RIDERS ON THE STORM

I spent most of January cruising in the British, U.S. and Spanish Virigin Islands. Even though the Jonas Blizzard/Nor' Easter that hit the United States east coast last week was 1500 miles away. My cruising trip in the Caribbean was affected by it's formation over the Atlantic. The easterly winds we had been enjoying since we started sailing on January 12th suddenly started to veer out of the south. As shown in the video below. The X on the video shows the approximate location of the boat I was on:



I was feeling pretty good as I first heard of the storm approaching the northeast area.   I had recently left the northeast to spend a few weeks cruising in the warm Caribbean to escape part of winter. I did not expect the storm being 1500 miles away for it to impact my travels on board. But, when the winds switched to the south and started to feed into the storm the waves also picked up. When the reefs along Culebra  were hit by waves it made for very poor visibilty for snorkeling for several days. Though on the plus side we did have a nice sail over to Fajardo from Culebra. Though it was a sobering lesson on how powerful these winter storms can be.

JAMIE HYNEMAN MYTHBUSTING IN THE CARIBBEAN

Speaking of Jamie Hyneman and mythbusting. For a few years I had been thinking about starting a charter business with BIANKA. I still had an occasional freelance working gig on land from time to time that helped pay the bills. It was still a little too lucrative to walk away from and also help pay for health insurance which is kind of important. I started to look at the economics of doing some day sail and sunset charters. Including extra costs for insurance, dockage etc... Unfortunately,  my freelance gig sometimes required I work during part of the summer. Which is prime time for operating a sailing charter business. In  the end I decided the economics did not quite work for me. Plus, I really kind of like not having a schedule and enjoy the freedom to head out on a cruise whenever I wanted. I came across this video of Jamie Hyneman of the MYTHBUSTERS TV show. I was surprised to learn he at one point in his life did buy a sailboat and became a charter boat Captain doing day sails in the Virgin Islands. He describes the experience and why he longer has a desire to do it anymore:

SOUVENIRS

Memories, they can't be boughten.

They can't be won at carnivals for free.

Well it took me years to get those souvenirs

                                                                          -John Prine

 

 

When I travel I'm always on the lookout for souvenirs of the trip. I might buy something on occasion but, only if I know I will be able to use in my day to day living.   I don't need something that is just going to sit around on a shelf  and become part of ones "stuff" taking up room and serving no useful purpose in my life. But, if I know I can really use something I might buy it. For example a number of years ago I bought a bag of salt from one of the then local residents of Salt Island in the British Virgin Islands while on a cruise in the area. I still have some left and use it when cooking along with memories of that trip.

Though my favorite type of souvenir is something I find myself either snorkeling or walking along a beach . Best of all they are free and free is good! I have a small stainless steel sugar spoon that I found snorkeling near Norman Island in the British Virgin Islands years ago. It's on board BIANKA being used. Though I wonder how it came to be on the sandy bottom where I found it. What kind of boat did it fall off? Who dropped it? It will always be a mystery but, will also trigger a memory for me of the day I found it. My most recent trip to Culebra was no exception. While swimming around one morning I spied this souvenir laying on the bottom:

I know it's just a cheap plastic clamp. But, I found it near the boat on the bottom of the harbor in Culebra. It still works and I'll use it on board for something. When I do, it will bring back memories of the trip to the Windward Islands. At the very least it's better to have it on board BIANKA than to have it remain just a piece of plastic on the harbor bottom in Culebra. It's just my kind of souvenir.