April 2007

It has been a wonderful season and we still have another six weeks to go before we shut down the charter side of sailing Independence and start getting her ready for some offshore cruising and a summer exploring the New England coast.

We have had many wonderful families aboard this season ... Take heart - our future is safe in the hands of the next generation!! Ray, son of Al from last season, has been my right hand this year, and the kids have been following him on the snorkel trail and helping with sail handling … we call it Ray Care and I am not sure who has been enjoying it the most – Ray, the kids, or their parents. I have been day sailing Independence on and off since 1980 and we are now sailing with grandchildren - kids of kids I took sailing 20 years ago. It's amazing and so much fun! And while we are on the subject of grandchildren …

Pieter and I are now proud grandparents! Daughter Hillary delivered Marisa (7lbs., 4oz.) on February 20th; mother, daughter, and Daddy Brian are doing just great and Marisa has already been on her first sail! She is a St. Thomian born and bred and loves the water, whether at Hull Bay, Magen’s Bay, Honeymoon on St. John, or in her own bathtub. They are all planning to be in North Carolina with Brian's family in early August and I think we will really be ready for a grand baby fix by then so are contemplating a road trip south from our Rhode Island base.

One of the questions we are asked frequently is, "Do you ever have really awful guests aboard?" I have been chartering forever and certainly there have been one or two groups that, shall we say, made for some great stories but I always tell people that we remember problem passengers because we have so few of them.

Well, we had a day this winter that we will probably never forget – but not because our guests were awful – they were great (as usual!). It was a pair of special visitors that made this day stand out. Our charter group requested a long sail up to Water Lemon Cay on the north side of St. John; we don't often have time to get up that far but the wind was good and it was an easy sail so off we went. It was the second day that week on Independence for the family of four that we had aboard and the daughter really wanted to see a dolphin, not a common occurrence in shore in the Virgin Islands … But, just as we picked up the mooring a snorkeler popped up next to us and said he saw dolphins right under the boat! Within minutes everyone was geared up and in the water to see the two dolphins. They looked like a mother and baby, and they hung out with us for about an hour. They seemed totally unafraid and curious; the baby got close enough to Ray to allow a plastic bag to be peeled off of his back – no telling how long it had been stuck there. What an unforgettable experience for all of us. In forty years of sailing in the Virgin Islands that is only the second time that has happened. We didn't see any whales this year but those dolphins more than made up for the lack.

We had another slightly unusual charter: a couple from Holland who just wanted to sail, no stops, no snorkeling, no lunch, just sailing. I am always up for a good bash to windward so on day one we circumnavigated Jost Van Dyke. We looked for whales but no luck; no dolphins either, but the sailing was terrific. Day two we got really ambitious and circumnavigated St. Thomas, we had to motor some but it was fun to see the south side of the island and the airport and all the cruise ships. The last leg was a sunset sail but we made it home by dark. Day three, our last day, of course we had to sail around St. John. Pieter came along for that leg - a good thing too as it was quite windy beating up between Tortola and St. John and his mechanical expertise was needed to repair a recalcitrant bilge pump. We were sorry to see our Dutch guests go but we have hopes of meeting them at the boat show in Newport, they want a sail boat!

Our regular day or half day is more than just okay with us. What's not to love about a day of snorkeling and sailing? Your destination is where the seas are calmest and the winds take you. You have time to stretch out and relax, turn off the cell phone, and have a few hours with no worries! We will be sailing from St. Thomas until the end of May and will be back and available around Thanksgiving for the 2007/2008 season.

I hope you will join us this winter!!! - Pat and Pieter