So I got a rare weekend off in season, the boats running well, and the weather is just plain magical. Even by our standards. You can see 40 miles above water and close to a hundred feet under water. So we loaded up the boat today, and took off. We cleared BVI customs at the West End of Tortola, had lunch at Pusser's, love their wings. Then we headed up the Sir Francis Drake Channel. Seas haven't been over a foot anywhere towed the tender and still made 20 plus mph. We are at Marina Cay having a great dinner. Deb had a poached lobster salad, I had a Bacon Blu Cheese salad wedge and a ridiculously large rack of lamb, and as you can see the ice cream Sunday was a hit for dessert. For those of you worried about our addiction to the internet we did eat it prior to our posting.
As I ramble I have to share a story. Several years ago, more than I care to admit. Deb and I were on a Sea Plane flying from Miami to Bimini, in the Bahamas to meet a friend of ours, as we were approaching Bimini Deb looked out the window at the water and the islands and said "we do the coolest shit" sorry for the language. Well over the years this has becomes catch phrase for us. We set that bar pretty high early on, today was a "we do the coolest shit" kinda day.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
That Kind of Day
Time on the Water
Jay got another weekend off! Yea! So we're headed out on the boat and we brought stuff to stay the night. So the plan is to head to Sopers Hole, check in to customs, then just see what feels right from there. It's another beautiful, clear day with calm water. So it should be a good time. Stay tuned! :-)
Friday, April 22, 2011
Friday Beach Pic
Happy Easter weekend! This is a big holiday weekend here in the VI. Most gov offices are closed Thursday thru Monday. UVI is just closed Friday thru Sunday, but still lovin' the three day weekend. A lot of families go camping this weekend so if you're on island you'll probably see tents set up on several beaches. Also, today until 4pm there is no alcohol sales in bars. I think it's the only day of the year they can't sell. There is lots of confusion over this law. It's supposed to be just distilled spirits so beer and wine should be able to be sold. But bar owners don't want to take a chance so they just don't sell anything. Plus I read that the law had actually been repealed so it isn't even a valid law but it's still enforced. Craziness.
Jay is working so I got some shopping done and just hanging at the house today. It's absolutely beautiful out. I probably should be sitting on a beach somewhere but I love the view from our house so I like hanging here with my music and comforts of home. ;-)
Have a happy Easter weekend!
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
WAPA to be In Charge of Broadband in De Islands.
WAPA, the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority, arguably the worst run public utility company on the planet is being given 70 million in federal funds and another 42.5 million in bond funds to build a new broadband system in de Islands. Anyone that thinks this will be an efficient and effective use of public funds is crazy. These guys can't keep the lights on, let alone build a fiber optic system and maintain it. I can hardly wait for the LEAC adjustment because of the new Diesel Fuel Powered switching stations for telecommunications. Not I don't think they really exist but give WAPA a few months and they can have some made. Keep in mind in this day and age we still burn Diesel at WAPA to make power and have no clear plans on how to transition away from this besides a few good will solar panels at the airport. Second with that much money floating around the odds of corruption, bribes, company cars, lunch meetings, wasted trips to god knows were for "training", and "research" etc. is just insane. As much as I think that we need this infrastructure, picking WAPA for this task just boggles the mind. The only way I would think this was a good idea would be if they were going to set the money aside and sell the whole damn waste of time and money to private utility company. That just won't happen because of all the good old boys on the payroll.
Jay
Here is a link to the Newspaper Article.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Jost for a day
Jay has the weekend off so we ran over to Jost Van Dyke in the BVI for the day. We really love going over there. It just seems that the sky is bluer, the water is clearer and the sand is whiter. And it's always sunny. :-)
It was pretty busy which Saturday's usually are. Once some of the day boats left then it got nice and quiet. We always go to Gertrude's for lunch for her chicken roti. Best I've ever tasted and they're huge. Jay and I split one. Then down to Soggy Dollar for a Painkiller or Sunshine from Mic.
The only downside is all the paperwork you have to fill out for customs just to go over for the day. It's crazy. I wish they had some kind of annual pass. I would pay money for it if that's what the BVI gov wants. I just want to get around all the forms. The US customs makes it easy for us to check back in using our local boater option card. Why can't the BVI have something similar? Oh well, we're still going to go regardless so you just fill the forms out before you go and then forget about it :-)
Friday, April 15, 2011
Friday Beach Pic
TGIF! Sorry for the late post. Crazy work day. Soooo glad it's Friday. Jay is actually off this weekend so we're taking off for Jost in the morning. Haven't been there in awhile so I'm excited. We're hoping to meet up with some forum people that are out sailing. It's been raining like crazy which the island needed but hopefully it's done so that we have a dry weekend. The sea forecast looks good so at least we'll have smooth "sailing" :-)
We adventured to the BVI for a second day but this time went to Wille T at Norman Island. It was a friends birthday "weekend" so we thought it would be fun to celebrate Willie T style. The ride to Soper's hole in Tortola was a little bumpy but not too bad. I was filling out paperwork for most of the ride so Jay took it a little easy on me :-)
After visiting customs we headed out to the Sir Francis Drake Channel for the short ride over to Norman Island. It was also a little rough but as we got closer to shore it smoothed out and zoomed in for a fun ride.
It was pretty quiet at the T so we were able to tie up, get lunch and first round of birthday drinks pretty quickly. Then the party people showed up and it was a whole different atmosphere. Music, ski shots, jumpers, lots of entertainment. Lol so it made for a fun day :-)