More highlights:

The rope-assisted 'nature walk' led by two fourteen-year-old money-grubbing con artists by the names of Claude and Dr. Feel Good (Gros Piton, St. Lucia)

One Night with Vampire Bill and the Buena Vista Social Club (Rodney
Bay, St. Lucia)

The Exceedingly Short Shelf Life of a
Log of Herbed Chevre in the Presence
of Two Sleep-Deprived Premenstrual Sailors (en route)

14 Hour Sail with Russia's Top 20 Disco Hits of 1986

Barfing over the stern to the backdrop of Luciano Pavorotti

sharks love scrambled eggs

Two words: Jazz Xylophone

Impressions from St. Lucia....
"Ooh, would we call them pirates? How about 'overly inquisitive local boaters'?" - Capt. Don

At anchor in St. Lucia, we have to post a guard on the boat at all times, as pirogues (big, brightly painted wooden boats with outboards on the back..used
for fishing and..inquiries..) will cruise by night and day to check out the vessel, count the crew, and wait for the dinghy
to leave for town so they can come aboard and rob us blind. Several times, while we were anchored
outside the fishing town of Vieux Fort, one of us left on Catbird would step
out of our cabin to one of these inquisitive local boaters ready
to throw a line on our cleat and hop
aboard!

Here's a little somethin we picked
up when provisioning at the local market:

M: i saw captain don's ball sack.

M: i saw captain don's ball sack.
dinghy.
hole in shorts.

GAPING hole.

R: i feel bad for the rest of the island.
so youve seen his sack, ive seen his wang. the whole shebang is covered

note passed in back of taxi

When The Going Gets Tough...

We are now purposely ordering
tap water and raw, unwashed vegetables in every port in the hopes
of contracting some tropical illness and getting sent home.

Haha

Thursday, July 7
Rodney Bay, St. Lucia

SOS, Chris Parker!

Due to that tricky mainsail batten, a broken winch and port engine troubles, we changed course on Tuesday to skip Dominica (bummer!) and head straight for St. Lucia. Longest passage yet - arrived around 4am this morning to Rodney Bay (I steered us into the bay in the dark and set the anchor - and didn't hit anything! whew!), and all fell asleep as soon as the anchor grabbed the bottom. There is something really amazing about arriving in port at night and waking up to a whole new scene! We are here in St. Lucia for a week before 6 guests arrive to do a weeklong charter through the Grenadines - didn't know that chartering the boat was even a possibility on this delivery, but hey, we may make some moolah! Too bad Robin's CatBird shirt fits her like a dress..well at least she doesn't have to worry about finding some khaki shorts!
We both are feeling pretty boated-out after a long 48-hr sail/motor and some drama with the Captain's wife, but we're trying to keep our energy up and stay positive! It seems like every day we have some major mechanical failure, but I think that just comes with the territory. I'm getting good at taking apart winches and putting them back together again (and ducking
flying chrome, and keeping my fingers
on my hands)!
Captain Chris has joined us for the St. Kitts to Trinidad leg, and we are relieved to have him aboard! He's a great big bear of a guy, a hard worker, knowledgeable, and super upbeat, which is a blessing when another passenger
has nothing nice to say...He is also a professional chef, so Big Z and I
don't need to pretend we can cook for the charter guests!
When it was just Robin and I and Captain Don, sailing through the night (as is his preference) was pretty intimidating - one of us would be up on the bridge for hours through squalls and big seas, and the only person who really knew what he was doing was either asleep or down below trying to keep the engines from overheating. With Chris aboard, we now have someone who is not only a great sailor, he also understands how to communicate with his crew so that we're all on the same page! Beforehand, we had to look at the logbook to figure out why the port
engine hatch was billowing smoke, or that yes, we did indeed pass Dominica on purpose, so we can stop worrying we overshot it!

The Free Lunch Debacle, Or Happy 4th of July Hunger Strike:

In Which Big Z and Lil M Learn There Really Is No Such Thing as a Free Lunch


After a long, breakfastless morning of scrubbing and boat repairs, Mel was feeling a little faint, and decided to rummage through the less-than-frosty
freezer to make a veggie burger for lunch.

BIG MISTAKE, MEL.

Upon entering the galley, semi-frozen patty in hand, Mel was instantly accosted for her choice in cooking methods by the Wife: "You are
going to pan-fry that? You must
grill it!"
Mel calmly explained that really, throwing it on the stove was a far more efficient, if not epicurian, way
of heating the burger. Wife sits back
down in a huff.
Wife watches Mel pull out a pita, hummus and some leftover salad to accompany her burger.
Wife asks Mel to leave out some
of "her" salad because she is ravenous, as she did not eat breakfast. Why? Because she doesn't like granola and almond milk, and her husband was
too busy working on the boat to make her something else.
Mel leaves the salad out, with fork, assembles her sandwich, and sits at the table on the stern to enjoy her
meal.
Robin walks into the galley to grab a snack herself- little did she know she was entering a warzone.
Wife: " I cannot believe this. This
is rude, so rude. What are you, barbarians? You make food for yourself, and you don't even ask if
we all want to eat? then you sit down
outside all antisocial (We eat ALL our meals outside)? It is rude and uncivilized and I am disgusted with both of you. Never have I ever
seen such rude behavior! Opening and shutting the fridge! Always opening and shutting the fridge!"
(Mel is frozen mid-bite just outside, Robin slowly lowers her hands and returns her would-be lunch to the fridge)
"...I don't understand how he puts up with you both - you are rude! and selfish girls! Just get me off this f'ing boat, I mean it! I can't f'ing stand it anymore! Let him deal with you how he likes, I'm getting off this f'ing boat right now!!"

Mel is quite shaken up by the
unexpected outburst, and both girls calmly try to explain that, as they understood it, breakfast and lunch were fend-for-yourself, and dinner was a more structured, sit-down affair. Wife kept screaming, and
Mel, still in shock, tries
to appease: "but I left out the salad?"
"it's only 11:30 - I didn't think anyone was ready for lunch yet?"

Mel and Robin retreat to the stern
to bail water, and mutually agree
to not set foot in "her" kitchen.

Almonds for dinner.

Monday, 4 July 2011
(Mel) We've been in St. Kitts since Thursday, and I'm writing it down as a place to revisit. Because of the vet school and the other two colleges
on island, there are a lot of young people here, and hanging out with them has been a welcome change from the inevitable loneliness that accompanies any significant time spent on a boat! Robin and I have both become close with our captain's friends Chris and Sam, Sam's amazing lady Caché and her girls, and especially Dove and Richard, visiting from Phoenix (dreamers unite!).
Fab bbq at Chris & Sam's big pink house
Thursday night, complete with dance
party led by Dove and Robin (flawless execution of Beyoncé's Move Your Body).
Had everyone on the boat Friday for an Israeli-style dinner of falafel and
pita, then said goodnight to the Captain and his wife, and Chris and his 8-year old son, who was having a ball on their boat-slumberparty. Drove up to Chris and Sam's house to get ready for the weekend fun (note: don't bother trying to look good when you're about
to hop in a dinghy and tear through the surf - soaked through)!
Went out that night to the newest spot on island, Sobe (like the tea), and man it felt good to get dressed up and dance! A great scene - big indoor/outdoor bar with a deck right over the beach and crashing waves, and a lighted beach volleyball court with amphitheater seating (complete with shirtless spikers!)...amazing fun. The best part? Unlike St. Thomas, where everyone is spread out between happy hour spots and there's
often a clear dividing line between Weet Indians and Whites, it was clear that this was THE place to be - it was full of people, college kids, vets-to-be, and locals alike - everyone dancing up a storm (Shout out to a certain veternarian - sun never sets on a badass!).
Slept on Chris and Sam's couch - Big Z and I were happy to sleep on a bed that didn't move - and woke up (late!) Saturday morning to Sam and Caché making pancakes.
Sailed with the gang over to Nevis, which was just gorgeous. Arrived at dusk, starving, and all 10 of us piled into the dinghy and tied up at
Oualie Beach to dine. Amazing food, and a really romantic Caribbean-style open-air restaurant. They didn't seem to mind we were all in cut-offs and boardshorts - if you go, the key lime pie is perfection, but it was the priciest place we've eaten at - bring some serious EC$!
Motored back to Whitehouse Bay, as everyone was too tired to sail. Heard hushed whispers of a change of plans for our delivery, which made Robin and I exchange a few worried looks - charter? 6 people? St. Lucia? or back up to St. Martin? Maybe someone would fill in the clueless crew in the morning.

Robin serenaded Dove and Richard and I in the saloon, and we said goodnight once we set the anchor. I dinghied our guests to the dock in the
dark, but the maglight didn't prevent
me from stepping on a fisherman's
forgotten fish head while unloading passengers - ugh ugh ughhhhh!
Woke up early the next morning to the magnificent Whitehouse Bay by
daylight - only a few houses in sight, and lots of green, jagged hills
and rocky cliffs.
Went on another catamaran cruise
over to Nevis (a more verdant, posh Jost Van Dyke) to celebrate Sam and Caché's birthdays - yes, we were still on a boat, but on this one all the work
was done for us, so we could kick back, hang with their friends, and sip a dangerously delicious rum punch! Did
a snorkel stop along the way - so much fun to be on the other side and play tourist for a day!
Will miss you amazing people, keep in touch! xoxo