A Mixed-Up World



Cayennita Grande

In our lives we have no control over other peoples actions and sometimes shocking things happen. This time it was not one of those unfortunate, unexpected incidents, but everything happens for a reason. We must keep an open mind and stay positive.

The Gustav Wilmerding Regatta in West End Tortola was one of the funnest  races ever. We crewed aboard our friend Tony's boat, Cayennita Grande. It started with the east wind on our back, flying the spinnaker around Great Thatch island, then around little Thatch. Next, up and around Sandy Cay, around great Thatch again and finally, back to West End. This course was approximately 27 miles and very exciting. It's such a better experience to race around islands, instead of buoys. The wind blows between theses islands like they would blow through a tunnel and change direction very frequently. 

We came in 3rd place, which was to everyone's satisfaction! That night, Tony invited the crew for dinner at Jolly Roger, where the awards ceremony was held. Great dinner, great company, and a great day... but it didn't end that way. After dinner, Tony and Kelly were on the dance floor and a heavily intoxicated man, named Justin, who is supposedly from Steel Point, Tortola, walked up to get between Tony and Kelly. Nobody pushes Tony away. He didn't move and stood there strong while the troubled guy Justin raised his Heineken glass bottle and it shattered against Tony's face. He fell down and blood was everywhere! The music stopped and everybody was in shock. We ended up riding with Tony in the ambulance to the emergency room. We waited with our friends Mike & Diane Kirk till early morning. Tony got 17 stitches along his eyebrows and a stitch on his knee. He had to spend the night for an eye doctor to examine him before they could discharge him. Most of the day after was spent at the hopital and police station to give statements.

Di, Tony, & Mike in entrance of West End Police Station

Tony had planned to singlehand Cayennita Grande to St Croix, but with one patched eye and a swollen face, it was our duty to help him to deliver Cayennita Grande. Now we are back in Christiansted again. The good news is that the solar panels arrived! We will be ready to sail to St Marteen within the next week.

What we've learned from this is that there are good people and bad people in this world and we have no control over what can happen. We just have to stay calm and positive and know that everything works itself out in the end.

Love from a Mixed-Up World

Salamati

Approaching St. John, Virgin Islands

It feels great to be moving on and sailing to new ports. Earthling’s way of cruising is to move on every few days, to not be anchored in one certain place more than 10 days. However, sometimes you have to stop in one place for longer, to repair your vessel or just work. We had to stay in St. Croix for one month to get the boat “a little more ready”, and even though all the things on the list are not accomplished, time is up and we have to move on. Our friend Tony Sanpere, has his race boat, Cayennita Grande, stored in Nanny Cay, BVI and it will be launched soon. We will then sail to East End, Tortola, to do a race with him. We better get first place, because Tony always comes in first! Cayennita Grande was just freshly painted white on the hull and bottom with a nice thin red water line. She looks super sharp!
It is also great to have a guest aboard here on the mothership Earthling. We haven’t had many guests aboard since returning to the boat after hurricane season.  Tony is here now and we are pleased to have him aboard. 
Even though Earthling is yearning to sail south to St. Maarten and further, we can’t do it quite yet, since solar panels that were purchased a month ago, have still not arrived in St. Croix. So we must return there to pick them up within the next couple weeks. Meanwhile, we are going to cruise to explore and take advantage of the time we have further in this area. There are many places that we have not seen yet, such as the island of Culebra, which leads us to new crossroad.

Love for Nanny Cay

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