day and he yells "Look! A
Turkey!" and the passengers are straining to see a turkey on the
water...
Another day I had sent lunch up to the cockpit for the passengers and
captain. I went back down below to clean up the dishes. When I went
to check on the guests again, I saw that their sandwiches were all untouched,
they were munching on the Calypso Coleslaw and the Papaya Pineapple Salad
yet inexplicably, no one had touched their sandwiches.
I looked at the captain, with that question in my eye of "What
gives?" His sandwich only had one bite left, which he chomped on
happily. Then he announced "She makes the BEST TURTLE
sandwiches!"
After I assured the guests they had TURKEY and not TURTLE sandwiches,
they seemed to enjoy them too. But to this day, I wonder what they thought
when the Swede told them I had made them delicious Turtle
sandwiches.
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- All is well for now...
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Mon, 3 Oct 2011 10:45:26 -0400 (EDT)
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Tropical Storm Ophelia has gone to Newfoundland. Maybe she
wants to immigrate to Canada.
Tropical Storm Philippe is still looking at a vacation in
Bermuda, but we hope not.
The British Virgin Islands have perfect beach weather today!
We had an incident at our little airport!
Two vultures
boarded the airplane, each carrying two dead raccoons!
The stewardess
looked at them and said,
"I'm
sorry, gentlemen, new rules are: Only one carrion allowed per passenger."
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- Lazy Sunday in The BVI
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sun, 2 Oct 2011 16:28:57 -0400 (EDT)
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Hurricane Ophelia has sped up to 33mph in her race to
aim towards southern Newfoundland. Still her winds are over 100mph.
Tropical Storm Philippe is 890 miles east southeast of
Bermuda.
Driving Secrets in the Virgin Islands...
Recently I met a delightful couple who had moved here
after being granted work permits. They bought an old jeep and asked me for
driving tips. They claimed I had enlightened them considerably after our lengthy
conversation. The next day, however, they told me they had thought it
over, and decided to sell their car and just hitch hike...I know it's a
bit rough driving here, but with these tips, you just might
survive.
This is basically most of the info, I offered up to them
for driving tips and insider knowledge for the BVI
roads:
Brits drive on the left, Americans on the right and
islanders down the middle of the road.
The law is to drive on the
LEFT. THINK LEFT!
The people honking behind you are not mad,
they want to pass you, so maintain course and speed and let them pass!
Nobody cares here if you wish to drive very slowly, and you sure won't get a
ticket for going slow, so go slow, if you feel like it or are new to driving on
the roads.
Those women standing in the shade near the road are
hitch hiking and hoping you offer a ride. They make no motion they are
hitchhiking, this way if you are truly scary looking , they can say they
are waiting on a ride from their boyfriend. Some are hitchhiking with
small children or babies or packages and bags.
The men often shout
out the part of the island they are going to, or point with their index finger
down at the road or down the road towards the direction they are going. No
one uses a thumb to hitch hike here.
Senior citizens that are
hitchhiking will often stand in the middle of the road and flag you down.
Sometimes they have a heavy box in the bushes they want you to lift and load for
them. You are expected to drive them to their exact destination and unload the
heavy box for them.
Many folks hitchhike near speed bumps and at
the bottom of steep hills.
Pickup trucks often pickup everybody.
Many folks are wearing their work uniforms and do their daily commute by
hitchhiking.
Be a sport and offer a ride now and then. Traffic is
pretty bad in some areas, particularly Road Town. Most hitch hikers are friendly
and gracious. Some only speak Spanish (I've learned a lot of Spanish this
way...)
Taxis often slam on brakes in the middle of the road to
pickup or discharge passengers. They try to block parking lot entrances and
driveways whenever possible. Other cars often slam on brakes in the middle of
the road to talk to someone, either in another car or on the side of the road.
It would never occur to either to pull off to the side.
Watch out
for unmarked road hazards. We have plenty of them! Big potholes that could
brake your axle are common. The phone company is notorious for digging up huge
rectangular holes and leaving them uncovered and unmarked for days at a time
before their project is complete. Other utility companies and Public works are
equally bad about working in the middle of the road with no flagman to direct
you and no markers to warn you. Many drivers ignore the flagman, it's best not
to though. Sometimes the flagmen don't look and flag you onwards when you can
clearly see three huge trucks bearing down on you. Use your common sense, don't
assume the flagmen know what they are doing. Sometimes they are just a bored
pedestrian who stepped in to help.
If the cops are directing
traffic, expect lengthy delays, they are new at this.
During heavy
rains, rocks and mud often tumble down cliffs, mountains and unpaved driveways.
Be a good Samaritan and move large rocks off the road (if you can lift
them!). Many will rip out your oil pan if you try to run over
them.
Speed bumps; we have plenty of them in the strangest places
and some in the middle of nowhere. They come in all different shapes and sizes
with no thought to engineering. Very few are painted or marked. When your head
hits the roof of your car and spare parts fly off, and the car sounds like you
were just in an awful wreck, assume you just hit a big speed bump, while
driving more than 3 miles an hour.
Some speed bumps you can speed
right over and not feel much at all, if you are going super fast, others are so
big and sneaky, they can send your car into outer space or worse, into the drink
(ocean!)
Always wear your seatbelts and make your passengers buckle
up. Recently they made it a law to wear seatbelts and it's one ticket you can't
talk them out of, if they catch you. Child and infant seats are now required. If
you re renting a car for a temporary visit, ask the car agency well in advance
to reserve baby car seats for you.
Driver's here are nuts!
Beware!
I first thought we had the world's shortest driver's here,
as I often encountered cars where I could see fingers on a steering wheel and no
head or just the very top of someone's head barely peaking over the steering
wheel. I discovered that many islanders like to drive while their seat is fully
reclined, with the steering wheel barely within their reach.
Some
cars have left hand drive others have right hand drive. Some have a lone driver
sitting in the he middle of the car driving. This is because his seat doesn't
recline, so he slouches sideways and drives with one hand stretched over to
barely reach the wheel and the other hanging out the opposite window. Sometimes,
the car door doesn't shut, so they sit in the middle to hold the doors shut and
drive at the same time. (Don't ask, but it's common!)
If you hear
very loud rumbling, it might be an earthquake, but more often, it is a car with
a stadium sized stereo approaching you. They are often low to the ground,
because of the weight of all the extra batteries, woofers, speakers, amplifiers
etc. They are louder than any fire tuck or ambulance or police car. So once you
are in earshot of these mega-stereos, plan on your ears ringing for the next
hour. They often drive very slow, so that everyone can enjoy their music. Many
add drum machines to their elaborate stereos and add extras drums to all their
music. This is loudly set to a different beat than the song
playing.
HONK on all sharp turns in the mountains, if you hear
honking, near a sharp turn, it usually means someone is about to come into YOUR
lane, so beware.
All that honking by folks coming at you?
They know you or think they know you and it's a friendly HOWDY TOOT! Wave
and smile, at everyone that honks, even if you don't know
them!
Large truck drivers here often have had minimal training, (if
they even have a license to drive!) stay clear, as many practice very unsafe
habits, hog the road, have annoying strobe lights to distract you with and often
don't have brake lights. Dump trucks may randomly dump debris off the
back, so don't follow closely. Some forget to lock their tail gate, and I have
twice, yes twice, had a load of rocks dumped right in front of me, on the
highway, from a truck that forgot to lock his tailgate. Once I had a load
of sand dumped in the road in front of me from another truck that forgot to lock
his tailgate firmly, so beware. Trucks are dangerous! Always give
the trucks the right of way, they might not even see you! If a large truck
is honking, it often means he no longer has brakes, so get out of the way and
fast!
If someone is following you too closely (a very common
practice!) turn on your emergency lights and slow down, to encourage them
to pass. Many folks don't know what those emergency lights even mean, so they
often think you are pumping your brakes and will pass you. Let them pass, never
race someone that wants to pass you. They very often cut back in front too close
and then you have a real mash up. By the time the police arrive, they say they
didn't see it, don't know who did what and often refuse to determine fault or
write tickets.
If you encounter a police road block or one pulls
you over (very rare indeed!) be very friendly and polite and pretend like you
KNOW them and ask how they are doing. Assume you have done nothing wrong, and if
accused, (even wrongfully accused) begin apologizing repeatedly and barely let
them get a word in edgewise. This wills exasperate them into letting you go with
an admonishment to drive more carefully or bring your driver's license next
time. It's hard to get a ticket here. If you get one, shame on you, try to be
nicer next time.
If you are accused of parking on the sidewalk,
claim your car ran out of gas or broke down, and you didn't want to leave
it in the middle of the road, ask for directions or ask for a ride to the
nearest gas station. This often confuses the issue and if your car is old
and disreputable looking, will often work.
Ambulances often sneak
up on you, then turn on this strange siren that sounds like a cat being stepped
on, amplified 100 times. If you have a heart attack, at least the
ambulance is close by.
Fire engines have a huge grunting snorting
sound that sounds like 100 angry bulls coming at you.
Police cars
have a huge variety of sounds and sirens, some European, some British and some
American. Sometimes the cops are seen driving with their lights
flashing, for no apparent reason.
If you are lost, stop and ask for
directions. We have signs at many intersections but some signs are not placed
where you can readily see them. So look around at the next intersection and see
if there is a sign listing several choices. Road maps are free and mostly
accurate. Those dotted line roads on the maps, are donkey trails converted
to dirt roads. Those spidery paved roads going through the mountains are donkey
trails, converted to paved roads.
If a road is freshly paved, it
means Public Works and all the utility companies, plan to dig a zillion holes in
it, the next week.
If a road is in terrible shape, with a mish mash
of gravel, cement and asphalt patches, interspersed by copious potholes, then
it's slated to be re-surfaced the week before the water company
begins to dig a huge valley down the middle of it to run new water
pipes.
Sometimes a patch of road is so bad, that car axles and car
parts litter up the potholes. In this case, they dig out all the car parts,
rebury them, and then pave that section of road, exactly 4 inches higher than
the rest of the road it joins.
When the telephone company installs
new or improved rectangular access holes in the road, these will be covered by
metal plates exactly 3 inches lower or 3 inches higher than the prevailing road.
No one is sure why this is done, but many say it's traditional.
If
you break down, nearly everyone will stop and lend you a hand, offer a ride, or
plenty of advice. If you see someone broke down, stop and try to
help.
We do have many good Samaritans living here, just that many
aren't very good drivers...
If after all this, you are ready to
drive, you will feel very confident, knowing all our
secrets.
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- Crazy weather, crazy mermaid
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sat, 1 Oct 2011 14:05:34 -0400 (EDT)
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Hurricane Ophelia is aiming at Bermuda while Tropical Storm Philippe is on her heels
like he's chasing his true love, but Philippe is slow, so he is still 1000 miles
from Ophelia.
In the Virgin Islands today, it's a fantastic day to be at the
beach!
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- Busy Atlantic with one hurricane and one tropical storm
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2011 17:35:28 -0400 (EDT)
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Perfect Caribbean Day!
As you can see below, Hurricane Ophelia has a well defined
center, but she is north of the Virgin Islands, we can thank our lucky stars for
that small favor!
She is packing 115mph, let's hope she avoids everyone...
Tropical Storm Philippe with 50mph winds is chasing
Hurricane Ophelia who is chasing a front. While Philippe is
predicted to miss the Virgin Islands, anything could happen (and has
before.)
Stock up for the hurricane season... just in case. Rum always
comes in handy...
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- Tropical Storm Philippe and Ophelia
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2011 10:40:56 -0400 (EDT)
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Tropical Storm Ophelia has regenerated, and is about180
miles northeast of the northern Leeward Islands with 60mph winds. Why a
four syllable name? Can we make it simpler? Like Tropical Storm Oh
or Opey?
Tropical Storm Philippe (what was wrong with plain
PHIL? Why does it have to be Philippe?) anyhow Philippe is about
1500 miles away from the Virgin islands and could be here Tuesday. Winds are
currenlty only 45 mph.
Better stock up on critical hurricane supplies, especially the
Rum.
Yesterday it was HOT HOT HOT and nearly windless in the BVI.
The calm before the storm? Did Ophelia suck out the trade winds?
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- Tropical Storm Philippe
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2011 16:52:48 -0400 (EDT)
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Tropical Storm Philippe is packing winds of 60mph with higher
gusts. Phillipe is
moving towards the northwest. Time to get ready for another hurricane. Better
buy your rum, matches and candles. Get batteries for your radio. Buy canned food
and make sure you have a can opener. At the very least get the rum... any
excuse for a party will do!
I've even had as well as attended a few un-hurricane
parties where we put some of that extra food and rum to very good use.
That orange blob is Ophelia, she has downgraded to a remnant
low with winds of around 35mph, enough for the racing sailboats to have a blast
from the past!
Otherwise, t'ings be slow, mon in dah
eye-lands.
See those two swimmer on the far right? Don't you wish
that were YOU?
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- Ophelia headed due west towards the islands
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sun, 25 Sep 2011 13:18:36 -0400 (EDT)
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Weather report from Hodges Creek Tortola:
Showers, squalls, kinda cloudy...not really a beach
day at the moment...too buggy!
Tropical Storm Ophelia made a jog towards the
west... but we're hoping she turns again to the west northwest. Winds are
around 40mph, so not much to worry about there unless she strengthens. But
at her current direction, she is headed our way as she is about 175 miles due
east.
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- Ophelia and another mess...
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Fri, 23 Sep 2011 16:39:11 -0400 (EDT)
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Tropical Storm Ophelia is creeping towards the islands, she is
635 miles more or less from the Leeward Islands. Winds are only 40mph so not a
worry at this time.
Another low pressure system is off the Cape Verde Islands
trying to become better organized, not a good sign at all. 
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- Tropical Storm Ophelia
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 22 Sep 2011 22:30:45 -0400 (EDT)
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The center of Ophelia is located about 875 east southeast of
the Leeward Islands. However, she remains
disorganized and is likely to weaken... we hope!
Message In A Bottle, Found On The
Shore:
Ophelia...
Note: Click to play larger, as the sound improves vastly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And now for your geography lesson:
List of the Leeward Islands from
generally northwest to southeast:
Puerto Rican Islands: Vieques, Culebra
U.S. Virgin
Islands: St. Thomas, St. John, St. Croix, Water Island
British Virgin
Islands: Jost Van Dyke, Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Anegada
Anguilla
Saint
Martin/Sint Maarten
Saint-Barthélemy
Saba
Sint Eustatius
Saint
Kitts
Nevis
Barbuda
Antigua
Redonda
Montserrat
Guadeloupe
Dominica
Warm and Sunny Regards,
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- Sultry
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2011 15:39:39 -0400 (EDT)
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Another large low pressure system about 1500 miles east of the
Windward Islands has clouds and thunderstorms possibly heading our way. There is
no defined center yet, but it is fairly well organized. So keep your eye to
weather, stock up on Rum and Hurricane Supplies.
Weather is kind of sultry today.
A great day for limin' at the beach, mon. Just
chillin'
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- Plenty more to watch out for!
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2011 16:25:08 -0400 (EDT)
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More rain on the way. The islands are going to be
green!
Three different systems are threatening to head to the
BVI.
An elongated area of low pressure about 300 miles south of the
Cape Verde Islands could drift towards us.
Another broad area of low pressure is meandering around the
tropical Atlantic, midway between Africa and the Lesser Antilles.
Yet a third surface trough complete with showers and
thunderstorms, is about 1200 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands.
Certainly lots of stuff to watch for!
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- Thursday already in the BVI
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 15 Sep 2011 10:57:35 -0400 (EDT)
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Tropical Storm Maria is 200 miles from Bermuda, well her eye
is... her broad area of storm activity is sure to affect the island.
Oh, how do you solve a problem like Maria?
How do you
hold a moonbeam in your hand?
The BVI is set for now, nothing on the horizon, the tropical
wave headed that way has diminished greatly. Of course there is lots
to clean up from the recent flash flooding.
She climbs a tree and scrapes her knee
Her dress has
got a tear
She waltzes on her way to Mass
And whistles on the
stair
And underneath her wimple
She has curlers in her hair
I even
heard her singing in the abbey
She's always late for chapel
But her penitence is
real
She's always late for everything
Except for every meal
I hate to
have to say it
But I very firmly feel
Maria's not an asset to the
abbey
I'd like to say a word in her behalf
Maria makes me
laugh
How do you solve a problem like Maria?
How do you
catch a cloud and pin it down?
How do you find a word that means
Maria?
A flibbertigibbet! A will-o'-the wisp! A clown!
Many a thing you know you'd like to tell her
Many a
thing she ought to understand
But how do you make her stay
And listen to
all you say
How do you keep a wave upon the sand
Oh, how do you solve a problem like Maria?
How do you
hold a moonbeam in your hand?
When I'm with her I'm confused
Out of focus and
bemused
And I never know exactly where I am
Unpredictable as
weather
She's as flighty as a feather
She's a darling! She's a demon!
She's a lamb!
She'd outpester any pest
Drive a hornet from its
nest
She could throw a whirling dervish out of whirl
She is gentle! She
is wild!
She's a riddle! She's a child!
She's a headache! She's an
angel!
She's a girl!
How do you solve a problem like Maria?
How do you
catch a cloud and pin it down?
How do you find a word that means
Maria?
A flibbertijibbet! A will-o'-the wisp! A clown!
Many a thing you know you'd like to tell her
Many a
thing she ought to understand
But how do you make her stay
And listen to
all you say
How do you keep a wave upon the sand
Oh, how do you solve a problem like Maria?
How do you
hold a moonbeam in your hand?
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- More on Maria
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2011 21:03:39 -0400 (EDT)
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Hurricane watch for Bermuda! Maria has set her eyes on
that tiny island.
Another tropical wave is headed for the Caribbean.
Scroll down for pics of flash flooding from Tortola
yesterday.
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- More from the flash flooding on Tortola
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2011 20:57:12 -0400 (EDT)
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THanks to Miss P who risked life and limb to get
these!
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- Pics From Maria's flooding in BVI
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2011 20:41:12 -0400 (EDT)
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Thanks to Miss P in Tortola who risked her life (and shoes!)
to get these pics for us!
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- drip drop drop drop drop
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2011 18:03:40 -0400 (EDT)
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Boy Maria has finally shown her true face and is drenching Tortola
today. Flash flood warnings have been issued and all schools have been closed
for the day. More as soon as I hear |
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- Pics From Tortola and Maria
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sun, 11 Sep 2011 13:51:37 -0400 (EDT)
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Checking in from Brewers Bay:
Good Morning,
Sadly, we are visitors. Here for our 25th anniversary until Wednesday.
Weather this week has been like our marriage, unpredictable but FUN
lol.
Here are a few more pictures with descriptions :
Jost Van Dyke at sunset last night. Here comes Maria or what's
left of her!
Sharks Bay this AM. This morning we had some strong gusts around 3AM
with some brief heavy downpours. Woke up to cloudy skies and some brief
showers.
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- Maria and more on the way!
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2011 22:40:03 -0400 (EDT)
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Pictures from Tortola at 3pm:
 Current view of Jost Van Dyke
Current view of Sharks Bay
A BIG thank you for the gentle soul "PM" who
submitted these pictures.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Reports from East End, Tortola:
So we seem to think that
this is going to dissipate somewhat and Puerto Rico has actually cancelled
tropical storm warnings. We concur that Maria will be downgraded to a tropical
depression by the time she reaches the BVI. Still expecting 2 - 4 inches
of rain and them some. Winds around 45 mph. But these darn storms are sooooo
unpredictable, that we shall watch and see.
Well if maria wasn't enough there is another system forming in the
Atlantic right on the "heels' of Maria. My pilot bud said that this could affect
the area this coming Wednesday - Thursday. I imagine that after all this
rain the island will be abuzz with mosquitoes, but on the positive side will be
absolutely flora and fauna -icious . Looking forward to the beauty after the
storms.
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- Check in from Brewers Bay Tortola
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2011 13:55:13 -0400 (EDT)
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Dear Miss Mermaid,
Overlooking Brewers and Sharks Bay here
in Tortola. Clear view of Jost Van Dyke. Nice breeze, high clouds, some minor
rain showers visible across the bay. Some whitecaps on the ocean, but, all in
all still a magnificent day in the Carib! We're ready for Maria but it looks
like she continues to move North!
Thank You,
P. M.
A big thank you for this guest report,
anyone in the BVI, please email me with pics and reports.
THANKS!
Another resident checked in from
Tortola, she didn't say her exact location, but she said Maria was missing the
BVI by 24 miles, well that may be that the eye is missing Tortola... Look
at the satellite pic above, you can see that lots of rains are on the way. Maria
is now barely a cyclone, just big and ugly just the same. Winds are down to
about 40mph but 4+ inches of rain expected. Maria has a poorly defined
circulation for much of an eye. Maria is trying to weaken.
YIPPIE!
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- Maria!
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2011 12:53:27 -0400 (EDT)
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A busy storm season, but it's September, so that is to be
expected.
Tropical Storm Maria is expected to
pass through the Lesser Antilles tonight. with winds of about 45mph. A
tropical storm warning is in effect for the BVI. Hurricane Katia is in the
open Atlantic. Tropical Storm Nate is in the Gulf of Mexico, drifting slowly
northwestward.
As you can see, her winds and rains will reach the Virgin
Islands.
White Bay, Jost Van Dyke, Virgin Islands, Friday afternoon.
As of Friday afternoon, these catamarans were still in West
End, Tortola.
Live from the BVI:
At the moment the weather is pretty
good.....getting to be a bit of a breeze with some sunshine
We are all ready
here for the Tropical storm...seems like I have to tie my deck furniture down
again!
will catch up over the weekend if I havn't been blown away AND I
have power and internet
Reports from a marina out east on Tortola is
that all their boats are prepped out for the storm.
Road Town reports that some RUM is still
available, but batteries are selling out quickly.
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- Katia, Nate, Maria oh my!
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 8 Sep 2011 13:52:25 -0400 (EDT)
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Hurricane Katia continues northward
over the open Atlantic. I hope those sailors at sea are able to run like the
wind to avoid any contact with these 90mph winds.
Tropical Storm Nate is in the Gulf
of Mexico and not a threat to the Virgin Islands at this time.
Topical Storm Maria is moving
westward in a hurry, time to get ready for her, in case she sets her sights on
the islands. Winds are only 45mph at this point.
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- oh my ! Maria on the way!
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2011 12:47:07 -0400 (EDT)
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Here come tropical storm Maria! She is 1300 miles east
of the Lesser Antilles, so there is plenty of time to get ready for the big
one.
Meanwhile Hurricane Katia is producing large swells for the
eastern coast of USA as well as for Bermuda. Hurricane Katia is 310 miles
southwest of Bermuda.
Warm and Worried Regards,
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- More on the way!
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2011 16:37:18 -0400 (EDT)
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Hurricane kooky Katia has developed a great big eye. She is
about 540 miles south of Bermuda. Her winds are 110 miles per hour.
It's when you get past 100 mile per hour winds, that the
damages start adding up exponentially.
Tropical Storm Lee has weakened to a depression and is
threatening to scatter flash floods across the southern USA.
A vigorous tropical wave has set her sights on the Caribbean.
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- Tropical Shipping Container Ship runs aground at the Rhone
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Tue, 30 Aug 2011 21:00:57 -0400 (EDT)
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Tropical Shipping Container Ship runs aground at the Wreck of
the Rhone. Residents are anxious that their rum cargo for the
islands, could be on it!
Nothing worse than going through hurricane season without RUM.
It could make some folks crazier.
The wreck of the Rhone site has been closed until further
notice.
Two articles about the new wreck...
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- Rum and Katia
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Tue, 30 Aug 2011 18:48:52 -0400 (EDT)
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From a Guest Mermaid:
I hope this is not going to be a repeat scenario of Irene, but tropical
storm Katia is growing in strength and the projected map is showing it coming
awfully gosh darn close to Tortola and the islands. This could be a bruiser, but
as it is with these systems it can go anywhere at this point. We are hoping for
an easterly and northerly direction away from us. In the mean time, we are
preparing AGAIN. Phew. i think we have this pretty well down by now. Lots of
rum, water, flashlights, batteries, candles and etc.
Just hope the stores have restocked and that the container ship
that ran aground near the Rhone doesn't have my shipment of rum on board
!!!!!!!!
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- Tropical Storm Katia is Named
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Tue, 30 Aug 2011 08:53:50 -0400 (EDT)
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Tropical Storm Katia is named, with 40mph winds and she
is moving rapidly at 17mph towards the West Northwest.
The hurricane center says we should pronounce Katia as
KAH-tyah
Here is the complete pronunciation guide to the 2011 storm
names.
2011
Arlene ar-LEEN
Bret bret
Cindy SIN-dee
Don dahn
Emily
EH-mih-lee
Franklin FRANK-lin
Gert gert
Harvey HAR-vee
Irene eye-REEN
Jose ho-ZAY
Katia KAH-tyah
Lee
lee
Maria muh-REE-uh
Nate nait
Ophelia
o-FEEL-ya
Philippe fee-LEEP
Rina REE-nuh
Sean shawn
Tammy TAM-ee
Vince vinss
Whitney WHIT-nee
Today in the BVI |
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- Tropical Depresion 12 is On the Way!
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Mon, 29 Aug 2011 21:29:05 -0400 (EDT)
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That is tropical depression 12 headed towards the islands.
Better stock up NOW on hurricane supplies and plan where to hide your boat.
Better yet, hide your boat now!
A quick Geography Lesson:
The name "Caribbean" is named after the
Caribs, one of the dominant Amerindian groups in the region at the time of
European contact during the late 15th century. The analogous "West Indies" originates from Christopher Columbus' idea
that he had landed in the Indies (then meaning all of south and east Asia) when
he had actually reached the Americas. The Spanish term Antillas was commonly assigned to the newly
discovered lands; stemming from this, "Sea of the
Antilles" is a common alternate name for the Caribbean
Sea in various European
languages.
The Windward Islands and the Leeward Islands are part of the Lesser
Antilles of the Caribbean Sea.
The Windward Islands are southeastern islands of the
Caribbean and include Martinique, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, the Grenadines, and
Grenada. They're called the Windward Islands because they're exposed to the wind
("windward") of the northeast trade winds (northeasterlies).
The Leeward Islands include the Virgin
Islands, Dominica, Guadeloupe, Montserrat, Antigua, Barbuda, St. Kitts,
Nevis, St Maarten and Anguilla. They're called the Leeward Islands because
they're away from the wind ("lee").
Which islands are in the Greater Antilles and Lesser
Antilles?
The West Indies are composed of the islands of the Caribbean Sea and can
be divided into the Greater Antilles and the Lesser Antilles.
The Greater Antilles are the four largest islands in the
northwestern portion of the Caribbean Sea and include Cuba, Hispaniola (Haiti
and the Dominican Republic), Jamaica, and Puerto Rico.
The Lesser Antilles include the smaller islands of the
Caribbean - the Virgin Islands and the Windward Islands and Leeward
Islands.
Thus, the Virgin Islands are in the Lesser Antilles, part of the Leeward
Islands, located in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea.
No lesson is complete without more visual aids:
My
favorite map of the Caribbean is the one on my wall like this one.
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- Plenty to watch our for
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sun, 28 Aug 2011 23:19:34 -0400 (EDT)
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Poor old Bermuda just keeps getting hit. They might be
getting squalls from Jose.
Off of Africa is a BIG blob to watch too!
Tis the season!
MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE ADDRESSED TO
DEAR MISS MERMAID;
Ho Ho Ho
and
Ha Hee Hee
Groovy Dabba Doobie
wouldn't you agree?
You're just
the kind of mermaid
we'd like to meet
Only problem is
we've still
got feet!
Yet time will tell
and if all goes well
bright shiny
magic scales,
island adventures
and FUN shall prevail!
come this
January
is when we'll arrive
and the more we know the merrier-
can
you catch our jive?
so please oh please miss mermaid
by all means be
in touch
happy times to you and all
and many more much
much!!
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- Yikes!
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sat, 27 Aug 2011 23:09:27 -0400 (EDT)
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- Tropical Depression Ten (Future Jose???)
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Fri, 26 Aug 2011 14:10:59 -0400 (EDT)
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Tropical Depression 10 is on the way. The future Jose?
Go away Jose!
Results for Tortola (18.45N, 64.53W):
Tropical
Depression 10 is about 2023 miles (3255 km) away. If the system keeps
moving at its current speed of 8 mph and directly towards the BVI, it will take
around 252.8 hours (Monday, September 5 at 11:48PM EDT) to reach the BVI.
Hurricane Irene is starting to hit the Carolinas, she is one
big fat hurricane, sure to make an impact. Even Bermuda is likely to feel her
outer bands.
Generator sales in the USA are on the upswing for sure. Amazon
still has portable
generators in stock,some with expedited delivery.
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- Picture of Hurricane Irene
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 25 Aug 2011 16:57:48 -0400 (EDT)
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From Dear Miss Mermaid
Awesome pic of Hurricane Irene
See, I won the lottery, so I spent it all,
going up on that private space shuttle, so I could see the big beautiful earth
and take pictures...
*HICCUP*
Ooops! Dear Miss Mermaid has been in
that RUM bottle again!
High above the Earth from aboard the International Space
Station, astronaut Ron Garan snapped this image of Hurricane Irene as it passed
over the Caribbean on Aug. 22, 2011. See the
full size image at this link.
From our guest
mermaid:
I don't have
much to report right now, except that my buddy who flies for Fly
BVI is a tad concerned about the latest development of a wave off
of Africa that has been given an 80 percent chance of forming into a tropical
storm. While it's still too early to predict its path there is some concern
about this system and it's direction. So here we go again. But we know the drill
and we are prepared. Just won't be happy to be battered again.
I saw an incredible sight last year during
hurricane Earl. There must have been about 15 or more lovely
frigate birds whom in the worst of the storm, hovered together and turned
INTO the gale force winds. How smart. . They never
really moved, just soared and survived on their wing balance and I
have to tell you it was the most amazing , aerodynamic show I have ever
seen !!! Not a bird was hurt nor carried away and they managed this
for hours. !! Wow
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- aftermath
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2011 18:35:28 -0400 (EDT)
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There are still reports of power outages across the island,
but for the most part the BVI Electric company has done an outstanding job
trying to restore power. You have to give them tons of credit when you see
them out there working at 3 in the morning in the worst of conditions. Not too
much damage reported elsewhere, just lots of debris and some closures due to
flooding. I think we are all feeling very fortunate that things could have
been much worse and we keep good thoughts for the people in the Bahamas and on
the East Coast.
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- Lightning Strike
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 13:14:54 -0400 (EDT)
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Oh wow , there is a posting on facebook by "Out and About the
VI" that shows Richard Bransons house on Necker Island engulfed in flames after
a lightening strike ! The 20 something people staying there escaped
unharmed.
You can google it, it's already hit the wires!
Irene is big and bad! She is just drenching
the Virgin Islands with rains and winds. Many residents were caught totally
unaware.
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- morning report
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- By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 13:02:10 -0400 (EDT)
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Report from this morning on
Tortola, is that they are still experiencing high winds and lots of rain.
Wind speeds were about 75 mph with gusts up to 90. Some of the island has lost
electricity and water and there is lots of debris on the roads. W. thinks
the north side got hit the hardest and he will be calling me back again later
after he gets news on Trellis Bay and other north side locales.
One boat became loose near
Red Rock, and a crew was able to corral it back to safety
.
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- Still raining!
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- By Jeff McNutt <jeff at divebvi.com>
- Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 06:49:24 -0400
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0630 Monday morning. It's still coming down in buckets on Virgin Gorda. Very strong winds out of the South and limited visibility. There was lightning around 8-11 pm last night, so we thought it would move on through. Heading out to check on the boats in a bit, SJU radar is down, so not sure how wide Hurricane Irene is at this point.
--
Jeff McNutt
General Manager, Dive BVI
SSI Instructor Trainer #21761
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- Another Sat view of Irene
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- By The Mermaid Gardener <mermaidgardener at yahoo.com>
- Date: Sun, 21 Aug 2011 17:52:38 -0700 (PDT)
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Good Evening,
Here's just another Satellite view of
Irene. The reports that I'm receiving from friends are still staying plenty of rain is coming down. I'm sure that Disaster Management folks are worrying about flash floods and rock slides. Lets keep hoping that Irene moves quickly past Tortola and does not linger.
The Mermaid Gardener
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Older reports from the BVI have been moved to another page.
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