PAT'S GAZETTE

Thursday, July 27, 2006

A SUMMER TO REMEMBER

I don’t know why but I have always enjoyed the hot days of summer. Granted, I do not like the humid heat that can accompany temperatures in the 90’s. However, my early years on a farm in Southern Indiana prepared me for “coping” with the heat – and to a lesser extent, humidity. Certainly, I didn’t have the luxury of air conditioning. Indeed, we did not even have electricity so no electric fans either. My dad, a farmer, worked the fields in the boiling hot sun of summer with only an occasional break under the shade of a tree to wipe his brow and survey the job that had to be done if the family was to have food in the coming winter. Those were not times for “sissies”. I learned early on to cope with life not as I would like it, but as it was. Sometimes I wonder if our youth of today might not be better served if they learned that lesson as well.

Thus, when a “family” bare boat sailing adventure to the sunny Caribbean was contemplated, I felt concern for the hot nights aboard a boat with out air conditioning, but otherwise, I felt that I could cope. Cope we did and when, after two weeks in the sunny Caribbean, we returned home to California to embrace the 100 degree temperatures of Southern California’s heat wave, I longed to be back on the cool waters of the Caribbean.

This was our sixth or seventh bare boat charter in the Virgin Islands. I’ve lost count. Our first charter was in 1979 and since that time, we have chartered both in the US Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands as well as the Bahamas and the Grenadines.

Through the years we have grown to appreciate the higher level of welcome that seems to exist in the British Virgin Islands and for that reason, we have gained a greater appreciation for their hospitality over that of the US Virgins. There is no doubt that the attitude of those who are in the “service oriented” industry plays an important role in the choices of places to which we wish to return. I marvel that so few business people seem to recognize that their success depends on the image that their employees portray of them and make so little effort to train their employees to be pleasant. Further, I cannot believe that the employees themselves are not enlightened enough to recognize that their job security is directly related to their employers success but alas, loyalty of employee/employer has waned through the years. Ah well, I digress.

Inasmuch as we sold our own sail boat over ten years ago, and our last sailing charter was in 1996, we considered our sailing days were over. Thus, when our nephew, John Baum, expressed an interest in chartering in the Virgin Islands, Ken and I were both excited and contemplative. Were we too old?

Not wishing to accept age as a factor, we contacted North South Yacht Vacations, a company that we chartered from during our last trip to the VI and one that Don, Ken’s brother has used on two occasions. We arranged for a two week charter of a 50 foot Beneteau sail boat and agreed with John that he and his friends would take the first week of the charter and we would take the 2nd week for our family.

Since our first trip in 1979, we have dreamed of sharing a sailing vacation in the Caribbean with our children. Our dream was partially fulfilled with our daughter, Terri; son, Gary; granddaughter, Lauren, along with nephew John, niece Joy Neely and a friend, Kitty Van Horn and her grandson, RJ along with John’s friends, Will Wong and Scott Buswell. We enjoyed Scott and Will and have decided to include them in our extended family. Our jubilation was tempered by the absence of our daughter in law, Marci and grandson, Sean. Marci’s work and Sean’s baseball commitments kept them from sharing the experience. If life should be so good as to give us another chance, we hope that someday they too might share a similar “outing”. Marci and Sean – perhaps the Bahamas?

North South Yacht Vacations did a great job and exercised great diligence in their effort to assure us a safe, happy and wonderful experience. Their boats are older and thus, more affordable for our “fixed income” status, but they do lack the amenities of the “modern” age. However, the staff worked hard and diligently to provide whatever assistance we required for a memorable sailing experience. Any problems that we experienced were certainly within the range of what could be anticipated in an older boat and as the former owners of an “older” boat, we have first hand experience.

North South recently moved from Nanny Cay to Village Cay on the island of Tortola and they are undergoing the “pains of relocation” which complicated communications but otherwise, minor problems were dealt with competently. We especially thank Mike, the mechanic, Chandi, the manager and Tamara (sp?), the secretary as well as all of the staff that made our charter a delightful experience. We would definitely recommend checking North South Yacht Vacations out if you are considering a BVI charter. Our boat was clean, well equipped with towels and linens and not a single bug was sighted, a miracle in itself for the tropics. Some attention to the “Galley” utensils would be useful but otherwise, NO PROBLEM MON!

I will do a more comprehensive report on our family adventures and fun on the “high seas” later, but for now, here are a few pictures