A Fish Named Priscilla - Day Three of the British Virgin Islands Adventure

Day Three - British Virgin Islands - First "Official" Day on the Yacht Promenade Sailing Charter

Hello LilyOnTheLam.com Readers:

Happy Valentine's Day one and all!

Welcome to Part Four of the 900,874 million part series "A British Virgin Islands Adventure."  In our storyline, it is now MONDAY - third day (actually 2 1/5th, but who is counting?) in the British Virgin Islands.  I didn't sleep well the night before - so excited that the sailing trip was actually HERE and NOW!  I tossed and turned and was scared I'd fling myself out of the twin-sized bed.  My bed back home is a California King - probably the same width of my entire shared cabin.  

I was happy to wake up in one piece.  I felt a gentle rocking and wondered if we were at sea.  I peeked out the top hatch.  Everyone was up and awake except Squidge and I.  Not a surprise.  Since we were technically crew-less the night before, we were told that the first one up should start the coffeemaker.  I said "Don't look at me - I can guarantee you that I will not be the first one up!"  It's absolutely a sure bet.

First official day of the sailing trip - I threw on my swimsuit and this ginormous black mesh cover up - think shortie muumuu and bounded upstairs.  Since the charter didn't officially start until mid-day, we checked out the galley for breakfast.  I munched happily on an apple - probably the healthiest thing I would eat all trip.  You will never starve on the Yacht Promenade.  Their food is amazing.  The crew members were headed back to the boat with more food and drink to restock the boat for our charter.  Kerry - the owner - has a profound love for sour cream - and I swear I counted at least 9 containers of sour cream in the galley refrigerator.  I had never eaten sour cream until my freshman year at University of Wisconsin-Madison.  There were giant vats of the stuff on our free condiment bar -- I quickly became a sour cream-believer.  Oh tart dairy product, where have you been all my life?

The sun was warm, sky blue and the water calm.  The other guests were chilling by reading their iPads and Kindles.  It's always a crap shoot on who you will be attending a charter with ... some people want to party until dawn, some want to just be mellow and tan and read, some want to SCUBA dive every chance they get ... you hope that you get a right balance of similar interest people to have the right boat chemistry.  This boatload of guests seem to be pretty mellow - which is fine with me.  I have done the wild bar-hopping in the BVI ... and my liver and my wallet will be quite alright if I confine my drinking to the all-inclusive Yacht Promenade.  

I pulled out my iPad (a.k.a. LilyPad2) and started blogging.  The WiFi on the boat is much faster than when I was last onboard four years ago.  I have been incredible remiss in keeping up with LilyOnTheLam.com the last couple months - I could give you several excuses, but the bottom line was that I just didn't feel like writing ... but the warm, sea salt airs of the BVI have rekindled my love of writing ... and hence these blog posts.

There is something so peaceful about watching small boats going to and fro.  I felt like a cat, lazy and content in the sun; just watching the world go by.

Squidge was sound asleep in the cabin.  The air conditioning was back on and she had a very happy face on while sleeping and snuggled up under fish-decorated sheets and a blanket.  By 10:45 a.m., she finally appeared.  She surveyed the galley and came back with a mango and a knife.  She sat peacefully on the padded bench, slowly carving herself goldfish sized slivers of the ripest, most perfect mango.  The vacation had officially begun.

The Yacht Promenade has a water filtration system - so there's no need for bottled water on the boat.  The BVI does not have recycling, so the less plastic that is used the less that will end up cast aside in the ocean.  I designed two large Tervis tumblers online specially for this trip.  The vacation is a college graduation gift for my baby sister Squidge.  I chose a dark teal background with white sailboats on it and placed a picture of Squidge and I from her college graduation.  On Squidge's tumbler, I placed a picture of her in a lovely white dress also from her graduation.  On my tumbler, I placed a picture of me in a t-shirt that our father designed.  My tumbler has a pink lid and Squidge's is dark green.  I had forgotten to order straws to go with the tumblers, but Miss LM came to the rescue.  She had extra Tervis tumbler straws and brought me over two before I left for the BVI.  Friends are AWESOME.  

The sun in the BVI is stronger than in Florida and much stronger than in Minnesota, so I wanted to make sure Squidge and I were properly hydrated.  I drank three tumblers full of water before Squidge woke up.  I was a little freaked out at how much I drank.  Hello dehydration!

I continued to blog and Squidge worked on organic chemistry homework while the crew unloaded beverages into the coolers built into the base of the seats.  I watched three cases of Red Stripe beer being unloaded - that will cover Squidge's thirst for the entire trip!

I sent some pictures back to Squidge's and my parents as both proof of life as well as proof of having fun.  Captain Chad was out on the dinghy when he saw dolphins, he came back and Squidge and Miss E joined him and Felix, one of the crew members on the dinghy to go out and see the dolphins.  I stayed on the boat because I wanted to take pictures of Squidge on the dinghy as they motored off.  Needless to say you can get some great water pictures in the BVI!

Our cabin has two elevated beds with a walkway between that gradually slopes up.  There are two steps from the entrance to get up to the beds.  Squidge informed me that the sloped floor is the perfect angle for doing sit-ups and that she had done several sit-ups while in the cabin.  I thanked Squidge for this information that our cabin was a perfect haven for those seeking to work on their abs, but told her I would probably not be joining her in morning sit-up sessions.  But perhaps Captain Chad, who is in awesome shape, will be more interested in this than I was!
The crew finished stocking the boat and we heard one bell ring ... One bell either means 5 or 10 minutes before the next meal - I forget which one.  Miss M on the boat says when you hear the bell it means "Fill your drink and hit the bathroom before the meal."  So when I heard the bell, I hit the boat's ice machine and got my first diet Coke of the day.  I have been trying to avoid soda, but on this trip I will be indulging in Ting - my favorite Jamaican grapefruit soda and diet Coke.  

Lunch was a classic Yacht Promenade offering - a large cutting board loaded with meats, cheeses, vegetables and sprinkled with foil wrapped chocolate candies along the edges.  Big fluffy wheat and white rolls and a large variety of condiments accompanied the deli platter.  I created a Lily original - roast chicken and ham with gouda cheese, mayonnaise and cucumbers on a white hoagie roll with Boursin cheese.  I must say this was the most amazing sandwich.  Might as well just get me a Subway Sandwich Artist polo shirt right now.  Being on vacation, I also indulged with Doritos ... a snack chip I almost never allow myself to have!  Squidge went with a roast beef and gouda sandwich.  Our fellow guests had their own sandwich creations.  Jessica, one of the crew members, came upstairs (kitchen and saloon are downstairs) with a giant pitcher of painkillers.  At first I was content with my water and diet Coke, but the fruity goodness with a dash of nutmeg was too tempting -- and I had my second painkiller of the BVI trip (and first painkiller on the boat- but who is counting?)  

After lunch, I sat at the front of the boat with Squidge as we set sail.  All around us were the rolling green hills of Tortola.  The warm sun danced in sparkly rainbows along the smooth water.  We sat back and let the sun warm us as we watched Felix open the sails.  We were on our way sailing across from Tortola to Little Harbour.

The sky was clear and the wind was picking up, but ahead we could see the weather was not so friendly.  And before we knew it, we were right in the middle of a hard rain and a fierce gale.  The sky had opened up and decided to dump an ocean of rain on top of us.  The water pelted and pounded us.  We wrapped up in beach towels, but the rain quickly saturated the thick cotton.  Captain Chad turned the boat downwind - if we had kept going forward with full sails open, we would have risked snapping one or both of the masts off the sailboat.  However when you turn the boat downwind, it is much harder to roll in the sails.  Felix and Captain Chad quickly and safely brought the sails back in.  We watched as boats around us tried to do the same, with less success and efficiency.  One small sailboat to our port side, was having an extremely difficult time getting their sail rolled back up in the storm.  I felt bad watching the Captain struggle.  But short of swimming over in the churning white-capped sea, there was nothing we could do but watch.  We let out a cheer when he finally finished bringing in his sail.

We finished sailing over to Little Harbour.  The ruins of the Chubb estate are nearby and make for a great hike and viewing.  We set anchor in the calm cove - other sailboats had also followed our journey to the calm cove.  Typically on the Yacht Promenade, we spend the first night anchored in Little Harbour; so I recognized the area right away.  There are also caves nearby which are great for snorkeling.  The island has cacti on it- which always takes me by surprise.  I wouldn't expect to see cacti in a tropical setting.

When the storm started, Miss D and Miss E sought safety and dryness of the saloon downstairs with the hatch closed.  However Miss B, Miss M, Squidge and I stayed in the cockpit with Captain Chad and Felix.  I have been on the Yacht Promenade for rainstorms, but nothing quite this intense and heavy.  Trimarans are very stable, so even in the rougher seas - we bobbed up and down but nothing seasick-worthy.  We were however, drenched.  The storm had happened so fast we didn't have time to pull down the tarp flaps to cover the cockpit area.  

Like most rainstorms in the BVI, it didn't last long.  Miss B and Felix grabbed microfiber cloths and quickly dried the cockpit area.  Squidge and I went downstairs to our cabin to change into dry clothes.  However once we were changed, we could hear more rain pelting the boat ... we decided this was God's way of telling us to take a nap.  We obeyed.  We could smell spareribs slow cooking in anticipation of tonight's dinner.  We happily fell asleep in the air-conditioned cabin on a cloud of sweet sparerib scented deliciousness.

The Yacht Promenade crew make you feel very pampered-- and from my previous sails, I knew that around 5 p.m. was cocktail hour - with a different snack and different fancy cocktail for each day.  I woke up hungry and thirsty.  Squidge stirred slightly in the bed about two feet from mine.  I whispered "Drink and a snack?"  She nodded and we headed upstairs.  My belly had indeed woken me up in time - the rest of the guests were in the saloon, enjoying drinks, tortilla chips and a gigantic bowl of fresh made salsa.  DELISH!  We scooted in and joined the party.  

There's never a shortage of good conversation on the Yacht Promenade.  We sat in the saloon fully enjoying cocktail hour and good chatter, as Jessica worked on dinner in the galley - pausing every now and again to pop her head out and agree with a point in the conversation.  We watched Captain Chad take out slabs of pressure-cooked spareribs out to the grill attached to the port side of the trimaran.  Crispy, charred sweet smells wafted in to the saloon.  We sniffed the air eagerly.  We could tell it was going to be a great first "official" dinner on the Yacht Promenade.  Eventually, Felix came out to ring the dinner bell.  Miss B was sitting under the bell when he rang in, so I think she also got a complimentary ear-cleaning.

In addition to the crispy, grilled barbecue ribs, the Yacht Promenade crew had made crispy roasted potatoes and Captain Kerry's awesome cheesy baked bruschetta recipe.  Did I mention you will never starve on the Yacht Promenade?  And of course two bowls of sour cream on the table.  Captain Chad brought up warm finger bowls of lemon water and we attacked the barbecued ribs like a pack of ravenous wolves.  The dinner table was completely silent, save for a lot of "mmmmmmmms" and "sooooo good" comments.  Squidge proclaimed that these were absolutely the best ribs she had ever eaten - they were so amazingly tender and flavorful with a delicious barbecue sauce.  Everyone had at least seconds on everything.  We saved all the bones and threw them overboard for the fish.  

Dinner on the Yacht Promenade would not be complete without a great dessert.  Captain Chad reappeared with bowls of fried plantains and vanilla ice cream with a dusting of cinnamon.  The plantains had been fried with a touch of brown sugar and it was just the best ending to our decadent barbecue ribs dinner.  Every person at the table was beyond satisfied.  Slowly most of the guests excused themselves to turn in early.  But Miss B, Squidge, Felix and I had a date with fish ... night fishing off the back of Yacht Promenade is one of my favorite things to do -- which is somewhat surprising since I don't like to bait a hook, reel in fish or touch fish.  

I was surprised to learn that my sister had never fished before and that she really wanted to take part.  We sat at the back of the boat and Felix baited the hook and handed the rod to Squidge.  I watched the schools of tiny fish dancing around the beams of light from the boat.  Miss B caught the first fish.  Felix told us what kind it was, but I can't remember - a scrimmin?  A screamer?  It looked like a cross between a red snapper and a lion fish.  Miss B is an old school fisherwoman - she grabbed the fish, removed the hook and threw it back into the water at lightning speed.  

I danced my fishing line under the boat, tugging it slowly and methodically - hoping for a fish to grab the bait.  Finally I felt some tension on the line, I quickly reeled it in - it looked EXACTLY like the same fish that Miss B had caught.  Is it possible?  Since I am NOT an old school fisherwoman, I just basically shrieked "Felix, Felix - get my fish!"  Felix unhooked the fish and threw it back in the water.

Squidge and I kept dancing our fishing rods, but with little luck.  Squidge's line got caught on something under the boat and Felix taught us how to get it untangled.  Miss B then caught another fish - and seriously, would you believe it looked exactly the same as the fish that both Miss B and I had caught before!!  Miss B named it Priscilla before throwing it back in the water.  Evidently, Priscilla heard that the Yacht Promenade was an awesome sailing charter and she was desperately trying to get onboard.

Miss B decided to call it a night after saying goodbye to Priscilla yet again.  Squidge and I decided to stay up a little longer and see if we could get another fish (preferably not Priscilla).  Eventually, we ended up getting our fishing lines tangled together - we joked that we had caught each other!  Felix helped us get untangled, but we figured this was a sign that we were done with fishing for the night.  However, we said we would definitely do it again - I am determined that Squidge catch a fish on this trip.  (Again, preferably not Priscilla.)

The first officially day of the sailing charter was a bit of a lazy Monday due to the rainstorms and high winds, however it was very mellow, relaxing, fun and filled with great food.  A terrific start to our BVI sailing vacation!