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- - - 2012 Hurricane Season - - -
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- From over the hill and far away...
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- From: Da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at aol.com>
- Date: Fri, 22 Mar 2013 13:49:02 -0400 (EDT)
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Hello followers of our post on the BVI. I've received a number of e-mails from some who wonder why few post have been made recently....
Well. we are all on a walk/ sail about!!!
I am on my typical early spring sail into the Leeward's and now on St Martin. Dear MsMermaid is still away on medical leave and in the US running all over the place in her RV since she no longer has a boat. The Sailingardener is also on a sail about and is some place here in the Leeward's with friends from Penn's Landing and will be heading to other islands soon.
I'm having some rigging additions and a New Dodger added for a more extended cruise down through the Leeward's and into the Windward's. I'll probably hang in the Granada area this next storm season. The Local Reporter will hopefully keep significant updates rolling in as needed. All of us will try to keep as much of an update going as internet access allows. Feel free to contact us on any specific questions as we do maintain close contact with a number of friends on Tortola on an ongoing basis.
da Wayward Sailor in St. Martin.....
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- Mostly Cloudy
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- From: mermaid gardener <mermaidgardener at gmail.com>
- Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2013 16:30:56 -0400
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Good Afternoon,
Was a mixed up kind of day as far as weather. This morning it appeared to be bright and sunny maybe a good beach day, however, clouds starting coming late morning. Maybe that's a good thing, I was down at the laundromat doing several loads of laundry. By having clouds come it I didn't miss going to the beach so much.
Yesterday I was up at Joshia's Bay and geeze the surf was coming in, it came all the way almost up to the bars! No surfers were out and just a couple of folks dared stand in the waves as knee depth. Did catch some sun yesterday so missing out today was just meant to be.
Temp is currently 82 degrees and our winds are out of the east at 12mph, we may have a chance of rain after midnight a measly 20% chance, but hey I'll take anything. The island is starting to brown up a bit and we really have not had a good rainfall in quite some time. It's looking like I'll have to think about buying a tanker of water soon. I don't have city water, since there is not enough head pressure to get up my hill. I rely upon tankers and rainfall. So let the rain fall!!!
Cheers!
the Mermaid Gardener
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- Pretty in pink!
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- From: mermaid gardener <mermaidgardener at gmail.com>
- Date: Wed, 20 Feb 2013 22:50:38 -0400
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Good Evening,
Today was a mixed bag of weather. This morning we had scattered showers
and high winds. It seemed as if we would have some clearing, but as the day
went on the showers kept chasing me. I was down as Brandywine with art
friends and the patchy rain clouds sent us running for cover. Watercolor paintings
and rain drops just done mix.
Winds are still up quite high this evening and this weather is suppose to stick around
for the remainder of the week and into the weekend. For those who are
hoping to set a course for down island unless you have a large sailboat the
ride will be a rough one. Have heard that several boats have sailed down and
their sail was difficult with the winds and seas.
Winds are at 18knots out of the east and seas 6 feet.
I think I'll stick around here for just a bit before I decide to head down island.
Cheers!
the Mermaid Gardener
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- Winds a changin!
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- From: mermaid gardener <mermaidgardener at gmail.com>
- Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2013 12:34:26 -0400
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Good Afternoon,
For several days now we have has ESE winds that built up quite a bit of wave action in the Sir Frances Drake channel. The north side of the island the beaches were packed with boats especially Cane Garden Bay. A friend and I spent the afternoon there along with 3,000 other folks from the cruise ship that was in Road Town! Had a nice appetizer lunch at Rymers, Honey dipped chicken and onion rings. Food was hot and good. We sat and watched the cruise ship tourists lounging on the beach, some tanning with their shoes and socks on! I figure those folks have not had there bodies out in the sun for quite some time, they were they same folks that were bright pink!!! I'm sure last night they were radiating heat!
The afternoon was really quite fun just people watching!
We are having a wave come through over the next few days, this will bring freshening winds and higher seas. In looking out over the channel the islands are covered in haze and it is confirmed by looking at the sahara dust map. We will probably have this haze off and on for a bit.
Along with a new weather front I have a new restaurant to tell you about. It's down at Sea Cow's bay....Audrianna'. A nice place, it's predecessor was the Boat House. I tried the Calamari that was very nice especially the dipping sauce that came with it. I would recommend that you call for reservations and tell "Mack" the owner a hi from the Mermaid Gardener!!
Cheers! Hey come down and sail the winds are up for those of you who like to heel!!
the Mermaid Gardener
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- Still Fresh Breezes around
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- From: Da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at aol.com>
- Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2013 09:36:06 -0500 (EST)
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Small craft should exercise caution
Still have Breezy Conditions for the next week or so. Winds will run between 15 and 20 knots ENE off shore with seas 4 to 6 feet through the weekend then building. Isolated Showers are expected to continue, here on the East End of Tortola we have had little since last week's wet days. Chances locally are forecast for 50% today with nice periods of great sunshine.
North Shore beaches are still a bit rough and we have a roll in the bays on the South side as well. Seem to be a few more sailboats out over the past few days than we have had, but am not seeing the big ones we had visit over the past few weeks. Guess many are heading to the Leeward's for the races over then next few months.
I had hopes of being in St. Martin by now but a few repairs and reduced weather windows for a comfortable passage find me still in Tortola for a few more days but I'll head up toward North Sound as soon as I see what looks to be a good weather window.
I'll try to find the time to post if anything significant pops up but not much more that Fresh Breezes are anticipated from some of these fronts moving down from the North.
Hope all had a great Valentin's Day.
Wayward.
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- Happy Valentines Day from the BVI
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- From: mermaid gardener <mermaidgardener at gmail.com>
- Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2013 10:43:42 -0400
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Good Morning!
Happy Valentines Day from here in the BVI. Arrived Monday night, feels great to be back in the BVI. Winds are up today and there are plenty of sailboats dotting the channel. Hope all of you have a very nice Valentines Day.
I know that I'm be planning on having some sort of chocolate dessert with Valentines dinner, maybe for with dinner a little fruit salad, well maybe just fruit....hum well maybe grapes......hummmmmm wellll maybe just fermented grapes......no just wine!
Enjoy! 
the Mermaid Gardener
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- Soggy Dollar a happin place!
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- From: mermaid gardener <mermaidgardener at gmail.com>
- Date: Sun, 27 Jan 2013 14:02:13 -0600
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Good Afternoon, Here's a tantilizing picture for anyone who is looking for a ray of warm sunshine!
Cheers! the Mermaid Gardener
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- Come on down, the weather is perfect!
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- From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 9 Jan 2013 11:49:59 -0500 (EST)
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Bright and Sunny with a few scattered clouds. The cool nights
are back. Ahhh...
Great day to be limin' at the beach!
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- Breezy, High Overcast to mostly Cloudy Sky
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- From: Da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at aol.com>
- Date: Sun, 6 Jan 2013 10:40:10 -0500 (EST)
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Small Craft Advisory in effect through Wednesday evening
Just a reminder for da non-marine types.....
... Small Craft Advisory now in effect until 9 PM AST Wednesday...
* winds... increasing to 17 to 20 knots.
* Waves/seas... building to 5 to 7 feet.
Precautionary/preparedness actions...
A Small Craft Advisory means that winds of 22 to 33 knots and/or
seas of 7 feet and greater are expected to produce hazardous
marine conditions for small craft. Inexperienced mariners...
especially those operating smaller vessels... should avoid
navigating in these conditions.
Today's forecast is a tad better than that of yesterday when winds between 22 and 35 MPH were forecast and seas up to 8 feet.
Also note:
SEAS GIVEN AS SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHT...WHICH IS THE AVERAGE
HEIGHT OF THE HIGHEST 1/3 OF THE WAVES. INDIVIDUAL WAVES MAY BE
MORE THAN TWICE THE SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHT.
Basically the Christmas Winds are in full force and will be until at least mid week it appears. We are seeing lulls at times, mostly in the evening but we also see a number of gust about anytime. Even here in Fat Hog Bay at East End Tortola, we are having occasional wave action driven by the winds that break over Red Rock Reef. Makes for a nice rock-a-by night but harder to get things done on da boat  . Have had a number of showers and for the next few days the chance is about 50% but the amounts are not usually enough to wet the decks much less contribute to the water in the tanks 
Have seen a number of interesting boat out in the Sir Francis Drake Channel, some very classic types that always make me dream of sailing 100 years ago. Some large boats, sail and power are also noted on a more frequent basis than what we have seen in the past few months. Charter activity seems to be about the same as this time last year. People still seem to be holding on to money.
Presently it is 81 degrees with winds from the Northeast at about 16 knots with a few gust. Probably not enough North in them to make surfing on the North side very much, but I'll bet some are out this weekend anyway. In the evenings the winds and the moisture make the temps feel much cooler than normal. I had an early sundowner last evening before I took the dink in to Penn's for a nice hot shower then had a cup of Hot Cocoa when I returned with a long sleeve shirt and shorts on in the cockpit. Even then I tucked down behind the cabin as much as I could and watched the sun disappear behind the clouds.... would not have been too surprised if I had snow on the decks by the AM!!!!  I considered looking up the location I've stored the blankets.... you can never be too careful when the temps are to drop to the mid 70's  Actually as da southern boaters know, a sailboat in the water is like a thermos and the interior temps will not generally get any lower than the water temp. If you increase the # of people it will get warmer of it you cook much. Still with the hatches open and companion way clear it stays reasonable even in the middle of Winter in the Caribbean  No idea why some spend so much time where it gets any cooler than mid 70's  LOL just a bit of a poke at some NORTHERN friends.
Later
Wayward.... ROLL TIDE ROLL
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- Nice Breezy and Mostly Sunny
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- From: Da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at aol.com>
- Date: Fri, 28 Dec 2012 14:22:03 -0500 (EST)
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Small craft should exercise caution
About 84 degrees under a mostly sunny sky. Wind's Southeast at about 12 MPH but forecast to be between 15 and 25 for most of the remainder of today and drop a bit over the weekend. Chance of rain just under 50% but no expectation of any significant amounts to fall into my no so full holding tanks .
Rain Chance decrease over the weekend 
Hope all had a Great Christmas Holiday and are ready for New Years!
Have been really busy and was lucky enough to be invited to two wonderful Christmas Dinners were I had to really try hard not to be a pig.... Still I did over eat but not so much as is too often "Typical" for me
Had a wonderful holiday starting early in the month with lots of travel in the boat, Shopping in reasonable amounts, eating too much and occasionally having a drink or two . Did get in a good bit of hiking and walking about and made it to several beaches but the swimming was reduced after about the 20th as the water is a bit cool for me!!! Many of my good friends are now off island, some returning in a day or so and others with family are off sailing about. I'll head out of Fat Hog's Bay in a day or so as I try to get a few boat jobs completed.
I have spend more time off the boat over the past two weeks than typical but had a great time being a CLOD.... Cruiser Living On Dirt  . First night back on the boat... I was tired and missing my friends but fell asleep in about 2 breaths due to the boat rocking me and the nice breeze coming through the hatch's bug screen. Even had to pull the covers up as the night chilled. Makes one wake up early feeling ready to get to work... or play.. or read... well I had a nice cup of coffee and had a cup of Cookie crumbs.... LOL great cookies that did not make the flight down in original shape but still taste Great. Actually did a bit of work and had a light lunch and have a couple of more things to do before time for a nice warm shower and maybe a short movie/ DVD or Book Podcast. Hope I can make the meals a bit smaller than I've been having over the past two weeks so I will still fit through the cabin door .
Later Wayward
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- Ho ho ho!
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- From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Tue, 25 Dec 2012 13:19:35 -0500 (EST)
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Slight winds, 80ish degrees of wonderful Christmas
weather!
Ho ho ho!
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- Sweet treats
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- From: mermaid gardener <mermaidgardener at gmail.com>
- Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2012 06:30:21 -0400
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Good Morning,
Late yesterday winds had slightly increased as the sun was setting but the day was nice though overcast. Temperature felt maybe 82 degrees, so that the locals were complaining of feeling chilled. 
We had 2 cruise ships in town, many of the passengers were milling around Roadtown shopping and seeing the few sights on Main street. The new and improved craft village was open for business with sarongs, crafts, shells and plenty of do dads for the public to purchase.
Current temperature is 73 degrees.....hot chocolate anyone??  Winds are 0 and we are mostly cloudy now. The weather folks say that we have a 40% chance of rain today with a high of 86 degrees.
I had a chance to enjoy a lovely breakfast at the Culinary Bakery yesterday, additionally checked out the Christmas bakery specials. Their desserts looked soooooo yummy! I may have to breakdown and purchase a couple of things before the weekend. They had cute cut out gingerbread cookies, and scrumptious (zero calorie...not) cakes. Did not see any black cake in the bakery. Black cake for those of you who do not know what that is, it is Caribbean traditional heavy dense Christmas cake, much like a fruit cake, but it is very black and is topped, no swimming in brandy or rum. Mary, my housekeeper makes wonderful black cake that is filled with nuts and hers swims in Brandy. This year she is off island and so I'm on the hunt for just one piece. I did see a loaf of black cake on sale at Rightway but it was spendy $27...Yikes that's too expensive for this gal, my search will continue for just one small piece.
Those Christmas trees that I told you about at Rightway for $65 they are now reduced to $45.....just wonder how long they may have been on a banana boat or container ship before they arrived here? They are still green but do look a bit dry!
Got to run & make a nice cup of tea and watch the sunrise.
Cheers!
the Mermaid Gardener
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- Caribbean dawn
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- From: mermaid gardener <mermaidgardener at gmail.com>
- Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2012 11:07:43 -0400
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Good Saturday Morning,
It's lovely here, winds remain down and the temps are starting to climb up. I woke this morning to see this fantastic sunrise. The sailboat traffic seems to be picking up, there are plenty of sailboats out dotting the channel. Right now the sun is almost overhead and from my vantage point the channel looks as if it has glitter shimmering on the surface. A wonderful day to go help out a friend in need and bring some much needed food. He's been a bit under the weather and needs some cheering up. So Santa's little helper will bring some goodies....hum including some Red Stripe!!! Possibly rum as well, Rum cures anything!!
Cheers!
the Mermaid Gardener
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- Breath in Breath out that salty air!
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- From: mermaid gardener <mermaidgardener at gmail.com>
- Date: Fri, 14 Dec 2012 16:44:33 -0400
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Good Afternoon,
Oh how good it feels to be back in the BVI after being up in fly over country. My travel down here was uneventfull other than the Christmas winds we have been having. Today the winds have calmed down and the Sir Francis Drake channel is flatter than Ive seen it over the last few days. We had torrential rain squalls overnight on Wednesday, that front pushed past us and has given us much calmer winds with bright blue skies. The islands look green and lush still a few spots of leafless trees and scrub but mostly the hills look green.
Cooper Island looks to be very busy this afternoon, and I have noticed a few more sailboats have been dotting the channel over the last couple of days. The snow birds are starting to make their way down here to Tortola!! 
In Roadtown, there are a few decorations out, the gas station right near the roundabout in front of Rightway has a very nice display of blow up decorations. The one that I chuckled at was Santa in the bathtub scrubbing himself with Rudolf nearby!!
For those of you interesting in a fresh cut Christmas tree, Rightway has them for sale at $65.00 for roughly at 5 foot tree. A little spendy for me so my cute fake white table top tree is on my living room table happy and giving Christmas cheer! I did my initial decorating yesterday and now my place is looking a little bit like Christmas.
Weather here is 82 degrees, with light winds out the East at 8mph. Tonight we are going to have a uneventful evening, no rain in sight and winds are suppose to stay light at 10 - 15 mph. Tomorrowow overcast afternoon with a high of 82 degrees winds from the north east at 10-15mph.
Getting back into the groove down here and will post more often.
Cheers!
the Mermaid Gardener
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- Back in BVI from USVI sail and hike trip
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- From: Da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at aol.com>
- Date: Wed, 12 Dec 2012 09:57:37 -0500 (EST)
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Small Craft Advisory in effect through late Thursday night
today is 12/12/12 this is the last time all three date numbers will be the same for 100 years!!!
SCA still in effect and has been for several days. Typical Christmas Winds from Northeast at 18 to 23 Knots with seas 6 to 8 feet with a rather sloppy chop. It is a bit better here inside the Sir Francis Drake Channel with forecast winds under 15 knots but from the Southeast??? MMmmm a tad odd but not really... it will swing around and back again in what looks like about two hour intervals so far this AM.
It is a Bright 81 degrees.... feels great but the boat is rocking and that is OK with me.... just gives me the reasons I need to put off some boat jobs I need to do..... Again If it is a job worth doing today... it will be worth doing the following day... right????
Have been in the USVI for last 10 or so days and had a good time on St. Thomas and a GREAT time on St. John. My friend and I sailed around St John on the Carib side after spending time in Cruz Bay and having dinner at Morgan's Mango then on up to Lameshur Bay for a hike to the Petroglyphs and the Sugar Mill at Reef Bay... all in all about a 6.5 mile hike.
These are a few of the carvings you will find at the Petroglyphs and lots to see along the hiking trail. The trail is not easy but very doable if you take your time and don't try to run it even for a young guy like myself ....OK not so young guy. First time I did it was several years ago and I was totally out of shape and carried about 15 pounds more than I do now.... though I would die a few times but stopped for a rest when needed and all was great.... bring water!!! About a pint per person is probably minimal... Another hike we took was from Waterlemon Cay on the Northeast side of St John to Coral Bay along the Johnny Horn Trail which is shorter but probably a more difficult hike due to the inclines you have to make. Still if you take your time and have your water it is a fun walk over to Coral Bay and you can visit Skinny Legs with their great hamburgers and refresh with your fav drink... Water??? Well I did a nice drink of the day a John Daley I think it was, Ice Tea/ Lemon Aid/ Citrus Rum..MMMmmmm BTW the burgers are big and we split one and with the chips that was all we needed! Did lots of snorkeling about when ever we could and for the first time I actually discovered Octopus in their holes... one each day in Lamashur Bay and even a fair size Lobster which we only took a few looks as and resisted inviting him home for dinner  .
Back in the BVI we met with friends at Myetts in Cain Garden Bay for an Eric Stone show and a birthday dinner for a great friend.
We have had lots of showers over the past 4 days but they have bough a nice sound of filling water tanks  . Looks like I will not have to haul water for a while and that is Great News!!!
Hope everyone is having a great pre Christmas Season and best wishes to everyone. Want to say thanks to those who shot us an e-mail, sorry our absence disturbed ya... we had no internet in St Thomas or St John... I'm only set up with internet via CCT in Tortola/ BVI. We will try to make it more clear when I will be out of the area when I make my runs away from home base. Thanks for caring!
later, Wayward
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- First of Christmas Winds?????
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- From: Da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at aol.com>
- Date: Mon, 26 Nov 2012 10:45:07 -0500 (EST)
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Small craft should exercise caution
Winds are up today Small craft caution is due to both winds and seas off shore where we are forecast to see 15 and possibly building to 25 knots in the Atlantic areas, 20 knots in the Carib. We can expect seas 4 to 6 feet in a North Swell. Remember that sea conditions are based on averages... not what is possible which includes an occasional doubling to 12 feet. These conditions are for off shore and in passages. In the Sir Francis Drake Channel we are seeing typically lower seas and occasionally gusty / Breezy Winds. Beef Island Airport is reporting winds of about 14 mph with gust to 20 mph. Sky is partly cloudy with dark clouds and bright sunshine Chance of rain today is over 50% and we have had showers at some point everyday for a while. Those Mosquitoes seem to have taken notice and I've had to start using my netting on open hatches as they darn little things seem to think I'm some form of delicacy... I have 3 bits on.... well we will not go there Sundown and rise is really bad when I have a wind direction from the land areas. In the past 3 days we have changed from a mostly West wind back to the more normal East and Northeast Winds more typical for this time of year.
I'll be heading over to St. Thomas USVI about mid week and hope the passages are not too nasty but as many of you know, the Pillsbury Sound is typically like a washing machine with both the Atlantic Swells and Carib seas mixing it up. Meeting a special friend and doing some sailing and hiking and Shopping around the USVI and will be back to the BVI some time the 2nd week... going to see the Eric Stone show over at Cane Garden Bay . Sure NOT going to sail in , not with Northern Swells this time of year but will use da roads..... mMmmmm maybe about as safe???
Really doing some swinging at the mooring today... makes me want to take a nap but I have some Radio work to do. I have now set up my HF SSB for Ham Airmail (e-mail via HF Radio) and think I about have my weather chart program set up. Attempting to get a direct feed into the computer for the weatherfax and Satwx. Having lots of fun with world wide SSB contacts over the Thanksgiving Holidays. Made new contacts with several countries and Carib Islands and a couple of other boats in the carib but the frequencies I'm typically on, I'm hopping over most of them. Will do some different frequencies to establish a short range 200 mile ground (over water) signal range.
Later Wayward
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- Got Rain???
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- From: Da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at aol.com>
- Date: Wed, 21 Nov 2012 14:09:35 -0500 (EST)
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Back off East End Tortola for a night or two. While off Norman we had several good showers and I could observe what appears to have been even more over the portion of Tortola that I could view... about Island Department Store to West End. I filled my aft water tank with no problem... unfortunately, I Thought I was using it but discovered I was actually on the forward tank. Well, No matter as I will have the opportunity to top it off during the next few weeks when I'll be around the US Virgin Islands doing some hiking and snorkeling while sailing around St John.
Went into Road Town today and noted one Cruise Ship in, when I passed on Tuesday it had one very large ship and a good bit smaller ship at the docks. Town was probably a mess just from the large ship. They appear to have had the opportunity to get a hit and miss shower on their outings, but we really did need the rain. It has been rather dry but we are catching up now.
Winds have been from the SouthWest to almost West at times , an odd direction to hang to for several days. We are seeing more boats out but not enough to be an event to talk much of. After the Turkey Day holiday, we will probably see more visitors making their way down. Most businesses are open and seem to be doing a reasonable business for this time of year. Understand that the Mermaid Gardner is about to make her way back down in a few weeks. Seems a fear of some kind of white stuff falling from the sky is to blame
Since I installed my SSB which is for both Marine Channels and the Ham Frequencies I've ran across a good number of other sailing hams and hams on other islands south of us. Looking forward to possibly meeting some of these people on my 2013 trip down the Leeward's and Windward's
Under gray sky and a sprinkle of rain this be Wayward saying Later!!!
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- Update
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- From: Da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at aol.com>
- Date: Fri, 16 Nov 2012 09:31:03 -0500 (EST)
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Small craft should exercise caution
Looks like we have a good chance on not having either Valerie or William visit us between now and end of the season.... hope hope hope... they eat too much anyway.
Off shore waters are just a bit rough at times, so the NWS has placed the caution statement. We can expect seas running between 4 and 6 feet with winds in the 11 to 15 knot area. These may not seem to be very difficult conditions but these are average with the highest seas and winds possibly being greater depending on specific locations. This past Tuesday, I made my way over to West End Tortola for some re supplies and to meet up with some friends just in from the UK. Had a Good time having Fish Tacos at Frenchman's Cay. On the way, where the Sir Francis Drake Channel is open to the Carib, the seas just past the Indians had a number of 6 to 8 foot swells and a typical sea of 2 to 4 feet... like suddenly hopping on to a roller coaster for a bit.... maybe 15 minutes then we were back to a more normal sea in the area approaching the Narrows where the Sir Francis Drake is squeezed down to pass St. Johns and the Thatch Islands. Always a chance of more surprises in that area.
Biggest surprise I had over the past week was the number of light rain showers, both day and night . Water tanks are full and that is good. Another surprise is that Sopers Hole's mooring fees are now up to $30.00 per night from the $25.00 that they have been for years. Also noted the number of open moorings. This time of year, it is often difficult to get a mooring in that place.... wonder if it is paying off For visitors, it probably does not make any difference but to locals it sure keeps us away except for very specific reasons.
After a few overnight showers and a good daybreak shower, it is now sunny and the winds are increasing just a bit. Looks to be a great day.
Later Wayward
 View of Pelican and the Indians as I passed Tuesday AM.
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- Some times two is a too much
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- From: Da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at aol.com>
- Date: Fri, 9 Nov 2012 13:46:42 -0500 (EST)
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Day started with heavy overcast but has cleared a great deal. Now mostly sunny with light and variable winds here just out of the Sir Francis Drake Channel. Did see some rain off towards Tortola is AM, some looks to have touched the Nanny Cay area but much appeared just to be in the channel. It did have a nice rainbow out front and the effect was nice but did not turn out on the photos attempted.
It is about 88 in the boat now and think I'll take a swim soon to cool off.
Good thing I didn't just a bit ago when one of the Charter boats from Moorings almost rammed me while pulling up anchor. They had placed the anchor well within my swing and with the variable winds, when they pulled up they came very close.... but that was not the problem.... the anchor guy seems to have fouled the chain and the "skipper" came down to assist.... while leaving the boat in forward gear Neither seem to have any idea what was going on... both probably 30something and didn't care. Had to call out to get them to notice they were about to ram me. I had been down in the cabin doing some radio work and noticed what seemed to be noise very close to the boat. Obviously unqualified but of the type who thought they were experts and did not seem to appreciate my helpful suggestions That is one reason I like to avoid the majority of the charter areas... you never know who is at the helm and you never know if they have the necessary knowledge or can just write a great story about qualifications.
This is also after they ran through the anchorage in a dink skiing behind it making two big wakes due to undersized boat and oversized people. They did go ashore once and left the dink on the beach which almost floated off when a dive boat came by and sent up a larger than typical shore breaker. Just wonder what joy they will bring other locations..... but they are on vacation and it does not seem to really matter.
One thing the charter companies may want to consider in order to protect their clients boats is set up a watch program to monitor charter boats and have a central area to notify of justified concerns about specific boats. I know of many who say they have reported dangerous operations to charter companies but are informed they have no way to take action while they are on charter.... that seems like a cop out to me Everyone needs to be safe and be allowed to have a good time on the water.
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- Update
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- From: Da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at aol.com>
- Date: Wed, 7 Nov 2012 10:10:32 -0500 (EST)
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Today we should have Southeast winds 8 to 13 knots off shore changing to Northeast winds 11 to 16 by Saturday. Weather reports still indicate some Northern swells remaining but should continue to reduce, and the seas are about 3 to 4 feet building to 5 to 6 by weekend.
In the Sir Francis Drake Channel, seas are under 3 feet and winds are about 12 mph from the Southeast. We have some clouds but now mostly Sunny here off Norman Island. 70% chance for rain, we did get a few showers over the past few days and that was great for the old water holding tanks.... think I'm near full but could always use a bit more.
Fish seem to prefer my boat as each afternoon it is like a party around it.... but not for the small fish . I get explosions and often get a few splashes of salt water as the larger fish go for the small ones.
This is one of the mid size fish chasing the small fry. Actually when I went in to the dink this AM to toss out the evening "catch" I counted 8 small fry and this one just over 2 feet.... he looked very mad teeth all exposed and a half a small fry just below him... the head half . As you may notice I also have about 2 gallons of rain water in the dink from the showers in the afternoon and over night. No big winds and just a bit of sway noted in their passing.... just had to close the hatches and it gets warm when I do that for very long
Later Wayward
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- Something is falling from the sky and is wet... well a little wet
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- From: Da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at aol.com>
- Date: Mon, 5 Nov 2012 12:56:32 -0500 (EST)
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Sunday, I observed several showers passing close by but none on me.... well none on my boat either. Looks like Nanny Cay and West End had a nice shower in late afternoon. Can't see the Eastern end of Tortola from my anchorage. Did notice one larger rain shower passed to my South and came over St. John USVI.
Didn't have any showers over night and this AM had bright Sunshine until about 1 when we actually had a short rain shower. Not much but probably did add a drop or two to my water tank. Wind is now dead calm again. Temps were really nice during the shower but things seem to be really heating up with the wet surfaces and the sun back at near full power. Can we say Steam Treatment I see the shower is passing over the Sir Francis Drake Channel and will go ashore on Tortola between Nanny Cay and West End... looks to be a nice 2 to 3 min shower.... we can us all we can get.
Forecast said 80% chance but were I am normally is in the 20% missed places.
Did have a nice swim this AM and took a walk/ hike on Norman.... still did not find any Gold  Maybe I'll do it again in the AM and go for a longer walk. Was able to observe a few things I was looking for and a friend may be happy or not.... LOL you can never tell with some crabby women
Was able to make a few HF SSB contact this AM during coffee. Mostly with Florida and the Southeastern parts of the US were booming in on 17 meters. I'll be attempting to network with some of the other Carib Maritime Networks over the next few weeks, in prep for my planned trip down the Leewards and Windwards this next season.
Later
Wayward
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- Sunny and Dry
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- From: Da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at aol.com>
- Date: Sat, 3 Nov 2012 08:40:46 -0400 (EDT)
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Small craft should exercise caution
Still have the Small Craft notice locally but think it will not effect much of the onshore boating in the area. The Sir Francis Drake Channel is looking good but the winds are only about 9 mph presently and from the East. Not much in the way of seas, just the normal Carib Swells if a foot or so coming in via the breaks between the islands and the normal 2 to 3 foot seas. Temps will be about 90 today under Clear sky's.... gona need some sun screen if you are out and about today!!! and a Large Hat
Looks like we may have a chance of rain Sunday / Monday...... anyone wanta make a bet on on that , at least that it would amount to anything. Things could get brownish soon if no rain.
Still anchored over at Norman Island, and the water seems to be clearing some. Lots of small fish jumping about and generally we have only a few day trippers in for a lunch and swim but by evening only 3 to 5 boats...and that is fine with me With all this sun, I may do more work inside as long as it does not get too hot.. if it does then it is into the water. Really want to make a nice hike in the next day or so but may hold off until we get a bit more cloud shade to drop those temps.
Later
Wayward
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- Off Norman Island today
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- From: Da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at aol.com>
- Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2012 10:29:49 -0400 (EDT)
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Marine forecast is for East / Northeast winds 9 to 13 knots with seas of 3 to 7 feet over the remainder of the week and weekend. Inland the seas are 2 to three feet with a just noticeable swell from the Crib in the Sir Francis Drake Channel. Themps will run the standard 75 to 88 for this time of year Low chance of rain..BUT I did get a nice small shower just after sunrise this AM...... of course I had JUST filled my water tanks at Penn's Landing the day before!
I'm just off Norman Island, the one that Robert Lewis Stevenson based the book Treasure Island on. I've walked all over it but never found any gold but other treasure are always to be observed
 View of the Indians and Pelican as I neared Norman Island.... Think Pelican should be renamed Princess Island
In my location much of the breeze is blocked and the boats swing in all directions much of the time, making anchor placement a problem at times. In the boat about noon is very warm if we don't get some wind passing thru but the water is always an escape. I'm a bit disappointed that the water is not as clear as I had hoped. Normally you can see 30 feet + with no problem, now the waters are somewhat clouded with only about 12 feet being really clear. Still, it feels great and I'll shortly be out for a swim about then get back to a few projects.
thanks to a couple of Real Hams.... those with license, for reply's. Seems I met one at the dock this week and didn't know... of course I was in my Non- Wayward Sailor disguise . I'm getting to know my Radio much better but still have things to do like set up the Pactor unit and set up e-mail and weather fax systems... maybe later today.... after a nap
Later Wayward
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- Sunny and warm
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- From: Da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at aol.com>
- Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2012 09:43:09 -0400 (EDT)
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Small Craft Advisory in effect through late Tuesday night
Forecast is for winds from the Southwest at 6 to 11 knots today going up to 12 to 17 by Friday. Open Seas are forecast to be between 9 to 11 feet today thru Tuesday then slowly dropping to 5 to 7 by Friday. These seas will be in the form of Northwest swells and could make it difficult in passages. The Sir Francis Drake Channel looks to be 2 to 4 feet but could/ will be larger at passages open to the North.
The Airport reports winds of 12mph from the Southwest and 86 degrees under Mostly Sunny sky. We stand a 60% chance of some rain showers tonight.... I hope some of those drops find my water tank We have a chance of Thunder Storms today and over this next weekend but mid week looks to be Beach Weather ... Well it is almost always Beach Weather here... you may have to have a few rain drops fall on your head for a short time but it is nice anyway unless the Thunder Storms do appear.
Got most of my Marine/ Ham Radio fixed in place and even did a bit of Contest DXCQ just to get to know the radio controls better. This weekend was a World Wide DX contest and the air waves were jammed! Made contact in Eastern Europe, lots thru the Carib and the US and a few in South America. Didn't get any west of California but I may just not have understood them well enough to attempt a contact. Have discovered I have an RFI problem with the Frig Compressor and I'll be tackling that over the next few weeks to see if I can reduce it some or if I have to turn the thing off when I'm on the radio
A note to John and Terri... John when Terri calls you a Pig and a Porker ..... I really do not think that she thinks you are a Ham....
Phil...MMmm you are not a Ham but played one in a High School Pay
You guys just make me fall on the floor sometimes .
Later
Wayward
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- Sun and then Clouds
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- From: Da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at aol.com>
- Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2012 17:40:48 -0400 (EDT)
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Late Thursday and most of Friday were overcast but I saw little indication of any amounts of rain. Sky often looked as if it would rain but didn't see any. Solar Cells did not get much work done
Today it was mostly Sunny in the AM then clouds moved in and it was well after 5 in the afternoon before we had a few light showers moving in from the Southwest. Winds are reported to be 14mph at the Beef Island Airport but here in Fat Hog, we are seeing under 8mph under mixed clouds. Could see more rain tonight and Sunday but not much is forecast. All in all we did not get much at all from Sandy. We will see the seas rise from the existing 4 to 5 up to 7 to 9 by late Sunday and Monday in Northwest Swells on the Atlantic Side. Should not be much impact in the Sir Francis Drake except near the island tips where some could wrap around into the Channel.
Temps will continue to run about 88 in the day to 81 in the evening with a light wind which will clock from West to South until mid week when we should be back to more of an East wind.
Still a bit of chop out in the Channel but that will probably die down over the next day or so. Some boats are out and about but numbers are still low but should be increasing as November arrives and the Hi Season starts
Latter Wayward
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- Sandy's Outer Winds
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- From: Da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at aol.com>
- Date: Thu, 25 Oct 2012 05:28:34 -0400 (EDT)
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Small craft should exercise caution
Winds are now reported to be 19 mph from the South with just a hint of West. Some gusting is noted and the sky is mostly clear and star filled which surprised me We expect winds growing to 25mph with higher gust by tonight thru Sunday when they should start to drop off. 4 to 6 foot seas growing to 5 to 7 over the weekend are lower than originally forecast. Too dark for me to see the Sir Francis Drake channel but I would guess it is getting choppy based on the motions here in Fat Hog Bay, East End Tortola.
Monitored on HF the Storm prep reports from Exuma last night. They appear to be headed for some hard times and we hope they are prepared as well as they seem to be . Not much prep is noted through out Tortola but we do have some moderately high winds and a good chance of some heavy rain on occasions so everyone should be ready for that. Not a great time to get out sailing for the next few days or boating in any small craft. Just make sure your anchor is down well or your mooring lines are in good conditions as I sure they will get a bit of a work out over the next few days as Sandy continues to move on to the West Northwest of us and now over Cuba.
This is another BIG storm and you can see the well developed eye over Cuba in this image, we will be seeing some of the outer bands of rain over the next 48 hours or so. Already at a Cat 2 with wind speeds of 105, this storm has already cause lost of life and is a dangerous storm.
Best Wishes and to all in Sandy's path,
Wayward
TS Tony seems to like the open waters which is nice and isn't causing us any problems here on Tortola.
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- tropical waves waving at ya!
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- From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2012 15:18:34 -0400 (EDT)
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Stuck between a rock and a hard place! Hopefully the
orange blob will move northerly, but TD 18 is moving northeasterly. Send
good thoughts that she/he/it is no threat. 
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- Great Weekend but weather looks different by Wed
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- From: Da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at aol.com>
- Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2012 09:22:33 -0400 (EDT)
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Had the forecast showers both Sat and Sunday, none lasting more than a couple of minutes where I was, but they did provide some water for the old water tanks on da boat
86 here with winds of about 9 mph from NE reported at airport but here in Fat Hog Bay it is only about 5mph but better than nothing! Seas in Sir Francis Drake Channel appear to be around 2 to 3 feet and the sky is mostly sunny
Have lots of work in the Lazzeriet today running and connecting wires . Should have nice weather for the first part of this week but by Wed we will see a significant increase in winds 15 knots then possibly 25 knots by weekend. Looks to me to be part of the effect L99's passing that is forecast to be well West of us and a front that is hanging to our South that looks to be drawn up with it. We should get more rain with it but just hope it isn't all at one time. From this, you can see we may have less Sun by the weekend but again we still need some wet stuff but would rather not have 25 knot winds now that I'm getting work done on the boat
Want to say thanks to Bob, James and Sue.... glad to be back on island and with a computer battery that will allow me to have enough power to even do a report with out starting up the generator Now to locate the camera and get some photos.....MMMMMMmmmmmm How about a few dozen photos of me installing a new Marine/Ham radio???? MMMmm well maybe not Any Hams out their who operate when they are down here in the West Indies????? Would like to make contact.... when I get this thing installed. I'll have a limited antenna to start with but will upgrade when back down in Leewards next year.
Later Wayward
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- Back in da BVI
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- From: Da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at aol.com>
- Date: Sat, 20 Oct 2012 16:37:11 -0400 (EDT)
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Invest 90L and 99L are on todays notice list. Seems 90L is probably going to stay out in the Atlantic well away from us but this it early and lots can happen. 99L is another matter, being to our SouthWest and acting like it has no idea what to do or when it may do it. Hopefully it will stay away from the BVI but a little more rain may be something we could handle. It will probably be another day or two before we have any idea what is going on with both of these systems.
Presently, about 4PM, it is 86 and the wind is at 9mph from the South Southeast. Seas are under 5 feet and lower in the Sir Francis Drake Channel. More of Sun today... Mostly Sunny with a chance of rain better than 50% but it appears these will be of the short shower type and not heavy rains based on the size of cells that appear to be heading our way. Last night I had to close up the hatches three times.... for about 4 min each . Had a nice shower for 45 sec and the rest was just enough to prevent the hatches being opened to let in the very nice 12 mph breeze that really feels great but will wet down the boat if the hatches are not immediately closed when the rain starts.
Looks like we will have higher chances of rain tonight and about the middle of next week. These appear to be of just a bit more rain productive based on the Sat Photos but not anything too heavy.
Great to be back in da Islands. Have been up to the states for more than a month. Did a lot of running around all over and eating FAR TOOoooo Much. I was afraid the Airport people would make me stand on the Luggage weight machine We had ethnic foods of about every type available everywhere we went and we went to a lot of places.... drove over 3000+ miles in just Florida . Did get to meet up with some old friends in a couple of states, even got in on an Eric Stone song fest in a very nice private show near Tampa Had a great time and had too much of everything again..... Well I was Forced To..... they all forced me to eat and drink more than I should everyplace I went... they asked "would you like more?" See they forced me!!!!! Well, that is my story and I'm sticking with it
Have lots of work to do on a boat. Got my General Class Ham License while in Florida and updated my Coast Guard License, even had to do the TWIC thing for the new USCG License Seems to be a bit of an over do type of a thing to me... but they forgot to ask me how to do thing
Had work done on the Bimini and will be putting it back up later today... need it to cut down on the heat on the boat . I'm also installing more Radio Equipment and antennas for the boat.... will be looking like a SPY trawler if I keep this up!
Later Wayward
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- Save Trellis Bay
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- From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2012 14:45:42 -0400 (EDT)
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Rafael petered out! No storms, no hurricanes, only six
more weeks to go of hurricane season.
The islands are warming up with people as they begin to
trickle in while the weather slowly cools off somewhat.
Help Save Trellis Bay
This is important for the environment and saving
a natural habitat.
The petition is really important and needs your
signature.
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- bye bye Rafael, Happy Sails!
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- From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Mon, 15 Oct 2012 23:08:18 -0400 (EDT)
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Last night Hurricane Rafael poured down rain in the islands,
by morning it looked like the islands had been washed clean. I wanted
to get this report out earlier, but the guru internet gods thought
otherwise!
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- Rafael a disapointment?
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- From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sun, 14 Oct 2012 20:24:35 -0400 (EDT)
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All I know is that Raphael so far has been a
disappointment. Everyone
is complaining that they haven't gotten any rain
and their cisterns are
really dry.
Another resident said it was just very cloudy. Simply
amazing!
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- Tropical Storm Rafael
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- From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sat, 13 Oct 2012 16:19:40 -0400 (EDT)
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Tropical storm Rafael is passing by with few giving much
notice to the darkened weather.
Flash flood warnings are in effect, Seas are expected to get
rough.
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- And yet another big wave
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- From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2012 15:55:06 -0400 (EDT)
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84F degrees. Scattered clouds.
Big tropical wave with strong gusty winds and heavy rainfall
is hovering in the Caribbean. It might be a named storm before the week is
out.
Tropical depression 16 is up around the Bahamas.
The Virgin Islands are neatly poised between the two.
7 more weeks of hurricane season! If you have a boat, run for
cover before the chaos sets in.
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- Both Nadine and Oscar Gone Bye Bye
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- From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Fri, 5 Oct 2012 16:49:51 -0400 (EDT)
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Tropical Storm Nadine finally packed it up after nearly a
month of aimless wandering.
Now Tropical Storm Oscar had died down to a memory.
Only 7 more weeks of hurricane season! 
Coming
Up:
November 10
Humane Society Gaming
Night Wear your Vegas best, play your favourite Casino games and
raise money for our local Animal Shelter. November
4Caribbean 1500 Departs Hampton, VA for Nanny
Cay. November 16, prize giving in Nanny Cay (or 12 days after a
delayed start) November 17PegLegs Round Tortola
RaceNovember 30Official end of
Hurricane Season! |
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31st
Annual BVI Charter Yacht Show
The BVI Charter Yacht Society’s (CYS) annual
industry show has moved to Nanny Cay and will take place from
Sunday, November 4th until Friday, November 9th. Read more
The BVI Charter Yacht Society’s (CYS) annual
industry show has moved to Nanny Cay and will take place from
Sunday, November 4th until Friday, November 9th.
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- Oscar kicking about
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- From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2012 11:00:02 -0400 (EDT)
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Tropical Storm Oscar is kicking around, making himself known.
We think he will get lost on his way to the Caribbean and just head for the UK.
Even if he made a run for the islands, at his current speed,
it would take him almost a week to get to the Virgin Islands.
But we all know how predictions can go awry.
Meanwhile Nadine is competing to be one of the longest living
storms in history with a few loops in her history.
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- Stock up on Rum, Get ready for the storm parties!
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- From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2012 21:20:48 -0400 (EDT)
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Another big tropical wave rolling across the seas with sights
set on the islands. Not good news, it's October! Hurricane season is
supposed to be ending very soon.
But Mother Nature doesn't always follow the human inspired
calendar.
Nadine lives onwards, she may make it a full month
soon!
Years ago, I was working on a charter boat
with a Swedish Captain who spoke very good English, but confused Turkey and
Turtle all the time. 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 what
on earth is on the water... It turned out to be a beautiful big
turtle that entertained us with diving and surfacing several times. They laughed
about his Turkey and it became a joke all week, as someone would holler
"Look! A turkey!"
Another day I sent lunch up to the cockpit
for the passengers and captain. I went back down below to clean up the
prep 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 bit one bite
out of 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 merrily announced "She makes the BEST TURTLE
sandwiches!"
After I assured the guests they had TURKEY
and not TURTLE sandwiches, there was a huge sigh of relief as the guests eagerly
devoured their previously untouched sandwiches.
I can only imagine what they thought when
after seeing these beautiful sea creatures all week, the captain had announced
we were now having turtle sandwiches.
Of course this was the same crazy captain
that would tell me to put the boat in "natural" when he wanted me to disengage
the gear. Yet, if someone asked to go to a nude beach, he would
happily announce we were going to the "au neutral" beach.
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- Nadine still alive and kicking!
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- From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sun, 30 Sep 2012 11:25:57 -0400 (EDT)
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Scattered clouds with sunshine poking through now and then.
Not many boats
around.
Will hurricane Nadine ever die? She has been wandering
around for 3 weeks now. Just incredible. Currently she is no threat at all to
the BVI. But who knows what she will do next? Be the longest living
storm?
Tomorrow is October 1st, don't forget to start thinking
about your Halloween
costume!
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- Another great day in paradise!
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- From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sun, 23 Sep 2012 20:27:58 -0400 (EDT)
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Another great day in paradise! No storms, no
hurricanes, just parties, sailing, and beaching it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(\_(\_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Years back, I was lifting the anchor by hand
on my sailboat. Well, leather gloved hand (mama didn't raise any fools). I
stowed it away, took off my wet gloves, hung them up to dry, then walked back to
the helm and proceeded at a sedate speed out of the harbor. I had gone maybe a
boat length when I realized I seemed not to be moving anymore. I goosed the
throttle a little and stared at a tree off my starboard side on shore and sure
enough, I wasn't going anywhere at all!
I was quite puzzled by this. A gentle wind
wafted by and the boat stayed put. Now this is odd! I went forward, yep,
both anchors were up, one was locked down on the bow rollers and the other
stowed in the anchor locker. OK, my memory was good. I had done the right
thing.
I scratched my head and looked all around
me. I was turned 180 degrees from the rest of the boats and the winds did
nothing to move my boat.
I went back to the helm, and turned the
engine off. I put my snorkel mask on top of my head and launched the aft ladder.
I opened up the port locker, pulled out a length of rope and cleated that off.
Then I descended the ladder, while carrying the bitter end of the rope. This was
in case my boat suddenly took off without me, I could use the rope to pull
myself back to her. (Don't cha just HATE that when your boat takes off without
you?)
I shoved the snorkel mask down over my face,
took a long slow deep breath and swam under the boat. Well, what
do I see? But a mermaidcaught in my
rudder! Incredible! I must be seeing things. I made a mental note to
stop smoking the local herbs and surfaced back at the
ladder.
I stared hard at the tree off to starboard.
Nope. The boat wasn't moving an inch, in spite of the winds. Something was
preventing me from moving. I took a few deep breaths to clear my head. I swam
back under the boat one more time.
Yep, there was a mermaid caught in my
rudder, stuck between the rudder pin and the hull. I kid you not! I
resurfaced at the ladder.
No one is ever going to believe me. I wished
I had an underwater camera, it would have made such a great shot, a mermaid,
stuck under my boat, pretty as you please. No camera, no witnesses. No one
was even around as to come over and question my curious
maneuverings.
I had seen mermaids before. Some
boating company came out with small white boat fenders in the shape of a
mermaid. I had seen
them used on dinghies to tie up alongside mother ships and docks. This one
was apparently attached to the painter of a semi-submerged mooring
ball.
I had not seen the little mermaid, nor the
submerged mooring ball, when I took off through the harbor. Somehow, as I passed
by, the mermaid, had managed to wedge herself between my rudder and
hull.
I climbed back aboard, turned the wheel to
port, went back underwater, and wrestled the little mermaid out of my
rudder. She bobbed up to the surface and I followed her. She was attached
to a tiny bit of line, which was knotted to a submerged mooring ball that had so
much underwater growth all over it, that it looked like a frightening monster.
First a mermaid, then a monster. I've been in the sun too
long!
I climbed back aboard and let the wind push
me away from the little mermaid, while I started the engine and left her in
neutral. After I had gently blown safely away, I engaged forward gear and
sedately motored out of the harbor to set sail. I gave a quick glance, and there
was the tiny mermaid, bobbing on the water, far behind
me.
As I exited the harbor, I put the boat back
in neutral, pointed my bow upwind, then ran to the mast and pulled up the
mainsail, followed by the jib. I ran back for the wheel, and pulled
the jib in for a nice broad reach. I turned the boat and headed for Jost Van
Dyke, adjusting my mainsail until all was happy. I sat down at the wheel
and laughed. Imagine that! I snagged a mermaid with my
sailboat.
About an hour or so later, I doused the
sails, turned on the motor and anchored in my secret spot in Great Harbour at
Jost Van Dyke. I was lucky to have shoal keel and only draw a bit less than 4
feet. If I lined up with the quaint little church to the north, and
Albert's house to the west, I would be in a nice sandy spot, about 6-7 feet
deep, depending on the tide. No one could anchor near me and I could enjoy some
freedom of not worrying about bareboats banging into me in the wee hours of the
morning when they seem to drag anchor most often.
The brief engine time, had warmed up my hot
water tank, so I went below, showered off the sea salt and sweat, dressed in a
fresh sarong and went ashore in my little rubber dinghy at a full clip with a 2
horse Yamaha engine. That equates about the speed of hearty
rowing.
At happy hour I was telling folks at the
bar, about getting stuck and finding a mermaid caught in my rudder. Before
I could explain she was merely made out of white rubber, one of the island boyz
at the bar spoke up rather loudly "Miss? You be smoking too much of this
local herb if you think you be seeing mermaids under your
boat!"
Everyone burst out laughing and the joke was
on me. I never did get to explain she was just a rubber mermaid. Everyone
already thought I was crazy for sailing around alone on a sailboat I had rebuilt
on my own. Now I was sounding certifiably
crazy.
Well, heck, let 'em think what they want to.
For the next few days, no one remembered my name, I was referred to as "the lady
who saw a mermaid under her boat", followed by snickers and laughter. I just
smiled. Let 'em wonder.
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- Another great day in paradise, no storms so far!
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- From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2012 13:22:12 -0400 (EDT)
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Another great day in paradise, no storms so far!
On this day in 1988, I was sailing from Isla Mujeres
Mexico to Mobile Alabama on a boat delivery. Hurricane Gilbert had wrecked Isla
Mujeres, but I did not know this due to lack of communications. Instead of
returning there a week later, it would be nearly 2 years before I found my way
back again.
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- Smooth Sailing Ahead!
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- From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2012 16:37:07 -0400 (EDT)
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No storms, no hurricanes. Tropical Storm Nadine has fled to
the northern Atlantic.
It's a great day to go sailing and work on your all over tan.
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- Dodged another one!
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- From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Fri, 14 Sep 2012 19:39:00 -0400 (EDT)
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Nadine can't huff and puff up to hurricane status yet but at
least she has left the Caribbean.
Another tropical wave is splashing around the central tropics
just to keep the Caribbean entertained. 
Watching.
Waiting.
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- Nadine forming into Hurricane
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- From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2012 11:35:35 -0400 (EDT)
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Nadine is building up strength to earn herself the hurricane
title. The eye is about 770 miles ENE of the northern Leeward Islands with
winds of about 70 miles per hour. No watches or warnings at this time. But stay
on alert. Tis the season.
All is beautiful in the Virgin Islands.
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- Nadine itching to be named
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- From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2012 05:47:06 -0400 (EDT)
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This low pressure system due east of the islands could become
a tropical depression anytime now.
Don't forget to buy jumbo heavy duty garbage bags as part of
your hurricane supplies. They come in handy for bagging up electronics and
clothes. During a storm, many homes develop leaks where you've never seen them
before. Sometimes the high winds just force water in around the windows.
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- Beware the Blob!
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- From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2012 17:45:41 -0400 (EDT)
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The blob comes closer and closer... sounds like a horror
movie? Mid September has often been the scene of the worst hurricanes.
Let's all hope that's not true for this year.
The big blob aka tropical wave is organized and thinking
about becoming the next named storm NADINE.
Time to plan for the next hurricane parties!
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- Not over yet
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- From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sun, 9 Sep 2012 14:33:16 -0400 (EDT)
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Leslie has downgraded again to a tropical storm and is near
Bermuda. Hurricane Michael is zipping around the upper Atlantic.
Due east of the islands is another disturbance that wants to
be a hurricane in the future, so keep a close eye on that and don't forget to
stock up on food, candles, batteries, water and RUM for the hurricane parties.
No pretty pictures today, my internet is flaking out. So we be
limin!
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- Update
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- From: Da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at aol.com>
- Date: Sat, 8 Sep 2012 10:29:19 -0400 (EDT)
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Small Craft Advisory in effect through Sunday morning
Wrong time of the year to have Northerly Swells but we are on the look out for them this weekend due to the circulation off TS Leslie. We will have 6 to 8 foot seas with winds from the Southwest and a Northern Swell. Good thing the winds are only in the 6 to 14 knot range and the seas are no higher. Could be a mess for a small boat in those seas but the North Swells should be finished by Monday or so.
90L is in the Gulf and who knows what it will do or when. It should move Eastward and cross Florida... then??? some forecast show it staying on an East path and others show it making a Right Turn over the Bahamas and coming south Hopefully if it does drop down out way it will only bring rain but that is unlikely at this point.
Hurricane "Mike" is about done with and is well north of us and no problem.
A new invest 91L will need some attention.
It is still early and lots of things can change but for now it should not be a problem for us.
Locally it will be HOT and no rain is forecast, even that out into late next week is for trace amounts.
I'll be traveling a bit late next week so it just may rain anyway!!!
Made a walk over to Trellis Bay and it is very quiet. Not much going on in the AM. Only things open were the Trellis Kitchen and the Market. Had more boat mooring vacant than I though existed in the bay!!! No word on when da Loose Mongoose will reopen and by whom..... Did see some work underway but it is still closed and all the workers have been layed off as the new management will select their staff if the word we have is accurate.
The Red Rock is still open at Penn's Landing and will do their normal summer closing about the last week in Sept thru Oct something... Everyone need a break and this is the time of year most places do any repairs and updates and allow the crews to visit on vacations for a few weeks. Sounds like a good idea to me
Later
Wayward
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- All is well...for now
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- From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Fri, 7 Sep 2012 09:39:51 -0400 (EDT)
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The center of hurricane Leslie is about 415 miles south
southeast of Bermuda. She is stalling again with no apparent present
movement. A tropical storm watch is in effect for Bermuda.
Hurricane Michael is drifting Northward at 3mph but has 105mph
winds as he looks towards the UK.
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- Low winds No Rain Lots O' Sun
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- From: Da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at aol.com>
- Date: Fri, 7 Sep 2012 09:22:37 -0400 (EDT)
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Small craft should exercise caution through this evening
Small Craft Advisory in effect from this evening through Sunday morning
Winds should stay about 7 to 13 knots thru Tuesday of next week according to Forecast. We have seen near Calm in the evening/ night and I've had to use the boats fans to keep cool and keep the mosquitoes away when the breeze gets that low. Seas are to be 4 to 6 feet today building to 6 to 8 feet for most of the weekend. Sir Francis Drake Channel should be a bit calmer but with the odd ball wind directions we are having from the passing of the last TS, the few boaters need to keep an eye open on local conditions.
Daytime temps will be about 90 most of this week with nights being about 88.... BIG relief. Heat Index will be in upper 90's but drop to low 90's at night. Anyone for a naked dip about midnight, and 2 AM and.......... Well, I'll just hop in the shower and then slather on some of my H20/SSS mix and hop back in bed with a fan on.
The only time RAIN is mentioned is when the chance is WAY UP about 20% which equals NCIH Seeing more browning of the islands and not much of a chance of any help for a while.... and this is the rainiest season???. Going to be a lot of water trucks on the roads in the next few weeks/ months if we don't get a drop or two. I've closed off my "water collection system" because the boat is too dusty to collect and run off. Will have to start tanking water soon, a hard job since I really don't care to take the boat into a dock to fill up unless I have to and I may have to in October.
Here is a photo of a Guard Crab I noted on a boat.
As I understand they release it at night and it eats anyone unknown that attempts to come aboard The photo Must be Reduced in size????
Later
Wayward
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- Tsunami Warning Cancelled For Caribbean
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- From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 5 Sep 2012 16:17:56 -0400 (EDT)
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TSUNAMI WARNING issued in error and now canceled. Thank
goodness for small favors!
This morning a large 7.9 earthquake rocked Costa Rica on the
Pacific side, resulting in a Caribbean wide tsunami
warning:
ORIGIN TIME - 1442Z 05 SEP 2012
COORDINATES - 9.9 NORTH 85.5 WEST
LOCATION - OFF COAST OF COSTA RICA
MAGNITUDE - 7.9
EVALUATION
EARTHQUAKES OF
THIS SIZE HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO GENERATE A WIDESPREAD DESTRUCTIVE TSUNAMI THAT
CAN AFFECT COASTLINES ACROSS THE ENTIRE CARIBBEAN REGION.
HOWEVER - IT IS NOT KNOWN THAT A TSUNAMI WAS GENERATED.
THIS WATCH IS BASED ONLY ON THE EARTHQUAKE EVALUATION. AUTHORITIES IN THE REGION
SHOULD TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION IN RESPONSE TO THE POSSIBILITY OF A WIDESPREAD
DESTRUCTIVE TSUNAMI.
A few minutes later...
THE TSUNAMI WATCH FOR THE CARIBBEAN IS CANCELLED BECAUSE
IT WAS MEANT FOR THE PACIFIC AND WAS INADVERTANTLY SENT TO THE
CARIBBEAN BY MISTAKE. WE APOLOGIZE FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE THIS
MAY HAVE CAUSED.
I was thinking this was going to be
the tsunami of the millennium if it had rolled all the way across land from the
Pacific side of Costa Rica to the Caribbean. Wow!
Thank our lucky stars but send prayers to Costa
Ricans.
Another glorious day in the Virgin Islands.
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- Dark, cloudy and overcast, but no hurricanes!
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- From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Tue, 4 Sep 2012 16:06:08 -0400 (EDT)
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Dark, cloudy and overcast, but no hurricanes!
Tropical Storms Michael and Leslie are north of the islands,
but the outer bands of Leslie are causing this otherwise tropical paradise to
look bit tattered and dreary.
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- Tropical depression 13 not a threat, but these earthquakes warming up...
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- From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Mon, 3 Sep 2012 23:13:18 -0400 (EDT)
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September is typically the busiest month for the hurricane
Gods. So now we have TD 13 numbered and itching for a name.  Ominous 13 is tiny and
in the Atlantic, north of the islands.
Tropical Storm Leslie is moving very slowly, building up the
mystery, meandering along like a toddler who has discovered the back garden.
Batten down the hatches, outer bands are far reaching and wet
if you are out and about messing about on boats.
More earthquakes just to keep things exciting. We need a concrete
house for hurricanes and a wooden house for earthquakes...
Change could be a coming...
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- No Rain.... missed by just that much
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- From: Da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at aol.com>
- Date: Sun, 2 Sep 2012 19:58:27 -0400 (EDT)
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Winds took a tour late last night and today from the East to the West by way of the North.
Most of the day was Northeast then later in the afternoon went Northwest and almost West..... well 300 degrees here in Fat Hog Bay.
All that rain and we so far have missed all of it from where I can see
Been doing some teak work and the boat is coated with dust and I need a really good wash down
Things are slow here in the BVI, a few go fast boats and that is about all I've seen out and about today.
Hopefully we may get some rain on the back side????
later Wayward
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- Sundaze
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- From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sun, 2 Sep 2012 13:51:31 -0400 (EDT)
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Tropical Storm Leslie skirting by the islands, sucking out the
wind and leaving clouds in her wake. The Virgin Islands has been lucky so
far!
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- First Day of September
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- From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sat, 1 Sep 2012 13:06:21 -0400 (EDT)
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Shhhhhh..... people are hung over from last nights
Blue Moon Parties on the beach.
If Kirk can keep on trucking... avoiding land, we are all
happy for male commitment-phobia.
Leslie though could come frightening close to the Virgin
Islands. Nobody really knows how or where these things will hit or what
intensity they are are. I just hope that hot air from the Florida
political convention doesn't attract her there.
Tropical Storm Leslie is struggling against sheer, so we hope
she turns north westerly, away from the islands. But I think she can strengthen.
Results for Tortola (18.45N, 64.53W):
The eye
of the storm is about 580 miles (933 km) away. If the system keeps moving at its
current speed of 18 mph and directly towards Tortola, it will take around 32.2
hours* (Sunday, September 2 at 7:12PM AST) to reach mon. Given the current
windfield (160 miles from the center), tropical storm winds will be felt in 23.3
hours (Sunday, 10:18AM AST).
But don't assume she will because the forecasters want her to.
Time to get ready! You may want to at least have a great hurricane party,
even if she doesn't slam the islands.
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- And Earthquakes too!
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- From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 30 Aug 2012 17:05:09 -0400 (EDT)
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Hurricanes, tropical storms, earthquakes... time to get
prepared!
On Wednesday 4 earthquakes were recorded above 4.0 in the
Virgin Islands!
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- Keep an eye out...
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- From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 30 Aug 2012 15:25:49 -0400 (EDT)
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Hurricane Kirk is now officially the fifth hurricane of this
season. Kirk is
about 1000 miles northeast of the northern Leeward Islands so not a threat to
the Virgin Islands at this time.
Tropical depression 12 could be the future Leslie.
One of the first reports I ever sent StormCarib.com was
during a hurricane in the early 90's. I had moved off my boat and was
staying with a friend on St John in the Virgin Islands, in their apartment
that had no furniture.
I was sitting on the floor, in the dark, as we had no
electricity and no generator. I was using a laptop (virtually unheard of
in those days) on a battery with the earliest windows version. I had
a newfangled cell phone that was big, heavy and clunky. But I
could plug it into the laptop with expensive accessory cords I had
bought. One end plugged into the cell phone and the other was a regular phone
jack type plug that inserted into the laptop. I was able to dial up AOL and
upload my saved email to StormCarib.com about the current conditions, then
shut the computer down and do the same thing again later.
What's so funny, is that now in 2012, that kind of system
and technology is no longer available.
Picture courtesy of Mystery Mermaid in the islands.
Hard to believe a storm is brewing out there!
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- Update
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- From: Da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at aol.com>
- Date: Thu, 30 Aug 2012 12:30:12 -0400 (EDT)
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Marine forecast is for 7 to 14 knot winds with seas running 2 to 5 feet growing to 6 to 8 feet by Sunday. This increase in seas may be due to the expected passing of TD 11 to our Northwest as shown below.
below. Temps should be a bit above normal at the low to mid 90's with deminishing chance of rain for the next few days Not really sure how you can get lower than none????? We are having partly cloudy to mostly sunny contitions, all in all not a bad day but we still need some rain.
I figure I'll personally increase to chance of rain by starting refinishing some Teak work on the boat. That should do the trick.
Not much in the way of boating around here. Only a few sail boats out and the normal number of nasty go fast boats burning up a few dinosaurs and hour. I have no idea how they can afford to do that.... well I do have one but it is not nice to say.
Just hope TD 11 does what it is suppose to do and not get too close to us but we would like a bit of rain.
Later.
Wayward
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- I, J, K, L... the alphabet keeps rolling along
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- From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 29 Aug 2012 11:04:40 -0400 (EDT)
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Isaac, Kirk... and more on the way...
Isaac is in the USA, Kirk is northeast of the Virgin Islands
and probably not a threat.
But the next bowling ball is east of the Caribbean
islands. While it's not projected to hit the Virgin Islands, it could fool us
all. She will be named Leslie.
Following her we could have
Michael
Nadine
Oscar
Patty
Rafael
Sandy
Tony
Valerie
William
If the island hasn't run out of batteries, it will, so stock
up now for everything you desire for living and coping, after the hurricane.
Sometimes everything is fine afterwards, other times you're entire life could be
permanently altered.
The first hurricane scare I went through on St John in the
Virgin Islands decades ago, there was a serious run on the liquor aisles first.
Stores sold out of every drop of alcohol they had including beer and wine days
before the hurricane arrived. Of course no one had a clue at the time, whether
it would hit or not.
I thought wow, these people take their hurricane parties
seriously!
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- Hurricane season in full swing
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- From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Tue, 28 Aug 2012 17:15:36 -0400 (EDT)
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While Issaac bears down on New Orleans, I am visiting in
northern Georgia were the outer bands of Isaac are dumping flooding rains on us.
The Virgin Islands needs to look at tropical depression eleven
even though it is northeast of the islands, these weather systems have been
known to do loopy loops.
Following on the heals, is yet another disturbance.
If you aren't ready for hurricane season by now... then
you might just be a typical islander. Just the same, make a run
on the store and stock supplies just in case.
Now is the time to keep your gas or petrol reserves topped up
for your boats, cars and generators. (And don't forget to top up the rum supply
too!)
Cloudy and overcast as shown by this picture from an anonymous
mermaid. 
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- Gray day, Rain?????
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- From: Da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at aol.com>
- Date: Mon, 27 Aug 2012 10:01:26 -0400 (EDT)
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This AM was rather Gray, by the time I had a bit to eat the clouds were growing to the Southeast.
Looks like we will stand a good chance of some showers
Presently the winds are about 8mph from the Southeast and the forecast is for winds 15 to 20 with a 40% chance of rain. Winds should move to the East tonight and stay in that direction most of this week at about the same forecast. Rain chances should drop by mid week with sunny days until the weekend when another possibility of rain pops up in the forecast with some better chance of accumulations.... but these week out forecast have not been very accurate locally.... we hope for rain and only get a short light shower of a few seconds
Marine forecast for the local waters is for winds 9 to 15 knots and seas 2 to 4 feet.
Looks like the invest are moving away from us as forecast and Isaac is looking to visit the New Orleans area on a 7 year cycle when Katrina last hit them. Hope the local governments, and National governments actually take action this time to save lives instead of delay attempting to save a few $$ from City and Parish government funds at the cost of lives. They need to get moving yesterday. The world will be looking on them and we wish the people the very best. Hopefully Isaac will not cause any substantial problems but will provide some needed rain west of Louisiana.
Saw a few sail boats out on Sunday, more power boats, some just burning fuel for no apparent reason. Did have to make a run out in the bay and pick up a young kid.... probably about 6 or 7, who had a problem with the prop on his boat and could not make it back into the marina area. He sure had a loud cry for help!!! but I would have loved to have seen a life jacket in the boat when I arrived . Too many feel that dinks are just like toys and use them as bumper cars and know little or nothing about rules or seamanship. It is a wonder we do not have more bad incidence with this type activity.
later
Wayward
I know of no significant damage locally from Isaac's pass by. Think I see a missing prop on one wind generator on a sailboat but it may have been removed. Had no damage on my boat and am comfortably aboard her again less the solar panels I will not put up for now. This is causing me to run the boat engine and my little Honda 2000i a lot more than I normally do when I have the solar panels up and get a good days worth of sunshine.... that always makes me and my batteries feel good all over.
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- Overcast Day and dark night
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- From: Da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at aol.com>
- Date: Sat, 25 Aug 2012 20:03:11 -0400 (EDT)
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Today was very overcast but we have had very little rain here in East End. Occasionally we had very very very light "showers" the type where not enough hits a surface to make it wet.... just feels like a few misty pecks of moisture touch your arms and face but your clothing does not show any rain. Very muggy and with the winds about 4 to 6 mph the bugs find you if you have light near by.... gotta get my special mixture of H2O and SSS
Looks like we will have a few more days of a mix of overcast with chances of limited rain and maybe a bit of Sun breaking through occasionally.
Appears that Isaac went more to the North of Cuba and only kissed it a bit and now the Florida Panhandle is looking at a Cat 3 Hurricane about Tuesday night. Have family and friends in that area and hope all goes well for them. I can not get over how unlike a hurricane the Radar and most Sat photos are. Did here one forecaster which said something I thought was right on the money. He said it looks like a bunch of dogs with out a Boss Dog. They are all more or less doing their own thing, occasionally fighting with each other making the gang weaker but he felt that after the storm passed Cube one Boss Dog would take over and a more "normal" storm would get big and strong.... a Cat 3 Storm is just that. The problem for the people in the Florida Panhandle is while they are getting ready to move out.... they do not yet have any idea which was is the best and what is the minimum distance they need to go to be "Safe". Models keep edging West, many now say New Orleans but the US National forecast is still centered on the Panama City area. Hopefully by Sunday night things will be clear as to where it is going.... actually, My hope is that it will simply break apart and rain itself out before it hits land That could cool the waters of the Gulf a bit, even if only for a short time.
I am back on the boat as of Friday afternoon. Just got busy getting it more comfortable, putting up the Bimini and getting the LP gas systems hooked back up and getting the portable generator in place to use since I'll be leaving the solar panels down for a while.
Got word from people who recorded winds up to 43mph in Fat Hog Bay on Thursday, but indicated most of the time it was about the mid 30's near water level. I was up a bit higher on the side of a hill and had more protection than at water level. Did notice a few boats out but it was not a great day for sailing with undecided winds, East then Southeast then Northeast then back Southeast again. A bit of sun would help everyone feel better but we still need rain as what we got was generally not all that much.
Later
Wayward
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- Night was Windy but not very wet
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- From: Da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at aol.com>
- Date: Fri, 24 Aug 2012 08:18:40 -0400 (EDT)
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Isaac has passed us and we had winds at East End Tortola that appear to have been in the lower 30's mph at best. A few cells may have had higher but not all came over me last night. Appears few individuals in this area boarded up. Glad where I stayed did. Did hear a few loud door slams down the hill and three Liat flights did make it in Yesterday. This AM had one of the larger American Eagle flight make it in and several smaller commuter flights and at least one Liat flights. Notices road traffic much of yesterday but very light and even several motor cycles in between some of the storm cells passing through.... even some people out walking and one person on a bicycle Winds were in the 20's and with out rain, some people were out and about. Sure some of these were Airport Workers and utility service people who had to be out and pass by where I'm holed up for the storm.
This AM it looks a bit overcast but some sun is breaking through and at 8 AM we can see some traffic but not as much as on a normal day. Would think most businesses will open today. Seems most utilities only had short down times, at least in my area, but have talked to a few in other parts of the island and it seems we have had no widespread outages. Still getting a few higher than normal wind burst occasionally and streets look damp but not actually wet. Think the rain amounts we got were far below the forecast and much below what locals wanted/ needed for their water systems and what the plants needed to off set the dryness we have had over the summer season.
Hope to be able to make it back to the boat later this afternoon but have a few thing I need to help with on the island before I head out.
With Joyce and Invest 97L looking to go North of us, it appears we will have a few days maybe a week or more of more normal weather.
Later
Wayward
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- Precipitation map of Isaac
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- From: mermaid gardener <mermaidgardener at gmail.com>
- Date: Thu, 23 Aug 2012 21:11:48 -0500
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Good Evening,
I was able to find this interesting map showing the Total precipitable water from Isaac.
Looks like we are still in the thick of things tonight and lets hope that TS Joyce stays to the north. They truly look like bowling balls coming right off of Africa!!!
The Mermaid Gardener
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- Another TS out in the Atlantic
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- From: mermaid gardener <mermaidgardener at gmail.com>
- Date: Thu, 23 Aug 2012 18:53:27 -0500
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Good Evening,
We now Tropical Storm Joyce out on the horizon to watch.
From the DDM: Presently Joyce does not pose a threat to the territory however the Department
of Disaster Management (DDM) is still monitoring the system.
Glad I have the shutters up on the house even though Joyce looks like it won't be bothering us at this point.
Stay safe!!!
the Mermaid Gardener
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- Not out of the woods yet!
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- From: mermaid gardener <mermaidgardener at gmail.com>
- Date: Thu, 23 Aug 2012 17:17:00 -0500
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Good afternoon,
After squally weather and some small wind bursts associated with the squalls we actually will be getting more rain from the looks of the radar.
It looks as if the rear of Isaac is expanding and going to drop additional rain over the course the evening. Glad that we escaped the brunt of the storm! Stay diligent and be safe where ever you may be in the Lesser Antilles.
From the Disaster Management folks:
Synopsis: The presence of TS
Isaac in close proximity to the south of the BVI will cause adverse weather
conditions across this area over the next 24 hours. TS warning remains
in place for the BVI!
Wx: Cloudy to overcast
skies tonight and tomorrow with periods of moderate to heavy showers
accompanied by isolated thunderstorms as TS Isaac is within close proximity to
the island. A flash flood watch remains in place for the BVI until 6AM
tomorrow morning.
Winds: SE at
20-32kts, gusting to 36kts over open waters and during showers..
Seas: Very rough,
swells 2.4-3.7m or 8-12ft. Warning remains in place for small craft operators
and sea bathers against hazardous sea conditions. Small crafts should
stay in port and sea bathers should avoid these waters at all cost!
Barometric
Pressure: Below
normal.
The Mermaid Gardener
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- Windy but little rain
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- From: Da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at aol.com>
- Date: Thu, 23 Aug 2012 15:31:23 -0400 (EDT)
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Isaac is a large buy not very organized storm.
Center is not defined and keeps appearing to reform in hops and jumps according to some of the forecasts. We had a breezy night but winds appeared to be under 30 MPH where I was in the East End area. Today earlier it was mostly sunny for a while then the small cells passed through with higher gust and short rains showers. Forecast for rain accumulations has changed again to the downward end and from what I can see, it appears correct and we have not had much in total.... probably maybe a half inch??? We should still get some this afternoon and tonight but it looks to be spotty and winds will probably continue to be high for the remainder of today and early Friday.
East End has had a few power outages but ours did not occur until about noon and flickered a couple of times but is still on and I have both cell and this Internet connection. Some traffic is noted along the roads and one Liat flight came in just after a strong storm cell passed through which surprised us. We thought all the local airports were closed but now understand that even St Thomas is having some flights in and out. Almost no boat traffic. Seas in the Sir Francis Drake Channel are very choppy and about 4 to 6 feet with some large wind driven swells that appear to add several feet to the wave heights on a random basis. The shore line water in East End is its normal Storm Brown. Several of the shoaled up areas have breaking waves within Fat Hog Bay. I did see one Deep Sea fishing type boat leave the marina near the commercial terminal and appeared to make a run for the SFD Channel but turned about and went into the mangroves at the West end of Fat Hogs Bay and anchor. Seemed to be a bit dangerous to me but it was probably ill prepared for this storm as it was tied up to one of the docks with only finders to hold it off and lines to one side to hold it in place. It was probably getting a beating... and the dock was probably getting the worst of it.
From what I can see of the boat at the various mooring in the bay they seem to be doing well.
Hope this passes soon and winds drop off a bit faster.
Later
Wayward
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- island is getting ready
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- From: Da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at aol.com>
- Date: Wed, 22 Aug 2012 14:49:20 -0400 (EDT)
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Tropical Storm Isaac should pass us to the south southwest
Results for Tortola (18.45N, 64.53W):
The approximate Closest Point of Approach (CPA) is located near 16.8N, 64.8W or about 114.8 miles (184.8 km) from your location. The estimated time of when the center of the storm will be at that location is in about 22 hours and 7 minutes from now (Thursday, August 23 at 11:06AM AST).
Tonight we expect winds 25 - 35 mph, Thursday 45 - 50 mph, Friday 25-35 mph. Rain amounts change with every forecast but it looks to be less than what most locals hope for. 0.6 inch Wed, 1.9 inch, Friday 0.7 inch Friday which overall is much more than has been forecast locally in the past week. These could still be a problem if it occurs in a short time frame due to our dry hard ground and rapid elevations from the coast.
Most marinas seem to be well prepared for the coming days. Little activity is observable with most individuals but that is not all bad as some actually did get ready at the start of the season. General activity seems about normal at this time.
TD 10
Results for Tortola (18.45N, 64.53W):
The approximate Closest Point of Approach (CPA) is located near 23.6N, 60.5W or about 436.8 miles (703.0 km) from your location. The estimated time of when the center of the storm will be at that location is in about 4 days, 6 hours and 53 minutes from now (Sunday, August 26 at 9:06PM AST).
Not much info is flowing on this system as far as potential impact to the islands. It looks like that since we have other activity to look at, less is directed to the alternative paths this system could take, one of which is almost over us .
With a potential of having 50 mph winds, I have elected to spend a couple of nights ashore . The major point was these winds could last for almost 24 hours and decrease only to the 25 to 30 mph at that time. Don't care to bounce around inside a boat that long if I can spend the time on stable ground. I am taking my portable Generator and lots of snacks and some toys... such as the study guide for my Ham "General Class" license . I'll still be able to keep an eye on my boat and the good people at Penn's Landing assisted by taking down my foresail. I was able to get my solar cells and bimini down about daybreak today. Since I'm going to make a short trip in a few weeks, I'll probably leave everything down until late October when the Hurricane Season is closer to an end. Taking these down is not much of a problem, putting them up IS much more difficult for a singlehander. Will miss those Solar Cells and will have to run the main engine and generator more often with out them .
Hoping all the islanders are alert and make it though these storm with no problems.
I'll try to post again if conditions warrant and I have power and Internet
Later
Wayward
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- Shiver me timbers Isaac is nearing!
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- From: mermaid gardener <mermaidgardener at gmail.com>
- Date: Wed, 22 Aug 2012 13:16:39 -0500
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This is a view from the Soggy Dollar Bar on Jost......looks dark and stormy! They have moved all the chairs away since this morning and battened down the hatches!!!
Soggy Dollar is looking like it's getting a bit of rain! 
Cooper is looking like a vacant parking lot...glad to see that folks have headed the warnings!
The Mermaid Gardener
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- Here comes Issac!!
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- From: mermaid gardener <mermaidgardener at gmail.com>
- Date: Wed, 22 Aug 2012 13:05:30 -0500
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Good Afternoon,
As I type the house is being shuttered up because Issac has shifted closer to the BVI. Friends of mine are also shuttering up there houses, marinas are moving boats off the dock onto moorings with double lines. Everyone is taking down their main and jib sheets, putting out double lines, running into Paraquetta Bay as shelter. It is now time to get your boats secure, find a safe place to be for several days, and hunker down with flashlight and Rum in hand!!
Tropical storm Issac is dumping the entire Lesser
Antilles chain of islands with heavy rains this morning, the winds are predicted to be on the increase as the storm moves west. Currently Issac is weak and disorganized, but that is
changing.
This is the radar from Barbados weather service taken this morning at 1015am.
You can see that the first bands of rain are approaching the BVI. We could be in for a bit of a blow and rain event.
Satellite Image
This looks nasty!!! Going to close for now and wait to see after Issac passes over Dominica then it could really fire up.
Time to sent our best thoughts and prayers to those in the way of this nasty looking Issac.
Be safe out there!
the Mermaid Gardener
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- Tropical Storm Watch
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- From: Da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at aol.com>
- Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2012 15:30:41 -0400 (EDT)
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A TROPICAL STORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR...
* SABA...ST. EUSTATIUS...AND ST. MAARTEN
* BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS
* PUERTO RICO...VIEQUES...CULEBRA...AND THE U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS
Tropical Storm Isaac, aka TD 9 aka 94L is now more "official". Is "should" pass about 130 miles South of us. We will probably feel the strongest affects between Wednesday night and Thursday evening. We are already seeing some bands of high winds and small amounts of rain pass through the BVI. In East End we had a 7:30 visit with winds that appeared to be near 20mph and "heavy" rain squalls.... but it lasted less than 3 minutes then the Sun was out bright again. Through the day we have seen more bands pass through with what appears to be lesser wind and lesser rain. Clouds overhead seem to be racing past the hills of East End and only leaving a quick wetting of the surfaces. We do need more but we could do with out the excess that could come and we all don't care much about more wind
The forecast for winds in the BVI have been increased and are back to what was forecast several days ago, and a good measure higher that what was estimated last evening . Forecast now say we should be ready for winds between 15 and 25 mph today and 25 to 30mph on Wednesday and up to 35mph Wed night through Thursday night. Friday should see things back in the 15 to 20mph area. Rain Chances are high but accumulations are under half and inch for Wednesday and about 3/4 inch on Thursday.... of course with the dry baked ground we will not receive the benefit if it all comes in a short time. Like always, some places seem to get far more than others on the same island... even by which side of the mountain you happen to be on.
While it appears this may mainly be a wind event for us here in the BVI, with overall rain just about an inch over 30 or so hours, things COULD change with a twist/ wobble/ turn of the storm in the next 8 hours and we could get far more or less of both wind and rain. I have my request in for more rain, in a wide spread time frame and area and less wind .
I'll try to update when I can as things occure locally.
be safe
Wayward
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- Gordon/ 94L/ 95L/ 96L Storm anyone???
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- From: Da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at aol.com>
- Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2012 16:00:11 -0400 (EDT)
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With 4 storm systems working in the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic, the Carib is poised for some action. Good thing is that only 94L looks like a good bet at this point to bring us some storm related weather. 96 L is too far out to know much about at this time and Gordon is way up in the cold waters far North East of us and 95L is a crossover Pacific to Gulf of Mexico that looks to be of concern only to Texas and Louisiana at this time.
94L could be in our immediate area by Wed of this week . While most forecast place the most probable path to the South of us, even that could result in significantly higher winds and sea conditions locally and as we all know it could become more significant if it shifts a bit North. Presently 94L is about 1000 East of the Leeward Islands with 35mph winds and is given a High Probability of becoming a storm within the next 48 hours. That would be a tad late to get things started in the storm prep world. This system needs to be monitored by everyone with interest in the Eastern Caribbean area.
At the Airport on Beef Island the winds are about 10 mph from the East Northeast. Mostly sunny sky and a rain chance of about 80% but with accumulations of less than .2 inches. Tuesday we are forecast to have increasing winds and lower chance of rain. Wed and Thursday the chance of rain is about 60% according to most reports at this time and accumulations again are lower than I would expect at under .3 inches per day then a weekend of less chance of rain as the system should be passed us.
Still, things could change fast and minimal time to prepare will be available. Everyone should be prepared for a stronger presents in the midweek time frame. Some forecast are for locally 30 to 35 MPH winds which can cause power problems.
Keep alert and be safe
Later
Wayward
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- Sunrise after showers
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- From: mermaid gardener <mermaidgardener at gmail.com>
- Date: Wed, 15 Aug 2012 07:43:09 -0300
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Good Morning,
Right around 330am we had a very nice heavy shower that lasted more than just a couple of minuets. I could hear my cistern being filled...the cistern is still quite low, I have only 3' so I conserve water every chance I can until we get more rain. This morning is a scattered cloud sunrise. I don't think it will be a wash out kind of day, probably a hit and miss on the showers.
Current temperature is 77 degrees and we are expected to have a high of 88, with a 70% chance of rain mainly in the morning hours with the afternoon clearing out. Winds are 16mph out of east with a slight bit of north in it.
Invest 93L is out there but at this point north of way north of us.
The island has now settled back into it's summer rhythm after festival. The flags are coming down on main street, restaurants are starting to decide when they are going to be closing for the off season, some that are closing for good, others like the Pub who has been bought out and is changing owners at the end of the month. 
It's the time of year that Paraquetta Bay is filling up as well with boats. I've seen quite a few go in and the bay is now starting to look really full.
Cheers and have a great day!
the Mermaid Gardener
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- Carrots and Donkeys!!
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- From: mermaid gardener <mermaidgardener at gmail.com>
- Date: Sat, 11 Aug 2012 09:49:41 -0300
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Good Morning,
There was no trumpet to tell the riders that they needed to gently coax their trusty big eared steeds er.....donkey's to the starting line and be prepared to take off like lightening down the main drag of Carrot Bay. What we did see was several wide eyed tourists who probably had several cold libations prior to mounting their trusty donkeys, the drinks giving them the courage to not only enter the Donkey race but to actually race down the road bare back!!! This was not the first time I have went to the Donkey races and they are always waaaayyy too much fun to see!!
The riders mounted their donkey's trotted them up the street slowly, several donkeys decided to just go up the hill and probably do some limin or munch of green plants knowing full well that the foreign feeling rider on top their back was probably going to force them to race. The donkey's seemed to know that these guys didn't understand that by pulling their ears it is not the correct way to steer at donkey!! 
1.....2....3.... and they were off!!!! They actually trotted or ran down the road pretty fast!!! Everyone was rooting them on and the riders held on for dear life! One poor young soul must have forgotten to wear proper riding britches, it was quite evident the 1/2 way down the track.... er...road.... that the jockey had this horrible grimace all the way across his face that he defiantly forgot his proper riding attire!!! The crowd cheered him on and we all speculated that he probably jumped off that donkey at the end of the first race and ran straight for an ice cold drink!! Probably several!!
The next donkey race was again very exciting and they ran as quick as they could down the road toward the Village entrance. Maybe those donkey's knew that at the end of the race in Carrot Bay they may get some tasty treats like carrots or other munches!! 
After the second heat of donkey racing we went over to the village and saw some really cute kids activities. The kids ran a race much like we have in the states...it was the old fashioned race of "Spoon race " but with an island twist, instead of an egg in the spoon it was a lime. These cute little kids ran after the master of ceremonies said "Go!!!" The little kids ran! Then the limes fell on ground and they had to pick it up then go back to the beginning to start over. Finally one little girl crossed the finish line to a big cheer for crowd watching.
Our afternoon was just great, from going to the Seashell Museum, Cruzan's restaurant, watching the donkey races, to having Dove Pork, which was way too yummy, and seeing the little kids run with limes in spoons, it was a very memorable day!!!
Before I go I need to blog about the weather since we are in the turbulent part of the weather season. TD7 is going further south of us than it was yesterday so our weather is settling a bit, we are not quite so at risk of getting wet weather. We are having increased winds today and tomorrow it's looking like they should go up to 28-30 mph. Our precipitation has been reduced down dramatically. Invest 93 is out there twirling around and looks to be going north of us.
The Montserrat ash is now mixed with Sahara dust and we have a thick blanket coating us. With the winds now coming more from a northerly direction, with a bit of east in it the wind has returned all the ash that was blown north of us. You can barely see fallen Jerusalem, Round Rock is just about gone. Cough Cough!!! This hazy stuff will be with us for a few days. Good thing is that it does keep the hurricanes away.
Cheers from a Donkey race lovin gal!
the Mermaid Gardener
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- Invest 93 is now on the map!
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- From: mermaid gardener <mermaidgardener at gmail.com>
- Date: Fri, 10 Aug 2012 09:48:52 -0300
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Good Morning,
We now have two weather systems to watch.   Currently our temperature is 84 degrees with winds 10 mph out of the east south east, our high temperature is looking like 90 degrees and we have a 30% chance of rain. But on the horizon are now two storms to keep our eyes to the sky and be aware of the situation. Here's the path that they are predicting TD7 will take.
TD7's track looks a bit close for comfort knowing that the track could change quickly.
The computer model below shows several paths that are pretty much on top of us. During this time of year we are always looking to the sky and the weather guru's hoping that these bowling balls coming off of Africa will fizzle out.
Our other pop up storm is now an invest off of Africa it is Invest 93. Here's what it looks like.
Invest 93 looks as if it will follow a more northerly track and miss us much like the last storm where it met with dry air and broke apart.
Cheers from an eye to the sky...
Mermaid Gardener
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- Where has Cooper went???
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- From: mermaid gardener <mermaidgardener at gmail.com>
- Date: Thu, 9 Aug 2012 19:55:33 -0300
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Good afternoon,
Where oh where did Cooper and the other islands go?? Here is a picture from 530pm BVI time looking south and west.
We have been swamped with not Sahara dust but ash from Montserrat. August 8, 2012 there was a minor ash venting, there was a roaring sound that was heard as Monserrat was venting ash for several hours.
Over the past few days we have had south to south east winds that would push the ash up to us. It's interesting because you can smell a faint odor of sulfur in the air. Currently we are having winds 2-8 mph out of the south south east.
Along with the ash that has blanketed the islands we also have invest 92 that is out there but is having the same difficulty forming as did Ernesto. There is enough dry air located north north east of it that it may have some difficulty.. It is located 400 miles east-northeast of where Ernesto became a tropical depression, the hurricane forecasters are feeling confident that a 45-50 mph tropical storm moving through the Lesser Antilles Islands Saturday and Sunday is a possibility This is worth watching.
Time to pull out the hurricane list of must do's again making sure that supplies are replenished from last year.
Cheers!
the Mermaid Gardener
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- We be limin in East End!!
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- From: mermaid gardener <mermaidgardener at gmail.com>
- Date: Thu, 9 Aug 2012 08:16:50 -0300
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Good Morning,
Yesterday was a music filled day here in East End. Started with the Rise and Shine Tramp at 6:00am.....that ended with a parade in East End. I too ended my day with a slow pace through East End. I got caught in the parade that was weaving through East End. At one point everyone was just pulling over and parking, thought to myself yep it's time to just enjoy the moment. Parked my car over near Penn's Landing, got out and watched the parade go by. All the participants including myself were jammin and groovin with the music.
Once the parade passed I was able to drop off a friend, but lo and behold I chose to get back westward via the main road that passes through East End. I thought well maybe the parade will be done but hey if not..... this is island life.  In fact I did get stuck behind the parade.  For the next hour or so I was among many cars just creeping along behind the parade and actually just turning off the car sitting listening to the music. 
Ah island life sometimes you have to just go with the flow......
Cheers!
the Mermaid Gardener
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- Weather settled but island jammin
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- From: mermaid gardener <mermaidgardener at gmail.com>
- Date: Wed, 8 Aug 2012 09:38:53 -0300
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Good Morning,
Okay we are well into Festival and this morning we had East End start to crank it up at 6am. I rolled over and said yep the party is on in East End any one wanting to sleep in won't get a chance to. Then I received a call from a girlfriend who lives in East End at 615am....she's saying can you hear it???? I said yes but not as good as you can!! LOL She was talking way above the music that the East End party trucks were pumping out as they were going by her house. You know the kind of volume I'm talking about the kind that you can feel the bass boom boom boom all the way into your liver. The kind of music that you sort of get the feeling that maybe this is what it's like to be zapped by a medic with those paddles when they want to jump start your heart! Plus it's the kind of volume that no matter how many ear plugs you put in your ears, that the incredible loud music comes through.....okay I admit it I've tried maybe 2 in each ear but that didn't help. Geeze am I getting old???? It will be an all day affair in East End with their Village having music and the parade later this afternoon. Glad I'm heading into Road Town for art.
Monday was the big Road Town parade that was suppose to start like somewhere around 1pm (I did hear one rumor that it was suppose to start at 9am) well after planning to get there 1pm or later, knowing that the parade would start late we went for the cruise down the parade route looking at what food would be good to start with. Hummm well there was the stewed conch, but that did look like it could be rubbery and not tenderized enough, then there was the other local food fare like mutton, goat, and salt fish. I've have salt fish before in a patty but wasn't thrilled with it. So our first stop was Origins, a newer restaurant on the main drag. We picked up wings, calamari and a cold beer to wash that down....yum pretty good stuff especially the dipping sauce. Our next stop was a food booth right at the stop light, there we had jerked pork with scallop potato's and rice with beans.
Wowie...just light my mouth and lips on FIRE!! After my lips and taste buds finally went numb the jerk pork was really tasty. I guess it's getting past that first burn of the jerk!
The parade started around 230pm with a slow pace...then slower,,,,,then even slower.......a snails pace.......then sometimes stopping for 40 minutes..... I'm not sure why, we asked and few folks could answer our question of why so slow....it's a small island and yes you will see people you know but YIKES it was dragging. We couldn't take the standing so our plan was to be a trout and swim up stream to the headwaters of the Mississippi....oops wrong country, but we did walk up to the staging area, got a really good view of the dance troupes and saw them do their dance groovin thing! At. 500pm we called it quits and walked back for "La Dolce Vita" ice cream...now that was a great idea....ice cream, air conditioning, and the music was muffled being in the ice cream shop. Frankly I probably could have just stayed there for a couple of hours, however, after being in the sun all day and needing a shower desperately it was time to call the parade finished for this year. Not sure how much longer the parade went probably another couple of hours.......
Cheers
the Mermaid Gardener
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- Festival a bang good time!
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- From: mermaid gardener <mermaidgardener at gmail.com>
- Date: Sun, 5 Aug 2012 10:35:27 -0300
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Good Sunday morning,
This morning started out to be windy and very overcast out on the horizon. I thought that we may have a shower as well, but it's just hazy hazy skies. Winds are right around 12-15 mph, the temperature is going to get up into the 90's, but that is normal for here. I'm so fortunate that I live along the ridge line, when the winds are light and stifling over most of the island I end up having wonderful light trade winds. The downside to that is when Christmas winds are here wowie they can howl up here on the hill.
Tropical storm Ernesto is past us and focusing on Jamaica, let's send good vibes to the Jamaican's and possibly Ernesto will spare them.
Our concern here in the BVI is now focused on Tropical Storm Florence.  Now she looks like she could pack a whallup if she were to come towards up. All computer models have her coming close but not directly on track with us. Historically those storm that have formed that quickly off of Africa have missed us or fizzled out.......
Speaking of fizzle out....here's one of our ever blooming plants that bring color during this hot time of year.
A firecracker plant! 
I thought this plant would be appropriate with Festival happening on the island. Speaking of firecrackers...yesterday morning I pulled into La Mia restaurant in East End and picked up a breakfast wrap to "take".... behind the counter was this cute little girl probably no more than 9 years old with a little box of firecracker balls that you throw on the ground. She threw a couple of them on the floor inside the restaurant and I hear the chef tell her to stop, the sound was pretty loud being in a small confined restaurant. The little girl accidentally let one of those balls drop out of the package when she was putting them away, and oh boy did the chef get mad...to the little girls defense I saw her fiddling with the box and one of them dropped on the floor with a loud BANG!!! I said to the chef really it was an accident that one fell out when she was wrapping up the box. The little girl gave me this huge smile in appreciation of my defense of her. I could here the Chef say okay but no more.......the little girl listened and was an angel after that! I thought to myself...I would have jumped and dropped all the eggs that were going into my breakfast wrap!!!
Luckily there were no egg shells in my fantastic wrap!!!
Today looks like a wash out as far as a beach day, so maybe it will be a Horatio Hornblower kind of day! I'm going to lime today getting ready for the big day tomorrow....Festival parade is happen-in!!!
Cheers from a limin mermaid!
the Mermaid Gardener
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- Florence on her way next
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- From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Sat, 4 Aug 2012 17:52:27 -0400 (EDT)
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Tropical Storm Florence is gaining strength but still far from
land. TIME TO PREPARE before any price gouging accusations...
Tropical storm Ernesto with 60mph winds aiming for
Jamaica...
Time to restock! Hurricane season is in full swing.
Don't forget the rum...
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- Tropical Depression # 6 and Ernisto and more
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- From: Da Wayward Sailor <dawaywardsailor at aol.com>
- Date: Sat, 4 Aug 2012 08:07:35 -0400 (EDT)
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Small Craft Advisory in effect through this evening
A Small Craft Advisory means that winds of 22 to 33 knots and/or
seas of 7
feet and greater are expected to produce hazardous
marine conditions for
small craft. Inexperienced mariners...
especially those operating smaller
vessels... should avoid
navigating in these conditions.
Had a reader ask that I post what it means when a SCA is issued and the above is the definition as posted by Weatherunderground via the National Weather Service.
Ernisto appears to no longer be of any threat to the BVI but it is wise to always keep an eye out for these storms even when they seem to have passed by. They could always do something unexpected and be a big problem.
TD # 6 appears to be about to turn into the next Tropical Storm very soon, and is still out in the Atlantic. The following forecast for its path shows it nearing the Carib, next Thursday or Friday but models indicate it should be on a Northward sweep by then and not be of any major problem for us here in the Virgin Islands..... Still, this one really needs to be watched carefully.
We also have invest 91L off the Atlantic Coast of southern Florida which should not bother us and forecast models show it is probably going to Texas or New Orleans area or North Carolina MMmm seems to be one that can't make its mind up!
Here on Tortola the winds are now about 20 MPH and gusty. Last evening we had winds 25 to 30 MPH and several rain showers blow through but with less rain than expected. We lost power in East End Tortoal about 7AM, probably from wind damage to power lines. Today we have a forecast for 20 to 25 MPH winds from the East Southeast turning back to more East tonight. Chance of rain is about 40% for the next few days. Seas are running 4 to 6 feet but are forecast to be down to the 2 to 4 foot area by Monday. I was also asked a question on how seas are stated by the Weather Services.
SEAS GIVEN AS SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHT...WHICH IS THE AVERAGE
HEIGHT OF THE HIGHEST 1/3 OF THE WAVES. INDIVIDUAL WAVES MAY BE
MORE THAN TWICE THE SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHT.
So as most of us sailors know, when it is reported we have 6 foot seas, we could very reasonably assume some individual seas may run 12 foot or even more . We can always have some odd ball wave come from odd directions that could be even higher . Stay alert!
In the BVI the Festival is well underway. While I love much of the music... I'm not a huge fan of it being so loud my liver quivers in time with it . I avoid many of the larger music events due to this unless I have ear plugs and a couple of good drinks to calm da liver. My fav event is the Food Fair. Getting their is always a top priority for me each year and this year was no different. Had some wonderful baked chicken that had a fruity basting, a different type of plantain, great Cole slaw, cassava bread with Sour Sop to drink. Also had.... well several sweets including one of ginger coconut, another called coconut Ice and an Almond praline type thing. All was great and washed down with a cold Lemon Aid...... all that for Lunch!!!! I'll not get into the killer grilled dinner I had in between the storms prepared by one heck of a cook!
As most of you probably know, we did have a very close Earthquake Thursday. Everyone here was talking about it but to be honest.... I did not even know it happened and was apparently just walking along when some one mentioned some odd effects. Guess that since I live on a boat, I may not be as sensitive to earth movements and da land people..... or it could have been the drink I had just finished.... but it was probably just being a sailor.... anyway that is my story and I'm sticking with it!!!!!
Later Wayward
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- Oh my what did I hear????
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- From: mermaid gardener <mermaidgardener at gmail.com>
- Date: Thu, 2 Aug 2012 19:37:55 -0400
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Good Evening, OMG I was down at Nanny Cay this afternoon and I heard this GROAN!!! I asked the friend I was with if he heard this GROAN but he did not. He asked me what did it sound like and I said well.......like something big moaning........here it was a 4.2 groan of an earthquake! I did not feel the earth shake nor did it move, I just heard this noise. We shrugged it off and drove down to Frenchmans Cay for an aftenoon of hanging out at the beach and fish taco's. The gal up at the bar asked if we had heard about the earthquake and click then it made sense that what I heard was the ground moaning with the earthquake. It was a 4.2 mag. located about 11 miles from my house out past Josiah's Bay, near the Maya Cove area! I have yet to go back to my house and see if there are any new very characterisic cracks around my house. I'm down at Pusser's East errrr...Charlie T's for a earthquake refreshment! Andre at Charlie T's told me that he exited his house quickly upon feeling the termors......earthquakes are not foreign here so I just live with the new characteristics in my house.
The other hot news is that TD5 is now Tropical storm Ernesto just like the weather guys prediced earlier today. It will be one to watch but I still feel that once is crosses over the windward islands that it will break apart. I'm going to look at it in 3 hours and check to see if it has in fact blown apart.
Cheers from a mermaid with keen ears! the Mermaid Gardener
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- Don't Stop The Carnival!
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- From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 2 Aug 2012 10:03:09 -0400 (EDT)
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Could be hurricane parties and festival all rolled into
one. I remember one year when it flooded so bad during a sudden storm that
started right during festival. We ended up swimming from booth
to booth in search of food and drink. The attendees looked like a wet
T-shirt contest as folks were just soaked in their clothes. An umbrella salesman
could have made a mint.
Don't stop the carnival!
BVI Festival
DATE & TIME
26 July 2012 - 12 August
2012
DESCRIPTION
The British Virgin Islands August Festival is the premier
cultural showcase with an array of activities including the Freedom March,
Emancipation Service, Grand Parade etc.
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- Invest now a tropical depression
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- From: mermaid gardener <mermaidgardener at gmail.com>
- Date: Thu, 2 Aug 2012 08:16:07 -0300
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Good Morning,
It is still time to be diligent and watch the weather. Invest 99 has now turned into a tropical depression. All of the computer models show that it should go south of us but at this point it really is a guess as to which direction it will go. Location of the now tropical depression is 12.0N/48.9W which is roughly 810 miles west of St. Lucia. Folks are watching the sky and listening to the weather for any changes in its path.
As tropical depression 5 becomes more organized it will become Tropical Storm Ernesto and bring outer bands of rain to Barbados on Friday, then continue to move westward. The National Hurricane Center is giving it a 27% chance of becoming a hurricane after that but the weather gurus are still watching this depression as it becomes more organized and will continue to update the path of the storm.
Festival is starting to become apparent on the island, with many folks getting prepared for the weekend of music and good times. Even though we have this Tropical Depression looming out there the party must go on!!
Cheers from a watchful weather eye......
the Mermaid Gardener
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- Time to get Ready for the Big One
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- From: DearMissMermaid at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 1 Aug 2012 16:54:41 -0400 (EDT)
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Here come the bowling balls rolling off Africa, aimed for the
bowling pins (islands!)
Time stock up on rum, batteries, canned goods, water, candles
and mosquito spray. Many people still live off of cisterms for their water, so
you may want to buy a jumbo garbage can, set it in the shower, then fill to
capacity before the current (and water pump) are shut down.
Fill your car tank with petrol to capacity. Gas supplies after
a storm, could be chaotic and the gas station needs electricity to run the
pumps.
Going through the storm is a breeze of hurricane
parties. It's the aftermath when you really want those supplies stashed.
People go nuts for food after a storm, if the stores are empty and damaged,
could be a problem. If lots of boats are sunk in the harbors, the supply boat
may not make it to the islands on the regular schedule.
Candles.
Don't rely on one candle. Lots of candles help light up the
home. The safest ones are in the glass globes, you can typically buy these by
the case with 12-15 in a case. If at all possible get the citronella ones.
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- Time to get prepared
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- From: mermaid gardener <mermaidgardener at gmail.com>
- Date: Wed, 1 Aug 2012 09:05:56 -0300
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Good Morning,
It's slightly breezy this morning but nothing like yesterday morning, the squally weather was brutal. We had a flash flood watch for the island yesterday morning and as afternoon came the weather settled down a bit the sun came out to dry the puddles but it also meant that everyone came out in force trying to get their business done after the rain. Most folks here wait to do errands if they don't have to go out.
The invest that is out on the horizon looks like it is still in the formation side of whether or not it wants to become a tropical disturbance or not. It is now time to shore up my dry goods and pull out my hurricane prep list.
I'll be making up my shopping list before I head into Road Town the next time but I know it will include:
Riteway stop will include:
Dry goods, water, batteries for flashlights, pop, paper goods, any other beverages
I won't forget a Rum run, you know for medicinal use only and to sterilize medical utensils. LOL
Hum I'm sure there are a multitude of things that I'll be getting to replace the hurricane stores from last year.
Invest 99 is right down by the Weather Channel logo and is worth watching. Jeff Masters from Weather underground is predicting that formation should be more definitive in the next 48 hours. One track does lead up to the British Virgin Islands and so we need to be on the watch.
Festival is right around the corner so it could be an interesting 5-7 days weather and cultural wise. Friday is one of the things that is truly yummy fun, it is the Cultural food fair down at the now renamed Palm Grove park, and I can't remember the new name. Many local groups get together and cook fantastic island food. I'm planning on attending that and filling up on wonderful local food.
Cheers!
the Mermaid Gardener
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Older reports from the BVI have been moved to another page.
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