Bad News/Good News

Mooring field and ferry at Red Hook

On Thursday afternoon, we dinghied into town to fill up the water jugs and buy some fresh produce.  On the way back to the boat, we found out that the line tying our boat to the mooring had chafed through.  Wayward Wind broke loose and drifted into a nearby dock in front of a restaurant.  Five people from the restaurant jumped to action and pushed her off the dock.  One person climbed aboard and steered while another towed her with his dinghy and 40 hp motor to a nearby mooring ball and secured her there.  We came to the restaurant to profusely thank the people and buy a few beverages for them.  One told us of a boat builder, Tim, who works on boats, so we called him and he came over that evening to look at the damage.  The 5/8" stainless steel strut from the bow pulpit down to the bow had sheered.  Other than that and a few scratches, there was no indication of any deep scratches or damage to the hull.  Tim said we are very lucky.  The next day he came back on his lunch break and was able to easily remove the small piece of strut that had broken off in the flange on the bow.  Lucky, again.  So far he has checked with two of the three machinists on the island, neither of whom had 5/8" steel rods in stock.  Tomorrow he will check with the third.  Three's a charm, right? 

So our plan to leave yesterday to make our way up to Virgin Gorda to cross the Anegada Passage to St. Martin at the next weather window Sunday PM / Monday AM is off.  Trying to remain positive.  While it's nice to visit friends here, there isn't much to do, right around here.  One day we rode the Safari (open truck taxi) to Charlotte Amalie, which is the main port town, and across the island and back.  Yesterday Dave cleaned the bottom of the boat and I baked bread and read sailing articles.  Today we tried to deliver little bottles of rum and thank you notes to our five saviours, but no one was on board their boat, so we'll try again later.  We really are lucky that those five were able to move Wayward Wind and prevent further damage to her or to the dock. 

Riding the Safari back to Red Hook from Charlotte Amalie.

Whilst riding the Safari taxi to Charlotte Amalie we got a taste of local culture.  The taxi is basically and large double cab pickup truck and bed customized and installed with four bench seats.  Each taxi is independently owned and the designs boldly vary in color and window shapes.  On ours, sat five local women, including the woman driver and us, the gringos with goofy sunhats.  Apparently one of the passengers pushed the buzzer to have the taxi stop, which it did not.  A younger portly, and obviously assertive, passenger stomped her foot and shouted forward, "Stop the damn Safari!"  This led to an indistinguishable though loud retort from the driver, which prompted a long and low "BOOLSHEET!" from the younger passenger.  Anyway, the taxi stopped and the departing passenger quietly gathered her bags and stepped off.  And off we trundled.  It's funny because when the younger passenger got off and paid her fare to the driver, Dave noticed she was smiling.  So no harm done, we guessed. 

Dave's new friend

Dave tempting his new iguana buddy with a sweet pea.