Tom and Krista's visit, part 2

AAAHHHH!

We continued our fun activities with Tom and Krista...next stop was at the Peter Island Resort. We walked along the beach like we were resort guests, even stopping for a few minutes to enjoy the overpriced drinks and the free (pirated) time in the hammocks. All of the beaches are available to anyone in the BVI, although this resort (among others) 'highly' recommend not using any of their fixtures unless you are paying guests. No, we didn't get chased away. 

Our next stop was to the dive site for the wreck of the "RMS Rhone". This was a British steamer that was lost in a hurricane in 1867. Here is some info you may be interested in:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Rhone

Anyway, we grabbed one of the moorings over the dive site and Tom and I suited up....Krista wasn't dive certified, so Karen stayed aboard to keep her company.

Part of the ship's crossbeams and hull

Tom next to one of the propeller blades, in its stern opening.
The diameter of the propeller is about 19'

More of the wreck site, including the long propeller shaft

We saw quite a few lobsters at the site.
Getting caught taking one would be like getting caught
grabbing a cannonball from Gettysburg



Tom next to one of the boilers



We sure had a great time on the dive

After the dive, we headed over to Marina Cay. Krista was convinced it was time for her to get a little dive experience. In the evening, we went to the Rob White Bar on top of the little island, to watch Eric Stone perform.

At the Rob White Bar, Marina Cay

It started out as a rather peaceful evening. The rain shades were down along the sides of the bar so the numerous rain squalls that came through didn't get everyone wet. We were even laughing about how we were able to stay dry. Krista and Tom were introduced to Eric and then headed down to the gift shop while we stayed for a few more minutes talking.

Later, we ran into Eric's girlfriend, Kim, racing up the trail towards the bar. Kim asked if we knew if anyone left up at the bar that had a Moorings charter boat. It had dragged it's anchor and was drifting across the bay towards the opposite shore. We said that we were the last ones leaving, so didn't think it was anyone at the bar. Then, she said it was a charter boat, named "Outta Control". Ahh, we finally understood. Our boat looks like a Moorings charter boat. Panic set in...we raced down to the marina gift shop to get Tom and Krista and take our dinghy towards the other side of the bay. We were told that one of the marina's ferry boats was standing by our boat and had a search lite for us to follow...about 1/4 mile away. I didn't mention that this was all done in a driving rain storm...

We arrived at our boat, finding it had snagged its anchor before crashing into the shore. The ferry boat captain told us that it would be ok to use the marina's fuel dock to tie up for the night instead of trying to re-anchor. "Follow me" he says. The wind and rain were horrible and Karen at the helm was having a hard time hearing me and seeing the ferry boat through the rain and darkness. I ran forward to the bow and pulled our anchor, as Karen started to move the boat towards the marina. For whatever reason we don't understand, the ferry captain turned his boat back towards us. I screamed at Karen to stop at the same time she saw what the ferry boat was doing and threw it in reverse. You wouldn't have been able to squeeze a basketball between the front of our boat and the side of the ferry. Wow! Close one! We made it over to the fuel dock without further incident and had a well-deserved drink to celebrate our fortune. The next morning we could see the course our boat took through the mooring field and were absolutely amazed at the distance our boat went, missing several other boats along it's path. We ran into our friends Colin and Audrey on shore, and they told us of their interesting night watching an "outta control" boat weaving through the mooring field unattended, then with their spot light, noticed it was "Outta Control". They quickly called the Marina and told them of the run away boat. The marina sent the ferry......So yet again....proof that the LORD sure looks after us!

The next day was Krista's intro to diving. We had contacted a dive shop we knew and requested their instructor, Neal, to help Krista out.

While she was getting an "in-depth" intro to diving, Karen, Tom and I played around the reef.

Krista and Neal, working on some bouyancy "issues"



Tom headed North and Karen going the other way



Karen and me playing leapfrog



Tom took this pic of a Lionfish...it's a large one, about a foot long



Boo!

 It appears as though we may have a new diver...Krista really seemed to like it.

We ended up our time, the next day, at the restaurant at Marina Cay.

One of the restaurant's specialties is a breaded foot-long hot dog...and it's good!

Shortly thereafter, we headed to Nanny Cay for the rest of their vacation, while Karen and I traveled to the airport for our return trip to Oregon for Mom's funeral. Once again, all of our friends filled in for us...Toddy, Sue, Phil and Brendan made sure that the balance of Tom and Krista's vacation went well. There was more sailing, dinners out at restaurants, dancing and even driving vehicles on the LH side of the road.

The visit with Tom and Krista, part 1



Karen with Krista and Tom....who are happy the flight is over and the fun can begin



Tom and Krista Rambow...(no, they aren't related to John Rambo)...came for a visit last month. We've spent so much time with them in Boise that we felt they should visit us in return. There were no complaints from them with that idea. We picked them up in Red Hook, on the Eastern end of St. Thomas, then spent our first night in Maho Bay, St. John. While there, we met up with our friends Jim and Connie Priebe who recently returned from Sint Maarten. These are the same folks we had sailed with when they left the BVI for St. Maarten. Anyway, upon recommendation from Jim and Connie, we hiked up the stairway/trail in the evening to the restaurant that overlooks Maho and Francis Bays. The place also has eco-huts that can be rented. It sure is a nice place and Wow...what a view. Here's a link to their website:
http://www.maho.org/

Looking through part of the restaurant towards the sunset

We enjoyed some drinks and toasted our friendship, then carefully walked back down to the beach in the dark.

The next day required us to clear in at BVI customs. Shortly after clearing in, we motored over to Great Thatch for a quick dive. Karen stayed aboard to visit with Krista, while Tom and I dove the reef area under our boat. Unbeknownst to us, Karen had lost her balance while attempting to walk out of the cockpit and onto the boat's side deck, falling overboard. While falling, she whacked her head onto the side of the boat, scraped her arm along the lifeline and twisted her leg around the lifeline as well. She managed to stay concious, barely, and swam to the back of the boat. It took her about 2 minutes to regain her wits and strength to climb back into the boat. After returning, Tom and I realized that Krista had no idea how or who to call or where to direct emergency help if she needed to. Immiediate changes were made about preparing our guests for these kind of things. Karen's headache and arm pain went away after about a couple of days, but the leg bruise is still there after about a month.

Falling off a boat can be hazardous to your health

We decided to leave Great Thatch...it was pretty rolly (rough, rocky conditions)...and headed over to Norman Island. Tom had always heard of the famous (infamous?) "Willy T" floating bar/restaurant so we made that our first destination. For those of you that are not shy with your bodies, here's a place that can provide all of the alcohol to encourage party-goers to enjoy parading around and diving off the boat without clothes...or so I'm told.
Here's a link for some info:
http://www.bareboatsbvi.com/norman_island_willy_t.html

We didn't go onto to the Willy T, just cruised around it in our boat and then left. We didn't see any naked people, but would have shared the pics with you if we had. Sorry.

Our next stop, for the night was Benures Bay. We've always enjoyed this anchorage and wanted to share it with them. Early the next day, Tom and I took the dinghy aroung the end of the bay and dove on the reef along the North shore of Norman Island. We think this reef is the nicest one we've seen in the BVI.




Southern stingray

 



He be havin' fun





Some not-so-nice fire coral in the foreground



Fan, finger, staghorn, star corals everywhere!



Tom, behind a pillar coral



I guess we scared all of the fish away...they were everywhere, though

 Later in the day, we all went to shore and hiked along the primitive roads on the island. These roads have been abandonded and resemble trails now. They work their way around many areas of the island and provide for some spectacular views. Karen and I have shown some of them to you before in previous blogs, but here are some new ones for you.

Yes, I was there too...adding my usual

Luigi the lizard

Norman Island cactus

Tom and Krista, with Money Bay in the background

Looking at the NE end of "The Bight"...the "Willy T" would
be near the lower left corner, just out of the picture

The gleeful tourguides

Part of the rustic road system, devolved into a trail system

I believe this is a picture of happiness!

Some recent additions to our "Cool Boat" file

We all heard that some government employees tend towards leisure whilst on the job...at least in some of the occupations (not ATC). Evidently, this tendancy doesn't just exist in the US. Below, are pictures of the West Indies Guard Ship (WIG) HNLMS Rotterdam...a Royal Netherlands Navy amphibious transport ship. In the second photo, you will probably notice the folks at the back of the ship are landing their kiteboards on the loading ramp after a fun romp across the Charlotte Amalie harbor. The ship is quite a bit smaller (545ft) than the cruise ships that normally tie up here. I read a recent article about this ship in "All at Sea"...a Caribbean boating magazine. The article mentioned all of the training exercises the ship was recently involved in at the island of Curacao. I wonder what the kiteboarding conditions were there?

The second group of pictures are of sailing cruise ships (or maybe privately owned?), although they were too far away to determine their names. The top one is different from some of the others we've seen because it has the yardarms (cross bars) on the masts that are typical of the old clipper ships of the 1800's. You will notice the difference when comparing to the 2nd picture of the 3-masted ship under sail...no yardarms.

Lastly but not leastly, are the pictures we took of the "Maltese Falcon" in N. Sound, Virgin Gorda. This sailboat is probably one of the most famous in luxury sailing yachts. Even though it's privately owned I read that it is available for charter...I think if you have to ask for how much, you can't afford it. The masts on this sailboat actually rotate to orient the sails. The sails themselves roll down from the yardarms like venetian blinds. I read somewhere that the bridge looks like something from Star Trek. I also read that captain can sail the boat by computer-controlled adjustments for all the sailing conditions it encounters. I'll bet it even has an espresso machine on the bridge.

Here's a link to find out more:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Maltese_Falcon_(yacht)

Of course, we are never satisfied with just the normal pics, so I had Karen motor past the Maltese Falcon in our boat for a size perspective.

289' vs 36'

I like the persective for the stern of our boat...it's not nearly as famous (infamous?) yet, but at least our boat is paid for!

Payments...$140,000/month

Ain't she cute (Karen)!
Payments...$0/month

The trips to Oregon

The mule deer at brother Jeff's are pretty tame...
He feeds them grain and apples whenever they are around.
I'm not sure if any of them are named yet.

Jeff's official height is now shorter... 6'8"

Our first trip to Oregon for Mom (about 3 wks long), had us staying at brother Jeff's place. Even though we spent a lot of time at the hospice center, there were some "lighter moments" with the family. I thought our stay at Jeff's was really nice...Karen, as well as the rest of the family, thinks it is kept as cold as a meat locker. I suppose it was a little on the chilly side...he keeps the thermostats at about 61 which was warmer than the outside temp....by a couple of degrees. Anyway, his place would be considered a true "man cave" with lots of animal mounts on the walls...even a full body mount of his Nevada record mountain lion (aka cougar, puma, etc) and his +30" mule deer. We also had a visit with brother Jerry and family at their place, where we've stayed before. (There's a blog about his 50th bday party in 2010). It was a time for all of us to come together and spend the quality time we really needed. Unfortunately, we were unable to spend much time with brother Jim and family since they ended up traveling back and forth from their home in Washington due to work constraints.

Mom's recovery at the hospice center was absolutely amazing and, after about a week, was able to go home. That in itself was a gift from GOD since most never get the opportunity to leave. Anyway, Mom did get better and went home with Dad. Karen and I spent a lot of time with them and got to really enjoy Mom's humor some more...she even got to enjoy some of Karen's cooking and an apple pie that I made (She didn't like the cherry pie...note to self: don't rinse off "goopy" canned cherries and expect them to work). Karen and I left for the BVI in mid-March. Mom continued to improve until just after the 1st of April, when she finally lost her valiant battle. We returned from the BVI and helped escort Mom to her final resting place in Yakima, WA. The Catholic funeral mass and the graveside services were outstanding. Afterwards, everyone gathered at the reception held in Mom's honor. The next day, many of the family went to cousins Karla and Jim Borland's home for a get-together. Of course, all the events were well-attended with loving family and friends. What a sad but wonderful time for everyone to get together to celebrate Mom, her life and the great impact she had on everyone. Thank you all for your help through this time.

Some of the family went back to the gravesite to spend a few last moments with
Mom and have one last drink of champagne with her.
L to R: Kathy, Mikayla, Dad, Tyler, Jerry, me, Riley, Sue, Jim
with Karen and Jeff in front. Cousin Sharen took the picture

Jeff with cousin Bonnie...yep, she's standing up

Cousin Larry Loges, Dad, cousin Jim Borland, cousin Cindy

I was unable to get quality photos of everyone at most of the events, so I apologize to all for not being able to share them with all of you. I spent so much time just talking to everyone...most of whom I haven't seen in +20 years or more...that some didn't even get their pics taken.

A special note to the family:  I love you all and hope that we don't allow our future time together to be always revolving around the bad times. Let us plan to get together for rafting trips, visits to your favorite camping sites, reunions, or just visiting at each other's homes. Write to us and let's plan something this summer!

Love you...Sandy and Karen