So, those what know me know I took a 2 week vacation this year with my favorite girl in the whole world (aka my wife). The vacation was nothing short of fantastic and there are many Facebook photos posted to share. What has been unknown to this point was a hand written journal that will be shared in a few installments here. Journal is written with horrible composition skills...alternating between 1st and 3rd person narratives, depending on the mood of the day. I made it a point to record in the journal every morning with coffee and conversation with whoever else was up, usually Captain Dave, first mate Deb (his wife), and occasionally others. Position reports are wherever we happened to be moored or anchored at the time the journal entry was made.
The wife and I were the Southern Youth Contingent on this voyage. Save for one other traveler, we were the babies of the trip at sub 5 decades of age. Given we were the Southerners, and that wife often refers to me as Bubba, I borrowed this nickname + a nickname for the wife from the comedian T Bubba Bechtol...who refers to his beloved as Bubbalicious. It just seemed appropriate for this trip.
I wish to publish said journals here. Most will find it boring, some may find it mildly entertaining, but here goes, transcribed from handwritten notes beginning on USAir flight 1560 from Charlotte to Princess Juliana Airport, Sint Marteen, on 10/29/12. But, if you have read this far, why stop now?
10/29/12
Just sit right back and hear a tale
A tale of a little boat trip
That started from St Martin port
Aboard a sailing ship
A bunch of Yankee sailing crew
Except of course for 2
Set sail one day on a 8 day tour
If you hear a tune in your head it shows your age. See blog Funk 49.
Well, being one of 2 Southerners somebody had to be Bubba. Guess I win by defualt. With accolades and credit to T Bubba Bechtol (comedian), Princess has to be Bubbalicious.
After a long delay on the ground in Charlotte, we are at last on our way. Clouds broke near Columbia and could see the home town Columbia Metro, downtown, and Williams Brice stadium. Still a bit turbulent and writing messy.
Time out for now. By George, I think it is 5 o'clock somewhere (despite that my watch says 1145). More later.
.....
Landed over the famous beach at St. Martin. But, due to our late arrival could not work out a visit. Thank you Hurricane Sandy [BITCH].
....
Luggage loaded and taxi driver Miguel managed to deliver us to base safely despite all efforts to not do so. Bubba and the others tipped him, not for tradition, but for not running into any other cars, people, buildings, children, construction equipment, or rolling us off the mountain.
The rest of the afternoon spent unpacking & stocking our ship (Cutter Cat). Our companion ship is the Muscade, led by Captain Bruce Reheer. Putting away food & clothes so that things don't shift when underway was not hard but there are 8 of us and it took some time. Our captain Dave Garland gave us a working tour of our ship: latching doors, water, toilets, showers, etc. Having never been on a ship like this, Bubba had much to learn.
Our berth is not as big as the wide lens promo pics but has plenty of storage and the bed is a bit bigger than a queen and works well...though we have to slide on/off from the rear. Operation of the toilets at night alerts everyone, pumps make some noise. Bubba's regular night toilet visits go without a flush.
The long delay mentioned in the journal was courtesy of an air traffic control outage at the air route control centers in the Northeast, courtesy of Hurricane Sandy (Bitch). We boarded and taxied out, only to be detained on the aircraft for nearly 90 minutes.
The working tour of the ship by Captain Dave was more important than the journal implies. Making certain doors and all loose items are properly secured is important, otherwise the cabin will get torn apart by slamming doors and items slamming around from the motion of the ocean waves. Within a day or so, our crew could secure the vessel for voyage in a matter of minutes, everyone took responsibility for their berths, and we divvied up other above deck tasks under direction of Captain Dave.
10/30/12
A really nice albeit humid morning. Bubblicious and Bubba are first up but not smart enough to work the coffee percolator. Captains and probably Reese go to chart briefing at 0900. We will take on some water and ice, then, hopefully be under way by lunch.
We plan to go to Orient Bay on the French side. Should be 3 hour or so sailing time depending on the breeze. Word on the street is Bubba may not have to wear clothes. Could be a way to have beach alone by scaring everyone away.
We were still at base when the above was written. The captains were required to attend chart briefing before allowed to take vessels from base. We were able to set sail around 1300 or so this day. We purposely took the boats out to sea a bit so the crew could learn some sailing skills. It was nice to get away from base and into the breeze as the humidity at base dock was vicious.
10/31/12 (18.06.24 N / 63.01.06 W) Orient Bay St Martin
Some sail practice on Monday--Bubba and Rhett had some things to learn as Reese and (obviously) Captain Dave know what is going on. Work, but fun work. Once wind is captured and optimal, an auto pilot device keeps the genoa sail optimized for wind capture. Seas were more rolling than expected but not nauseating at all. Having said thus, going below deck with no a/c and that gentle rolling action did challenge Bubba a bit. Bubbalicious put on a sea sick patch for precautionary reasons.
After tooling around a bit we land at Orient Bay across from Yellow Beach on Pinel Island. Vessel secured, we load up dingy now officially named Cutter Kitty. Cutter Kitty takes us to snorkeling trail near Yellow Beach. Snorkeling OK but water not as clear as trip to Cayman....thank you Hurricane Sandy (Bitch). Kitty is a bit difficult for Bubba to enter from the water but strong arms of friends keep Bubba from having to swim back to ship.
Bubbalicious did not become freinds with all the jelly fish. Bubba was not a big fan either. Some pretty cool coral formations, lots of angel fish, and various sized needle fish all over the place. A few large conch shells were on the bottom but Bubba did not make the 8 foot or so dive to retrieve.
After snorkeling some down time on Yellow Beach. We went there after letting all the cruise ship and motel tourists vacate the place for the most part. A few families remained but for the most part the beach belonged to our crew. The restaurant was keeping lobsters in cages just under the water, some big ass creatures. Lobsters in this part of the world have no claws and can be quite large. They can be grabbed while snorkeling, not that Bubba would do that.
Cutter Kitty returns us to shop for (much needed) showers, clean clothes, rum drinks, appetizers, and steak dinner. Bubba tried his black strap rum & coke first, before switching to pain killers with the rest of the crew. Appetizers & dinner made for full tummies, preventing alcohol from causing true Bubba to escape.
In the darkness on the trampoline, the boat moored in front of us had lights in the water below the catamarans. The lights attracted fish which put on quite a show of eat or be eaten. Bubba ended up laying on the tram enjoying a cool ocean breeze, staring at a full moon sky and unbelievably beautiful stars.
Bubba fell asleep on the tram and would have remained so had not Deb roused him. Bubba retired to his berth with Bubbalicious already soundly dozing. It was nice listening to the waves lapping under the ship, gently rocking us to sleep. At the mooring ball, the ship rocks lightly like a hammock, making for some very restful sleep that Bubbalicious still enjoys as I write this.
Are we old? All of the evening described above was over by 2200 hours!! that 5th decade must be approaching sooner than expected.
Destination plan for 10-31 = St. Barts. Expecting a good 3 hour or so sail with favorable winds and gentle seas. Captain Dave says our travel should be "with the waves" based on current wind forecasts.
End of installment 1.
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